350 words are not enough to explain my full experience with mental illness but I will try my best like I always have had to do. My rough childhood contributed to my mental health issues. I was homeless for a few years because my mother started dating a woman, so my dad kicked us out on my 7th birthday. Eventually, we moved into the bad side of town, where there were regular shootings and where our apartment complex burned down twice because of meth labs. Meanwhile, I was heavily bullied at school since I was poor, my mom was gay, and my brother was autistic. I developed depression and anxiety at a young age, feeling like I was constantly going to drown from the deep black thoughts that always accompanied me. By the age of 14, I tried killing myself, and I entered my first mental hospital where I was officially diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety. In college, I was in an abusive relationship where my boyfriend would engage in domestic violence. The abuse got so bad that I tried to commit suicide again and went to another mental hospital at age 19, which led me to drop out of school. At the age of 20, I got pregnant and my mental health started to re-decline. To protect myself and my child, I was admitted into another mental hospital for the third time in my life. I realized that these institutions were not working. They just wanted me to be stable enough so that I would not kill/hurt myself before releasing me. I realized that most of these psychiatrists were not truly listening to their patients, instead, they were just treating them through medical prescriptions. Therefore, I wanted to help individuals like me, so I worked on my mental health, improved, and decided to become a child psychologist. I will help children like I used to be, I will actually listen to their issues, I will educate families on how to navigate all forms of mental health, instead of labeling them “stable” and releasing them back into the world.

Therefore, one of the biggest adversity I've had to face was being a student while raising my daughter at the same time. My daughter was born in late February 2019 and, in the fall of 2019, I decided to go back to college. At first, in my mind, I thought about how challenging it would be for me to successfully take care of my infant daughter and go to school. However, I reminded myself that I could do both if I truly put my mind to it, have my priorities straight, and manage my time well. So with my 5-month-old daughter, I started my Fall classes in August of 2019. I had to time things perfectly, for instance, I would breastfeed my daughter about eight times per day while simultaneously studying on my laptop. I also had to learn to make the most of my time, so I would study for a few hours during her nap times. I learned how to balance my school and my life as a mother. I learned how to sacrifice my own needs to better our futures together. I wanted to prove to myself and my daughter that I could go above and beyond and perform both jobs to my full potential. For example, I taught myself Spanish so I could teach my daughter two languages. I also took time to read books about "Children's Development" to make sure my daughter was on the right track at the different stages of her life. I enjoyed learning about her development so much that I decided to pursue a master's degree in child development. My daughter inspired me because I watched her grow and blossom into her own person. She taught me to see the world through the eyes of a child, and psychology is all about understanding the minds and views of other people. I never truly understood that women could do anything that they put their minds to until I successfully raised my daughter while going to school. This huge challenge has been a great positive experience in my life, for it has made me a stronger and better person. Two years have passed, and I graduated with my associate's degree in Psychology with a 4.0 GPA. I won an award in my college for being the most outstanding Psychology student in 2021. Furthermore, during this time, I also helped my friend start a Montessori-based daycare. I trained her teachers using the experience I gathered in school and during my research into child development while raising my daughter. I proved to both my daughter and myself that it is possible to fight for your dreams without sacrificing being a wonderful mother. This adversity has shown me how to be patient, kind, hard-working, determined, and bold in my life. My goal in life is to open my own child developmental clinic where we use the research and methods of Maria Montessori and change the perspective of people and how they see children. How children are more capable than most individuals think that children are capable of washing dishes, learning multiple languages, as well as start writing at the age of Two and a half. Doing this without the child truly having to work very hard to learn these skills but that their minds absorb it naturally. I want to show parents how they can help their children learn and fully reach their true potential not just physically but mentally as well.

I have faced many challenges being a mother of a two-and-half-year old. For example, teaching your child to dress herself in the morning is a challenge in itself. After struggling for 30 minutes with your child so that she does not put her arms through her pants, you need to make a healthy meal for your child. You have to make sure she takes her nap while constantly cleaning the house and buying healthy yet cheap groceries. On top of all that, you have to be your child's moral guide, teaching her to be kind to others, honest, and independent. You have to constantly plan new creative activities that will help your child develop appropriately and allow them to reach their full potential. However, you have to be mindful that you spend just the right amount of time with them to provide them with a secure attachment without becoming overly attached. Being a parent is giving all that you are to your child, never truly having a break. No wonder people say being a parent is a full-time job. I would argue that there are many times that parenting is a lot more demanding than many jobs. Another full-time job is being a full-time student. You have to attend class, complete homework assignments, quizzes, prepare a lot for final exams, and turn in projects. Therefore, one of the biggest challenges I've had to face was being a student while raising my daughter at the same time. My daughter was born in late February 2019 and, in the fall of 2019, I decided to go back to college. At first, in my mind, I thought about how challenging it would be for me to successfully take care of my infant daughter and go to school. However, I reminded myself that I could do both if I truly put my mind to it, have my priorities straight, and manage my time well. So with my 5-month-old daughter, I started my Fall classes in August of 2019. I had to time things perfectly, for instance, I would breastfeed my daughter about eight times per day while simultaneously studying on my laptop. I also had to learn to make the most of my time, so I would study for a few hours during her nap times. I learned how to balance my school and my life as a mother. I learned how to sacrifice my own needs to better our futures together. I wanted to prove to myself and my daughter that I could go above and beyond and perform both jobs to my full potential. For example, I taught myself Spanish so I could teach my daughter two languages. I also took time to read books about "Children's Development" to make sure my daughter was on the right track at the different stages of her life. I enjoyed learning about her development so much that I decided to pursue a master's degree in child development. My daughter inspired me because I watched her grow and blossom into her own person. She taught me to see the world through the eyes of a child, and psychology is all about understanding the minds and views of other people. I never truly understood that women could do anything that they put their minds to until I successfully raised my daughter while going to school. This huge challenge has been a great positive experience in my life, for it has made me a stronger and better person. Two years have passed, and I graduated with my associate's degree in Psychology with a 4.0 GPA. I won an award in my college for being the most outstanding Psychology student in 2021. Furthermore, during this time, I also helped my friend start a Montessori-based daycare. I trained her teachers using the experience I gathered in school and during my research into child development while raising my daughter. I proved to both my daughter and myself that it is possible to fight for your dreams without sacrificing being a wonderful mother. This challenge has shown me how to be patient, kind, hard-working, determined, and bold in my life. I am excited to see what else I can teach my daughter and myself in the future. I am about to start my first semester at the University of Tennessee of Chattanooga to finish getting my bachelor's in psychology. Most of my junior and senior year classes are not online and the campus is 40 minutes away from my home. This means I need to put my daughter in a Montessori daycare because I want her teachers to be consistent with the methods I've used so far to raise her. Therefore, this scholarship would be extremely helpful in allowing me to continue to pursue my education while properly raising my daughter. This would be a lifesaver because I do not have anyone near me who can help watch my daughter during school hours. This scholarship would allow me to fully focus on my school without sacrificing my daughter's development, giving me the peace of mind to do my best. I would be forever grateful to the wonderful people who helped provide the education my daughter and I need to grow in life for a better future. I promise you that this money will not be wasted on me, for I have the drive and determination to provide a better life for my family. I learned in life that you have to dig deep and push through to get the results you want. So even if I do not win this money, I will find other ways to succeed; nothing is going to stop me. I want to continue to show my daughter how to be strong, determined, ambitious, kind, and hard-working like my mother did for me. I hope that one day, my daughter will pass on those values to her children.