From service and ministry to clubs and campus events, Aya Diaz ’18 is — in one word — involved. Those experiences at Loyola Marymount University have given her confidence she’s now looking to share with others.
In her four years at LMU, Diaz has been involved in The Learning Community (TLC), Belles Service Organization and Campus Ministry’s The Well and Women’s Group. She also founded The Fashion Society, has participated in Alternative Break trips to Nicaragua and Chicago, and led two summer orientations.
Through each experience, Diaz says she encountered and befriended women who — along with The Bible — have given her a deeper understanding of what it means to love herself, especially in college.
“I studied Matthew 6:30,” said Diaz, a marketing major, “and it really stuck out to me among a myriad of conversations I had with women at LMU in different organizations, on retreats and just in passing about how we all faced some type of struggle with loving ourselves.”
Citing a study that women often leave college with less self-confidence than when they entered, Diaz said she wants to change that. She added that she found that when women she met at LMU were vocal about their struggles, it opened the door to honest conversations about how to do the work of loving oneself.
“I just knew that before I graduated, I had to have a day to come together for a conversation about worth and self-love, and to uplift each other,” said Diaz, who spent the next two years developing ideas for an event to empower her peers.
Diaz was further inspired when in December she attended a Teen Vogue Summit meetup, which was hosted by then editor-in-chief Elaine Welteroth and centered around activism and creativity. Following the meetup, staff in TLC and Career and Professional Development encouraged Diaz to attend the Teen Vogue Summit, a two-day event in Playa Vista dedicated to empowering, equipping and connecting young visionaries across the country. It was there that she was motivated to finally bring to life her idea for a self-love event at LMU.
With inspiration and mentorship, Diaz founded Wildflowers — an on-campus, faith-based day to address self-confidence for women in college.
“It is such a powerful thing to be able to know who you are and to love who you are, flaws and all,” Diaz said. “Self-love is the kind of thing that sparks your imagination and gives you the confidence to pursue your purpose.”
The first Wildflowers: A Day of Self-Love took place April 8, featured more than 10 student organizations, speakers from on and off campus, and was attended by nearly 100 people from the LMU community.
“I’m so happy with how the event went,” Diaz added. “Everyone shared about how they felt so good walking around and visiting the self-love stations. So I’m just thrilled that people enjoyed themselves and that we will be able to give to Girls, Inc.”
By Manna Zelealem