Some kids were obsessed with superheroes or Harry Potter growing up. Not me. What was I obsessed with growing up? The Electoral College. Ever since I was in 6th grade, I have been obsessed with politics and law. I was just 11 years old when the 2016 election took place and I immediately became hooked on watching the debates and rallies of both candidates. I did not even have political beliefs of my own yet, I just enjoyed listening to what politicians had to say. When Donald Trump won the 2016 election, I began a deep dive into the Electoral College and the Constitution. I was a feisty pre-teen who took on adults in political conversations at the kitchen table, looking to debate anyone and everyone I possibly could. Topics in politics, law, and government quickly became my passion and are still my passions today. Very quickly, I realized entering the political and legal world as a woman would come with its challenges. I was ridiculed in school for having such interests. I was often called a nerd and was told "women don't belong in government or law, have fun with that", even by adults. As an 11 year-old, hearing that was damaging. As time went by, I realized how little women are represented in the political and legal sphere. It was discouraging to see how much politics are controlled by men. But that fact did not deter me; in fact, it only gave me the motivation I needed to push aside the assumptions and prove that I can do it too. I started taking school much more seriously. I decided that if I wanted to become a lawyer or politician, I needed to start thinking and acting like one. I saw every class as an opportunity to expand my knowledge. In 2022, I spent my summer taking even more classes at the Pennsylvania Governor's School for Global and International Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, doing research in various topics including the political implications of nuclear energy around the world. I saw my education as the most valuable element of my life. The more educated I become, the more passionate I become about making an impact on the world through my career. Going to law school has been a dream of mine for years now. However, I am unsure if I will be able to fulfill my dreams. I am struggling to pay for undergraduate expenses, and the crippling debt that law school would put me into is unimaginable. The stress I am facing in paying for college currently is making me reconsider if I can afford to go to law school. Receiving this scholarship would ease my worries on paying for school and would allow me to be one step closer to achieving my dream of going to law school. Making a positive difference in this world through politics or law is my true life goal. If I can inspire just one young girl to enter the field that I love, then all of my time and hard work would make it worth it to me. Thank you for considering me for this scholarship.

Imagine an 11 year old girl glued to her TV screen during the 2016 election. Though she couldn't understand much about the world around her or the policies that the candidates talked about, she knew she saw a woman on TV, Hillary Clinton. The little girl was so excited to finally see a woman have the chance at becoming the President of the United States. The little girl who became obsessed with the government is me. I've always had a love for history and as I started to get older, I started to find a love for politics and law as well. However, I always saw this field as intimidating because it is so male dominated. From the very beginning of the nation, men have been at the heart of government. Not a single woman was involved in writing the Constitution. We still have yet to have a female president. Women, especially women of color, are highly underrepresented in Congress. Even though women are more than half the population, we only hold about 29% of Congress. This is a huge social issue. If we cannot have appropriate representation in Congress, how are the American people supposed to trust that our needs and concerns are being met sufficiently? Women need to be equally represented in politics, and that is the issue I hope to mend. We need to break the stigma around having women in positions of power, especially in politics. In middle school when I talked about how excited I was at the idea that a woman could become president, I was met with sexism from my classmates. "A woman could never become president! That's a man's job!" they said. At just 11 and 12 years old, my peers were already convinced that a woman could do no such job as one as important as being the leader of one of the biggest countries in the world. During the 2016 election, Trump supporters were asked why they thought a woman could not be president, to which they responded with answers such as "A woman has too many hormones, she could start a war in seconds". Putting their ignorance of how the separation of powers work aside, there is clear sexism in their answers. As more and more women continue to enter politics, I am hopeful that the stereotype will break. As a political science major, it is my goal to become a future politician. I have met several times with state Representatives to discuss various issues, including spending an entire day with my district's Representative. I was on the House floor in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives when the first Black female Speaker of the House was inducted, and, still to this day, it gives me chills thinking about the historic event I witnessed. I participated in lobbying with the Citizens for the Arts in my capital to raise awareness for funding for arts programs in schools. I spent a day with both a District Attorney and a District Judge, learning about various legal processes and how hard it can be for women to enter this field. Through my exposure and experience, I am confident that I will be able to make a difference in the underrepresentation of women in politics. One day, I hope that little girls can look up to me and see that they too can be who they want to be. I hope I can be the female political figure they look up to and see that politics are for everyone. If I can do it, then they can too.

Like many people during the Covid-19 pandemic, I found myself at home bored. After finishing my freshman year of high school in May 2020, I decided I needed to find something productive to do with my time. I took up many new hobbies during this period of my life, such as painting, growing my garden, and most importantly, doing yoga practices. I stumbled upon yoga accidentally. One day, I was scrolling through YouTube when I came across a "Yoga with Adriene" video in a 30-day yoga challenge series. With nothing else better to do, I clicked on the video and began to do the practice on my bedroom floor. I remember finishing the practice feeling wonderful. I didn't even have a yoga mat to do the practice on, but I was hooked. My original goal was to complete a full 30-day challenge, but I have passed that original goal. I have been doing yoga for three years now and haven't looked back since my first yoga practice. I have never been much of an athlete. I was never into playing any intense sports or waking up early to go to the gym. I was, and still am, a big band nerd. I have been playing various musical instruments for over a decade. Going into the 7th grade, I decided to go into my school's marching band playing trumpet. For an outsider, marching band may not look hard or like it requires much strength. Let me tell you, as someone who has held a trumpet up and played straight through a ten-minute show while marching all around a football field, I can confidently tell you that it takes a lot of strength and breath support. It is much harder than it looks. Playing trumpet in the marching band requires you to train your abdomen and lungs in ways to support your performance. You must learn how to expand your lung capacity to be able to hit and, most importantly, sustain the high notes that judges want to hear. Your abdomen is responsible for keeping you up straight while you're marching and keeping a strong base. Poor posture can result in points deducted from a show's score. Practicing yoga has helped me improve my marching band performance. Because of the breathing techniques I learned through yoga, I can have better breath support while performing. My abdomen has become much stronger and my posture while performing has improved significantly. As a result of my increased performance, I have won the MVP Award for my junior and senior years in marching band. Because of yoga, I have become a healthier performer. I will continue to be in marching band in college, when I join over 130 marching band members at Lebanon Valley College in the fall. Aside from the physical benefits of doing yoga, my mental health has improved. I have struggled with anxiety and depression for about 2 years. While yoga has not completely fixed my anxiety and depression, it does have a positive effect on my mental health. I noticed the more I do yoga and the longer the practices are, the better I feel mentally. Yoga has done so much for me. From improving my mental health to curing my pandemic boredom, I have taken something as horrific as the pandemic and turned it into something good for me. In addition, yoga has provided me with countless benefits as a marching band performer. I cannot wait to see where yoga takes me in college and how I will find new ways to incorporate it into my life.

My dream version of myself is a confident and powerful lawyer, fighting for justice for all.

Picture this: an 11 year old girl glued to her TV screen watching the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. This girl can’t take her eyes off of all the debates and can’t stop learning all about how the government works. Government processes and policies fascinate her. Weirdly, she becomes obsessed with how the electoral college works. Later, she watches as former President Trump pulls the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement. She sees Greta Thunberg speak on how world leaders are failing the next generation by not taking action to fight climate change. Now 17 years old, that little girl was me. My name is Ainsley Bressler and I am passionate about political science and law, with an interest in environmental science. I started becoming interested in political science and law just as I described, during the 2016 Presidential election. My interest in environmental science started last year, when I took an AP Environmental Science class that my school was offering. I loved this class because there was a heavy overlap of law and political science within the course. While attending the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for Global and International Studies this summer, hosted by the University of Pittsburgh, I increased my knowledge of global policy on environmental issues. Attending classes there gave me a new global perspective on various environmental issues that our generation will have to face. I learned there are whole other environmental obstacles that other countries face that the U.S. does not. Culture, politics, and geography all affect what a country can do to fight climate change and other environmental issues. In fact, while attending the school, I made my final project on the future use of nuclear energy around the world, with case studies in Australia, Egypt, and Slovakia because of the different challenges each country has with nuclear power usage. Other countries face different problems with environmental solutions. For example, though the country of Bermuda is extremely sunny, they cannot use solar panels because of their limestone roofs. This cultural aspect limits the country in renewable energy because they cannot use solar power. With all of my interests in mind, I would love to be able to combine my passions and become an environmental lawyer. Being an environmental lawyer would allow me to enforce the environmental regulations that keep our earth clean and safe. It would also allow me to represent clients in environmental lawsuits that have been affected by large corporations not following regulations. Fighting and winning for these victims shows other companies that they cannot get away with not following regulations and laws for the sake of making a profit. I can also see myself working in the legislative branch as an environmental lawyer. I would advise legislators on how environmental law would affect a bill and also what laws and regulations they would need to follow when creating a piece of legislation. In addition, I would be a resource for writing a new environmental regulation or law. Working in the legislative branch would combine all of my interests of law, political science, and environmental science. Being an environmental lawyer would allow me to fight to keep our planet clean for future generations to come.

I put a lot of pressure on myself, especially in school. This pressure, in moderation, is good. It made me more driven to get the best grades possible and take the most challenging courses available. It even led me to be valedictorian of my class! Outside of the classroom, I put pressure on myself musically. I am very involved in various music ensembles through my school, such as marching band, jazz band, and concert band. I am the Drum Major of my marching band and can play many instruments. This came through lots of hard work, but also a ton of pressure from myself. I felt I always needed to learn new instruments to fill in missing parts within the band. Eventually, I was needed for multiple instruments within the same performance. Last year in marching band, I performed on marimba, mellophone, trumpet, and I directed the band for half of our performance. It was intense to say the least, but I couldn’t tell my band director no. The pressure on me to do all of these tasks successfully became overbearing. Because of pressure, I had my first panic attack last year. That first panic attack was a wake-up call for me. I knew the amount of pressure I put on myself could not continue, but I also knew that putting no pressure on myself was not the route to go either. I wanted to find a way to still do well in school and musically, without the level of stress it had caused me previously. In addition, I want to pursue law as a career. I knew my current relationship with pressure and stress was unhealthy and it would not work in conjunction with being a lawyer. I can’t have panic attacks in the courtroom when I am representing a client. My passion for legal studies became my main driving force in making it my mission to be able to control the amount of pressure I put on myself. Immediately, I figured out this problem would not have just one solution. This was not going to be an easy fix either; this was going to take time and hard work. I’ve come to find making lists of tasks that involve various levels of stress and rating them has helped me identify what tasks I need to put pressure on myself to do and which I do not. Going to therapy has also helped me with stress. I have been able to grow as a person because of the tools my therapist has given me. I have to put work in therapy too. It is one thing to know what to do when you are putting too much pressure on yourself, but it's another to apply those skills to fix the problem. I have improved greatly when knowing when I am putting an unreasonable amount of pressure on myself. I know when to and when not to put pressure on myself now. I have been able to keep my good grades and musical abilities through all of this period of self-growth and feel confident in my mental health going into the legal field. I learned that I am stronger than I ever thought I was and that I am able to overcome whatever I put my mind to. Though my pressure problem is not completely fixed, I am proud to say I have come a long way from my first panic attack over surmounting pressure.

My name is Ainsley Bressler and I have a passion for law and political science. I am extremely interested in learning all about the world around me, both on a local scale and on a global scale. I hope to combine my love of law and political science and become a lawyer in the future. While attending the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for Global and International Studies at the University of Pittsburgh in the summer of 2022, I volunteered for service with an organization called Global Links. Located in Pittsburgh PA, Global Links takes donations from hospitals in the form of unused, sealed medical equipment. So much unopened medical equipment goes to waste when procedures, such as surgeries, take place. This unused medical equipment can be used, as there is nothing wrong with it, but hospitals are not allowed to use it on other patients. So, this is where Global Links steps in. They collect this unused medical equipment, sort it, and then based on need, they donate it to various communities around the world. There are so many communities around the world that are not able to afford medical equipment or have no way of getting it to their community. This is a large problem with extremely remote and secluded communities especially. Global Links also accepts items such as office chairs, desks, and stationary items from hospitals. This may seem unrelated at first, but these items are also sent to those communities to establish a proper doctor’s office for the community. These items are often overlooked, but are an important part to providing medical care for less fortunate communities around the world. Global Links provides important medical equipment to many communities around the world. Volunteering at Global Links has taught me a lot. For one, I learned that there are many different types of needles and they come in more of a variety of sizes than I could have ever imagined. Believe me, while I was there, I sorted through 90,000 of them. In all seriousness though, it has taught me that not all donations are particularly helpful. If the community does not need the items or does not have a proper way to dispose of the items, it may cause more problems than good. The donations need to be made in a sustainable way in that the community that it is given to needs to have a way to use and dispose of the items donated. The phrase ”Something is better than nothing” does not apply with donations, as I have learned. This concept I was particularly interested in because it was something relating to global impact and political science. I learned that I can have a global impact within my own community. Often, community service is looked at as something that directly benefits your community. This was my first volunteer experience that I felt had a huge impact and stretched further than just my own community. Even though I don’t know where each individual needle will go that I sorted, I know that what I did will help a lot of people in ways that I can’t even imagine. The needles can provide an entire community with vaccinations and create a healthy community. I value this community service more than any other community service I have done. It has taught me about global impact, how to sustainably donate, and that just a small needle can have such a large impact.

My marching band director, Mr. Haas, has truly impacted my life. Though he may not be a “coach” in the traditional sense of sports, he is no different than a coach to our band. Mr. Haas became my band director when I was a freshman in high school. Our school had two different band directors in the two years prior from Mr. Haas becoming our band director. The band was losing members at an alarming rate, mostly because of the instability of music directors. The band directors before Mr. Haas were very serious about achieving high scores at marching band competitions. They cared only about what place we ended up in and not about the students having fun. When Mr. Haas became our director, that all changed. Mr. Haas recognizes the importance of improving musicianship and scores, but he also values the sport as a family like no other. He made the marching band a space where everyone felt welcome, regardless of their race, gender identity, or even how well they could play their instrument. He always has the best dad jokes, even though he isn’t a dad, and always gives us fist bumps before taking the field to perform a show. He is one of the most supportive people I know. He pushed the band to achieve scores better than we have done in the past three years. Our end-of-season goal was to reach a score of 75 points, and we surpassed that score mid-season. This accomplishment is something that he is very proud of to this day. He takes our successes and losses as his own. I couldn’t ask for a better band director. Mr. Haas has taught me some of the most valuable attributes and skills I have today. Mr. Haas’s fighting spirit and determination for the band to be the best that it could ever be has rubbed off on me. I have used this new determination to reach high goals with my academics. One of my goals with academics was to become valedictorian. Well, because of what Mr. Haas has taught me about determination, and some work on my end, I am proud to say that I am valedictorian in my class of 685 students. His fighting spirit I plan to use in the courtroom when I am defending clients as a lawyer. He has taught me so many different ways of supporting people. As the Drum Major of my marching band, I often have to assist students with music and marching. Everyone learns differently, so I had to learn what each and every student needed support in and how I could support them best. Sometimes, that support included privately helping them with music. Other times, support was just checking in with them, asking them if they needed help with marching or the music. Communication skills is also something I learned from Mr. Haas. Addressing large groups of people is no easy task, and it involves a certain amount of confidence to speak in front of an entire band. Mr. Haas showed me how to communicate efficiently with people. This is another skill that I will use in future endeavors as a lawyer. The skills and attributes that my band director Mr. Haas has given me has shaped me into who I am today and I can’t thank him enough for all that he has done.

My name is Ainsley Bressler and I have a passion for legal studies and political science. I have always wanted to help people throughout my life. I knew that my main goal in my life was to change people’s lives, but I didn’t know through what means I would achieve that goal. My love for political science started when I was eleven years old during the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. I loved watching the debates between candidates and learning about how the U.S. government worked. As an eleven-year-old, I was fascinated with the electoral college. I would just wait for adults to bring up politics so I could jump in and give my opinion on the electoral college. This might be weird to think of a kid being fascinated with a government process, but believe me, I was. As I got older, my interest in politics has grown greatly from just the electoral college, but that topic does hold a special place in my heart as the first political topic that I loved arguing about. During the same time, my love for history started to grow as well. I loved learning about the United States and all of the various processes in government, as well as different cultures around the world. I thoroughly enjoyed all of my history classes and still do to this day. I push myself to learn about as much history and political science as I possibly can so that one day, I can make a career out of my love for legal studies and political science. They say history repeats itself. I fully believe that. There are countless examples of ways that history repeats itself. Almost always when we say that history repeats itself, it has a negative connotation associated with it. Humanity has too frequently repeated the bad parts of history to create this connotation. We can change that. By deeply studying history and political science, we can repeat the positive parts of history. Creating more fair and peaceful governments, gaining equal rights for minorities, and making strides for better environmental standards are all some positive ways that history can repeat itself. This does not mean that we should not learn about the negative parts of history. In fact, I am a strong believer in learning about all parts of history from different perspectives. There is a lack of willingness to learn about history, especially the negative parts. You must learn from various perspectives to gain the most accurate and full-picture look at the topic. Looking at various elements of culture, geography, and political science are all important lenses to approach any topic with, but especially when studying history. Without learning about the bad parts of history, we will inevitably repeat them without even knowing it. It is so incredibly important that people become educated on all parts of history so we can take as many lessons from it as possible. As someone who is going into the political science/law field, I recognize the importance of taking lessons from history and political science. I am determined, whether I become a lawyer, a judge, or a politician, to make strides to further humanity and make sure that the bad parts of history do not repeat itself. We, as one united humanity, can make positive effects on the world through taking lessons from history, and I am ready to begin to change the negative connotation of the phrase “History repeats itself” through my political and legal endeavors.

Harry Styles’s song “Matilda” has the most important message to me. I have struggled with anxiety for quite some time and have felt the need to mask my anxiety. Styles’s song “Matilda” says “you talk of the pain like it's all alright, but I know that you feel like a piece of you’s dead inside”. This line perfectly encapsulates how I feel about my anxiety. I strive for perfection, so I worry that people think less of me if I start showing my anxiety around them. To me, being diagnosed with anxiety meant that I was not perfect and that I was failing. A piece of my perfectionism died when I found out I have anxiety. Several times throughout the song, Styles sings “you can let it go…you don’t have to be sorry”. The repetition of these words hits me every time I listen to the song. It gives me permission over and over again to accept my anxiety as a party of who I am. I don’t have to apologize for having anxiety and I can let go of the mask I have forever held onto. My favorite line in the song is “I know they won’t hurt you anymore as long as you can let them go”. This line told me that no matter what I may think others think of me because of having anxiety, I have the power to let all of those thoughts go. I am in control of my anxious thoughts and will not be affected by them eventually. Harry Styles’s song “Matilda” tells me that having anxiety is not something to be ashamed of and that I have the ability to let go of my anxious thoughts.

I started having panic attacks in the summer of last year. I thought I had anxiety before having these panic attacks, but I didn't take these thoughts with a whole lot of seriousness. I felt uncomfortable sharing these anxious thoughts with my parents. I started having more depressive thoughts during the start of the pandemic, and they continuously got worse as the pandemic continued. Again, I felt uncomfortable sharing these depressive thoughts. I figured everyone was having these thoughts during the pandemic. Looking back, I realize there was definitely an increase of people suffering from mental health issues during the pandemic, but I still should have said something to my parents. My panic attacks always happened in front of my parents, but I don't think they took them as seriously as they should've at first. This led me to become even more anxious. I was afraid they would judge me because I was having panic attacks. In my mind, having panic attacks and depressive thoughts meant I was straying away from the perfect child they wanted me to be. When I felt a panic attack coming, I tried to talk myself through getting up in my own room or away from people so I felt people wouldn't judge me. "Just get up to your room, then the panic attack can come. Not in front of Mom and Dad, I don't want them to think I'm weird." is typically what went on through my head. I never was able to make it up to my room. After each panic attack, I thought to myself "Maybe this is the one that will make mom and dad take me to the doctor and get checked out, there's something wrong with me.". Finally, in April of 2022, my parents took me to get checked out. Through different tests, two doctors determined I had anxiety, and pretty severe anxiety at that. They also both told me I may have depression. The doctors said they didn't want to diagnose me with depression yet, even though my test results said I had depression. They told me I should be monitoring myself for depression and gave me a stack of papers with therapists on them about three inches thick. After the two doctors left, a med student came in and said "So I hear you have anxiety and maybe depression, can you participate in my study?". The student had the loudest voice I had ever heard and didn't even close the door when he said this. I felt embarrassed that the entire doctor's office had just heard I had anxiety. I almost broke down crying in the office. Just like with my parents, I felt like my mental health was not of concern to the doctors. They didn't spend much time with me at all and the way the med student looked at my mental health, it was just another variable he could use in his study. Nobody in the office seemed to be concerned with me or how I was feeling. As soon as I got home, I cried. I felt so violated and uncomfortable. I knew I had to do something to get better, but with everything that led up to the doctor's visit, I felt there was no end in sight. I was put on a waitlist for four months for a therapist. I thought to myself "What do they think is going to happen in those four months? My anxiety is going to fix itself? I'm not going to have any more panic attacks? What am I supposed to do?". Those were the longest four months of my entire life. I just started going to my therapist a couple weeks ago, and so far it's going ok. I am hopeful I will get better, but time will tell. My mental health has changed my view on a variety of topics. I used to be very Christian. My aunt is a pastor and my whole family is religious. Even most of my friends are Christian. When I started having panic attacks and my mental health was getting worse, I was told by some friends that "If you just pray to Jesus, he will take it all away.". I tried. I tried praying. I tried praying to Jesus. I tried praying to any God I could possibly think of to take this mental pain away from me. I tried so hard to believe that one day, Jesus would just take it all away. No amount of praying could take my mental health concerns away. I drifted away from religion all together, and while I have nothing against people who are religious, my mental health has changed the way I view religion for myself as a choice in my life. I aspire to become a lawyer in the future. I am concerned I might have a panic attack inside of the courtroom when I would defend a client. This thought was one of the turning points for me; I knew if I wanted to achieve my dreams of being a lawyer, I needed to get help. My relationships with people have changed drastically. I am becoming more open with not only my parents with my mental health, but my friends as well. I check in with my friends and their wellbeing more often. Sometimes, I think if someone would have just checked in with me more often, I might have been ok for a little bit longer. I recognize the importance of other's mental health because of what I have gone through. My experience with mental health has shaped the way I view religion for myself, as I no longer identify with a religion. My relationships with my friends and family have forever changed, and I figured out if I want to accomplish my dreams of becoming a lawyer, I need to take my mental health more seriously. I know now that my mental health is important and that I will get better.

I started having panic attacks in the summer of last year. I thought I had anxiety before having these panic attacks, but I didn't take these thoughts with a whole lot of seriousness. I felt uncomfortable sharing these anxious thoughts with my parents. I started having more depressive thoughts during the start of the pandemic, and they continuously got worse as the pandemic continued. Again, I felt uncomfortable sharing these depressive thoughts. I figured everyone was having these thoughts during the pandemic. Looking back, I realize there was definitely an increase of people suffering from mental health issues during the pandemic, but I still should have said something to my parents. My panic attacks always happened in front of my parents, but I don't think they took them as seriously as they should've at first. This led me to become even more anxious. I was afraid they would judge me because I was having panic attacks. In my mind, having panic attacks and depressive thoughts meant I was straying away from the perfect child they wanted me to be. When I felt a panic attack coming, I tried to talk myself through getting up in my own room or away from people so I felt people wouldn't judge me. "Just get up to your room, then the panic attack can come. Not in front of Mom and Dad, I don't want them to think I'm weird." is typically what went on through my head. I never was able to make it up to my room. After each panic attack, I thought to myself "Maybe this is the one that will make mom and dad take me to the doctor and get checked out, there's something wrong with me.". Finally, in April of 2022, my parents took me to get checked out. Through different tests, two doctors determined I had anxiety, and pretty severe anxiety at that. They also both told me I may have depression. The doctors said they didn't want to diagnose me with depression yet, even though my test results said I had depression. They told me I should be monitoring myself for depression and gave me a stack of papers with therapists on them about three inches thick. After the two doctors left, a med student came in and said "So I hear you have anxiety and maybe depression, can you participate in my study?". The student had the loudest voice I had ever heard and didn't even close the door when he said this. I felt embarrassed that the entire doctor's office had just heard I had anxiety. I almost broke down crying in the office. Just like with my parents, I felt like my mental health was not of concern to the doctors. They didn't spend much time with me at all and the way the med student looked at my mental health, it was just another variable he could use in his study. Nobody in the office seemed to be concerned with me or how I was feeling. As soon as I got home, I cried. I felt so violated and uncomfortable. I knew I had to do something to get better, but with everything that led up to the doctor's visit, I felt there was no end in sight. I was put on a waitlist for four months for a therapist. I thought to myself "What do they think is going to happen in those four months? My anxiety is going to fix itself? I'm not going to have any more panic attacks? What am I supposed to do?". Those were the longest four months of my entire life. I just started going to my therapist a couple weeks ago, and so far it's going ok. I am hopeful I will get better, but time will tell. My mental health has changed my view on a variety of topics. I used to be very Christian. My aunt is a pastor and my whole family is religious. Even most of my friends are Christian. When I started having panic attacks and my mental health was getting worse, I was told by some friends that "If you just pray to Jesus, he will take it all away.". I tried. I tried praying. I tried praying to Jesus. I tried praying to any God I could possibly think of to take this mental pain away from me. I tried so hard to believe that one day, Jesus would just take it all away. No amount of praying could take my mental health concerns away. I drifted away from religion all together, and while I have nothing against people who are religious, my mental health has changed the way I view religion for myself as a choice in my life. I aspire to become a lawyer in the future. I am concerned I might have a panic attack inside of the courtroom when I would defend a client. This thought was one of the turning points for me; I knew if I wanted to achieve my dreams of being a lawyer, I needed to get help. My relationships with people have changed drastically. I am becoming more open with not only my parents with my mental health, but my friends as well. I check in with my friends and their wellbeing more often. Sometimes, I think if someone would have just checked in with me more often, I might have been ok for a little bit longer. I recognize the importance of other's mental health because of what I have gone through. My experience with mental health has shaped the way I view religion for myself, as I no longer identify with a religion. My relationships with my friends and family have forever changed, and I figured out if I want to accomplish my dreams of becoming a lawyer, I need to take my mental health more seriously. I know now that my mental health is important and that I will get better.