When I was just in elementary school, 5th grade to be exact, I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. Throughout my childhood, I was always different. I constantly felt disconnected from others, unhappy, and agitated. I had issues with my parents that started when I was very young. I was always a stubborn little kid, but as I continued to get older, it became more than that. My parents thought I had anger issues and was a bad kid, repeatedly disrespecting them because I could, when in fact, I was anxious and depressed and stuck inside my own mind. Most people with anxiety show their symptoms on the outside as agitation, anger, lack of patience, and constant irritability. As a little kid, of course anxiety and depression weren't the first things that came to my parents minds when I was acting like this. The thing that really stumped them, was that I was a perfect child outside of our house. Teachers were constantly complimenting me to my parents, and friends parents beamed about what a nice kid I was. Little did they all know, I was already learning how to keep it all inside out in the real world. I just couldn't do it at home. When my parents finally decided to take the next step and start taking me to doctors and therapists, it was like a huge sigh of relief when we finally found a therapist that didn't dismiss me. I started taking medication, and we quickly fell into a routine of seeing that therapist weekly. It was a hard transition, and me being the stubborn kid I am, struggled with the idea of taking medication and needing "help". But Alice, my therapist, was a great help. She made it seem like a fun thing to go to her office, and she and I played games, talked about life, and eventually, we got into the real stuff. We worked on things to help me when I had anxiety attacks, and she helped me understand why some days I felt like I didn't deserve to be alive anymore. It was a hard process, and not every day was good. I just couldn’t wrap my head around the fact why some days were good, and some days were miserable and I thought about taking my own life. As I grew up and went through middle school, I had ups and downs. We switched medicines a few times, I went through dozens of therapists, I had friend issues that made things worse, and by body changing didn't help either. But through it all, my parents were there to help me through. I made new friends, I learned new things, and I slowly grew up into who I knew I wanted to be. High school definitely hasn't been easy, but I've grown up and learned how to handle things better. I am still on medication and I still see a therapist when I feel I need to. I still struggle with certain things, and my anxiety gets worse in some settings. I am a cross country runner, and along with that sport comes a lot of anxiety. Meet days are very bad days for me, no matter how much I tell myself I love the sport. I have even passed out at a race because I did not eat enough that day, as my anxiety wouldn't let me. That was sort of a turning point for me, and that situation made me realize that I could not let my anxiety get the best of me anymore. As I've grown, I've come to know and be okay with who I am. With my faith and the help of others, I overcame so much. When I look back to the scared little girl that didn't know or understand what was wrong with her, I am proud. My dad constantly tells me "God gives the hardest battles to the strongest warriors". I am proud that God thinks of me as a strong warrior. I am proud that I AM and WAS strong enough to get over this battle in my life. Sure, it's a constant battle that I will never stop fighting. But the fact that I can look back at my life and know I'm better, and know I'm stronger, is a win for me. In my future, I can see myself getting married, becoming a teacher, having children, and living a love filled life. I love people and I love children. Thinking about what I went through makes me feel like I need to help others. When I become a teacher someday, I am looking forward to helping my students find themselves, and if they deal with things like I did, I want to make them feel special and loved. I want to make them feel like they are worthy, and that they shouldn't EVER give up. I want to be that person in their lives that they know will always be there for them. When I have children someday, I am going to teach them that they are strong, and they are worthy of others AND their selves love. I am going to teach them that God gives the hardest battles to the strongest warriors. I am going to teach them that no matter what they go through, if they have faith, they will always come out on the other side shining.

When COVID-19 hit the world, I was a junior in high school. I was ripped from my friends, my family, my school, and my activities I was involved in. I sat at home for months, wishing I had my track season. Wishing I had an opportunity to hang out with my friends one more time, or to see my cousins cute faces one more time. While we were in quarantine, I had a little cousin born. Him and his family live right next to me, but I was not allowed to see him, hold him, kiss him, or anything. I was not allowed to do what I am so used to doing with my family every time we get a new life in the family. I wasn't allowed to see my grandparents that I am so close with, because they are so high risk. My grandpa is still recovering from a quadrupedal bypass on his heart, and is suffering from a benign tumor in his brain. He is high risk and needs to be careful with what he does, so we could not see them at all. This was very hard for me and my family, as we are very close knit. To this day, I am still not allowed to be in close proximity to them, until they finish getting their vaccine. COVID-19 has changed my life so much, but I have learned so much from this experience. During quarantine, I grew a lot closer with my siblings and my parents. We played board games every day, played outside, and made fun fancy dress-up dinners once a week. We learned how to work with each other and make a schedule that worked for all of us. I am so grateful for that time I had with my family, even though it wasn't the best circumstances. When things finally started to get better and school's opened up for the new school year, I was excited to start my senior year, even though it wasn't normal. I was most excited for my senior season of cross country. When we started the season, things were different, with all the rules and having to wear masks. We got used to it, and it became normal. When my season was just about over, I came in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus. I was quarantined for 2 weeks and missed out on the last 2 weeks of my senior season of my favorite sport, the thing I had worked so hard for for 4 years, and all summer. I was angry and very frustrated. I never got sick, so I sat at home for 2 weeks and pouted, so upset with what had happened to me. As I look back on that situation a few months later, I see it in a different light. I see it as a break that I got to have from the calf injury I was battling with the whole season. I realized that what I missed out on wasn't as big of a deal, that it didn't matter in the big scheme of things. 5 years from now, I will barely be able to remember the 2 weeks I didn't get to run cross country. There are so many more important things in life than school sports. I missed a whole season of track in the spring, and half of my cross country, but when you think about it, those are only a few months of life, compared to the many more I will have, with more important events happening. I wouldn't say that I am grateful for COVID-19, but I am grateful for the experiences I went through during that time. I learned a lot about myself and grew as a person. Although, I cannot wait for it to be over so I can see my grandparents again, and hug my friends again.

As a senior in high school, I have been in school for the majority of my life. As I reflect back through my elementary, middle school, and high school years, I realize what a big role my education has played into my life. Everything in my life for the past 12 years has been focused on my schoolwork and my activities in school. I am a person that loves to read, write, or do anything that involves reading and writing. I enjoy learning and applying those things in my everyday life. School has always been interesting to me, and I enjoy applying myself and working hard in all my classes. I love the feeling of accomplishment when I do good on a test, or when I get a good grade on a project. I am not the best at math, and I have struggled with it for my whole life. Despite that, I have worked hard every single year to continue to get better and become a better math student. No matter how much I improve by the end of my high school days, I know that all my hard work has helped me to become a more hardworking person. My work ethic has gotten better over the years, and I am very proud of that. I plan to "go to school to go to school for the rest of my life". In other words, I am going to college to be a teacher. I plan on majoring in Elementary Education and minoring in Special Education. I am excited to be in a classroom with little kids for the rest of my life, and teach them to love to learn. When I was in elementary school, I had a few teachers that made it fun to learn, and I believe that they paved the path for me to excel and enjoy school. I want to be that for little kids. I want to be the teacher that they remember when they grow up. I want to be the teacher that they remember taught them how to play games to learn and find silly rules on how to remember facts. Education plays a big role in my life today, and I plan on it playing a big role in my life in the future as I work in the education field. I cannot wait to become a teacher and be a light to little kids.

My name is Claire Yochum, and I have anxiety and depression. When I was in the fifth grade, I was diagnosed. Throughout my entire childhood, I dealt with a lot of struggles. I spent my childhood being frustrated and feeling like I was stuck in a world and a body that I didn't like, that I didn't belong in. I never understood what was wrong with me. When at school, I was a great kid. Teachers loved me and I had so many friends. But when I was in the comfort of my own home, it was a different story. I had a short temper with my parents and siblings, and I often had bursts of anger and went into fits that I would not even remember when they were over. My parents tried to help me, but it was frustrating for them too. I was labeled as a troubled child, and told that I just had anger issues that I couldn't contain once I got home. But when it got too much for us all to take, we went to see a therapist. I went to a therapist named Alice, and she was the first person to finally give me relief. She told me that there was nothing wrong with me, that there was just something wired differently in my brain than most people. It wasn't something I could change about myself or take away, but something I could work on and try to improve my quality of life. Alice diagnosed me with anxiety and depression, and soon after, they put me on medication to help me. I really struggled with this, because I didn't want to take medicine and be labeled as someone that has something "wrong" with me. For years, I was scared to go to sleepovers, because I didn't want my friends to see me take my medicine and ask me questions. It got better along the way, but my middle school years were a tough time for me. I went through times where I didn't want to be alive, and I thought about ending it myself. I went through so many struggles with medicines, and the mental part of deciding to switch off of one and get on another one. I went through the usual friend issues, but for me, it seemed so much worse. I started having anxiety attacks, and we would have to go in and up my medicine, which made me upset. I didn't like the idea of being a different person because I was on medicine. I was scared of what I would be if I ever stopped taking it. I am 17 years old, a senior in high school. Next August, I am going to be a freshman attending the University of Northern Iowa. I enjoy running track and cross country at my school, am involved in speech, band, NHS, and am an MVP mentor for freshman. Outside of school, I am involved in 4H, and am the secretary of my club. I love showing my calves and lambs and working with them. I run a photography business, and have been becoming more successful quite recently, and I love taking pictures for families, couples, and seniors. I am a lifeguard, and I work regularly each week. I have been in a relationship with my boyfriend for almost two years now, and I can't wait to be at college with him next year. My relationships with my family has improved greatly over the years. I also hold good grades and have improved my schoolwork each year of high school. The point of that last paragraph wasn't to brag about myself and talk about everything I am good at. The point of it was to show that I have a very normal and successful life. Over the past 3 years, I have improved so much. If you were to tell middle school Claire about my life right now, she would be utterly shocked. She would be so proud of who I became, because at that time in my life, there were moments when I never thought I would make it out of that dark hole. I never thought I would make it anywhere in life. Dealing with anxiety and depression has definitely made my life harder, but it has made me a stronger person. I went through things at a young age that some people will never have to deal with in their lives. Despite this, I am so thankful for going through what I went through. I believe that these experiences have shaped me into who I am, and are the reason I am so successful and happy today. I am planning on being an elementary teacher, and I plan on being aware of these things in children, and be that person to be there for them when they are the ones in the darkest of times. Going through what I went through has made me realize what I want to do with my life, and it gives me reason to want to help kids and be that person for them. When it comes to my beliefs, I think that my struggles have helped me in my faith. I am a Christian, and I am very active in my church, it is a huge part of my life. During the worst times of my depression, I felt that the one person that was really there for me was God. I talked to him when I needed help, and I believe that my faith in Him is what really pulled me out of the darkest of the times. When I was first diagnosed, my dad told me that "God gives the hardest battles to the strongest warriors". I now believe this with my whole heart, and when I get to heaven, I will be thanking God for giving me a battle that I successfully made it through, one that therefore, made me a stronger person.

It's easy to brag about the things you do to help your community when writing essays like this. It's easy to embellish your experiences and make them seem more glamorous. I am going to be completely honest and vulnerable when I say, I love volunteering in places of need. It gives me a sense of happiness to think that I am possibly improving someone's quality of life when I donate, or help them. I spend a lot of time with my family, volunteering at Open Door Mission, Mohm's Place, and the Micah House. We love helping at holiday events, cleaning and organizing on weekends, and donating whenever we can. Within my church, we participate in something monthly called ServeFest, where we go out to our city and do service projects to help people in need, or places in need. Within my 4H group, we create activities where our club can donate and help people, and we often go places and do service projects. I spend a lot of time doing these things, and I wouldn't have it any other way. When it comes to my community, I have a lot of dreams and ideas to continue to make our place of home a better place to live. In my 4H group, we do lots of things like walking along highways and picking up trash that people throw out their windows. I hope that we can continue to do this, in even more places. Eventually, I hope people will realize that we are doing this, and they shouldn't be throwing trash out their windows to begin with. I hope that someday, because of the service work we do, people will notice it, and more people will join in, until everyone in the community is helping one another in some way. When it comes to our country, there are a lot of things going on right now. I don't like getting into politics, even though it seems like everything comes back to that these days. In my eyes, we are all the same. We are all children of God, and He sees us all the same, as we should each other. I hope that someday, everyone can treat each other with kindness, and respect everyone's opinions. I am a strong believer in just being kind. No matter if someone talks to me that has completely different opinions than me, or someone that has the exact same ideas as me, I am going to treat them the same way. I hope that someday, my kindness towards everyone can rub off on someone, and they can carry it on themselves. This way, everyone in our country can respect one another, no matter what. What I talked about in talking about our country and my community combined, applies much too our world as a whole. The whole world needs hospitality and helpfulness, and the whole world needs kindness and respect. If everyone were to give everyone they pass by some kindness and hospitality, the world would be a better place. It's like the domino effect... if one person carries on these traits, the person they carry it onto will hopefully do the same, and so on. I truly hope that one day, our world can be full of happiness, respect, and kindness. This would make the world a better place, and so many problems would be solved.

My name is Claire Yochum, and I have anxiety and depression. When I was in the fifth grade, I was diagnosed. Throughout my entire childhood, I dealt with a lot of struggles. I spent my childhood being frustrated and feeling like I was stuck in a world and a body that I didn't like, that I didn't belong in. I never understood what was wrong with me. When at school, I was a great kid. Teachers loved me and I had so many friends. But when I was in the comfort of my own home, it was a different story. I had a short temper with my parents and siblings, and I often had bursts of anger and went into fits that I would not even remember when they were over. My parents tried to help me, but it was frustrating for them too. I was labeled as a troubled child, and told that I just had anger issues that I couldn't contain once I got home. But when it got too much for us all to take, we went to see a therapist. I went to a therapist named Alice, and she was the first person to finally give me relief. She told me that there was nothing wrong with me, that there was just something wired differently in my brain than most people. It wasn't something I could change about myself or take away, but something I could work on and try to improve my quality of life. Alice diagnosed me with anxiety and depression, and soon after, they put me on medication to help me. I really struggled with this, because I didn't want to take medicine and be labeled as someone that has something "wrong" with me. For years, I was scared to go to sleepovers, because I didn't want my friends to see me take my medicine and ask me questions. It got better along the way, but my middle school years were a tough time for me. I went through times where I didn't want to be alive, and I thought about ending it myself. I went through so many struggles with medicines, and the mental part of deciding to switch off of one and get on another one. I went through the usual friend issues, but for me, it seemed so much worse. I started having anxiety attacks, and we would have to go in and up my medicine, which made me upset. I didn't like the idea of being a different person because I was on medicine. I was scared of what I would be if I ever stopped taking it. I am 17 years old, a senior in high school. Next August, I am going to be a freshman attending the University of Northern Iowa. I enjoy running track and cross country at my school, am involved in speech, band, NHS, and am an MVP mentor for freshman. Outside of school, I am involved in 4H, and am the secretary of my club. I love showing my calves and lambs and working with them. I run a photography business, and have been becoming more successful quite recently, and I love taking pictures for families, couples, and seniors. I am a lifeguard, and I work regularly each week. I have been in a relationship with my boyfriend for almost two years now, and I can't wait to be at college with him next year. My relationships with my family has improved greatly over the years. I also hold good grades and have improved my schoolwork each year of high school. The point of that last paragraph wasn't to brag about myself and talk about everything I am good at. The point of it was to show that I have a very normal and successful life. Over the past 3 years, I have improved so much. If you were to tell middle school Claire about my life right now, she would be utterly shocked. Dealing with anxiety and depression has definitely made my life harder, but it has made me a stronger person. I went through things at a young age that some people will never have to deal with in their lives. I believe that these experiences have shaped me into who I am, and are the reason I am so successful and happy today. Overcoming the thoughts of ending my life and believing that I didn't deserve to be alive have given me a different outlook on life, and I wake up every morning feeling thankful for getting to live another day. I feel thankful that I am here, and that I have been given another chance to live a full, happy life, and be able to fulfill my dreams. When it comes to understanding the world, I think what I have been through has given me a different outlook on people and life itself. When I look at people, I see deeper into them than most people do. I feel that I can see what people are going through, and I can sympathize with how they are feeling. Empathy and sympathy are important traits to have, and I feel that because of what I have been through, I have become better at feeling those emotions. Sometimes, the way I see the world can be a bad thing, though. I see things in black and white, which means I don't miss much, and I see all of the bad things in the world. I see everything that is going wrong, and I feel for all of those people. But I am thankful for this, as it gives me a different outlook on everything. When I was first diagnosed, my dad told me that "God gives the hardest battles to the strongest warriors". I now believe this with my whole heart, and when I get to heaven, I will be thanking God for giving me a battle that I successfully made it through, one that therefore, made me a stronger person.

I struggle with anxiety and depression. Ever since I was a young child, my parents noticed that something was different about me. From a young age, I struggled with short bursts of anger, annoyance, and times where I wouldn't even be able to get out of bed. This was very scary as a young child, and my parents didn't understand what was going on. As the years went by, I was told that I had anger issues, that I was just too stubborn, and that I was just a trouble child. The thing was, I never acted like this outside the home. My parents figured out that I just held it all in while I was at school and such, but just couldn't hold it in anymore once I got home and got comfortable. Around the time that they realized this, more things started to come together and they decided to take me to a doctor/therapist. When I was in fifth grade, I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. From that point on, I went through many different therapists, many different medications, and so many doctor appointments each month. I had one therapist, Alice, that I actually liked. She let me know that what was going on with me wasn't my fault, and that medically, there was just something differently wired in my brain. She made me feel like I was "normal", and that it actually was a good thing to take medicine every day, not an embarrassing thing. As I grew up, I had ups and downs. Like most people, middle school was a hard time for me. I had problems with friends, went through changes in my medicine that was really tough, and dealt with the stress of school. But unlike everyone else going through those things, I had that anxiety and depression always on my shoulders. I started having panic attacks, and I wouldn't be able to catch my breath. I started having depressive episodes where my mom just let me stay in bed all day, because I physically could not get out. Now, as a senior in high school, I would like to say that I have these things under control, although I don't think I ever will. I still have anxiety attacks, and I still have days where I can't get out of bed. But I truly believe that these things I have been through have made me a stronger person. I have learned that God gives the hardest battles to His strongest warriors. I have learned that not every day is going to be a good one, but you have to look forward to the next one. I have learned that you're not going to be happy all the time, but that shouldn't stop you from having a happy life. Although it has been a hard battle and I'm sure it will continue to be one, I truly am thankful for the experience. I have met amazing people along the way that have helped me with this. I have learned lessons that some people may never learn. I am so thankful for the life I have been given, despite the hardships. Although I have not overcome anxiety and depression, I feel I have overcome the battle that it tries to throw at me every day.

When I was just in elementary school, 5th grade to be exact, I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. Throughout my childhood, I was always different. I constantly felt disconnected from others, unhappy, and agitated. I had issues with my parents that started when I was very young. I was always a stubborn little kid, but as I continued to get older, it became more than that. My parents thought I had anger issues and was a bad kid, repeatedly disrespecting them because I could, when in fact, I was anxious and depressed and stuck inside my own mind. Most people with anxiety show their symptoms on the outside as agitation, anger, lack of patience, and constant irritability. As a little kid, of course anxiety and depression weren't the first things that came to my parents minds when I was acting like this. The thing that really stumped them, was that I was a perfect child outside of our house. Teachers were constantly complimenting me to my parents, and friends parents beamed about what a nice kid I was. Little did they all know, I was already learning how to keep it all inside out in the real world. I just couldn't do it at home. When my parents finally decided to take the next step and start taking me to doctors and therapists, it was like a huge sigh of relief when we finally found a therapist that didn't dismiss me. I started taking medication, and we quickly fell into a routine of seeing that therapist weekly. It was a hard transition, and me being the stubborn kid I am, struggled with the idea of taking medication and needing "help". But Alice, my therapist, was a great help. She made it seem like a fun thing to go to her office, and she and I played games, talked about life, and eventually, we got into the real stuff. We worked on things to help me when I had anxiety attacks, and she helped me understand why some days I felt like I didn't deserve to be alive anymore. It was a hard process, and not every day was good. I just couldn’t wrap my head around the fact why some days were good, and some days were miserable and I thought about taking my own life. As I grew up and went through middle school, I had ups and downs. We switched medicines a few times, I went through dozens of therapists, I had friend issues that made things worse, and by body changing didn't help either. But through it all, my parents were there to help me through. I made new friends, I learned new things, and I slowly grew up into who I knew I wanted to be. High school definitely hasn't been easy, but I've grown up and learned how to handle things better. I am still on medication and I still see a therapist when I feel I need to. I still struggle with certain things, and my anxiety gets worse in some settings. I am a cross country runner, and along with that sport comes a lot of anxiety. Meet days are very bad days for me, no matter how much I tell myself I love the sport. I have even passed out at a race because I did not eat enough that day, as my anxiety wouldn't let me. That was sort of a turning point for me, and that situation made me realize that I could not let my anxiety get the best of me anymore. As I've grown, I've come to know and be okay with who I am. With my faith and the help of others, I overcame so much. When I look back to the scared little girl that didn't know or understand what was wrong with her, I am proud. My dad constantly tells me "God gives the hardest battles to the strongest warriors". I am proud that God thinks of me as a strong warrior. I am proud that I AM and WAS strong enough to get over this battle in my life. Sure, it's a constant battle that I will never stop fighting. But the fact that I can look back at my life and know I'm better, and know I'm stronger, is a win for me. In my future, I can see myself getting married, becoming a teacher, having children, and living a love filled life. I love people and I love children. Thinking about what I went through makes me feel like I need to help others. When I become a teacher someday, I am looking forward to helping my students find themselves, and if they deal with things like I did, I want to make them feel special and loved. I want to make them feel like they are worthy, and that they shouldn't EVER give up. I want to be that person in their lives that they know will always be there for them. When I have children someday, I am going to teach them that they are strong, and they are worthy of others AND their selves love. I am going to teach them that God gives the hardest battles to the strongest warriors. I am going to teach them that no matter what they go through, if they have faith, they will always come out on the other side shining.

My biggest role model in my life is my own mother. My mom is the strongest person I know, and has the kindest soul of anyone I have ever met. My mom has helped me shape me into who I am because she has such a strong and smart head on her shoulders. She went to school to be an elementary teacher, and taught kindergarten until I was born. After a few years of raising young kids, she pursued her dream of working with kids in a church setting. She is now the Children's Director at our church, and she spends her time teaching kids about Jesus, volunteering her time for the community, and helping church members with their personal issues. She is a person that people go to for help and guidance. She is a person that people go to for a shoulder to cry on. If you ask anyone that has met my mom about who she is, you will hear words like "kind, hard-working, compassionate, helpful, funny, determined". I have gone through many hard times in my childhood, and I deal with depression and anxiety. Even before my diagnosis, my mom was persistent in helping me through my hard times, and put so much time and effort into trying to make my life a better place for me. I would not be who I am today without her help. I would not be as confident, and I would not be as proud of who I am. She has taught me that my anxiety does not define me, and it's just something I have to go through, but something I can always get through. My brother and I have a genetic autoimmune disease called Celiac. This means we cannot eat wheat, barley, or rye. This is a hard disease to live with, and we have to be careful every single day about what we eat. My mom has been the best supporter through all we have to go through with this. She buys us the best gluten free food and she knows everything she needs to know about our disease. When we do get sick, she knows how to handle it with grace. She has taught us both that what we have doesn't define us, and we don't have to let it ruin things like birthday parties, sleepovers, school lunches, ect. She has taught us that our disease doesn't make us different in a bad way. She tells us "God gives the hardest battles to the strongest warriors". No one believes in me more than my mom does. Like I mentioned before, my mom went to school to get an education degree, and she was a teacher, and still does somewhat a form of that. It has always been my dream to go to school and be a teacher, and I think part of that dream has to be from watching her be an amazing teacher. She has always been there to help us with our homework. She taught us how to read before we even went to school. She spent time in the summer helping us on our vowels, learning multiplication, and sounding out big words. I have admired her ability to do that so easily since I was little, and I have wanted to be like her ever since. She knew I was passionate about teaching, and helped me learn how to teach preschool classes at church on Sundays, and got me babysitting jobs to start off. My mom has always been there for me, in every aspect of my life. She has always been the first one I ask for help, the first person I go to tell a story or cry to. My mom is my biggest inspiration and my biggest role model, and I hope I can be as great of a teacher and a person as her someday.

Showing animals has always been a joy for me. Raising them, taking care of them every day, and halter breaking them isn't an easy task. It's a bold one, in fact. I show lambs and cattle, and I work with them every day, all year long, to prepare for Fair Week. I spend hours every year dragging them around, halter breaking them. This year is the first year I showed cattle, and I will have him for one more. This is another bold task, as I have to give up an animal I have spent two years bonding with.