Shine Online

 Summer’s Story

Before Shine I was not feeling very confident, I didn’t believe in myself and felt I couldn’t do anything. I did not think I fit in and felt everyone else was better than me. I didn’t feel that I deserved anything. I tried to let things go and not say anything, but I was quick to get angry and cry.

I found out about Shine through my mum, I was really nervous and anxious about doing Shine. Anne visited me and gave me the first box with the products in for the first session. This was really helpful and I felt that I knew Anne, so even though I was still a bit anxious about the other people there, felt camera shy and had never been on Zoom, I still went ahead and did the course.

The Box and the following packages were exciting to get. I hadn’t had a good year and it was really nice to have something to look forward to. It reminded me to do Shine and helped me to get more organised. The 1st box encouraged me to do Shine, I enjoyed opening up the following packages because it was exciting to see what we were going to do next.

I enjoyed doing the course, it was a fun experience, prior to Shine I felt quite socially isolated so it was good to meet new people, it made me realise that there were people there for me who cared and made me more confident in myself. I realised that if I have my friends who will support me and not judge me then I will be OK and helped me to understand my own value.

I enjoyed the session on Healthy eating and Body image the best. The healthy eating session helped me to understand that not eating was not the best way, rather that our diets should be balanced and healthy. When we looked at Body image, I understood that people are chosen to go on adverts and in other media sources because they look the same, they don’t choose other body shapes and sizes and they often use photoshop to change the images. That is not healthy or how everyone looks in real life so I shouldn’t compare myself to them.

At the beginning of Shine, I was quiet. Now I feel more sociable, I am more out there and able to have fun. My teachers said that at the beginning of the school year I was quiet but now I contribute more in class and am more confident.

Shine was very helpful. It wasn’t one of those experiences where you just have to sit through it to try and help yourself, it was good and a really fun experience.