A recovering patient with an eating disorder introduced Georgia Southern University to National Eating Disorder Awareness Week by telling her personal story of living with anorexia and bulimia.

Last night, Georgia Southern University’s Student Dietetic Association brought Madison Preston to break the stereotypes associated with eating disorders through a personal account of someone struggling with the disease.

“I think that we all have a disordered eating pattern and that it’s vital to get the message out about the real signs and symptoms,” Vice President of SDA Morgan Schaack said.

One of the themes for National Eating Disorder Awareness Week is, “everyone knows someone.” During her speech, Preston adapted a statistic to show that there are up 2,000 students at GSU with an eating disorder, Schaack said.

In her story, Preston outlined how her first insecurities and tendencies developed through the years to become a disease. Once she learned to accept her eating disorder she has been more successful in recovery over the past year.

“It’s important to see a personal experience. What they show in school is completely different than how it really is,” Meagan Hess, junior nutrition major, said.

An eating disorder or even a poor relationship with food is something you have to work at everyday, Preston said.

Preston said, “I’ve learned that food is just food. Everything in moderation is okay.”