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Elizabeth Smart: 6 Years Later


Elizabeth is now 20 years old and a music performance major preparing for her junior year at Brigham Young University. "I'm doing great," she says. "I don't see myself any different than anybody else."

She attributes her incredible ability to cope to her family. When she first returned home, Elizabeth says her mother gave her advice that helped her move on. "'They already took nine months of your life away. Don't give them anymore.' So I just didn't think about being sad, because I was so happy to be home, and when my mom said that to me, I thought about it and tried to carry that out the rest of my life because I think that really is true," Elizabeth says. "I think if a person dwells upon something for so long, it will control them and it's harder for someone to move on with that."