I’ve always felt that mental health is a topic that is not taken seriously by the hispanic/latino community. Growing up as the eldest daughter of eight children to immigrant parents, I have always found myself walking on eggshells when it comes to discussing the topic of mental health let alone my own. I have noticed how my community overwhelmingly as a whole brush issues under the rug. Many internal and external issues go unsolved because of the lack of education surrounding mental health, psychology, and therapy. I do take into consideration how being a person of color, having immigrant parents, and being a woman play a huge role in how my community has been molded to not believe in the concept of mental health. Being a first generation student, I understand that my parents and older family members have a hard time accepting the reality of how our community pushes certain practices that are harmful to the well being of one’s mental health as well as the lack of care towards the topic. The ignorance displayed by my family and even other hispanic/latino individuals my age has made this issue all that more important to me. There have been many times throughout my life where I have felt that there was something extremely wrong with me because of my suffering mental health. As I have gotten older I have had to come to accept that my family and my community is one of the leading causes of my mental health suffering. After going to therapy for the first time I immediately found what I wanted to do with my future. My very first therapist opened my eyes to the world of therapy and how important it is for people’s mental well being. I felt like a changed person after I finally went to therapy after convincing my mother to let both her and myself try it out. Unfortunately, I was ultimately pulled out of therapy despite it making a huge impact and difference in my life. Any advice that my mom received in therapy was also not taken seriously which was discouraging for me. That in itself had been a reminder of how mental health is something that practically doesn’t exist in the world my family lives in. Ever since I declared that I wanted my future career to be in the field of counseling, I have been taking advantage of my education and striving to incorporate psychology into my personal life. It is very difficult sometimes to do this with my family due to generational differences. However, this has only encouraged me to work harder towards my future career as a therapist. My main goal is to make an impact on other people’s lives, especially individuals of color, the same way my very first therapist had made on me. In the future I intend to use my knowledge to help marginalized communities receive the proper mental health resources they deserve. I have a long way to go as I am only a second year college student. However, I believe that providing mental health services, especially therapy will have a positive impact not only on my community but on other marginalized communities, especially those of color. I intend to use my future completed education towards counseling not only to provide proper services to individuals but also to educate. I feel that the cure to ignorance starts from one’s very own home. Even if it can feel hopeless sometimes to try and educate individuals in my family in community, I know a bit of patience goes a long way.