Elizabeth Schalk Memorial Scholarship

I felt like a freak as I sat in the chair of the doctor's office, awaiting my results. I had spent the last few months dealing with tics, quickly becoming an outcast among my friends. They would tell me to "knock it off" or that it "creeped them out." But it wasn't my fault; I had no control over it. I spent so much time explaining that to them, but they never listened. I had no idea what to do about it or what may be causing it. I just decided to wait it out, hoping I would simply grow out of it. However, my condition continued to worsen, so I knew it was time to do something about it. So I finally decided it was time to get checked out, hoping there was a cure to whatever was plaguing me. The doctor told me that my tics were a symptom of extremely high anxiety levels, which I had been dealing with as a side effect of the many things happening in my life. I had been taking many challenging classes while balancing my extracurriculars and dealing with issues at home and with my friends. She explained that if I could get my stress under control, my tics would start to disappear. I was so relieved to find out that I would get to be "normal" again. I was then prescribed medication and began therapy to help me manage my anxiety. Shortly after, I saw improvement in my tics and my overall mental well-being. The medication targeted my anxiety, alleviating my stress and no longer triggering my tics, which helped me function better in areas of my life such as a classroom, a soccer field, social events, and more. Currently, I am at a place where I rarely ever experience tics, and I find myself managing stress and mental health in much healthier ways than I used to. My experience with my mental health and therapy made me change the way I see the world. It has helped me so much, and I have come far from where I once was. I believe everybody deserves access to therapy or mental health resources. I also believe that we need to eliminate the stigma around mental illness. Many people with some form of mental illness already struggle to cope, and shaming them can only worsen matters. I want to help others as I once was, and now I aspire to be a therapist. I want to specialize in helping kids and teens. I've begun taking classes to help me plan my career, such as psychology and careers in education. The brain is in such an intense developmental stage, and many teens nowadays struggle with mental health more than ever, while resources and education are minimal. I want to help other young adults entering our society feel and achieve their best and teach them the resources to do so. Because I believe everybody has the right to feel good.