To be honest, addiction has been a common theme in my family. I truly feel that this disease somehow plagues creative minds. I have a strong passion to find easier roads for those with addiction, maybe because I am a recovering alcoholic, or I have tried to help others survive addiction who are close to me. The effects addiction has on someone are as different as that individual, but it remains true that it consumes them on all levels of their being. Their health deteriorates, the isolation from society, the constant wheel of guilt, regret and submission and feelings of hopelessness are sometimes too hard to recover from. The pure fear is unexplainable, the feeling of helplessness, hopelessness, and unworthiness. It takes a long time to reprogram your brain to become human again. I feel I was a lucky one. The poison of addiction seeps deep into one’s soul and surroundings. The children of addiction are also scarred by the reality of this fate either by personal design or societal influence. How can we help those who are plagued by this disease? We can offer support through support groups, one on one consultations. A way to back to sanity. The recovery and life on the other side are indeed worth it. The pure joy I feel now is something I have never felt before or can even explain. The second chance to see the beauty and the peace in the smallest of things. It is truly indescribable. Thank you, Crystal

I am currently enrolled in Business Administration. Although, I am a non-traditional student and starting a little late in life. I have big dreams to fulfill in my career. I am guided to finish my Associate, then Bachelor's degree and hopefully I will be able to complete a Master's Program in Business. I have raised four children and put my career path on hold. Enjoying every bit of time I have spent raising them and not being able to focus on myself and fulfilling dreams of my own is truly the next chapter in my life. I would like to become a Project Manager, involved in Non-Profit organizations such as United Way. To make a difference in the community through my management would be a passion fulfilled. Non-Profit organizations are a strong career pursuit of mine because they give back to those in need. For you to be able to see what an impact you can make through your everyday efforts is rewarding. Another strong career path I would like to see fulfilled is through clinical counseling for our youth with addictions. The threat of addiction paths is high and many of our young children are falling victim to this lifestyle of drugs, alcohol, depression and mental instability. To be able to offer some retreat for them to speak freely and have a haven for self-respect is another way I would like to use my management skills through a business that can be community funded for the health of our youthful community. I also think we should be aware of the harm we are inflicting on our environment through hazardous waste and neglect of material objects. To be more focused on the growth of the needs and not the wants or desires. To live sustainable lives without extraneous wastefulness. Recycle and repeat, and find ways to live with the land instead of polluting the land. Bringing awareness to the community about the negative effects of social media is a stance that would be worth the effort. The ill effects of children and screen time are turning individuals into mindless adults with no ambition for future goals. Living in a false reality of self brings adverse effects to the generation to come. Any efforts to give back to the community you live in through, sustainability, charity and respect for others would be great contributions that I would strive for in my career path.

I will take a quote from my 23-year-old daughter. "Mom, your generation(the Gen-X generation) need to take care of your mental health and take mental health days from work, it is just as important as your physical health." So true, we don't take care of ourselves mentally because it can't be seen or shown to others that there is a problem. Mental health wellness is a crisis, we are overwhelmed with everyday workloads and we don't stop to tend to what is needed most ourselves. If we are not good to ourselves how can we expect to be good to others? We would have nothing left to give. I believe strongly in caring for myself and checking in on others. I usually maintain my mental health stability by taking care of myself physically, emotionally and mentally. I drink plenty of water, staying hydrated and well-rested. Avoiding sugars and highly processed foods. I try to live, for the most part, a clean life. I don't drink alcohol, I see my doctor yearly and get well check-ups. I get plenty of rest and am in bed at a decent hour. Also, too much screen time on the phone, tablet or tv is hazardous for our mental health. Putting too much emphasis on the way others portray their lives through social media puts strain on you to strive to live up to something that looks real, but isn't always the case. In our youth, social media is devastating to their mental health as the bullying or the need to be better than the next creates a false reality and defeat as their self-worth diminishes. They can never be enough to match the social media portrayal of reality. It is not always as it appears. I also, try to do things to calm my head space. I walk daily in my neighborhood. I get up and move around regularly during my work day since I normally sit a lot in my job position. Giving back to others is important for my mental health as well. I enjoy making a difference and helping others. I like to be involved in community events and work functions. Involvement in my church, attending services regularly and volunteering in small amounts helps me feel good. Spending time laughing and enjoying my family. Playing with my two dogs usually makes me laugh and get up and move. They are a joy to have! Mental health is a growing issue among all, especially our youth and is in my opinion an important aspect of health.

In my daily life, I am an avid believer in recycling. The water in our city is not fit for drinking so we were going through many water bottles. As I was recycling the water bottles, I still did not feel this was adequate and still wasteful. I then invested in a water filtration system that we can fill up our sustainable water bottles and this has decreased our consumption of plastic waste in our household. We also, recycle our coke cans and glass bottles in recycling bins for disposal. There are so many easy options that don't take much effort or time to instill into our everyday lives, why not be aware of the impact you are having on the environment? We are a society of waste and consumption of things and objects with no value. Let's place value in the future of our environment. Our household will compost our food waste to transfer to our garden and chickens. This helps with food costs for the birds and adds vitamin-rich nutrients back to the earth. It enables us to grow fresh produce for our family and also instill a quality of self-sustainability into our childrens upbringing. Another way we cut down on our carbon footprint is by using LED lights in our homes. These bulbs offer an inviting environment and use much less electricity. They also do not need to be changed as often which is a plus. I also replace my air filters on a regular schedule to reduce the pollution of our waste within the home. We have many plants in our home and work environment that produce oxygen in our spaces. We use air purifiers that help clean the air from pollutants and change those filters regularly. In my work environment, we use less paper by downloading and utilizing space on the computer instead of printing paper. This reduces the consumption of trees. This alone is one of the most important ways I can help to reduce my footprint by not wasting paper. The paper that is printed does go to a shred service which then recycles the paper on their end. Our landfills are a disgusting and foul sight to which we are continually adding more and more junk to and there are so many other options that we can educate ourselves about to produce better sustainability and reduce our carbon footprints in this environment.

I have encountered a great deal of addiction in my family history and I deal with addiction with one of my young adult children. I believe social media has had a huge negative impact on how young adults respond to themselves and their surroundings. Whether they are trying to find that niche in a group of kids or trying to deal with life stressors. Many people especially young adults will not reach out for help due to their feeling of worthlessness and lack of money, insurance or knowledge. I would like to start a community-sponsored- reach for the help center. The premise would be the same as a local sporting community center that offers after-school basketball and such, but this would offer a haven for our youth to reach out to someone for help. To speak freely without judgment. To feel safe from the pressures of drugs and alcohol, peer pressure. I would like to make services available that are usually only able to be engaged through payment or insurance. I would like to offer help where it is needed most and enable others who have a passion for the same to volunteer their time for the benefit of our youth. This could include licensed therapists, cooks, school counselors, teachers, and parents, just to name a few. Hopefully, through this business concept, we can help our youth to feel some self-worth and confidence to contribute back to the community as well as help to offer them better lives. I would like to present a project management model of therapists and counselors at first volunteering their time until funding could be established and provided by sponsorship from community agencies, churches and government agencies for the welfare of others. Many of our children are either lost or misguided and do not have the support system to make the wisest of decisions. With the guidance of licensed therapists and an available social structure made open and available to them, they can be given a choice in life, one which they feel they don't have. In conclusion, I believe an outreach center would be a great business model for our youth of today and would ultimately contribute to the community as a whole by making a generation better for all. If we could offer the opportunity to everyone who would enter and accept the help what a great community project it could be for all of us.