Pikeville resident's thoughts on self-confidence appear in national teen magazine
By Winkie Lee
Published in News on July 10, 2005 2:00 AM
Brittany Harper of Pikeville appears in the August issue of Teen People.
She was asked to give an interview after she submitted e-mailed comments about a subject the magazine planned to cover.
The topic was body image and self-esteem, and Miss Harper, 20, told the magazine about how she used to worry about what people thought of her because of her size.
"As I got older, I saw that it didn't really matter," she says.
Michelle Hainer, an editor at the magazine, responded to her e-mail, asking some general questions. Later, she phoned Miss Harper and conducted an interview.
Photographer John Loomis went to Wayne Community College, where Miss Harper is studying elementary education, and shot pictures of her in one of the classrooms.
The magazine has begun arriving at newsstands.
Miss Harper says she hopes "that girls who care what people think or who feel bad about themselves will get to the point I have."
What led her to an increased sense of self-esteem?
"Being in high school and seeing that, once you get out of high school, just because you were popular doesn't mean you're going to be successful," she says.
Developing self-confidence was a part of maturing, she adds.
Miss Harper is the daughter of Tracy and Michael Atkins of Pikeville and David Harper of Goldsboro. She has a brother, Michael Atkins.