Even with growing up in a wheelchair, loving your body is no different than the average person, but what matters in how someone views their body and having a support systems. 

In the disabled community, if someone has a strong support system full of athletic in-shape individuals, they are more likely to develop healthy habits, and in turn, obtain a healthy body image. But if that person is surrounded by unhealthy images of what it means to have a disability, then that is the only image the he or she can turn to. 

Junior recreational therapy major Jenny Zimmer is the perfect example of someone with a strong sense of self-worth. 

“Even though I was extra self-conscious because of my disability, I played sports and had a lot of people in my same boat that had disabilities (and) taught me a lot,” Zimmer said. 

These close-knit communities are built of young people who want to succeed and have benefited from athletic experiences, so they are more likely to want to help the community later on. 

Much like the rest of campus, disabled students still see ads on Cosmo and Vogue about being sexy or getting that spring break bod. But just like everyone else, if we have the support systems behind us, we are able to give those magazines the bird and embrace the other parts of self-image like education and athletic ability.