My favorite hobbies are gardening, backpacking, reading, and sailing. Gardening is special because for me it's almost like therapy. I work in accounting and that can be very stressful so getting home and getting into my garden helps me to unwind and become present. Spending time outside and in the sun makes me feel so alive. There is nothing more amazing than seeing the literal 'fruits' of your labor. Making a delicious meal with food you've grown makes it taste that much better. Reading has always been an amazing escape for me. I grew up in an abusive household and books became my escape. I could journey to new worlds and have amazing adventures in a book. Books also became my escape from poverty, I knew the only way I was going to be able to escape mediocrity was through education so books became my salvation along with my escape. Backpacking for me is a wonderful way to disconnect with the outside world, and spend time connecting with my inner self and nature. There is so much wonder and beauty in the world and most of the time it goes by, missed by most people because they're glued to their phones and computers. I feel so relaxed and rejuvenated when I spend time out in nature. I hope to one day hike the Appalachian Trail. Sailing is my last passion. This is one I discovered completely by accident and have since learned more about. It feels completely liberating to be able to be out on the water and harnessing the power of nothing but the wind to move you from one point to another. I hope to one day sail around the world.

Honestly, as someone who struggles with mental health issues, the most practical solution is to let them know that EVERYONE struggles at one point or another so that they don't feel alone and to destigmatize asking for help. I have seen firsthand so many people struggle in silence because they're terrified of what people will think of them, or they don't ask for help because they don't want to be a 'burden' to others. So many people don't want to burden others with their problems so they suffer in silence. The fact that mental health care is so expensive and seemingly out of reach of so many leads those people to turn to easy solutions like drugs, alcohol, food, sex, and other destructive things. Mental health problems are real, and they're far more prevalent than most people realize, and if we all started doing the 'Me Too' of mental health issues, then maybe we might all realize just how many people there are in the world who suffer. I have PTSD from childhood sexual abuse, but I know now that I'm not the only one. I felt tremendous guilt and shame for so many years because of it and I drank myself to sleep every night to deal with the pain, the sadness, the loneliness. If I had known back then just how many others there were like me, it might have made my life better a lot sooner.

Recovery to me means no longer relying on alcohol to solve my problems. I have been sober for 20 years and have done so many things with my life that I never thought possible. I have worked hard to heal my PTSD and childhood psychological trauma that caused me to feel despondent and drink so I could sleep and I can truly say that getting sober was the best thing I've ever done for myself. It was the first step I took on my journey to self-love, yet at that time I didn't really know that's what I was doing. I've made such wonderful progress with my life that I started supporting other people who were going through addiction recovery in a sponsor capacity to help others to get the guidance and love they need in order to heal. That is truly the key - love and hope - learning that you're worthy regardless of anything or anyone and hope that there is a better life and future out there for you that doesn't involve drugs and alcohol.

This one is kind of difficult to answer. I grew up in an economically depressed area where most people don't even graduate from high school let alone dream of going to college. I knew that education was my only true escape from poverty, so I worked hard to shift my mindset and get good grades and study to get into college. Turns out it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, but to many who I knew I might as well have been climbing Mt Everest. To convince someone who didn't want to attend college that it was a worthwhile endeavor I could show them plenty of cases of people who grew up the same as us that went to college and did something better with their lives. Just committing to changing your circumstances can be the catalyst necessary for someone to see that college would be an investment in themselves and their future and that their future could be so much better if they just applied themselves. It's such a shame that so many people I know who were really smart and talented didn't have college aspirations, nor was college something they ever even thought was an option for them, just ended up settling for a life of mediocrity that they thought they deserved. I would help them to understand that they deserve so much more and that it's available for them.

I chose to pursue accounting because I grew up poor and wanted to get into a career to be able to help others who struggled like my mother did to be able to create better lives for themselves through financial independence. I am working on finishing my degree and then moving into becoming a financial advisor (CFP) to help more women take control of their finances, so they don't feel they have to rely on a broken system or men who are unreliable to have financial independence and peace in their lives. In order to really make a difference, I need to empower hundreds of women (and their children) by teaching them about money, how money truly works, and how to manage their money better to create good lives for themselves and their children. To spend time educating them on the value of working towards financial independence so they won't have to be like my parents who are in their 60's and struggling to survive because they didn't take care of their health, they don't have good insurance, and they didn't save for retirement so if they don't work, they don't have money to live. That is no way for someone who is in their "golden age" to have to live. I want to teach people how to manage their finances so that when they get to retirement age if they work it's because they want to, not because they must. That to me is true financial independence. Knowing that you don't have to continue to work to survive and that your basic needs will always be met. I grew up never knowing if I was going to eat dinner that day, we hardly ever had breakfast, and when my mom found out that they handed out tokens at school in front of the class to those who were getting free or reduced lunch, she took us out of the program because of the embarrassment. So, instead of us being embarrassed or ashamed, instead, we just went hungry. Every month it was utility roulette. Was there going to be water today? Heat? Electricity? Living with that kind of scarcity made my siblings become just like my parents, but I needed to make a better life for myself, so I became educated and in turn, started educating others and it's been the most rewarding thing I've ever done for myself. I love the feeling of knowing that I helped someone put money into savings, to help them stop living paycheck to paycheck, to help them start putting money away for retirement. That to me is more rewarding than any amount of money.