Meet Cover Girl Winner Sophie O'Callaghan

She had a bad case of ‘imposter syndrome’, where you believe you are sure to be ‘found out’ as not good enough in your daily life, but it all changed for Sophie O’Callaghan when a strong fitness model inspired her to become strong herself. After finding a copy of Oxygen in a drawer at her workplace and using the training programs as a start to her new, healthier life, she reveals how she’s come full circle, gracing the cover as the winner of Oxygen’s Cover Girl Competition.

I wish I could give my 16-year-old self a giant hug! I had absolutely no clue about what I wanted when I was 16. I had so many dreams, but had so much negative self-talk in my head that I felt like I would never achieve anything. After school, I got accepted to study law at university, which had always been my dream, but I felt like I didn’t deserve to be there. I felt like I was not smart enough or talented enough. I felt like any second someone would call me out as undeserving. I had so much self-doubt.

My family were proud of me, but I was never proud of myself. At uni, I was not really doing anything for my body and my anxiety steadily got worse. I began to shut myself away from the world. I switched to studying by correspondence, so that I never had to be around people.

One day, during this low period, my sister showed me a photo of a fitness model she had been admiring. It was Paige Hathaway. She just looked so strong and powerful. That look of strength was appealing to me, because I felt like I was lacking any type of internal strength. I decided then that I was going to become strong — and that was when everything began to change for me.