Selena, Glamour's Woman of the Year: Singer Feels Empowered After Split With Justin Bieber

Posted on Nov 13th 2012 2:31PM by Brittany Galla

Jaime McCarthy, Getty Images

Even though her ex-boyfriend, Justin Bieber, was just a few miles away performing in Brooklyn, Selena Gomez put any break-up blues behind her when she attended last night's Glamour's 2012 Women of the Year Awards in NYC.

Sel was one of the honorees during the girl-power themed night, where she was awarded for her work as UNICEF's youngest-ever ambassador. Wearing a white-lace dress, she was all smiles throughout the show, despite choking up during her acceptance speech.

"I'm so honored to be in a room full of women I can only aspire to be as good as one day," Selena said to the crowd. "I feel so lucky that every day I get to work with interesting people that are way smarter than me and have taught me so much."

The "Love You Like a Love Song" singer said a special thanks to her mom, Mandy, and shared an uplifting message for her female fans, perhaps one that became more clear to her post-split. "I just want to share this with all the girls out there," Sel said. "You have a voice. You have a chance to just do what you love, whether that's acting or singing and just being true to who you are. And the person that's taught me that is my mom."

Taking a break from posting cryptic tweets assumed to be about the Biebs on her Twitter page, Sel instead took time from the jam-packed night to again tell fans how empowered she felt. "Speechless... So many powerful women here tonight. So inspired," she wrote, along with a picture of her table seating at the event.

As for Justin, he was finding inspiration from someone else in The Big Apple. He tweeted, "'Life is short. It's gonna be what it's gonna be. As long as u put your best foot forward.' -Glenn... words from a stranger I just met."

See Selena Gomez in Our "Relationship Reinvention" Gallery