Brianna Simms

​Brianna Simms - Ohio
Nomination and Photography by
​Capture Life Photography by Davinda
Issue 45 of Inspiring Teens Magazine
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​Nomination: Brianna Simms is a beautiful young girl, and like many others is not without scars and broken pieces. She has found strength and courage within herself to grow and learn even through adversity and loss. She pushes herself and encourages her friends and peers to try everything, even the scary things, so to never look back with regret. She believes in herself and demonstrates extreme integrity. Brianna is a girl who knows her self-worth and encourages others to find theirs as well.

Photography by ​Capture Life Photography by Davinda

​What does self-love mean to you?
Self-love means appreciating our bodies for all the amazing things it does for us. To always love ourselves no matter how we look or what we are wearing. Never allowing the words of others degrading how we appear. After all the struggles we face through life, day after day, struggling with loving our bodies shouldn’t be one of them. It goes much deeper than appearance. We should all be grateful that we are fortunate enough have the abilities that we do.

Why do you feel it is so important?
I feel that self-love is so important because life is the greatest gift any of us could ever receive. We wouldn’t be able to see the world or hear the many sounds on earth without our bodies. We are ALL special. Every single one of us. We are all beautiful. We all spend our lives trying to look a certain way for society. We should live by that. Wear what makes you happy! Go out and do things that excite you! We only get one life on this beautiful earth, we shouldn’t spend it wishing we could be different, or look different. Everyone is perfect.

What inspiring things about you does your nomination not cover?
Davinda has covered so many inspiring things about me already. I would like to add that even I go through periods of time where I fall, or I have a hard day and it’s not as easy to get back to as it usually is. But even with those days we have to be strong and remember our worth and why we’re here and what our purpose is. Even the people who know and value the importance of self-love struggle. We all struggle but the willpower to fight through the hard days is what makes us strong. I believe that it is important to cover that everyone falls down. But, with the willpower to fight and love ourselves and our bodies, we can all be happy.

Photography by ​Capture Life Photography by Davinda

​Let's talk about Davinda. Why did you choose her as your senior photographer and what did you love about your experience with her?
I chose Davinda as my senior photographer because I knew she would do more than just capture my senior year. She captured me. Immediately after we met, I knew that no one could have done the job better. She took the time to get to know me. She would send me magazines and show me pictures of places and sets she would know I’d love and create a set to fit exactly how I wanted. Her husband even went as far to build me a prop completely from scratch just to create the set I that would make me happy. I love spending every minute with her.

Tell us about your nomination image and the story behind it.
My nomination image was taken in a staged room. The room was a bathroom filled with newspapers. Thousands of words on them. They covered every inch of the room. But, with all those words and everything going on, just looking into the bathroom mirror and know that you are beautiful. We all need that reminder here and there. Maybe we should say it every morning to ourselves when we look. Or maybe it’s just there to stare back at us while we’re looking at ourselves. But, in that small part of our days, in that moment when we’re alone looking at ourselves, we should always be reminded that we are beautiful.

Photography by ​Capture Life Photography by Davinda

​You sent in a second image of you with a nose ... brace? on. Tell us about that.
I chose the image of my nose because I believed it was very fitting for the topic of self-love. I had a rhinoplasty done in February. Some people could argue that getting a nose job isn’t self love at all, but I disagree. My point is to do whatever makes YOU happy. I was unhappy with my nose for many years. Finally, after turning eighteen I thought to myself, that this was something I really wanted. I knew that doing it would make me very happy. I can say that two months post surgery I am extremely happy and confident. I don’t look much different, some people who knew me before couldn’t even tell a difference. But it changed my life and helped me feel more comfortable with myself.

If you were to present a topic to a group of your peers, what would it be on and why?
I would present the benefits and outcomes of loving yourself. Ways to achieve our goals of what it takes for each of us to understand our worth. Also, making sure that we all know it is more important to be beautiful on the inside than the outside.

What is the hardest thing you have ever accomplished, and how did you do it?
The hardest thing I have ever accomplished was trying to figure out who I was after my dad passed away. Being a teenager and still in your prime years of growing and figuring life out is difficult alone. To lose a parent while learning about yourself and the world was much more difficult. After his death, my grades and attendance at school started to slip. I am a student who loves attending and has a 3.8 GPA. I was struggling very hard to get back to my old life.
In this sense, COVID-19 helped me. When school got shut down, I needed that time at home to heal. After a year later I am not sure where I would be without the time I had to heal during the pandemic. I am so thankful for all my friends and family who supported me and helped me get through what was definitely the hardest part of my life. Although I can’t say I have completely accomplished this, but I have come very far from the beginning.

Photography by ​Capture Life Photography by Davinda

Where do you see yourself in 5 years/what are your plans?
 In five years, I will either be graduating or graduated from college with my bachelors in nursing. I will be waiting to see if I have gotten accepted into CRNA school, to get my doctorate in nursing and become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. While working as a registered nurse in the meantime.

3 Things on your bucket list.
Number one on my bucket list is to go through life being happy. Being happy is my greatest value, it trumps everything in the world. I wouldn’t know who I was if I wasn’t happy.
Number two would be to travel to all fifty states and as many countries as I could possibly travel to in a lifetime. I want to see the world and experience different cultures. Learning new ways to simply live life inspires me.
And number three would be to work with a charity. It has always been a dream of mine to travel with charity groups and help around the world. I want to make the change that we wish to see. Doing this would make me feel like I fulfilled my purpose.

Who do you find inspiring?
 I find it incredibly inspiring when anyone talks about their goals in life. When hearing all the different passions and values in life, to see their faces light up like there is nothing better in life, that inspires me. I hope to be having that conversation with someone and my eyes lighting up. I want to strive for my goals and work hard and feel that sense of accomplishment in the end.

What about you inspires others/why do you think you are inspiring?
Something about me that I find inspiring is that I am me. I have accepted that I am who I am. I love myself and nothing could ever change that. My friends always talk about how they admire me for the fact that I know who I am and don’t wish to be anyone else. I feel that the sooner everyone comes to that realization and loves themselves for who they are, the world will be a happier place.

Look for Brianna in issue 45 of Inspiring Teens Magazine!

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click here for more information on issue 45

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