Invisible illnesses: the struggles, pain, shame, and confusion that is not visible to the naked eye. Having to fight mental illness alone, while also battling a chronic lung disease has led to almost permanent decisions that would not allow me to have the strength to tell my story today. Overcoming childhood trauma deep rooted in humiliation has forced me to face generational mental illness and substance abuse. I never knew I wanted to be a social worker, as I had traumatizing experiences with one in adolescence. I was indecisive on a career path until I began my own journey of healing. I began to understand those who have been through trauma once I had uncovered my own wounds. I began to develop an interest in psychology, causes of autism, ADHD, and more. I began to understand that symptoms my siblings and I had could have been rooted in adverse childhood experiences. Breaking generational mental health and substance use diagnosis and struggles has not been easy. I thank resources such as therapy, medications, and social service agencies for being able to help me heal. Having both sets of parents have mental health disabilities, as well as substance abuse histories has statistically set me up for the same path. However, there is a reason that there is always a glimmer of hope with statistics. I recall running away on foot from a parent to flee abuse several times to the nearest police station. Having a parent not speak with me for years. Dozens of domestic disputes, an order of protection with police banging on my door awakening me as a child at night. Attempting to overdose just to have your parent notice you, or have your parent try to invalidate a serious suicide plea. I don’t like to relive these things, but I would be a hypocrite to preach authenticity without sharing some of my experiences. I reside hours away from my hometown as I navigate a new beginning. Having limited contact is sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself to truly process the experiences you have endured. As a freshman undergrad, I was plagued by substance abuse, poor academics, and a terrible sense of self worth. But something clicked the following semester, as my grade point average remained an “A” until I graduated with my bachelors. I founded campus organizations, held executive board positions in others, had leadership roles at the YMCA and with the campus housing department, was chosen as a Social Work Department Student Representative, and helped lead a Social Work Month Mayor Proclamation to name a few. What changed? I realized I was truly on my own in life, and I had to heal and move on to survive. I didn’t go into my undergrad as a Social Work major but when that became my career path I fell in love instantly. I learned about the history of our social movements and prominent figures. I learned about trauma, mental illness, incarceration, poverty, and how they are all intertwined. I am now a K-12 social worker in my Master’s program. I take on multiple identities, such as a social media content creator, a fitness guru, a student, friend, aunt, and partner. I prioritize myself and force myself to be uncomfortable. I look back and see that young girl who was suffering and I have to be grateful for the life I have now. I aspire to establish a social media and clothing brand with a foundation in inspiration, hope, and positivity. In my few months of content creation, I am at nearly one million views.

Making a positive social impact in my career is one of my largest aspirations. Individuals with special needs diagnosis are one of the most misunderstood groups of people, largely due to stigma, lack of resources, lack of education, lack of exposure, and for many disabilities, lack of research and treatments. I am currently employed at a K-12 educational institution serving a caseload of at risk youth. The students on my caseload have a wide array of diagnoses. Some of the biggest misconceptions about those with a diagnosis is that they are less productive, less intelligent, and unable to make decisions. However, the reality is that these individuals may need additional support, tools, and/or personalization to complete tasks and operate individually. As neurotypical individuals, we should strive to understand and accommodate everybody, not just those that are similar to us in thinking and working. A big part of my role as a social worker is debunking myths and bringing students together who have been taught these misconceptions. I am also an educator of teachers. Many disabilities are invisible, so it is important to ensure that individuals are supported in every way possible. Family engagement is crucial in the education and progress of a disabled child. Having a “team” for a child, which may consist of the family, teachers, social workers, psychologists, therapists, doctors, and more, allows for the best consultations, opinions, and communication to best support the child. Children with supportive family members and other social supports are more likely to flourish and progress by providing consistent support, boosting self esteem, and being an advocate for them. As a social worker, I would utilize the strengths based perspective, focusing on what the child is able to do rather than their limitations. This perspective hones in on the small wins. The ecological and person in environment theories are also essential when analyzing support systems for a child with disabilities. In many instances, children with disabilities do not receive the support they need. I intend to focus my social work career on awareness, authenticity, trauma informed perspective, social justice, and empowerment perspective. I have graduated from an accredited social work program with my Bachelor’s in Social Work, and I am currently enrolled in a Master’s of Social Work program, with a school social work track. As a social worker, I understand the significance of systems theory and its interconnectedness. For instance, a change in one system (a person’s health) can ripple onto other systems (their workplace system, or family system, for instance). Working with at-risk youth in the K-12 system, I see how both mental and physical health impacts academics, school attendance, and family poverty, for instance. In addition to my career as a social worker, I am a content creator with a mission of sparking joy and conversation related to the educational realm. In the few months I have begun this journey, I have nearly one million views on my platform. I have a primary focus on educator humor, however I also create educational content on trauma, educator salaries, and the “one trusted adult” statistic. Being a school social worker is one of the most important titles somebody can have. These are the individuals linking families with resources, conducting IEP evaluations, suspecting abuse, neglect, and self harm, supporting students with disabilities, raising awareness and education to students and educators, and being a mental health first aider. As I navigate my Master’s in School Social Work, I make a commitment to being the best support role I can be for students, and being an advocate for our individuals with special needs.

Making a positive social impact in my career is one of my largest aspirations. Individuals with special needs diagnosis are one of the most misunderstood groups of people, largely due to stigma, lack of resources, lack of education, lack of exposure, and for many disabilities, lack of research and treatments. As an undergrad, I was the lead employee in charge of many students, many of whom had ADHD and autism diagnosis. This was my first exposure to the lack of resources that many of our K-12 schools have. I witnessed a mother screaming and crying at a youth summer camp I was supervising because she did not have insurance to pay for her child with a high need diagnosis’s medication. Incidents to those kinds of things are not something you forget. I am currently employed at a K-12 educational institution serving a caseload of at risk youth. The students on my caseload have diagnoses such as autism, emotional and behavioral disturbances such as ADHD, depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia, specific learning disabilities, and speech and language impairments. Some of the biggest misconceptions about those with a diagnosis is that they are less productive, less intelligent, and unable to make decisions. However, the reality is that these individuals may need additional support, tools, and/or personalization to complete tasks and operate individually. As neurotypical individuals, we should strive to understand and accommodate everybody, not just those that are similar to us in thinking and working. A big part of my role as a social worker is debunking myths and bringing students together who have been taught these misconceptions. I am also an educator of teachers. Many disabilities are invisible, so it is important to ensure that individuals are supported in every way possible. In addition to my career as a social worker, I am a content creator with a mission of sparking joy and conversation related to the educational realm. In the few months I have begun this journey, I have nearly one million views on my platform. I have a primary focus on educator humor, however I also create educational content on trauma, educator salaries, and the “one trusted adult” statistic. I intend to focus my social work career on awareness, authenticity, trauma informed perspective, social justice, and empowerment perspective. I have graduated from an accredited social work program with my Bachelor’s in Social Work, and I am currently enrolled in a Master’s of Social Work program, with a school social work track. As a social worker, I understand the significance of systems theory and its interconnectedness. For instance, a change in one system (a person’s health) can ripple onto other systems (their workplace system, or family system, for instance). Working with at-risk youth in the K-12 system, I see how both mental and physical health impacts academics, school attendance, and family poverty, for instance. Being a school social worker is one of the most important titles somebody can have. These are the individuals linking families with resources, conducting IEP evaluations, suspecting abuse, neglect, and self harm, supporting students with disabilities, raising awareness and education to students and educators, and being a mental health first aider. As I navigate my Master’s in School Social Work, I make a commitment to being the best support role I can be for students, and being an advocate for our individuals with special needs.

Invisible illnesses: the struggles, pain, shame, and confusion that is not visible to the naked eye. Having to fight mental illness alone, while also battling a chronic lung disease has led to almost permanent decisions that would not allow me to have the strength to tell my story today. Overcoming childhood trauma deep rooted in humiliation has forced me to face generational mental illness and substance abuse. I never knew I wanted to be a social worker, as I had traumatizing experiences with one in adolescence. I was indecisive on a career path until I began my own journey of healing. I began to understand those who have been through trauma once I had uncovered my own wounds. I began to develop an interest in psychology, causes of autism, ADHD, and more. I began to understand that symptoms my siblings and I had could have been rooted in adverse childhood experiences (ACES). Being passionate about health, both mental and physical, has had its barriers due to my lung condition. I recall as a young child struggling to breath and having an adult family member neglect to acquire me care. This condition has truly been invisible to me, as it has been inconsistent my entire life. I ended up in the emergency room a couple months from this, however some weeks I hardly need my medication. I have to truly be responsible, resourceful, organized, and proactive. This condition has coincided with other medical issues, causing emergency surgery in my throat, as well as chronic tonsillitis and strep throat. These have caused chronic pain and discomfort of which I have to learn how to cope with. I intend to focus my social work career on awareness, authenticity, trauma informed perspective, social justice, and empowerment perspective. I have graduated from an accredited social work program with my Bachelor’s in Social Work, and I am currently enrolled in a Master’s of Social Work program, with a school social work track. As a social worker, I understand the significance of systems theory and its interconnectedness. For instance, a change in one system (a person’s health) can ripple onto other systems (their workplace system, or family system, for instance). Working with at-risk youth in the K-12 system, I see how both mental and physical health impacts academics, school attendance, and family poverty, for instance. In addition to being cognisant regarding the effects of health, I am also passionate about the importance of financial aid and other support systems. I was uninsured during both of my emergency hospital stays. Luckily, due to my income and other circumstances, I was able to receive aid that assisted me in staying afloat to be able to be a first generation college student. I consider myself fortunate to have the conditions I have for various reasons. To begin, I am able to do basic tasks such as walking and talking that many others are unable to do. I am able to attend my educational institutions and occupation without ADA accommodations. I have medical devices, medications, and hospitals able to assist me and provide me with the care I need. I work with many at-risk youth daily who have endured several month hospital stays, have medical conditions which cause bullying at school, and are uninsured and unable to receive care, for example.