As a research assistant with the Arizona Twin Project, I saw how deeply context shapes the way people live, think, and heal. One of the most defining moments occurred during a visit in Yuma, Arizona. The family’s modest one-room living area doubled as an office, storage space, and gathering place. Following the structured questions of the HOME instrument, the interview progressed as expected: efficient and formulaic. Then it shifted. Her eyes grew heavy with memory, her voice trembling as she recounted the challenges of raising four children alone. In that moment, I chose to set aside the protocol and respond to her vulnerability with presence. Through my actions, I wanted her to know: “I am here with you. Show me your world, and I will help you carry what you can no longer hold alone.” That experience reminded me that the essence of psychology is not found in manuals or checklists but in human connection. Healing begins when someone feels seen, when their story is met with empathy rather than judgment. That day, I learned that presence itself can be a form of intervention. That simply bearing witness to another person’s pain with genuine care can begin to lighten its weight. While I believe in the power of connection, I also value science and the rigor of evidence-based practice. Effective clinical work requires both compassion and knowledge of the human mind. Interventions are not tools to “fix” people, but pathways to help them understand themselves and rediscover who they are capable of becoming. My work as a Registered Behavior Technician and Psychometrist allows me to live these principles daily. Working with children, adolescents, and adults of all walks of life has shown me that no two people are alike. Even evidence-based methods require flexibility and creativity to truly reach the individual. Some of the most meaningful progress occurs not through perfect technique but through trust, patience, and genuine connection. These experiences reinforce my belief that healing requires both structure and empathy and deepens my commitment to psychology as a lifelong practice of presence, curiosity, and care. My research and clinical work have strengthened my interest in the factors that shape development, resilience, and mental health. I am especially drawn to child and adolescent psychopathology, trauma, and family systems—particularly how parenting styles and early adversity influence emotional and relational outcomes. I am also interested in integrating mindfulness and internal medicine to promote the healing power of mind-body connection. Ultimately, I want to study, and explore through clinical practice, how treatment can be adapted to meet each person’s unique context and push against the barriers of streamlined healthcare.

I felt the cool leather car seat beneath my hands as I stared out the window, watching the trees blur by in shades of green. In the front seat, my grandmother hummed softly along to the radio. Then a question rose in my five-year-old mind: “What is it like to see the world through somebody else’s eyes?” The question felt enormous—as if the world had shifted around me. That curiosity, that longing to understand and connect, has guided me ever since and now calls me to pursue a doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Midwestern University. As I grew older, that question followed me into friendships, classrooms, and eventually my studies. I wanted to understand what others felt, why they felt it, and how their experiences shaped the way they moved through the world. However I didn’t just want to understand; I wanted to ease their pain, to offer relief from the weight of being human, even for a moment. For a long time, I believed the best way to do that was through medicine. Coming from a family deeply rooted in healthcare, I was told I would be the first medical doctor in the family, the one to help our village in the Philippines and bring honor to our name. Yet through my own mental health journey, I realized that true healing requires more than diagnoses and prescriptions. It takes time, understanding, and genuine presence—the same qualities that first made me wonder how others see the world. As a research assistant with the Arizona Twin Project, I saw how deeply context shapes the way people live, think, and heal. One of the most defining moments occurred during a visit in Yuma, Arizona. The interview progressed as expected: efficient and formulaic. Then it shifted. Her eyes grew heavy with memory, her voice trembling as she recounted the challenges of raising four children alone. In that moment, I chose to set aside the protocol and respond to her vulnerability with presence. Through my actions, I wanted her to know: “I am here with you. Show me your world, and I will help you carry what you can no longer hold alone.” That experience reminded me that the essence of psychology is not found in manuals or checklists but in human connection. Healing begins when someone feels seen, when their story is met with empathy rather than judgment. That day, I learned that presence itself can be a form of intervention. That simply bearing witness to another person’s pain with genuine care can begin to lighten its weight. While I believe in the power of connection, I also value science and the rigor of evidence-based practice. Effective clinical work requires both compassion and knowledge of the human mind. Interventions are not tools to “fix” people, but pathways to help them understand themselves and rediscover who they are capable of becoming. My work as a Registered Behavior Technician and Psychometrist allows me to live these principles daily. Working with children, adolescents, and adults of all walks of life has shown me that no two people are alike. Even evidence-based methods require flexibility and creativity to truly reach the individual. Some of the most meaningful progress occurs not through perfect technique but through trust, patience, and genuine connection. These experiences reinforce my belief that healing requires both structure and empathy and deepens my commitment to psychology as a lifelong practice of presence, curiosity, and care. Ultimately, I want to study, and explore through clinical practice, how treatment can be adapted to meet each person’s unique context and push against the barriers of streamlined healthcare.

At the age of 13, I noticed a shift in myself. I was no longer the bubbly, joyful, and lively girl everyone knew me as growing up. Smiles felt forced, my shoulders felt heavy, and no matter how hard I worked or how much I achieved I couldn’t snap out of the same mental loop of “I’m worthless. Why am I alive? Does my life even matter?”. I had always been the “perfect child.” As the eldest daughter, the pressure was on me. I always wanted to do things on my own to take the burden of my existence off my parents’ shoulders. These thoughts were maladaptive and I was slipping further into my depression. I was terrified to tell my parents, and mental health had never been a topic of discussion in my family. It got to the point where I was self harming on a regular basis and planning to end my life. I had no intent of telling anyone my plans, I would maybe write a couple letters to some loved ones, but I just wanted it to be over. It wasn’t until a close friend stepped in that I really understood the gravity of what I was planning to do. They told me that my life mattered and that I had options. They told me that they would help me have that conversation with my parents, and most importantly, that I wasn’t alone. I admitted that I couldn’t continue fighting my battle alone. It took the risk of my own life to realize that asking for help is always an option and that it’s necessary. To this day, I’m working on skills in therapy and in my daily life that can help me live with my MDD and anxiety. I will always make sure that everyone around me knows that if they need help, they don’t even need to ask me, I will be there for them. In the future as a Doctor of Clinical Psychology, I want to provide a holistic, person-centered approach to mental healthcare. In my experience with mental health, it took me years to find a doctor that would communicate with me and take the time to listen to my story. It's my personal belief that every single person is a unique individual, experiencing life in a way that only they can truly understand. This is why I am so passionate about using a person-centered approach when it comes to health care. People need and deserve to be listened to and heard. I believe that education is empowering and that the knowledge I gain from my time in education will be paramount to me being able to understand all the different nuances of the human experience. Particularly, I want to spend my career serving people that are in need of someone to help them navigate their mental health. Everybody struggles, and everybody deserves to have someone support them and advocate for them, especially when struggling with mental health. In my career, I want to focus on providing care to those that have been taught that mental health isn't relevant or that showing emotions is unacceptable. I want to make myself available to the underprivileged populations by providing free services and/or working in a clinic specifically for people experiencing economic hardships. Overall, I will advocate for mental health and I will make myself available to all populations because every single person deserves to feel like their best self and no one should suffer alone.

A prominent barrier facing Filipino women today is overcoming the outdated cultural values of patriarchy and limiting women to traditional roles. While child rearing and homemaking are invaluable and essential roles, women should not be limited or prevented from aspiring for more. Filipino culture is deeply affected by its historical roots, dominated by the values imbued in it by its previous Spanish conquerors. As a result of this, the traditional values of patriarchy and women fulfilling the role of a child bearer and homemaker penetrate deeply into Filipino culture. I have seen this first hand in my own family on my mother's side. My maternal grandmother birthed six children in our ancestral home in Tuguegarao, Philippines. Her education was cut short after she finished 6th grade. The opportunity to pursue a higher education was never an option to her. A brilliant woman despite this, my grandmother was able to raise my mother and her five siblings and support them through their basic education. Barriers to achieving a higher education faced my mother's generation as well. Out of her five siblings, my mother was the only one who was able to pursue her aspirations to attend nursing school. My grandparents were unable to fund her aspirations, so my mother's two sisters both took work opportunities abroad in order to pay for my mother's schooling. Now, it is my generation, and having grown up with my Filipino grandparents in my household has shown me how far we have come since my grandmother was my age. Though she never thought that the opportunity extended to herself, my grandmother was adamant in telling me every day to focus on my schooling and to strive to achieve the highest accolades. Though she has moved back to our ancestral home now, I made her a promise when she left that I would be my family's first "doctora." It is my dream to achieve the accolade of Dr. of Clinical Psychology. By doing so, I will be the first in my family to attend graduate school. That opportunity extends far beyond me however. My family is blessed with many women, and just as my mother was a trailblazer for me, I want to be a trailblazer for them and show them that their dreams and aspirations are valid, important, and possible. I want to show them that they are more than what traditional standards want them to be. If empowered, I want to utilize my knowledge and expertise in psychology to educate and empower women to recognize their potential and worth. I want to organize a resource for Filipino women that provides easy access to information on education and its merits. If I'm being truly asirational, I would want to petition for a government funded scholarship program for Filipino women to have the opportunity to attend school worry and judgement free. As women, we need to motivate and push each other to break the cultural bonds that try to limit us and prevent us from truly dreaming and aspiring for more. Women are powerful and brilliant and have ideas and talents that are invaluable to the world. Filipino women deserve to have access to these opportunities and to truly believe that there are no limitations on what they can accomplish.

At the age of 13, I noticed a shift in myself. I was no longer the bubbly, joyful, and lively girl everyone knew me as growing up. Smiles felt forced, my shoulders felt heavy, and no matter how hard I worked or how much I achieved I couldn’t snap out of the same mental loop of “I’m worthless. Why am I alive? Does my life even matter?”. I had always been the “perfect child.” As the eldest daughter, the pressure was on me. I always wanted to do things on my own to take the burden of my existence off my parents’ shoulders. These thoughts were maladaptive and I was slipping further into my depression. I was terrified to tell my parents, and mental health had never been a topic of discussion in my family. It got to the point where I was self harming on a regular basis and planning to end my life. I had no intent of telling anyone my plans, I would maybe write a couple letters to some loved ones, but I just wanted it to be over. It wasn’t until a close friend stepped in that I really understood the gravity of what I was planning to do. They told me that my life mattered and that I had options. They told me that they would help me have that conversation with my parents, and most importantly, that I wasn’t alone. I admitted that I couldn’t continue fighting my battle alone. It took the risk of my own life to realize that asking for help is always an option and that it’s necessary. To this day, I’m working on skills in therapy and in my daily life that can help me live with my MDD and anxiety. I will always make sure that everyone around me knows that if they need help, they don’t even need to ask me, I will be there for them. In the future as a Doctor of Psychology, I want to provide a holistic, person-centered approach to mental healthcare. In my experience with mental health, it took me years to find a doctor that would communicate with me and take the time to listen to my story. It's my personal belief that every single person is a unique individual, experiencing life in a way that only they can truly understand. This is why I am so passionate about using a person-centered approach when it comes to health care. People need and deserve to be listened to and heard. I believe that education is empowering and that the knowledge I gain from my time in education will be paramount to me being able to understand all the different nuances of the human experience. Particularly, I want to spend my career serving people that are in need of someone to help them navigate their mental health. Everybody struggles, and everybody deserves to have someone support them and advocate for them, especially when struggling with mental health. In my career, I want to focus on providing care to those that have been taught that mental health isn't relevant or that showing emotions is unacceptable. I want to make myself available to the underprivileged populations by providing free services and/or working in a clinic specifically for people experiencing economic hardships. Overall, I will advocate for mental health and I will make myself available to all populations because every single person deserves to feel like their best self and no one should suffer alone.

After learning the importance of speaking out and advocating for mental health care from my own experience with MDD, I always make sure that everyone around me knows that if they need help, they don’t even need to ask me, I will be there for them. When others talk to me, I listen earnestly and make sure to always help the person to feel heard and seen. I strongly advocate for therapy and self-help, because everybody needs someone to lean on, and especially when battling with mental health. In my field of work as a behavior therapist, I work daily with young children. Every day, I ensure that I am providing the kids with skills to help them be mindful of their emotions and to accept them as natural and healthy. It is so crucial that we teach children from a young age the importance of mental health. I want to provide a holistic, person-centered approach to mental healthcare as a Doctor of Clinical Psychology. In my experience with mental health, it took me years to find a doctor that would communicate with me and take the time to listen to my story. It's my personal belief that every single person is a unique individual, experiencing life in a way that only they can truly understand. This is why I am so passionate about using a person-centered approach when it comes to health care. People need and deserve to be listened to and heard. I want to remove the bias and gaudiness that most providers approach healthcare with. In my career, I want to focus on providing care to those that have been taught that mental health isn't relevant or that showing emotions is unacceptable. A large part of the population has experienced traumatic events, but our culture has taught them to suppress and ignore the often debilitating symptoms that emerge with PTSD. I want to make myself available to the underprivileged populations by providing free services and/or working in a clinic specifically for people experiencing economic hardships. Overall, I will advocate for mental health and I will make myself available to all populations because every single person deserves to feel like their best self and no one should suffer alone.

I've always struggled with asking for help. As an individual diagnosed with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder, asking for help has been critical in the recent years of my life. At the age of 13, I noticed a shift in myself. I was no longer the bubbly, joyful, and lively girl everyone knew me as growing up. Smiles felt forced, my shoulders felt heavy, and no matter how hard I worked or how much I achieved I couldn’t snap out of the same mental loop of “I’m worthless. Why am I alive? Does my life even matter?”. I had always been the “perfect child.” As the eldest daughter, the pressure was on me. I always wanted to do things on my own to take the burden of my existence off my parents’ shoulders. These thoughts were maladaptive and I was slipping further into my depression. I was terrified to tell my parents, and mental health had never been a topic of discussion in my family. It got to the point where I was self harming on a regular basis and planning to end my life. I had no intent of telling anyone my plans, I would maybe write a couple letters to some loved ones, but I just wanted it to be over. It wasn’t until a close friend stepped in that I really understood the gravity of what I was planning to do. They told me that my life mattered and that I had options. They told me that they would help me have that conversation with my parents, and most importantly, that I wasn’t alone. And so, I asked for help. I admitted that I couldn’t continue fighting my battle alone. It took the risk of my own life to realize that asking for help is always an option and that it’s necessary. It’s a weakness that I’m working on in therapy and in my daily life. It’s a weakness that I can overcome and surpass. It’s a weakness that I will not allow to pass on to my future kids and loved ones. I will always make sure that everyone around me knows that if they need help, they don’t even need to ask me, I will be there for them. This is how I want to live and this is how I will find my way back to being my best self. I want to provide a holistic, person-centered approach to mental healthcare. In my experience with mental health, it took me years to find a doctor that would communicate with me and take the time to listen to my story. It's my personal belief that every single person is a unique individual, experiencing life in a way that only they can truly understand. This is why I am so passionate about using a person-centered approach when it comes to health care. People need and deserve to be listened to and heard. I want to remove the bias and gaudiness that most providers approach healthcare with. Specifically, I want to obtain a PsyD which is a doctorate degree in psychology. I believe that education is empowering and that the knowledge I gain from my time in education will be paramount to me being able to understand all the different nuances of the human experience. Particularly, I want to spend my career serving people that are in need of someone to help them navigate their mental health. Everybody struggles, and everybody deserves to have someone support them and advocate for them, especially when struggling with mental health. In my career, I want to focus on providing care to those that have been taught that mental health isn't relevant or that showing emotions is unacceptable. A large part of the population has experienced traumatic events, but our culture has taught them to suppress and ignore the often debilitating symptoms that emerge with PTSD. I want to make myself available to the underprivileged populations by providing free services and/or working in a clinic specifically for people experiencing economic hardships. Overall, I will advocate for mental health and I will make myself available to all populations because every single person deserves to feel like their best self and no one should suffer alone.

I want to provide a holistic, person-centered approach to mental healthcare. In my experience with mental health, it took me years to find a doctor that would communicate with me and take the time to listen to my story. It's my personal belief that every single person is a unique individual, experiencing life in a way that only they can truly understand. This is why I am so passionate about using a person-centered approach when it comes to health care. People need and deserve to be listened to and heard. I want to remove the bias and gaudiness that most providers approach healthcare with. Specifically, I want to obtain a PsyD which is a doctorate degree in psychology. I believe that education is empowering and that the knowledge I gain from my time in education will be paramount to me being able to understand all the different nuances of the human experience. Particularly, I want to spend my career serving people that are in need of someone to help them navigate their mental health. Everybody struggles, and everybody deserves to have someone support them and advocate for them, especially when struggling with mental health. In my career, I want to focus on providing care to those that have been taught that mental health isn't relevant or that showing emotions is unacceptable. A large part of the population has experienced traumatic events, but our culture has taught them to suppress and ignore the often debilitating symptoms that emerge with PTSD. I want to make myself available to the underprivileged populations by providing free services and/or working in a clinic specifically for people experiencing economic hardships. Overall, I will advocate for mental health and I will make myself available to all populations because every single person deserves to feel like their best self and no one should suffer alone.

I knew from around the age of a toddler, that I wanted to be like my grandmother and mother and heal others. Though I had this passion from a young age, it wasn’t until high school that I made the serious commitments to pursue a bachelor’s degree in science. What inspired this decision is an emotionally tender and personal time in my life. My maternal grandparents lived with my family here in America for about 13 years, until my grandfather passed away in 2022. My grandfather was a hardworking man who worked every day of his life to provide for his wife and six children in their small home village in Tuguegarao, Philippines. He worked with his hands and was especially proficient at gardening and tending crops because agriculture was the main source of income for the village. In the 13 years that my grandparents lived in my home, I learned many life skills from my grandfather. He planted moringa plants among many others in our backyard which he harvested and used to cook traditional Filipino meals for us. During my grandfather’s last year of life, we took care of him and nursed him at home. As the oldest child, I felt as though it was my duty to assist my grandmother and mother in any way with his care. He was so fragile that I was terrified of hurting him when I would insert his feeding tube, and even dressing and undressing him took extreme care. I will never ever forget one of his nurses during his last hospitalization; she took the time to gently remove each of his shoes and socks one by one so that he could be as comfortable as possible. This, to me, is representative of what healthcare should look like today, and this to me is the kind of physician I will always strive to be. It takes a person with a heart big enough to be willing to look at a person as a whole human being with unique, individual needs that need to be recognized and listened to. Not only do I plan on bringing this best practice to healthcare in America, but I also plan on bringing the best of my abilities to the Philippines as well. People need to be seen, and people need to be heard. That is the simple truth that the modern healthcare system seems to have forgotten in the midst of chaos in a country trying to catch up and mend after a worldwide pandemic. As an individual, I plan to and strive to create something larger than me, and that is a practice where the patient’s comfort and health is the priority, and the patient is seen as a whole. I will be a senior at Arizona State University in Spring of 2025 pursuing a bachelor's of science degree in psychology. Specifically, I want to obtain a PsyD which is a doctorate degree in psychology. I believe that education is empowering and that the knowledge I gain from my time in education will be paramount to me being able to understand all the different nuances of the human experience. Particularly, I want to spend my career serving people that are in need of someone to help them navigate their mental health. Everybody struggles, and everybody deserves to have someone support them and advocate for them, especially when struggling with mental health. Overall, I will advocate for mental health and I will make myself available to all populations because every single person deserves to feel like their best self and no one should suffer alone.

I struggle with asking for help. As an individual diagnosed with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder, asking for help has been critical in the recent years of my life. At the age of 13, I noticed a shift in myself. I was no longer the bubbly, joyful, and lively girl everyone knew me as growing up. Smiles felt forced, my shoulders felt heavy, and no matter how hard I worked or how much I achieved I couldn’t snap out of the same mental loop of “I’m worthless. Why am I alive? Does my life even matter?”. I had always been the “perfect child.” As the eldest daughter, the pressure was on me. I always wanted to do things on my own to take the burden of my existence off my parents’ shoulders. These thoughts were maladaptive and I was slipping further into my depression. I was terrified to tell my parents, and mental health had never been a topic of discussion in my family. It got to the point where I was self harming on a regular basis and planning to end my life. I had no intent of telling anyone my plans, I would maybe write a couple letters to some loved ones, but I just wanted it to be over. It wasn’t until a close friend stepped in that I really understood the gravity of what I was planning to do. They told me that my life mattered and that I had options. They told me that they would help me have that conversation with my parents, and most importantly, that I wasn’t alone. And so, I asked for help. I admitted that I couldn’t continue fighting my battle alone. It took the risk of my own life to realize that asking for help is always an option and that it’s necessary. It’s a weakness that I’m working on in therapy and in my daily life. It’s a weakness that I can overcome and surpass. It’s a weakness that I will not allow to pass on to my future kids and loved ones. I will always make sure that everyone around me knows that if they need help, they don’t even need to ask me, I will be there for them. This is how I want to live and this is how I will find my way back to being my best self. I want to provide a holistic, person-centered approach to mental healthcare. In my experience with mental health, it took me years to find a doctor that would communicate with me and take the time to listen to my story. It's my personal belief that every single person is a unique individual, experiencing life in a way that only they can truly understand. This is why I am so passionate about using a person-centered approach when it comes to health care. People need and deserve to be listened to and heard. I want to remove the bias and gaudiness that most providers approach healthcare with. Specifically, I want to obtain a PsyD which is a doctorate degree in psychology. I believe that education is empowering and that the knowledge I gain from my time in education will be paramount to me being able to understand all the different nuances of the human experience. Particularly, I want to spend my career serving people that are in need of someone to help them navigate their mental health. Everybody struggles, and everybody deserves to have someone support them and advocate for them, especially when struggling with mental health. In my career, I want to focus on providing care to those that have been taught that mental health isn't relevant or that showing emotions is unacceptable. A large part of the population has experienced traumatic events, but our culture has taught them to suppress and ignore the often debilitating symptoms that emerge with PTSD. I want to make myself available to the underprivileged populations by providing free services and/or working in a clinic specifically for people experiencing economic hardships. Overall, I will advocate for mental health and I will make myself available to all populations because every single person deserves to feel like their best self and no one should suffer alone.