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Alex Koszeghy, 23 years old, checked one thing off of her personal college bucket list when she painted herself blue and sprinkled glitter all over her for a University of North Carolina football game. Little did she knew that her expression of school pride and spirit would help her recover from a haunting eating disorder, according to People.
Koszeghy, who majors in psychology, told People, “It was years of voices in my head constantly saying, ‘You’re fat,’ ‘Why did you eat that?,’ ‘Go exercise’ — and it was 24/7.”
She continued, “I felt like I lost all my friendships because I would be too worried about being around food, my relationship with my parents went very south. I felt completely alone. I was continually battling this demon in my head that I couldn’t get rid of.”
Koszeghy, who’s now in her senior year, had been struggling with anorexia since she was only 16 years old. She described it as similar to a “living hell.” She first tried to recover from it when she was 18. Then, she discovered a better solution when she sought out faith-based counseling when she was 20.
She said, “I no longer saw myself as just a body or the number on a scale.”
Talking about her famous alter-ego, Koszeghy said, “The Glitter Girl persona is kind of an extension of my own personality, but it gives me more confidence when I’m in glitter because it’s almost like I’m more free to be me and can be a little weirder. Sometimes I have insecurities about my body as Alex, but as Glitter Girl I can be more confident.”
Being Glitter Girl helped Koszeghy face her self-doubt and low confidence with a skin she felt courageous and willful in.
Koszeghy said, “For the last home game I wanted to do full body glitter and just wear a jog bra. It was super scary because I felt like everybody could see my stomach, but I like my facing my fears. I did it and I remember thinking, ‘Nobody’s even looking at my stomach. Everybody’s just focused on the glitter.’ That was a big step.”
‘Glitter Girl’ gave Koszeghy a lens in which she can see and appreciate her uniqueness, own it, and express it without inhibitions.
Koszeghy said, “Glitter Girl has helped me realize that I like standing out. I think for a long time I tried to hide and blend in, and then I realized I like being different. Glitter Girl is the culmination of [my desire to] stand out from the crowd.”
