I make the people in my life make sure that they know I love them by making sure I am always there for them when they need me. I have often had times in my life where I felt alone and when struggling with depression and PTSD, It can be terrifying to be left all alone. I make sure that my friends know I will go out of my way to be there for them whether that means driving to their house in the middle of the night because they are feeling sad or reading over papers to help them with grammar, I am never too busy for the ones that I love. Another main way that I ensure the people I love know that they are loved is by making sure I tell them as often as possible. I do not think that it's "weird" to tell your friends you love them and I make sure to express my feelings verbally as openly and as often as I possibly can. I know I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to one of us and I hadn't told them how important they are to me.

I found out very suddenly in seventh grade how it felt to be bullied for being different when I made my relationship with a girl in my school public on my social media. I had one boy in my class who was assigned to sit at the desk next to me push his desk as far as he could away from me as he called me gross and stated, “I don’t want to be near her”. All his friends around us laughed and he just kept on saying terrible things about me. I felt so trapped and so embarrassed, I held back tears that entire class. I stopped going to science after that and I would sit in the girl’s bathroom every day. It ended up getting to the point where my teacher called my mother, asking why I suddenly wasn’t coming to class anymore. My mom told the teacher what had happened, my teacher moved my assigned seat. I felt happy that I didn’t have to sit next to him anymore, but I felt sad inside because I never stood up for myself. The year ended and summer went by, on the first day of eighth grade I walked into English class where there were only two open seats left. One was next to the boy who had bullied me, the other next to a girl id never met before, who was very obviously new to the school; I opted to take my chances with her. I sat down and we started talking, and before I knew it, we were friends. One day she and I were working on an English project together in class and the boy who had bullied me, who sat right in front of us, started talking loudly “I don’t know how someone could let themselves get that fat” and “She looks like that giant thing in that movie we saw” then he looked right at my friend. I looked at her and she was looking down and her face was so red, she was trying so hard not to cry. I remembered how horrible that feeling felt. I got up and I asked the teacher quietly to move our seats immediately, I didn’t want to make a scene and make her feel more embarrassed. The teacher came and talked to the boy, who very promptly after turned to me and asked why I had told on him. He called me a tattletale. I looked him straight in the eyes and told him “Yes, I told on you. You almost made her cry, does that make you feel good? Maybe you should think about what’s so deeply wrong with you that you think that’s fun” he just looked at me for a second, then turned around in his seat, and never bothered us again. I think for me this entire experience helped me to see that you must stand up for yourself if you ever want things to change. I let the bully get away with hurting me, and he went along and hurt someone else. After being held responsible for his words, he stopped. I will help change the world by teaching my future students and my own children that you really do need to be the change you want to see in the world. Sometimes when something is wrong you have to stand up against it alone, even if it's terrifying and you shake the whole time you do it. Sometimes you have to close your eyes, fight through the fear and do what’s right; because that’s how you change the world.

One characteristic about myself that I value a lot is my determination. I know that it may sound very cliche, but it is important because it is the reason that I am still here. I have dealt with depression since I started middle school and it has been a very debilitating battle sometimes. I have had many days where I would wake up in the morning and wonder why I am still even here, but I refused to give up. Throughout my childhood and my teenage years, I would battle with self-harm, anxiety, anorexia, and major depression. I have gone through two very traumatic events in my life that I felt I would never get through, but I am right here. I feel that my determination has helped me get this far in my life, as it gave me the will to get up out of my bed every day, stop self-harming, begin my journey to a healthy relationship with food and seek out professional help for my depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I found out I was pregnant at nineteen years old and I had never felt so scared in my entire life, but now I am a mother to the funniest and most amazing three-year-old boy I have ever met in my entire life. I never thought I would be able to keep a part-time job without going off of the deep end and spiraling into a dark pit of depression, but now I have a steady nine to five job and work forty hours a week. My determination has done nothing but give me the fight that I needed to stay alive, to beat an eating disorder, and to become a working mother. Without my determination, I would have lost this battle such a long time ago. I know that my determination is my best quality because it is the aura of everything I am. I know that I am still mentally ill and that I will always need some sort of help from my friends, family, and professionals. But I also know that I will never lose this battle, because if you are determined enough then you can win any battle. My determination has taught me that life, and beating all of these battles is not about how hard you can swing, but more so how many times you can pick up all of the pieces and get back up again. I know that I am only twenty-three and that life probably still has so many hits for me, but I know that I will always be okay because I know that I will always get back up.

One of the wisest things that I have ever been told was from my very first therapist. I was fourteen years old, and drowning in depression. I was spending my days hurting myself and trying my best to get through every day. When I started therapy I really despised myself. I felt ugly, disgusting and most of all, I truly believed that I was evil. I felt as if I could never get anything right. I felt terrible for all of the nights my best friends would stay up all night to text me so that I wouldn't hurt myself again. I felt like I was a burden to the world and that I would only ever cause harm. One day in therapy I decided to actually open up to my therapist and tell her all of these feelings I had been holding inside. My therapist looked me in my eyes as I sobbed and said "Evil people don't care if they are evil" I stopped crying so that I could hear her better "what?" I responded she looked at me and smiled and told me that I would not care about being evil if I was evil. "Evil people do not care about the harm that they cause and they definitely do not sob over it." What she said stayed with me for my entire life. I will never forget those words, her tone, or the look in her eyes when she said those words to me. Those words snapped me back into reality and showed me that I was a good person, or else I would not care about how I make my loved ones feel. Part of me believes that those words saved my life because I finally knew that I could create good on this earth.

I think one practical thing that would help people with mental health issues is making therapy a more common thing. I believe that it should be common to get mental health "check ups" as we do with our physical body by going to the doctor once a year. I think if people, especially children, started doing this we would stop many suicides and prevent things from getting so bad that people end up wanting to take their own lives. If I had been in therapy since a young age I believe that my depression would not have gotten so bad that I began hurting myself at the end of middle school. I will never understand why it is common practice to wait until someone is hurting themselves or wants to hurt themselves to try and get help. Another way that I believe we can help those who struggle with mental illness is by making it easier to find therapists. I think that schools should have a database that students can access that will give them contact information to a therapist they can see that takes their insurance. I also believe that everybody should have universal healthcare, but as that is not something easily done or "practical" to purpose, I believe that schools should offer all children under the age of eighteen free therapy and psychiatry as they offer reduced and free lunch plans.

One of my main goals that I have and have had since I was about eleven years old has always been to write my own book. I have written many short stories, poems and even fanfictions. I have always dreamed about becoming a published author and writing stories for mainly young teens that are dealing with mental illness. I have started writing a story that is loosely based off of myself and how my life was and felt when I was going through high school while dealing with depression, anxiety, coming out of the closet, an eating disorder and a very traumatic experience with an ex girlfriend. My entire life I have known that I would need to obtain an education and have a career that pays me money that I can rely on every month for my bills; so focusing on my passions, such as writing, have always been put on the back burner. If I won this scholarship it would help me to feel more secure about my financial situation when it comes to my education and I could focus more on my writing and finally finish this book that I have been working on for almost three years now. When I was a young teen I was always reading. I loved how it felt to pick up a book and just get lost in a brand new world where anything was possible. I loved reading about these characters and falling so deeply in love with them that I felt a piece of me was missing when I finished the book. I want to write books that these teens cant put down because not only are they written with passion and truth but because when they read my book they feel seen and heard and understood. I want to write books that give any kid that picks it up the understanding that they are not alone in these horrible, debilitating thoughts and feelings but that there is so much hope for them. I want to show all of these children that the most beautiful and happy lives can come from lonely, sad and scared beginnings.

My personal experience with mental illness has been rough to say the least. I have been diagnosed with PTSD, depression and anorexia. From a very young age I have battled with depression and self-harm. Most of my days as a young teen were spent laying in my bed wasting the days away or even cutting myself just to try and feel something different. As I got older I have learned different coping skills to deal with the trauma from my childhood and my early teen years although it has been a battle as I switched from therapist to therapist because talking about these events always made me run away scared. I have gotten so much better when it comes to facing these things as I got older; but the main reason I really started to work on these things and put more effort into tending to my mental health was when I had my son Mathew in 2018. I knew when I got pregnant that if I did not do all I can to help myself I would never be the best mother that I can be. I have battled depression, self harm, suicidal thoughts and even a suicide attempt and always got back up and lived another day of fighting these battles. Now, as I find myself an adult which as a young teen I never expected to make it to, I realize I have a lot of knowledge about mental health and mental illness that I could use to change the world. My main career goal is to become a guidance counselor. I would like to be a guidance counselor in a middle school or a high school specifically because I know that I can change things for young teenagers going through these debilitating feelings. I want to be that guidance counselor that the kids know they can go to because I will never prioritize grades, tests or anything else above their mental health and wellbeing. I want to be a voice and an advocate for kids who feel as if nobody in the world can hear them.

One major challenge I have continued to face since I became a mother in 2018 is maintaining my mental health. I know that for mothers this is a very difficult topic to talk about. Some days I get so overwhelmed with everything that I have on my plate that all I want to do is stay in my bed and watch the time tick away until it is time to go back to sleep; but I cant do that. Many mothers feel bad talking about feelings of depression and anxiety because they feel selfish for feeling these ways. My best friend who is also a mother is one of the only people I can tell these feelings to without hearing things like "But aren't you happy to be a mother?" or "So many people would kill to be you and have a baby in their life". Although I understand that many people would truly feel blessed to have a baby in their lives, they don't understand that even love is sometimes not enough to make these feelings leave your head. Sometimes I feel so stressed out about my financial situation that I am not even close to the best mother I can be. I get short-tempered, I sit with my face in my phone when I should be watching the movie with him and laughing and talking with him. I obsess over work when I am with my son because we need the money, but I know in my heart he needs his mom to spend that time with him more then the little bit of extra money; but making that choice is hard when the bills start rolling in and you begin to feel like you are drowning in debt, depression and worry. I cant lie and say that winning this scholarship would fix all of this, but it certainly would help. If I wont this scholarship that would just help me to spend a little bit more time focusing on what's important instead of obsessing over earning that extra crumb of money and then becoming so frustrated, worried and sad that I feel like I cant leave my bed. Life is always going to be an uphill battle for single moms, especially in the beginning like this. But this scholarship would help me put my education first for the first time ever. This scholarship would make it so that when I'm at work I'm not worried about paying for school and when I am with my baby I'm not focused about getting back to work to make more money so that I can go to school and pay the bills or when I am trying to complete school work but I'm wondering if I can even afford to continue on in my education. This scholarship would put a stop, even just a short one in that terrible cycle of worry and that is all I want. I know that it wont fix everything, but it will give me such a break from this cycle and I know I can give my all and have it all and give my son a fantastic life, but I just desperately need that break.

While their are many reasons that I need this scholarship, I think the most important reason would definitely be my son. I am a single mother of a three year old boy named Mathew. I work full-time, and also attend SUNY New Paltz full-time as an English major. I am already in a very substantial amount of school loan debt just from my associates degree and do get scared as I continue to watch the number get higher and higher. I want to provide Mathew with the best life I possibly can, and I know that means getting the best education I can and getting the best job I can to secure his future; but sometimes it feels counterproductive to continue going deeper and deeper into debt to try and make enough money so that I can one day pay for him to go to college and have the best life that he can until then. I will always keep trying and I will do whatever it takes to be the best I can be for him, but this scholarship would take a lot of stress off of my shoulders and give me a little bit more security knowing I am doing everything I can to stay in as little debt as possible while making something of myself for my son.

For a very long time I went through my life feeling empty and lost. I have always had dreams and goals; but never had true inspiration to complete these goals. I suffered from major depression, anxiety and PTSD for most of my teenage years. It wasn't until I turned nineteen and found out I was pregnant that I decided I needed to try and get my life in order. I started looking for a better job. I re-enrolled in school. I tried to eat as healthily as I could so that I could help my baby in any way possible. I gave birth to my son Mathew in 2018, and ever since that day my life has changed completely. Every decision I make now is for him. On those mornings when I wake up and just want to lay in bed and sleep the day away, I think of him. When I am tired and want to give up on school or work, he brings me back to reality. I know that if I fail, I don't just fail myself, I fail my baby. He didn't ask to be here and I will make sure I give him every possible thing I can. Before I had Mathew I had hoped I would be successful, now that I have him, I know I will be. There is no other choice.

This is my boyfriend hugging me after hours of labor. This picture is a moment in time that I will never forget, and never want to forget. This is the first picture of me right after I gave birth to my son Mathew. This is hands-down the boldest thing I have ever done in my entire life. At nineteen years old I found out I was pregnant and decided right then I would change my life and be the best mother I could be.

The first time I ever felt truly conflicted on how I felt about myself was when I was in seventh grade. I had known about being straight, and I had known about being gay or lesbian, but I didn't know what it meant to be bisexual. When I learned that you could like both girls and boys it was like my identity got handed to me on a silver platter. I finally understood myself; because before this I thought you could only like one or the other and I was always confused. I was raised in the Christian church and was taught that being with someone of the same gender was wrong and a sin. I struggled to love myself because I struggled to accept myself. I started secretly dating a girl that I really liked but insisted we keep it a secret for the first year. At first, I hated myself because I felt broken and wrong. Then, I hated god. I hated God for hating me, and for making me broken. I hated him because I loved him and he hated me for the way that he created me. I didn't think that it was fair that someone who was supposed to love me, who created me, could hate me for being with the person that I love. I hated that God's love was conditional and I only could earn it if I followed his rules, even if they made me miserable. As I grew up I learned a lot about myself, and I accepted myself. Then after I accepted myself, I began to love myself. Now today, I have a very different perspective on who and what god is. I believe that whatever higher power exists in the world does not hate us for who we love. I don't think the higher power that exists cares if you attend church on Sunday and read the bible. I believe that God will accept anybody who has a loving and kind soul into heaven, despite what the bible says are "sins". I refuse to believe that God would accept someone who lived a life full of hate, hurt others, and didn't care about or love anybody into heaven because they technically followed all of the rules in the bible but would turn me or any other homosexual away because of who we loved. Any just god wouldn't just send good and loving people to hell. I make sure that I tell my family and friends about this belief, and I know for a fact that I have changed a few minds in my own family when it comes to homosexuality. I will make sure to share these beliefs with my son and all of my future children, so they can pass it along to their friends and families too. I know that it's important because these beliefs helped me to love myself and have opened the eyes of many people, which in turn has changed other's lives too.

My journey with self-love is very hard for me to explain because it is far from over. I have battled with depression since I was about eleven years old, and I have just now gotten on the proper medications at age twenty-three. I started therapy at twelve when my mom made me start going because I passed out and was rushed to the hospital after starving myself for a weekend. I have been underweight, overweight, covered in cuts, I have even attempted suicide when I was fourteen years old. But I do have to say I have come very far in my battle. I haven't cut myself in years and stopped starving myself, although I do still battle with eating disorders to this day. One day I want to eat everything and have caused myself to become overweight, some days I hate my body and eat nothing. But I am still fighting and know I will win. Although it has been hard fighting this war in my head from such a young age, I am happy that I have had to do it. I know that I will be a very understanding mom and will be able to help my kids when they have their own battles with self-esteem and mental illness. I am a firm believer in having mental health checkups even when nothing is wrong because we have checkups for every other part of our body but not our brains? That doesn't make sense to me. The way I have felt about myself growing up is one of the main factors in how I will raise my children. I know what I wish my parents had said and done for me when I felt so alone and disgusting. I am going to make sure that my children never have to feel this way all by themselves, they will know I am there to fight this battle with them every step of the way.

One change that I want to see in the world and especially in my country is kindness. I see so many people in today's world hate other people for bigs differences, like religion, political beliefs, race, and gender. I even see people hate others for very small trivial things like weight, height, how attractive they are or aren't. I think it is very sad because we miss out on what could've been when we count somebody out for these differences. I refuse to befriend people who are racist or sexist because I do not personally want that kind of negativity in my or my child's life. But I do try to combat these negative beliefs by teaching the children I work with that gender and race do not determine who you are or what you can be. I make sure that I hear all the children's opinions and voices even when I do not feel they are correct about a situation because I believe the first step to making a kind and civil world is hearing each other out. So many people don't think that children have a valid opinion just because they are children. I majorly disagree. I know that these children I teach and all of the children in our world will one day be the adults of this world. They will make the decisions, laws, and shape the world we live in. If we don't treat our children with respect and kindness, how can we expect them to learn how to treat others with respect and kindness as adults? The children in my program know that they can come to me with anything because they know that no matter what the situation, I will treat them with respect. I have one young girl who has talked to me about being bisexual. She has asked me if it's okay if it's "allowed" and I have made sure to let her know that whatever way she is, is right and okay. I make sure she knows she is normal, valid, and accepted. I have one girl who told me that Donald Trump hates her and her family, I didn't know what to say because I didn't think it would be very professional for me to talk politics with children at work, but I couldn't let this girl feel like I wasn't hearing her. I told her I can't tell her if that's true or not because I can only tell her how I feel, but that I love her and that she is important to this classroom and this world. I told her that it doesn't matter how anybody feels about you, love or hate, you are still going to do amazing things in this world. I make sure all of the children in my class know they are destined for big and beautiful things no matter what anybody tries to tell them to the contrary. I think this is the first step to making our world a kinder place. I know that if we all just treat the children better, things will get better for the next generation. We have to prioritize our children if we want this world to be full of kindness. Children deserve to be heard, respected, and valued. They also need to be taught, that not liking something someone does or says is not a valid reason to be mean to them. If you don't like what someone says or does, talk about it so that you can come to a solution. I make sure that the children know being mean is like starting a fire, it doesn't just stop where you set it. You need to spread kindness whenever you can because one small act can set off a hundred other small kind acts that all add up. I know this works because the love I see from all of these children of different ages, races, genders, and religions in my classroom is what I want to see in the world.

My everything has, and always will be, the people that I love. Since a young age I have battled with depression and self-harm; my best friend Zoe is the one who helped me to continue my battle and stop hurting myself all throughout high-school. My friend Emily has helped me strive to reach my full potential by helping with every single math course I have taken in college and picks me up when I feel like I am a failure. They both take me as I am, flaws and all, and love me unconditionally. They make my life brighter and worth living and have since middle school when I met them. My son Mathew was not a planned baby. I was careful, on birth control, and had been with my boyfriend for six years when I got pregnant with him. It was like some higher power knew what I needed before I did. When I found out that I was pregnant on Halloween of 2017 I decided I needed to be everything I can be for him. I began going back to therapy and my psychiatrist to work on my mental health. When Mathew was born I re-enrolled in college classes and have finally completed my associate's degree. Before Mathew was born I always let my depression and anxiety take control of my life, I skipped school due to social anxiety and extremely low self-esteem. I quit all of my part-time jobs because in the hours before a shift I would feel debilitating fear and cry my eyes out the entire ride there, but never did I get help for these problems. I just accepted that this is how my life would be, sad, full of fear, and empty without a grander purpose. I went and got help when he was born because I knew he deserved a happy mother who reaches her full potential. I am now finished with my associate's degree. I have been working my job as a site supervisor watching children in an after-school program for over a year now; the longest amount and first time I have ever kept a job for more than a year. I have completed two consecutive semesters of my apprenticeship for the school-age care credential that will make me eligible for my next promotion with my company and passed the classes with a 96. I have always been capable of doing these great things but never knew it. The people that I love have given me the confidence to reach for the stars and chase my dreams.

Growing up was pretty hard for me and my siblings. A lot of the time when I was little I remember really missing my mom and feeling lonely. A part of me was angry at her for never being home with us. As I got older I realized she couldn't be home. My mom would wake up at 6 in the morning Monday through Friday and get me, my older sister, and my younger brother ready for school. She would then drop my sister off at school since it started at seven and bring me and my little brother to my friend's house so that my friend's mom could put us on the bus from her house. My mom did this so she could be at work by 7. When we got home from school either my older sister or my grandmother would get us off of the bus and watch us. I remember being mad that I didn't have anybody to help me with my homework. I was angry that after I was done with my homework, I had to help my little brother with his. I was livid that I missed my mom and by the time she got home at 9 I was exhausted and so was she and we could only talk for about twenty minutes before she went to bed on the couch in the living room. I was young and wasn't realizing she had to work those hours so that she could pay the rent. I didn't realize that she was exhausted and slept on the couch every night so that I could have a bedroom. She worked overtime to pay for rent in a home that she didn't even have a bed in, let alone a bedroom. I remember one day in middle school they handed out information about a field trip where we would all go to Boston and stay in a hotel for a weekend. I remember seeing the price on the very bottom of the paper and all of the excitement draining from me like I was a water balloon someone threw against the wall. I threw the paper away and forgot all about that trip. The only reason I remember this is because my mom found out about the trip one day when my friend's mother was talking to her. I can't forget the pain in my mother's eyes as she asked me why I didn't tell her. I didn't know what to say, so all I said was that I figured we couldn't afford it, it's so expensive. The next day at school I was called into the office, they needed me to fill out the room request form so that they could place me in a room with my friends on the trip. She called them, She figured out a way to send me on that trip. To this day I still don't know how she did it. Three years later, she did it again for my little brother's Boston trip. This is when I started realizing how much my mother has sacrificed for us. A single mother of three who left a physically and emotionally abusive relationship with nothing but a car that broke down every other day. No college degree and her closest family members other than us over 800 miles away. Working overtime making 7 dollars and 25 cents an hour paying over 1000 dollars in rent a month and utilities, food for the three of us, and still coming through for field trips. I don't know how I lived such a privileged life, or what I did to deserve a mother like her. But it taught me something so important and vital to who I am as a person, you always come through for your children. I don't care how much sweat blood and tears I have to shed, I will be a mother like her to my children. Once I become successful, she won't have to want for anything ever again because I will come through for her like she always did for me and my siblings. When I am working with children, I will always help them make things that need to happen, happen. I will be the free tutor their family can't afford. I will share my story with children who also feel angry at their parents for not being there with them so that they can understand. My mom changed who I became by being such a dedicated and loving mother. I want to love as she does, be dedicated, and hardworking like her. If I achieve only one thing in this life it will be my children seeing me like I see my mother, because then I will know I gave my all for them every single time.

Throughout my entire life, I have struggled with depression. I had spent many years of my life cutting myself, crying myself to sleep, and hating everything about myself. I tried my best to cope with the unexplainable pain that I felt on a day to day basis, but it always felt as if I was being pulled underwater and trying to break free from something that was yanking me down. I never felt whole, I always felt like I didn't know who I truly was. I remember at one point in my teenage years I would sit down and think to myself; what is my real favorite color? What is my real favorite song? but I didn't know. I always felt like I just picked a color, picked a song, said whatever would make people stick around even though I was constantly crying and depressed and never wanted to leave my room to hang out or keep any plans. This did get a little bit better as I grew up and moved out, but still, I was empty. I made it to age nineteen when I realized I was going nowhere. I had dropped out of college despite having okay grades, I was drinking almost every night and struggling to keep myself from quitting every part-time job that I had. I felt worthless. I only felt better when I drank and that scared me a lot. One night my friend offered me some pill and I took it, and I remember thinking I never wanted to stop feeling the way that pill made me feel. I wanted to buy it again, and again, and again. But then my period was late. Halloween 2017 I asked my boyfriend to go get me a pregnancy test and he did, it was positive. Every person in my life told me that it was my choice and that whatever I wanted to do was okay. I decided that day that this was god, or whatever higher power exists in the world, saving my life. I never bought that second pill because my life had meaning, I was a mother. I didn't touch a single drink, because I had to protect my baby. May 31st, 2018 I had my son Mathew and all I can remember thinking in that first moment when I held him in my arms and felt the warmth of his skin on mine, is that I never wanted to stop feeling the way this connection, this true and utter love, makes me feel. Ever since I have become a mother two years ago, I have completed my associate's degree, stopped binge drinking, and have never touched a single drug that was not prescribed to me. This helped me learn that I can do and create beautiful things in this world. I do not have to sit in the prison of my mind and wallow in my own suffering, I can reach out and get help. Through trial and error with many different therapists and psychiatrists, many different medication combinations, and the dedication and love that I have for my son, I now know I am powerful, brilliant, and will change the world for the better. I know because on May 31st, 2018 I already did.

I hope to have a very large impact on the next generation. I have always been very passionate about politics and the many issues in our world. My main goal for my career is to become a teacher, not only so I can help children learn in whatever way works best for them personally, but so I can make sure the next generation is taught about many important issues in our country and the world such as institutionalized racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, and many other important issues. I want to make sure that these children are not taught that racism ended when slavery did or that sexism ended when women got the right to vote. I want the children to understand that gay marriage was not legal in all of our fifty states until after 2010. I want to make sure the children know that we still have a pay gap between men and women and that the pay gap is even larger for women of color. Most importantly I want to show the children that change is possible in our world and country if we open our minds and listen to those who are being discriminated against. I think children can change our world and country positively if they know and understand the power their voices have. I also think that it is very important for me to show the children that even if they are not a part of the group that is being discriminated against they can help change the world too, by listening to the voices of those who are, doing whatever they can to help and be a good ally to them.

The role of education in my life is huge if I do say so myself. When I was young I struggled in school and just couldn't seem to understand any of what the teachers were trying to teach me. I always felt panic during tests and quizzes, even though I had studied. I always tried so hard, but in the end, always ended up feeling like a failure. When I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was ten I finally felt like there was an explanation for the struggles I was having with my education. When I was diagnosed my mom and I did research on ways that I could study that would help me more. I started taking medication and the school even worked with me to help me learn better. I started doing so much better in school and finally felt confident in my intelligence. Figuring out the best ways for me to learn and gaining that confidence changed my life because I finally realized that I am smart. I had such low self-esteem throughout my teenage years and to a degree even still; I hated my skin, my body, my hair, I have struggled through an eating disorder, depression, anxiety, and even self-harm, but I never doubted that I am smart. I have made bad decisions when it comes to my education before, but have always gotten back up when I was down. I know that I will reach my goals and help make the world a better place by helping children learn in whatever way works best for them. I know that I will because I love to learn. I have never been the person that hates school, even when I was young. Learning new things makes me feel the excitement and this amazing sense of accomplishment that nothing else can bring me. I do not doubt that even when I am completely done earning all of the degrees that I wish to earn I will still want to enroll in more classes; because I love being taught and learning information that at first seems complicated and impossible but working and studying to figure it out until I earn that grade, and earn that feeling of accomplishment that comes with finally understanding a new concept or idea. This is why I think education has a very big role in my life; because I feel my best when I'm learning, I know I will never want to stop earning that feeling.