I love LeBron James. He is the greatest basketball player of all time. He was in a movie called Space Jam. He also said “With that said I'm going for the Raiders. Lebron James !” he said his own name and I very much respect that. At times you have to say your own name to remind yourself that you are real. You are what you want yourself to be. Lebron James really emphasizes that to me. He has had a long life and made it out to be one of the coolest basketball players alive. He wore a full basketball zip-up outfit. He is very self-aware. I look up to his transparency and straightforward mindset. Plus he is very handsome and a person of color. As a person of color, I feel the way he has broken records and barriers in history is so admirable. He is a sign of peace, he is literally just there doing his own thing. I want to live by his words. I will continue to be my true self. I will use that to motivate myself to become as awesome as LeBron James. I will shout my own name when I am busy achieving my dream of taking care of animals.

I faced the struggles of depression and anxiety from a young age. It was unfortunately active against my will. What started as others horrible words to me transformed into my own disgusting sayings towards myself. As I grew older the depression only got worst. The emotions became stronger and so did the urges to leave. I felt so alone in my mind that it felt as though that was how it was in person. I could be surrounded by family and friends but still feel so alone. Depression is a disease. A brainwashing disease. It paralyzes your mind. It makes you feel cold and alone. I knew this disease was beginning to eat me alive when I started losing flesh. I had to find help before it would devour me whole. I took a chance and asked my mom if she would allow me to get therapy. She agreed and I began a path of therapy and medication. It got worse before it got better. I faced difficulties with medication but after a few trials I found what worked best for me. I found a cure for this disease. It took four years to no longer feel alone in a room. As long as I have myself, I have someone.

my chest compresses from the pressure in the atmosphere. the first day of high school since covid, i am now a sophomore. so many people swarmed the halls i felt i couldn’t breathe, i fixated on the floor to avoid glances. it was two years since i have been in such a crowded setting, compared to my cold isolated room that i grew dependent of. everyday of school seemed to be dreadful. two years of isolation, infecting a third year to be. that was until i realized i had to change, i needed to take a step towards healing. i took a risk in asking my strict minded parents about giving me therapy. they did not know that on top of the isolation due to quarantine, i was also experiencing a deeper isolation due to depression. a traumatic experience occurred in which those who i thought i could trust and call friends were the exact opposite. it is very traumatic to think about. from two years of isolation to a new one of torture. i had to move schools due to the anxiety and depression these old “friends” caused to me. i would have to face the individuals who ruined my adolescence. i had to face the monsters who robbed me of my innocence. who invaded my privacy and disobeyed my trust. leaving an everlasting effect on my ability to successfully build connections to others. i was a victim walking amongst my perpetrators, forced to pretend i was okay. when i was dying mentally causing me to want to die physically. but how could i ask my own mother, the goddess who brought life to me and gave me the name of angel, that i wanted to rob her of what she deemed “ a beautiful miracle “ ? which is why i asked for help. i loved my mother too much to rob her of the beautiful memories we had. she was a single mother who worked nights in order to provide for us but also watch me in the day. her presence and guidance is how i have grown to who i am today. she guided my hand as it held a spoon to eat, the hand that learned to write, and the hand that added comfort to hugs. i recognize my mothers growth as well, her strictness was due to her anxiety of me learning about the difficulties of life in a hard way. for she had depression and anxiety, as well as her mother, and grandmother. a long sequence of generational traumas that i knew i had to heal. i could not let this trauma dwell into anger. my mother acknowledged my traumatic feelings and intense emotions. she allowed me to get therapy along with moving to a new high school environment. in this school i was able to heal and apply what i was learning in therapy into my everyday life. i began to see a light in the dark tunnel of life. i grew into someone who joined the high school leadership team, i found a passion in caring for animals. i overcame that anxiety of school and now want to pursue college in hopes of achieving my dream of providing our furry friends with the utmost love and support. they bring smiles to so many faces because they are simply being themselves. i want to make sure every pet is able to bring a smile to others, i want others to experience that light. i want to achieve my purpose in bringing happiness to this world. please gave a wonderful day. thank you.