text: 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 didn'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.'
target: LaNia Roberts is a freshman painting major at Syracuse University, 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 .