Campus Celebrity: Hope Faulk C’14

You may know her from The ‘Wick, from The Body Project and FEED, or if she has tutored your tushy off– she’s Hope Faulk!

Hope is one of the most active women on campus in respect to all things body positive and positively feminist. She is an inspiration to the women of campus and has contributed to much of what we see around us on a daily basis. In honor of LoveYoSelf Day, we at Her Campus Sewanee are celebrating this powerful woman!

Born in Shelbyville, TN into a conservative family and town, Hope came to Sewanee in 2010 looking for new experiences. What she did experience, however, may have been more than she bargained for. Having been in a relationship during her senior year of high school with a boy from home, Hope encountered a situation, that to many women growing up in the South in commonly conservative families, was entirely unheard of, which she described in this way: 

“We’d been together for a little over a year, and–because the only sex ed class I’d ever had told me that condoms didn’t work–we weren’t smart in our sexual relationship.  I wound up pregnant and had an abortion two days before Christmas.  It was particularly hard because my family, who I love and with whom I spent Christmas Eve, didn’t–probably still doesn’t–approve of abortions at all, so I felt like I had to hide it from them.  Hell, no one in my family but my mom and grandmother know now.  I think, because I grew up in the South in a conservative family, there was a lot of shame attached to this process for me.  I remember feeling the need to warn new people I met on the Mountain about this decision I’d made because I thought they wouldn’t think it was worth taking the time to get to know me if they already knew what I’d done.”

Despite those stressful circumstances, Hope came out stronger in the end, knowing that she “desperately needed feminism.” She continued, saying,“Without having had an abortion, I might never have latched on so tightly to feminism.  That experience and the choices I made as a result of it have completely colored my life and the path I’m on now.  I would definitely say it made me who I am–but in a good, constructive kind of way.”

Her first experience with feminism came along with her first Women’s Studies class her freshman year. What she learned just from one class lit a fire inside her heart that remains burning today. That fire inspired her to apply to live in the Women’s Center – which she did during her sophomore year. “My feminism has absolutely grown from there, and it’s a huge part of me,” Hope says.

For this LoveYoSelf Day, Hope has shared some of her Feb. 14th expectations along with tips that everybody (gals and guys!) can use to make today great.

The vibe that Hope gets from the usual Valentine’s Day hum-drummery is that it usually starts with, “some well-intentioned but misguided attempt at being romantic.  Sometimes a ‘nice dinner’ that inevitably falls flat, sometimes awful lingerie, sometimes not enough light from the candles that were supposed to set the mood.  Valentine’s Day is a sh*tshow.  But I think it’s sweet.  As a person in a relationship, I appreciate the opportunity to go out of the way and do something sweet for my partner.  (And, of course, for my partner to go out of his way and do something sweet for me!)  However, I think Valentine’s Day becomes an issue when it’s the only time people go out of their way to be sweet to one another.  All that being said–I do come from a place of having a significant other, and I can see how Valentine’s Day might be completely off-putting for all the single ladies (and fellas).  Which, I think, is where the ‘self love’ idea comes in.”

Self-love plays a HUMONGOUS role in what LoveYoSelf Day is all about, and in Hope’s experience, these are some of the best ways to love yourself today.

• don’t overload and overcommit

• self love means being okay with doing something late

• or deciding that you can’t handle every single thing you ever express interest in doing

• the occasion calls for a bottle of wine (if you’re into that)

• some alone-time

• some appreciation

• mantras

• start sending yourself happy messages all day – (See the post-it notes left by the Wick, KD and the Good Man’s Initiative in bathrooms all over campus if you need some inspiration.)

• it’s the little things!

For Hope, “self love is also connected to validation from other people–specifically, to not always needing validation from other people.  My idea of self love, the part of it that I’m still working on every day, is also being able to know that I’m a good person doing good things and not necessarily needing to hear that from someone else constantly.”

This LoveYoSelf Day, Hope and her fiancé Vince are “going to get dolled up and go to IvyWild.  It’s been on our Sewanee bucket list for a while now, and we’re both excited.  A little cliche, I guess, but I’m looking forward to it.”  (Hope, it’s not cliché, by the way!)

As a last little fun fact before Hope leaves us to enjoy her own LoveYoSelf Day, she’s shared her favorite aspect of herself!

“My favorite thing about myself is the vibe I’m able to give off.  I like being able to let people know that I’m someone that they can talk to–that I badly want to be the person people come to when they need to vent or rage or cry or laugh.  I love being approachable and being able to ask women, especially younger women, on coffee dates during which they’re comfortable enough to spill some heavy sh*t to me.  I love playing the nurturer for people, especially women, and I think I’m pretty good at it. ”

So when you see Hope around campus, make sure to say hey (and thank you, for all she does!) to our newest Campus Celeb!

And to everyone, on campus or not, Happy LoveYoSelf Day! Make sure you take advantage of it to the fullest extent. You deserve it!

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