Why Selena Gomez Inspires Me Selena Marie Gomez is an actress, singer, mental health advocate, and much more. She was born in Grand Prairie Texas on July 22, 1992. She began her acting career in the show “Barney and Friends” in the year 2002 up until 2004. She furthered her acting career on the famous Disney Channel show “Wizards of Waverly Place” (Cunningham). Before fame, she was raised by a single mother. Her mother had her when she was sixteen years old leaving them financially disadvantaged. Gomez’s mom had to work three jobs to support her and she sacrificed everything for her. (Silva; Hellomagazine.com.) Selena Gomez is known to be a very hard worker aside from acting in movies and tv shows Selena Gomez is a musician who dropped many albums and singles(Cunningham). She was also an executive producer on shows such as a Netflix mini-series “Thirteen Reasons Why” and the Netflix docuseries “Living Undocumented” and many more (Tinubu; Gomez). Selena Gomez was diagnosed with Lupus in the year 2015. This disease brought about many symptoms such as anxiety and depression that affected her mental health. While undergoing chemotherapy Gomez had to receive a kidney transplant. (Rocketto). This is very motivational and inspiring to me because she has had to balance her career and her physical and mental health in the public eye. It must be extremely difficult dealing with something very personal and have the entire world looking in on your journey, especially having anxiety and depression. She had to take time to put herself first before anything, including her career, to come back even better. After her recovery, she began to have conversations with health professionals and spread awareness on her social media to end the stigma around mental health and raise awareness for lupus. On September 3rd, 2020, Selena Gomez dropped a makeup line called Rare Beauty. It is involved with the mental health community. The Rare Impact Fund was launched to help raise a hundred million dollars in the next ten years to help people have access to mental health services. (Selena Gomez: How Beauty) “All the people who knock me down only inspire me to do better” (Meah). This statement to me said by Selena Gomez is very empowering because she has been through so much yet maintains a positive approach and helps others do the same. This emphasizes how strong she is because instead of giving up when she’s beaten down she exhibits perseverance. In this generation, we are in major need of advocates, like Selena Gomez. It is very helpful to see Selena Gomez have live conversations on Instagram with therapists and doctors to help other people do the same, including me. Especially during the start of quarantine, there were times I felt down and anxious because I was having trouble adjusting to online learning. Seeing Selena Gomez share those same feelings and seeing her overcome her obstacles helped me realize that I can overcome them too. Selena Gomez continues to spread awareness through her social media presence. She has used her platform not only to encourage her fans to register to vote but also has given her support to the Black Lives Matter movement by lending her platform to activists such as Kendrick Sampson to help educate and “amplify” important causes. (Drysdale). Selena Gomez always keeps a positive outlook and tries to spread that same positivity to others. Works Cited Cunningham, John. “Selena Gomez | Biography, Albums, Movies, & Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/biography/Selena-Gomez. Accessed 11 Dec. 2020. Drysdale‍, Jennifer. “How Selena Gomez’s Passion for Diversity and Mental Health Led to Her Most Inspiring Projects Yet.” Entertainment Tonight, 25 Sept. 2020, www.etonline.com/how-selena-gomezs-passion-for-diversity-led-to-her-most-inspiring-projects-yet-153664. Gomez, Selena. “‘I Feel Afraid for My Country.’ Selena Gomez on America’s Immigration Crisis.” Time, 1 Oct. 2019, time.com/5690070/selena-gomez-americas-immigration-crisis/?linkId=74639482. Meah, Asad. “35 Inspirational Selena Gomez Quotes On Success.” AwakenTheGreatnessWithin, 2 May 2019, www.awakenthegreatnesswithin.com/35-inspirational-selena-gomez-quotes-on-success Rocketto, Leah. “Everything You Need to Know about Lupus, Selena Gomez's Incurable Illness.” Insider, Insider, 9 Sept. 2019, www.insider.com/does-selena-gomez-have-lupus-what-is-it-2016-8. S.A., Hellomagazine.com. “Selena Gomez. Biography, News, Photos, and Videos.” Hellomagazine.com, www.hellomagazine.com/profiles/selena-gomez/. ---. “Selena Gomez: How Beauty Can Influence Our Mental Health.” CNN, 13 Oct. 2020, edition.cnn.com/style/article/selena-gomez-mental-health-beauty-wellness/index.html. ---. “Selena Gomez Is Currently Producing 16 Projects in Quarantine.” Showbiz Cheat Sheet, 16 Sept. 2020, www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/selena-gomez-producer.html. Silva, Jourdan. “Selena Gomez's Life In Texas Before She Got Famous Is Actually Relatable.” Narcity, Narcity, 21 June 2019, www.narcity.com/en-us/news/dallas/selena-gomezs-childhood-life-in-grand-prairie-texas-is-actually-relatable.

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