An art student at Syracuse University has taken a positive stand on self love and is sharing her secrets to accepting her flaws through a series of stunning self-portraits - and motivational speaking . Three years ago on New Year 's Day , LaNia Roberts was standing in front of her mirror , vowing to change herself - but also to love herself more , after enduring years of cruel comments from her peers , and an ever-present feeling of self-doubt . Now , at only 18 , LaNia is sharing details of how she learned to accept herself for who she is – and how , through her love of art , she learned to find beauty within her own appearance . Picture perfect : 18-year-old Syracuse painting student LaNia Roberts recently gave a speech at the university on learning to love one 's self unconditionally . The artist : LaNia specializes in self-portraits , which she began painting in high school . Earlier this month , LaNia gave a moving motivational speech titled 'Love Yourself Unconditionally ' , during which the Louisville native LaNia recounted her journey to self-acceptance and eagerly shared the lessons she has learned . The path to this realization came after LaNia made that New Year 's resolution in 2012 . She joined the track team at her high school and lost 50 pounds , eventually being able to stand in front of that mirror again and call herself beautiful . She also began painting self-portraits as a means of embracing her own appearance and finding beauty within every flaw . 'Little did I know that love was so conditional , ' LaNia explained in her speech , reports The Daily Orange . 'It was like accepting the terms and conditions that you check when you 're making a new Facebook or something . ' But then over the summer of junior year , LaNia gained the weight back . 'Every pound that I gained , I lost a pound of love , ' she said . 'So you can do the math of how much love I lost for myself . I would look at myself in the mirror and say , `` Oh my gosh . '' ' Lessons learned : LaNia 's journey began after making a New Year 's resolution to lose weight and love herself more back in 2012 . Talented : Before coming to Syracuse , the Louisville native had been accepted to a highly-selective art program at The Kentucky Governor ’ s School for the Arts . However , her paintings tell a different story . 'When it comes to painting a self-portrait , I could turn those things that I did n't really love into something that was beautiful not only to me , but to others , ' LaNia told Cosmo . 'Beauty is learned . Beauty is something that we have learned over time , ' LaNia told Cosmo . 'Now I 'm actually understanding that it 's not other people accepting me that leads to happiness . ' Focusing more on her artistic flair than her physical appearance , LaNia became more confident , more outspoken , and vowed to take more risks . She was accepted to a highly-selective art program at The Kentucky Governor ’ s School for the Arts and even had the confidence to confess to a man that she thought he was 'the most beautiful man on this damn earth . ' But for LaNia , the real moment of self-acceptance came one night when she was getting ready to go out , and noticed that her jeans were not fitting quite right . 'Little did I know that love was so conditional ' : LaNia lost 50 pounds after deciding she wanted to change her appearance , but later gained the weight back , which caused her to change her outlook . Taking the stage : LaNia recently decided to share her journey to self-acceptance with her peers . 'My love-handles was poking out a little bit , so I looked in the mirror and said `` Oh , that doesn ’ t look too good , but somebody ’ s going to love them someday , '' ' she explained . LaNia says that she realized then that she could not count on others for validation on loving herself , because , as she told the Syracuse crowd : ' you are the only thing that you are promised your entire life . ' 'We learn that if something is flawed , it 's supposed to become something else , ' she added to Cosmo . 'And I am learning that I , LaNia , my body , everything , it does not need to be like something else . '
LaNia Roberts is a freshman painting major at Syracuse , in New York , and specializes in creating colorful self-portraits . The 18-year-old recently gave a moving on-campus speech about unconditional self-love . Her speech detailed her journey from being bullied as a child to eventually realizing she did not have to meet the physical standards of others .