Jennifer Wayland, 15, who attends Parkway Central High in Chesterfield, Missouri, quietly existed in a lonely well of low-self-esteem, shame about her body, and as she puts it, the feeling that she "took up too much space." Then she found the courage to tell her mom and so began the tough road back to regaining control of her health and self-confidence.
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The ninth grader earned a prestigious award for the compelling essay she wrote on her struggle with body image and disordered eating. On May 1, Sharon Robinson, the daughter of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, presented Wayland with the grand prize in the 'Jackie Robinson Breaking Barriers' essay contest, sponsored by Major League Baseball and Scholastic. The other grand prize-winner was Luke Lunday, a fifth grader who has cerebral palsy and shared his determination to ride a bicycle on his own. The contest received more than 18,000 submissions.
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