Mental health is important to be because it affects every other aspect of life. If my mental health is not at its best, I cannot truly be giving my best to anything in my life. We all are only given one mind to take care of and maintain, and so many health conditions associated with ageing are linked to how well mental health was maintained. Therefore, maintaining my mental wellness is of utmost importance to me. I also know that if I do not start developing healthy mental health habits now, I will only be hurting my future self. So, in order to maintain my mental health, I prioritize sleep, self-care, and my social network. The most important way I maintain my mental wellness is by prioritizing sleep in my life. Studies have shown not getting enough sleep affects every aspect of our lives. As a student it is especially important to prioritize sleep as that is when short-term memory is converted to long-term memory. Therefore, sleeping is the best way to ensure my brain is going to remember what I am learning. Getting enough sleep also allows my brain to process things that are happening. With the emergence from a global pandemic which has changed the landscape of life, it is important for my mental wellness to be processing all the changes and allowing my brain to get the rest necessary to do this. The second thing I do to maintain my mental wellness is putting intentional time and effort into self-care. I believe this is important because it can not only help when my mental wellness is struggling, but it can also be a preventative measure to maintain a healthy mental state. Much like getting enough consistent sleep can allow my brain to recover and adapt to changes, investing in my self-care helps my brain adapt in the moment. This means that in the long run there will be less chance of burnout and mental exhaustion because I am taking the time consistently to give my brain a break. In pursuit of this I intentionally have one self-care day every week in which all I allow myself to do is self-care in whatever form I need it that week. The last, but certainly not the least important, thing I do to maintain my mental wellness is to prioritize my social network. School, jobs, commitments, etc. will all come and go throughout life, but people can stay in my life through all the changes. Friendships, if intentionally invested in, can be the lifeline through hard times and the people celebrating with me in the good times. I intentionally choose to put relationships with other people above my school as both a way to maintain a healthy mental state as well as to have people who can help me when my mental wellness is needing assistance. In this vein I also make intentional effort to meet with a counselor when unexpected things in life happen so that I can get ahead of anything that might threaten my mental wellness. For me mental wellness is of utmost importance because it affects everything else I do. If my mental state is not in a healthy place, I have a lot harder time eating healthy, exercising regularly, staying on top of my schoolwork, finding motivation for my job, and much, much more. Therefore, I have formed intentional habits to help maintain my mental wellness, the three biggest of which are prioritizing sleep, self-care, and social connections in my life.

Tinkerbell is my favorite Disney character for many reasons. I absolutely love her because she has a twin, just like me. I love her because she can build super cool things. But I also love her because she is confident in who she is, always does what is right, and has incredible tenacity in the face of every obstacle. Tinkerbell takes some time to figure out who she is, but once she does, she is confident in herself. Despite her flaws and shortcomings she does not let anyone change her. Because she is unique and confident in her own uniqueness she then creates space for each of her friends to be themselves too. Part of her confidence in herself is also knowing her flaws and apologizing when they come out in ways that hurt her friends. She owns not just the good things about herself, but all of the things that make her Tinkerbell. In addition to confidence in herself, Tinkerbell never backs away from doing what is right, even when it is hard. Tinkerbell tells the truth when it means she will get in trouble, and she is honest with her friends when they need it. She also finds ingenious ways to solve the problems that arise in ways that will benefit everyone. She is always willing to go the extra mile to make sure she does the right thing. Lastly, Tinkerbell is tenacious. There are so many obstacles she goes through in each of her storylines, but she is always determined to make a way through. She never gives up. She is not hesitant to call on her friends to help her overcome obstacles with her, but she never asks them to fix things for her, she always puts in the work herself. I love Tinkerbell because she is amazingly gorgeous and has an amazing group of friends who she is not shy about reaching out to for help. I also love that she can fly, which is super cool. But most of all I love that she shows viewers what confidence in oneself looks like; what it looks like to always do what is right; and what it looks like to have the tenacity to never stop believing in one’s dreams.

I maintain my mental, physical, and nutritional health by practicing self-discipline and intentionality in every aspect of my life. I believe being intentional in all areas leads to overall healthy habits. I am intentional in what I say ‘no’ to so that I have time to say ‘yes’ to the things that really matter in my life. I choose to take meaningful breaks from my studies and always prioritize getting enough sleep. By prioritizing getting enough sleep I am able to have the energy needed for healthy eating habits. I take time to cook healthy meals and incorporate fruits and vegetables into my diet. Because I am usually on the go, I find fruit that can easily be packed in my bag to be eaten throughout my day. I also pay attention to where my calories are coming from to ensure that I am eating enough good calories to sustain me throughout the day. Getting enough sleep also means I have been able to reduce my coffee consumption, which has led to overall improvements in my health. Now, I might drink tea or a caffeinated fruit drink if I want some caffeine in my day, instead of drinking multiple cups of coffee. Because I am eating healthier, I now have the energy for exercising regularly. I have made morning workouts a part of my wake-up routine. Starting my day this way has not only helped my physical health, but it has also helped reduce my stress levels. Because increased stress over long periods of time is linked to poorer mental health and higher likelihood of developing neurodegenerative diseases, taking step to reduce my stress now will benefit my health throughout the rest of my life. Lastly, I intentionally take one day a week as a day to rest and rejuvenate; I do not work or do anything school-related on this day. This practice of self-discipline has helped me avoid burnout and be able to keep pursuing my health amidst the business of college. The day I take to rest each week looks different depending on how the week before went and what I need for the next week. Some weeks I relax and recuperate physically, some weeks I spend the day in self-care, some weeks I go out with friends. No matter how I spend it though, this day has helped me have the energy, both physically and mentally, throughout the week to not only do all the tasks required of a student, but also to maintain healthy life habits.

Learning is important to me because research is increasingly showing that life-long learning is the number one way to prevent neurodegenerative diseases like dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and more. In fact, learning new things is the treatment most prescribed for all types of dementia because, even once someone has dementia, learning new things can delay its progress. Thus, I believe learning is of utmost importance for maintaining quality of life into old age. Personally I have family members who suffer from neurodegenerative diseases, meaning I am at a higher risk for developing those diseases. Therefore prioritizing learning as a way of life is of even higher importance to me as that is the best-known treatment to delay the onset of such diseases. There are many steps I am currently taking to establish a lifestyle of life-long learning. The first is I am actively pursuing a degree in higher education and am gaining experience in conducting research. By gaining this knowledge and experience under the guidance of professors now, I am learning how to learn in this way. After I graduate, I will then have these skills to continue knowing how to conduct my own research and learn about the things I hope to change in the world. Second, I am actively pursuing learning in specific ways that have been linked with further delaying neurodegeneration. Studies have shown learning a foreign language or actively participating in music activities delays various dementias. Therefore, I am actively choosing to pursue my degree at an institution that teaches in my second language. I am learning new topics while also gaining proficiency in a second language that I can then utilize in future job and travel opportunities in my life. I am also an active participant in musical activities. I have a strong passion for dance and have started and run student organizations and clubs focusing around social dancing. I am also a musician offer lessons on multiple instruments. Through teaching music I am continually learning more and improving my own musical abilities. The last way that I intentionally structure my life around learning is by actively engaging with books. Whether it is reading books with the children in my life about topics they are interested in or reading biographies or even engaging with fiction genres, I prioritize reading in my daily life to keep learning. Learning is incredibly important to me because it is an endeavor that one can engage in every day one lives, and research is increasingly revealing that life-long learning is one of the best ways to combat neurodegeneration from ageing. Therefore I am actively engaging in research opportunities as I pursue higher education as well as working to learn new languages and participate in music activities.

Higher education is important to me for two reasons: pursuing formal higher education allows me to work towards my goals of helping children learn to succeed, and life-long learning is increasingly being linked to delay of neurodegenerative diseases. First, I am incredibly passionate about helping children have experiences that teach them they matter and can succeed in this world. Because all children in the United States are required to go to school, elementary schools become a setting where they can learn these things. Unfortunately a lot of children learn the opposite lessons in school; they learn from an early age that they do not have the ability to succeed or contribute meaningfully to their community. By pursuing higher education, I have the opportunity to learn and take classes regarding elementary-school management, child psychology/development, neural plasticity and the development of a mental concept of self. I cannot begin to find ways to help children be taught how to succeed if I am reinventing the wheel, so learning what research is currently out there is of utmost importance. Through earning my degree I am also able to collaborate with people currently in this field. I have already multiple opportunities to partner with professors and teachers researching and working in these fields while conducting my own research. Having a degree in higher education also allows me to meet the qualifications to get my own research published. So, as I begin to go beyond the research that currently has been done, I am sharing that research with the rest of the community trying to help children learn how to succeed in school. Secondly, studies are increasingly finding that consistent, life-long learning helps delay the neurodegeneration that is seen to cause diseases like dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and others. By pursuing higher education I am actively investing in my long-term health. Higher education is an environment that I can keep consistently learning new and challenging things. While learning is certainly not limited to academia, higher education presents a unique setting in which one’s main job is to learn. Thus, right now I am prioritizing the formation of new neural pathways every day, surrounded by peers who are also making this decision. I believe higher education is incredibly important in a world that is increasingly more and more specialized. The wealth of knowledge that is available means that one has the opportunity to truly make a difference, but that one has to learn about the knowledge already known in the field first. Thus higher education becomes a necessity. Secondly, not only can one make a difference in the lives of others, but there is more and more research diving into the ways one can make a difference in the quality of life one leads. This research is revealing that making new neural connections every day leads to a higher quality of life as one ages because it will delay or even prevent neurodegeneration. Thus, higher education is a way I can promote my long-term health by engaging in new, challenging material every day.

I was the caregiver for my grandparents and saw first-hand how making unhealthy choices leads to irreversible health outcomes. I had always had the mindset that once I finished school and was starting my career would be the right time to get serious and start investing the time and money that it takes to become healthy. But I realized after caring for my grandparents that there is no ‘right time’ to start. There will always be a million reasons to start next year or in the next season of my life. But, if I keep having that mindset, I will never end up being serious about my health. So, I decided to start being intentional about forming healthy habits now. I am a firm believer in not making New Year’s Resolutions because that is too much pressure and sets one up for failure from the get-go. Instead I believe in getting to know yourself so that you can know what time of the year you are at your peak and what time of the year you are at your lowest and what cycles you go through in between. I am at my peak in September, so I start new habits at the beginning of a school year. I also start multiple new habits at once and give myself grace when I fail, because I know I will fail as I start out. Through the Fall I then determine which habits I am going to be able to successfully maintain going through winter, which is my lowest point of the year. And following that evaluation, I drop to having one or two solid habits to work on maintaining through the long winter into spring. The habits I let go of one year, I revisit the next Fall. And the habits that I struggle to form year after year I find an accountability partner to help me with. By living life this way, I have been able to add many healthy habits into my life. The first habit I worked through this way was adding a day off from my to-do list once a week to let myself revel in the joy of life in order to be rested and renewed going into each new week. The next habit was to reduce the amount of sugar in my diet to help keep my immune system healthy. In this manner I also added in the habit of making sure I get adequate sleep every night and making smarter decisions about when in the day I eat to curb my snacking on empty calories. I have also implemented a movement regime in my life that prioritizes being physically active every day, whether that is running, hiking, swimming, etc. In this habit I also sought out an accountability partner because I tried and failed many years in a row to make this a lasting habit. Through the help of an accountability partner however, this is becoming a long-lasting habit. Though I was already healthy going into college, I have realized that this is the stage of my life in which I must start the habits I hope to have when I am the age of my grandparents. By making the healthy choices into habits now I will be able to enjoy the reward of better health throughout all of my life to come. And by knowing myself well and the cycles I go through physically, emotionally, and psychologically throughout the year, it helps me to be able to continue every year to work towards growth in ways that can be successful.

The thing that most excites me about college is the opportunity to learn what I am passionate about learning and devote time to researching topics that are important. To be able to be successful in these endeavors it is crucial for me to be healthy. There are many things I do to contribute to my overall health because I believe that if any one dimension of health (body, mind/psychological, emotional/soul) takes a dip it is going to affect all the others too. The two habits I have that best help me maintain all dimensions of my health, however, are the habits I have of making rest an intentional part of my daily and weekly routine. To begin, I prize choices that contribute to more than one type of health and that I can make into habits so that they become natural to me. In this regard I am strict on getting enough sleep on a daily basis. So much research shows that sleep contributes to physical health by allowing the body time to heal and fight off anything harmful we have come in contact with, but it is also incredibly important for psychological health because that is when our brain processes and commits events from short term to long term memory. As a student this is crucial because there are many events happening that can seem overwhelming if not processed well, and when having to remember material for class it is important for it to be transferred into long term memory. Therefore, getting enough sleep is the best daily practice I can have to not only maintain my health, but also help me in succeeding academically. In addition to making sure I get good sleep, the single best overall practice I have for maintaining my health is: I take a complete Sabbath from work and school for one entire day every week (sundown Saturday through the end of the night Sunday). This is a day to let my body, my brain, and my emotions be what they will be without controlling them. If the week has been long and I need to nap or cry, I give myself the space to do that. If it has been boring and my soul feels drained, I spend time outside or deep in a book exploring worlds of fantasy. If my week has been starved of emotional connectedness to others, I reach out and spend time with a friend. My Sabbath is my day to allow myself to recharge and renew my passion for life itself by feasting on all the good and forgetting, for a day, everything bad that weighs on me during the week. By doing this I am revived and have a new energy to face whatever problems may come at me through the week from a place of peace not of stress. It also allows me to have the self-awareness to put my time throughout the week into the things that are most important to me instead of letting my long to-do list carry my time away without me realizing it. There are many other practices that I employ, from making healthy eating choices to having an accountability partner to hold me accountable to exercising every weekday to always choosing people over school and work. But in a culture, and specifically an environment, that prizes productivity above all else I have found that as counterintuitive as it may be, intentionally taking time to let my body, mind, and soul rest is the best thing I do to keep myself healthy in all dimensions of health.

I believe it is important to have healthy eating habits because the food we put in our bodies now become the foods we crave throughout the rest of our life. Putting in the conscious effort to choose well as a college student means that I will not have to reteach my body what foods to crave when I get older. Instead, my body will crave the foods that contribute to my health and my comfort foods going through life will not be something I have say no to but can enjoy. I have Celiac Disease, and for my whole life I viewed my treatment for Celiac Disease (a strict life-long gluten free diet) as the only thing I could focus on for food. Research has shown that Celiac Disease drastically reduces a person’s quality of life, so I was convinced that paying attention to anything else but the diet of my treatment was more than I could do. However, I have in the last few years changed my mentality. Instead of seeing eating healthy as restricting my food choices even further, I have aimed to see it as making choices that make me happy now and later. I get to make the choice to still eat a food I enjoy eating in the moment, but one that I can feel confident will contribute to maintaining my body well in the long run too. This change of attitude came after I got influenza. I was in the middle of what ended up being my busiest semester of undergrad and I was bedridden for two days. While I really did not miss that much, I was so busy that recovering what I did miss was brutal. So, I made the decision to cut all sugar entirely out of my diet until Easter that year. It was only a span of 6 weeks, but eating in the college cafeteria every day, sugar was everywhere. I made the decision because I know that sugar weakens the immune system, and I could not take any chances of getting sick again. I fully intended to go right back to eating the amount of sugar I always had once Easter hit, but was surprised that once Easter came and went, I no longer craved sugar the same way. Over the five years since then I have continued to eat sugar less and have not gotten sick. Even when everyone else around me is getting colds, the flu, COVID, etc., I have remained healthy. Through that experience, I realized that all it takes is a few weeks of intentionally cutting unhealthy things out of my diet to reset my body to crave healthier options. Though I still love sweet things, I top out at a mini bag of m&ms when it comes to artificial sugar now, and would much prefer a bowlful of watermelon or honeydew melon anyway. All in all, not only has my physical health improved, but I also feel more in control of what I eat. My Celiac Disease does not control what food I eat; I get to make the choices of what I eat, and I choose things that will satisfy now and keep my body healthy in the long run. This has helped me have a much more positive attitude about my Celiac Disease and has helped me psychologically feel like I have more control over my own life. This then has led to me feeling more confident in myself because I know that I get to decide how to live my life instead of my Celiac Disease.

Clean living is important because each individual is only given one body and there is only one planet on which to live. Therefore, it is imperative that care is taken to maintain the body and the environment. Clean living is incredibly important to me because I have watched the health of my grandparents severely decline purely because they have chosen to eat food and live a lifestyle that does not support their health. As their caregiver, I saw first-hand how destructive the wrong habits can be on the human body when carried out for years upon years. This challenged me to begin to rethink how I was living. I have had the mentality that once I am out of school and can afford to live clean then I will start living clean. But caregiving for my grandparents was a wake-up call that I cannot wait on this. I need to start in small ways now so that I can start to make a difference in my own health and in the effect I am having on this earth. Because I am still a college student, I do not have a lot of disposable income, yet in the past few months I have been intentional about researching ways I can live within my budget while also eating healthy, locally grown food. Instead of just buying the cheapest food items at the supermarket, I have been able to choose a few items at a time that I can fit within my budget that are better for me and the environment. I have had the opportunity to connect with local growers/farmers to buy fruit, eggs, and milk. I also have devoted time to researching the restaurants and cafes I go to, and I make choices to go to the ones who are also making an effort to take care of all their workers and the environment. I know that I cannot afford to change everything about the way that I eat right now, but these small steps have allowed me to start that journey, and as I am able to afford it, I can keep finding new ways to make better choices about the food I consume. In a similar way I have trimmed my budget on non-essential expenses (like going to the movies or eating out) so that I can make better choices about the shampoo, conditioner, soaps, and makeup/skincare products I use. To be better informed about the products I am using, I have set aside specific time to research companies and stay up to date on their practices. In as many cases as I can, I have switched to brands that use fewer, more natural ingredients that can be traced to their origins. I also intentionally pay attention to the ability to recycle the bottles and containers once they have been used and make sure I live somewhere where I have access to the proper means of recycling. All in all, I work hard to make sure I keep progressing. After the wake-up call I received caregiving for my grandparents, I realize that no step is too small to start, and that once I have started, I can always keep improving as I am able. But just taking the first step to start makes it easier to take the next step and the next step and the next one.

One of the People who are Wrong You tell me I’m not good enough Yet, who gave you the moral high ground to put me down so quickly I am more than you realize I am I am more than you will ever know I am I was made with bones of steel, and fire coursing through my veins Words can hurt and words can heal But I don’t need your words to pick myself up again You can damage as much as you like But I’ve been hurt before, and I’ll be hurt again Don’t you dare think that you were the only one who thought of hurting me You’re not that special You’re simply a name on a list Of people I’ll never talk to again Of people I pray heaven is big enough for me to never see You’re nothing special You’re someone else who dared to believe you could push me around You thought you could label me You said “not good enough” And just like that, you checked me off your list Saying I wasn’t worth your time No, it wasn’t just that I wasn’t worth your time You told me I was a WASTE of your time Because you had to make sure I knew just how generous it was for you To stoop low enough to 'help' someone like me I don’t know where you got the high ground from But it’s not anything special It’s just a bunch of blood and tears you’ve used as glue To hold together the beams of the platform you look down on me from Don’t fool yourself thinking you were the first to abuse me either You weren’t You were just one of the many You aren’t special in my life You’re just one of the many Who will watch my success But, unlike those who supported me You can watch it knowing you were wrong I was never a waste of time But you were a waste of mine I never lacked potential But you failed to live up to yours You could have been good I gave you the chance I was told by others that I should never give you the opportunity to hurt me Yet, I believe everyone should have a chance So, I gave you yours I even gave you a second and a third chance Chance after chance Because you could have been good I don’t regret it I know now I was wrong to believe you could be good But I know that based on evidence You made your assumptions based on biases You made your accusations about my worth Without even getting to know me When I asked for help You dismissed me without a second glance And when I refused to let you off the hook that easily You turned it around and sunk the barbed tip into my flesh Turning it until there was no doubt I was caught Caught by your lies Caught desperately struggling because you had the power And used it to remind me of my inferiority When all I had done was asked for help You’re nothing special Just another memory fading from view And you might rejoice that I still talk about you That my counselor knows you by name But just realize you weren’t the first And you sure won’t be the last You’re just one of the people who failed to believe I had potential You’re just one of the people who are wrong

When Elsa dies in Frozen II Anna is forced to become who she has always had the potential to be. She must be the leader and do the ‘next right thing’ in life without her sister. In much the same way, my journey through mental health struggles have made me into who I am, who I always had the potential of being. My mental health journey started as a child when I developed anxiety and depression from being bullied as a result of moving. As I got older the bullying got worse, and my depression and anxiety began to control my life. However, when I went to undergrad, I had the opportunity to start seeing a counselor who helped me change my whole view on life. Instead of viewing my anxiety and depression as signs that I had failed in life, she taught me that they were signs that I was not giving up. Depression was not me failing to be who I was supposed to be, but my body refusing to give in; it was my body’s way of saving myself when I was going through too much to handle. Through my experience in counseling, I was able to learn about the ways my mental health affects all areas of my life. I have come to live life with the awareness that my physical health, mental health, and spiritual health are all intertwined and if one takes a dip the others probably will too and that is okay. This has allowed me to give myself grace when my mental health plumets. It has also given me a heart to help others who are struggling. Following a global trauma like COVID, there are a lot more people than ever experiencing mental health struggles, especially children. As someone who experienced anxiety and depression as a child, I have a passion to help children get to be children. Their job is not to handle the weight of the world, and so for all the children in my life, I have taken an active role of being an adult who they know is there for them unconditionally. This outlook has impacted my relationships drastically. It has led me to take jobs over the summers in college nannying so that I get the chance to pour into the children in my life. And the children I have nannied call me up when they are struggling during the school year, allowing me to continue to be an adult who loves and supports them through whatever they need. In addition to this it has led me to seek out opportunities to remind everyone I come into contact with how amazing they are just for being themselves. Whether it is writing encouragement notes, complimenting an outfit or hairstyle, or being there for people when they need to vent or process what is going on in life, my entire outlook on life is focused on making sure everyone I know has no doubt that they matter in this world. My experience going through mental health challenges in elementary school has also given me a heart for researching ways to help children at that age. My primary interest is specifically for children with learning disabilities because that population is often stigmatized and bullied greatly by their peers, and these children need an adult in their corner. Through research into the neural processes involved in learning disabilities, I want to be the adult in their corner, fighting for them to get not only the education they need, but also the respect that they deserve just as people existing in this world. My experiences with mental health have been hard and difficult, but they have given me the passion and the courage to do the things I would never have dreamed possible. My heart for helping children, especially those with learning disabilities in school, comes from my own journey and the journeys of my friends through mental health. My story has given me passion to always make sure everyone I meet is shown they matter.

My best back-to-school tip is: if you feel like everyone hates you, take a nap; if you feel like you hate everyone, eat a snack; and if you feel like you hate yourself, take a shower. It can be easy to forget to take care of yourself during the school year when things get busy, but in the long run remembering these three simple things will help you make sure you are staying on top of self-care even during the most stressful times of the year. I have found that by following these three things I am more productive because, instead of fighting my emotions, I am listening to what my emotions are telling me and addressing my physical needs so that my brain can be focused and ready to learn and study. @temnoebri

My favorite scientific discovery is stem cells and the field of stem cell research that emerged from discovering the power stem cells hold. I first became aware of the power of stem cells as a child when a close friend was battling cancer. One of the last treatments they gave him was a stem cell transplant. This process caused me to begin to be fascinated by the field of stem cell research. The discovery of stem cells is quite remarkable because there is so much potential in this area of research. The differentiation of cells is an incredible thing that allows our bodies to function in so many ways. But to have cells that can become anything and do anything can lead to so many advances in the world of medicine for both treating diseases and also preventing diseases. So many diseases are caused by the breakdown of the body and stem cells have the power to help delay aging processes, thus preventing a whole range of diseases that often come with old age. Stem cells are my favorite scientific discovery in part because I have known people whose lives were forever changed because of stem cell treatments, but also because there is still so much potential in the field of stem cell research. As more stem cell research is done, I am confident there are even more ways we will find that they can help people heal from and prevent diseases.

At the age of 2 I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. This disease has no cure and requires a lifelong gluten-free diet. For a long time I thought that since I already had to be so careful to avoid gluten, which is incredibly difficult, I did not have the time or money leftover to invest in my health beyond that. But then I started meeting with a counselor who helped me realize how being healthy is so much more about the little things done right than investing tons of time and money into the big fads and trends of Hollywood. It is very common for people to put “be healthier” as a New Year’s Resolution and to have a big, grand plan of how they are going to revamp their entire life. Yet, every year gyms see those same people stop coming by the end of January. Instead of trying grand plans, I have adopted the life approach of working to change one small thing every few months to make it a more healthy habit. Some of the life changes I have made this way are including morning walks/runs in my daily routine, getting up progressively 1 hour earlier, getting 8 hours of sleep, and eliminating snacking on empty calories. I also often seek out an accountability partner for the habits that I think are going to be more challenging for me to follow through with. One of the things that I think is crucial for anyone wanting to live a healthy life is to be intentional about getting to know themselves. My body and mind are unique and therefore the healthy practices my roommate does are not always going to be the best for me. For example, my mental health declines around the beginning of the year, but is often the best in the Fall. So I set my biggest goals of the year in September and do not set goals about healthy habits in January or February – those become my months to focus on maintenance of the habits I started in September. The other thing that I think is absolutely critical for maintaining a healthy lifestyle is to hold goals loosely. When I set goals to change a habit, my goals never involve the dichotomy of perfection versus failure. Instead I recognize and approach life with the mentality that I am constantly a work in progress and the reality of journeys in life is that they are not linear. If I have a day where I slip back into the habit I am trying to correct, it does not mean that I failed, but simply that I had something else that required the energy or mental concentration that day. For example, my house was without power for several days and I slipped back into multiple unhealthy habits. But, instead of telling myself I was a failure and getting discouraged, I reminded myself that I was under a lot more stress than normal. Then when power returned, I got right back to practicing my healthy habits. By having grace with myself it allows me to see setbacks as just part of the journey, not as a reason to give up. For me it is important to live a healthy life because I only get one shot at life. I only have one body and mind and one chance to use my life to travel, to learn, to adventure, to help others, etc. Therefore, it is important that I take care of myself by leading a healthy life so that I can accomplish all my dreams.

When I was 2 years old, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, for which the only treatment is a life-long gluten free diet. At the time having a gluten allergy was unheard of and there were not resources to help my family learn how to eat gluten free. While the situation has changed greatly in the past 20 years, there are still many opportunities I have had to turn down in life because they could not provide me with food to eat. For example, when choosing an undergraduate university, my choice was determined just as much by which schools could provide gluten free food as it was by how good of programs they had. This meant I had to turn down options for cheaper state schools with better programs as those schools had too many students to accommodate someone eating a gluten-free diet. And even though my undergrad university had gluten-free meal accommodations, they suspended them on the weekends, so I paid for four meals every week as part of my meal plan that I could not eat. In order to eat on the weekends, I had to either go out to eat or walk the several miles to the grocery store to get food, but either way ended up in me paying for two complete meals: the one I could not eat at my university and the one I had to go find that I could eat. This not only took extra money, but also extra time as my peers could eat all their meals on campus and then have extra time to be involved in campus opportunities to further their prestige in their field. In my graduate school experiences, I have had to spend more than my peers on food. Gluten-free food is 2 to 3 times more expensive than non-gluten-free food for half as much food. So, the prices I am currently paying per month just to eat food that will not make me sick equals the amount I pay for rent, which is significantly more than what my peers have to spend. This means that I have to turn down opportunities for internships and workshops that would give me skills and knowledge to set myself apart in my field because I have to devote any time not actively at school to working just to buy myself food. Having to pass on those opportunities that my peers are able to take because their food is so much cheaper, means that I will have a harder time getting a job in my field after graduating because I have fewer unique experiences that set me apart as an applicant and that help me build my network in my field. I am incredibly passionate about designing programs to help children who are struggling in elementary school, and I have the opportunity to network and work with some people in that field this semester, but to participate in those opportunities would require me taking time off work, which would be made possible with this scholarship.

The way that I embody selflessness is by serving my ‘family’ in every way I can. This starts with my blood family and extends out to the family of the community I live in. An example of how I do this is when I was a live-in caretaker for my grandparents. Instead of accepting a good-paying job this past summer, I decided to be a live-in caregiver for my grandparents who are both housebound. My grandfather has Alzheimer’s that is progressing rapidly, and my grandmother has mental health challenges that need constant care. Usually my aunts do this job, but I wanted to relieve them over the summer so they could spend time with their own children. So I made the decision to move to Indiana and provide daily care for my grandparents. I made healthy, homecooked meals, shopped for groceries and household needs, helped them take medications, cleaned the house, and engaged in meaningful activities like board games or asking them to tell stories about their life. It was a full-time job, but it was also a chance to serve my grandparents by providing more intentional, personal care than my aunts can. And I was able to give my aunts a few months off during the summer so they could do fun things with their children during the break. Although I am in graduate school and could have used the summer to work a full-time job, I chose to take care of my grandparents because I know I am not always going to have the opportunity to serve them. In this way I was able to provide them company and good care when neither one of them can care for their own needs. In undergrad, I chose to nanny my cousins for multiple summers instead of accepting high-paying jobs because I knew my aunt could only afford a daycare and the one-on-one, personalized childcare I could provide would be better for my cousins. I routinely make sacrifices for my family, including inviting my own parents to live with me when they had no place to live and giving financial gifts to my brother to help him pay for college. My family matters most to me and I strive to always choose them over anything else. While my blood family is a part of that, I also view the members of my community as family. As the saying goes, “it takes a village to raise a child,” and I believe wholeheartedly that I play an important role in the metaphorical ‘village.’ I have had the opportunity to serve with local organizations that provide assistance to children in areas of low-socioeconomic status. I have been able to teach, tutor, buy school supplies for, and just provide company as a trusted adult in many children’s lives. Each one of these children I consider to be a part of my family and I look for every opportunity to help them. Some of the children I have gotten to know are in the foster system, so I have partnered with a local group to help support foster families financially, socially, and emotionally. My passion is for helping children and I plan to have a career helping children who do not receive the care they need at home and/or school to receive attention and love. In just the same way I have cared for my grandparents and my cousins, I am continually on the lookout for ways I can partner with organizations that care for children in my community. In this way I strive to embody selflessness.