As a preteen/teenage girl struggling with depression and anxiety, I felt like an outsider in the small Mennonite community in which I was raised in Finger, Tennessee. I remember having obsessive thoughts of death by the age of 12 and feeling out of control of my emotions as I tried to understand why I felt the way I did. I eventually found out I was not alone in my pain. By the age of 15, many of the young girls in the church, including myself, struggled with self-harm in the form of cutting, anorexia, and/or bulimia. We were prayed over, sent to "counseling" with the pastors and their wives, and attended revivals in hopes of finding freedom from our mental suffering and, in our parent’s and pastors’ eyes, our sins. The harm we did to our bodies could also send us to hell, as no good Christian would be struggling as we were. Medication was out of the question as we should fully depend on God to save us. If we were "good" enough, we would be saved. I was fortunate enough to have parents who eventually allowed me to receive outside counseling for help when I was 17 years old. It was the first time in my life I was told that what I was going through wasn’t my fault and that the way the other young people in my community and I were treated wasn’t right. At the age of 24, I was strongly recommended by my counselor to take a full neuropsychologic assessment where I was diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and a form of OCD called Pure Obsession. I had struggled with uncomfortable and obsessive thoughts for nearly as long as I could remember. I had always felt too ashamed to share them with anyone around me. After fully understanding my mental health disorders, I finally accepted I needed medication. Starting medication with additional cognitive behavioral therapy was a major turning point in my life. The greatest challenge I've overcome while pursuing my education was finding my worthiness to exist after years of believing I wasn't good enough to be in this world. After learning to love and accept myself, I was able to see what I truly wanted to return to school for and that I am more than capable of earning a degree and making a difference in the world. My current and future challenges will be to fully support myself while taking a full-time school and workload. Reflecting on my religious upbringing, I clearly see how the lack of knowledge about the brain and mental health in general leads to people being judged and ostracized from what society believes is "normal" vs. understanding the brain is an imperfect organ that works differently for everyone. My experience in the Mennonite community was only a small example of what happens to the mental health community on a national scale. I plan to complete my bachelor’s degree with a major in Psychology and a minor in Neuroscience and then continue to graduate school to become a Clinical Psychologist. Along with working with children and adults who struggle with severe mental disorders, I am passionate about educating the public on mental illness and how the brain works. My hope is that with more education and awareness, society will begin to judge themselves and those around them less and find sympathy and compassion for the people who seem too "abnormal" to be accepted into mainstream society.