Growing up in El Paso, Texas, a border city where Mexican and American cultures intertwine, I witnessed how mental health was often dismissed, misunderstood, or avoided altogether in Latinx households. In my own family, emotional pain was dealt with in silence, and asking for help was seen as a weakness. This reality, common in many Latinx communities, inspired me to pursue a career as a mental health counselor. In my future role as a Licensed Professional Counselor, I would like to dedicate my work towards positively influencing how our Latinx community experiences, understands, and talks about mental health. As a bilingual, bicultural, and queer Latina raised in a low-income household, I understand how language, culture, and systemic barriers can prevent people from receiving the care they need. In 2020, I co-founded the Lower Valley Scholars Foundation to support low-income, first-generation high school students in the Lower Valley area of El Paso. Through this work, I saw the effects of often immigrant, Latinx families in my community struggling to help their children navigate through college applications, financial aid, and career planning. First-generation students who navigate through this process alone often overlook how this pressure weighs on their mental health, reflecting the cycle of disadvantaged Latinx communities fighting to rise. In my future as a counseling professional, I will build on my efforts in promoting educational equity towards promoting equity in mental health services for underserved Latinx populations. However, stigma surrounding mental health continues to be a major obstacle that prevents individuals from seeking resources and support. There is little faith in mental health services due to fear of being seen as “weak” or “crazy”. Growing up in a Latinx family, I see how often we overlook mental health and well-being because seeking help or openly sharing our struggles is shameful and disrespectful to our family members that have worked hard to provide for us. Along with cultural stigma, there are also real structural barriers, such as cost of care, lack of insurance, and language barriers. As the home of one of the largest Hispanic populations in the United States, promoting the need for bilingual counselors in Texas is critical to support the population’s mental health needs. As a counselor-in-training fluent in English and Spanish, it is important to use my shared identity with Spanish-speaking individuals to work towards achieving a deeper understanding of their experiences and struggles. Using my bilingual and bicultural identity, I will dedicate my efforts towards reducing cultural stigma surrounding mental health by having honest, compassionate conversations that gently challenge misconceptions. The stigma surrounding mental illness in Latinx households, paired with a need for bilingual, culturally competent professionals, creates an alarming gap in mental health care. I intend to help close that gap by providing counseling that affirms, empowers, and heals because I firmly believe that mental health care is a human right that everyone deserves access to.