I was 14 when I lost my brother. He passed away from a drug overdose and ended up becoming an organ donor. While the rest of my family was home in Utah dealing with taking him off life support and signing the papers to remove his organs. They all got to say goodbye. I was in California for a cheerleading competition. I had to compete while the fresh wound of death was gaping open in my chest. I was still in shock while I was competing for this title. While we did win. The Win didn't feel good at the time; it felt like I was in the wrong place. However looking at it retroactively I realise that competing during this challenging time taught me resilience in a way not much else would have been able too. The loss of a sibling is truly devastating. You aren't just losing someone close to you. You also watch as your parents lose something that they never thought they would lose. Grief is a complicated and complex emotion and process to have to live through. While you are experiencing the loss of someone you love. You are also watching the people around you fall apart. This next loss almost tore me apart completely. At 16 I attempted suicide. When you end up in the hospital for trying to take your own life you have to grieve for yourself to come out on the other side of it. Being in this hospital saved my life by truly scaring me to the point where I never wanted to return. While I didn't immediately want to live once leaving the hospital I eventually did learn to. I had not attended school at this point for 4 years due to very poor mental health and decided to return after almost losing my life. I had to fight to be accepted into a school that would help me to graduate during the 2 remaining years I was eligible. Then I had to work hard to successfully complete all my work. I did successfully complete all of this work and also worked extremely hard to achieve a grade point that placed me at third in my class. Just when I thought I had recovered I was hit with another devastating loss that I felt right down to my core. I met my best friend while we were both in the inpatient hospital. He passed away 3 days before our high school graduation from a drug overdose. He really helped make me feel alive while he was here. I gave a speech at my graduation and in those three days the whole speech changed. It was no longer the typical speech about heading onto the next stage of life. It became a statement on needing to live life because he was everything to me and he was pulled away from me far too early. His death has had a profound impact that has pushed me to start truly living life. When he passed away something inside me broke and made me determined to prove to him and myself that life is truly worth living. I am going to accomplish everything I set my mind to, no matter the barrier for entry. I am determined. Losing two loved ones to drug overdose made me angry with them and the system that helped contribute to their deaths. Anger is an important part of grief because it is often part of the motivation that makes you continue living. To prove to them that living was worth it and to be able to fight against the system that helped to take their lives away. All of these deaths have shaped me into the person I am today. Death and Grief are unfortunate facts of life however, nothing has changed me in the way they have. Death and grief have taught me to FIGHT to continue on in becoming everything I want to become. I need to live for those I have lost and for the person inside of me who has also passed along with them. I have fallen to my rock bottom and grief helped drag me down but it also has helped me ultimately come out victorious. I will show that life is worth FIGHTING for by continuing on to obtain a degree in psychology and linguistics from the University of Glasgow. I will live my life to the fullest so that I will be able to help others dealing with grief and addiction. I want to accomplish this in multiple ways, first through individualised therapy and eventually writing a book that will help others come out the other side. I believe no one else needs to lose a loved one to a preventable cause such as poor mental health or addiction.