Since middle school, anxiety and depression have played a significant role in my life, sometimes making ordinary decisions feel overwhelming. At age 37, I was also diagnosed with OCD and ADHD. I then began six months of Exposure and Response Prevention therapy and other treatment. Understanding what I was experiencing—and learning to seek appropriate help—changed the way I view mental health. Asking for support is not weakness; it is difficult, courageous work. That lesson now shapes my goal of becoming a counselor for adolescents and young adults who feel unseen, misunderstood, or afraid to ask for help. My mental-health journey has affected my relationships, beliefs, and understanding of suffering. It has taught me that progress is often slow and that steady presence matters more than quick solutions. By remaining in treatment, pursuing accurate diagnoses, and continuing graduate school while working full time and managing chronic pain, I have learned to advocate for myself. These experiences have made me a more patient listener and compassionate advocate. Rather than allowing hardship to make me bitter, I have tried to let it deepen my empathy and strengthen my desire to walk alongside people during some of their most difficult years. For sixteen years, I have served in church youth ministry. I currently lead a group of tenth-grade girls whom I have known and supported since sixth grade, and I plan to remain their small-group leader through high-school graduation. It has been a privilege to offer consistent support for many years rather than only for a few months. I have also supported young people facing self-harm, suicidal thoughts, trauma, pregnancy, substance use, identity struggles, and other serious challenges. These experiences have shown me how important it is for adolescents to have trustworthy adults who listen without judgment, recognize when professional help is needed, and remain present. Since 2020, I have worked full time at two public schools. I served on the opening leadership team for Heron Virtual Academy, South Carolina’s first alternative virtual middle and high school, and I have been the school’s middle-school advisor and success coach. In this role, I help students navigate academic, emotional, and personal barriers. I build relationships with students and their families, advocate for their educational needs, encourage their interests, and remind them that they are capable and worthy of support. Our school’s completion of the Trauma-Skilled Schools Model certification further strengthened my commitment to understanding how pain and unmet needs can affect student behavior. I began the Master of Arts in Clinical Counseling program at Columbia International University in January 2026. While working full-time and maintaining my church commitments, I have earned all As through my first two semesters. Balancing graduate school, work, ministry, family, and self-care has required discipline, but it has confirmed that counseling is the path I am meant to pursue. The Elizabeth Schalk Memorial Scholarship would reduce the financial strain of graduate school, particularly during practicums and unpaid supervised hours. It would help me transform my lived experience with mental illness into practical hope for young people and families. I want to become the person who shows up, listens carefully, connects others with help, and stays.

My commitment to young people is long-standing and practical: for over 16 years (since 2009), I’ve served in youth ministry, and for the past several years, I helped to open a brand new alternative education middle/high school (HVASC) that I've been working full-time at since then. Those two experiences have given me sustained, direct exposure to adolescents who are struggling emotionally, academically, and socially — and I’ve stood with them through some of their darkest moments. I’ve walked with students facing sexual assault, abuse, suicidal ideation and attempts, self‑harm, teen pregnancy and parenting, juvenile justice system involvement, foster‑care placement, and many other crises. I haven’t shied away from teenagers when their needs were hardest to meet; I leaned in. That willingness to be present where others often avoid is a core advantage I bring to this scholarship. Those experiences already show measurable impact: I advocate for students who have been marginalized, support their academic progress, provide consistent emotional care, and help them build trust and resilience. I combine compassion with accountability — encouraging and cheering them on while also speaking truth and setting boundaries. My approach is practical and relational: I use humor and honesty to connect, I listen without judgment, and I persist when others give up. This is not theoretical work for me; it’s daily, demanding, and meaningful. Pursuing an MA in Clinical Counseling will allow me to turn years of hands‑on experience into deeper, evidence‑informed help for adolescents. This degree will equip me with therapeutic skills and clinical knowledge to more effectively treat anxiety, trauma, self‑harm, and other serious concerns common to this generation. I intend to use those tools directly with students in alternative education and youth ministry settings, expanding both my reach and the quality of care I provide. Academically and personally, I have proven I can manage heavy responsibilities while maintaining excellence. I currently hold a 3.914 GPA in graduate school with four A’s so far, all while working full-time at an alternative education middle/high school and continuing my volunteer ministry commitments which include leading a small group of 13 ninth grade girls. I support myself as a 36‑year‑old single woman, and I do this while managing GAD, OCD, ADHD, and chronic pain for the last decade that includes psychological and medical trauma plus two herniated disc spinal surgeries in recent years. Those lived challenges have strengthened my empathy, resilience, and time‑management skills — qualities that make me a better clinician and advocate for youth. In short, I would be deeply grateful for this scholarship because I already make a real difference for adolescents in crisis, I have the academic record and work ethic to succeed in graduate training, and I bring rare, sustained experience with high‑needs youth that many applicants will not have. This support would directly expand my ability to serve the next generation — helping anxious, traumatized, and marginalized young people find safety, growth, and hope.

I embody selflessness by showing up, staying present, and choosing others over my comfort and convenience. I grew up feeling a little “off”—a tomboy who didn’t fit the mold, carrying anxiety and depression through adolescence into adulthood. At 36 now, I've received diagnoses of OCD and ADHD, which reframed what I once called personal failures into understandable patterns and clarified my calling: to stand with and support adolescents who feel broken, strange, or unseen. For sixteen years, I’ve shown up for teenagers through church youth ministry since 2009—late‑night conversations, crisis calls, and steady small‑group discipleship—and in the past few years, I served on the opening team for Heron Virtual Academy of SC, an alternative virtual middle/high school. I still serve as the sole middle‑school student advisor and success coach. In our opening year, I processed nearly 1,000 enrollments, and since then, I have designed and piloted multiple programs to improve engagement and attendance for students facing foster care, homelessness, juvenile‑justice involvement, teen pregnancy and parenting, and prior expulsion. This past spring, our school completed the National Dropout Prevention Center’s Trauma‑Skilled Schools Model certification, equipping me with trauma‑informed strategies I use daily to help students move from “survival brain” into “learning brain.” My selflessness shows in concrete actions: I’ve sat with teens in the middle of the night when they were unsafe, removed means of harm, coordinated immediate referrals, and kept showing up through heavy situations. At school, I host open drop‑in hours, study halls, social sessions, and small groups focused on academic studies as well as executive functioning, emotion regulation, and relational skills so that students without reliable supports can experience consistency and trust. I’m training with the Crisis Text Line to widen access to compassionate crisis help. My lived struggles—psychological trauma, 10+ years of chronic neck and shoulder pain, multiple back surgeries, medical uncertainty, and long-term mental‑health diagnoses—aren’t embarrassments I hide. They shape how I listen and respond. After months of undiagnosed sciatic pain with multiple specialty doctors, an MRI finally revealed a herniated disc. That experience of invisible, excruciating pain and not being initially believed taught me how shame compounds suffering. That memory makes me more likely to validate others rather than pathologize, to sit with someone in pain without rushing to fix it, and to design practical strategies—pacing, academic accommodations, brief skills groups aligned with IEP/504 plans—that meet people where they are. I practice active, nonjudgmental listening: sometimes people don’t want advice. They just need someone to sit with them "in the suck". I aim to be that steady presence. Pursuing an MA in Clinical Counseling at Columbia International University while working full time at HVA and continuing serving in youth ministry as a 9th grade small group leader has required perseverance and sacrifice. I completed my first semester with four A’s and a 3.914 GPA. I am committed to becoming a Licensed Professional Counselor who integrates trauma‑informed clinical skills with family‑centered, school‑based supports so young people who’ve been failed by traditional systems can find stability, healing, and a path to graduation and flourishing. This scholarship would help me continue balancing full‑time work and volunteer service with rigorous clinical training and unpaid supervised hours in practicum and internships. Beyond financial support, it would affirm a vision I hold tightly: one steady, skilled adult—present, committed, and willing to stay through any hardships—can change the arc of a young person’s life. Thank you for your consideration.