My dream version of myself is living my best life. I will have my master's degree and with that, I am either a therapist or a high school counselor. I will be helping teenagers or children live with the trauma or any hardships they faced. I would let them know that they are not alone and that I will be there to help in any way I can.

This is a hard question to answer, I have read multiple books and by the end, I am in love with how the book was written. If I had to choose one book for everyone to read, it would probably be “It Ends With Us” written by Colleen Hoover. Now, I know this book has received a lot of criticism but I actually did like this book. Colleen wrote about a topic that is ignored or overlooked as it is a taboo topic for society to talk about. The book is about domestic violence which does happen to multiple men and women and no one realizes that it can happen. I do not want to spoil it if you haven’t read it, but by the end of the book, the main character leaves her husband once their child was born. We follow the main character in her journey with the abuse her husband causes. We are able to see how it started, what happens during their relationship, and how she stops the abuse. Domestic violence is a topic that no one talks about, so when it does happen to an individual, they do not reach out for help as there will be judgment. This book shows that the main character was able to live with the trauma that she faced, but she did not let that trauma take over her life. If someone were to be abused and no one knows about it, I feel like they are able to know that they are able to get out of that relationship and they will be okay, that they are not alone and they do have people to help them. They will have that trauma, but they will one day be able to live their life again. Now I know that sounds optimistic, but I do truly think that they will know they will be okay in the end. I just feel like we do need to talk about taboo topics in order to help individuals who are going through things that no one thinks will happen to them.

I am a first-generation, Hispanic student who is about to graduate with a bachelor’s degree and was accepted into a master’s program. I moved around a lot when I was in middle and high school. It was a little difficult as I had to adapt to the changes around me. I wasn’t able to join a club or sport as I was always moving around. My parents separated when I was thirteen and my brothers and I stayed with my mom. I had to grow up fast as I needed to help my mom with my siblings and household chores. Once I graduated high school, I went to a community college close to my house because my mom still needed help with everything as she was pregnant at the time. I still kept my routines of going to school, taking care of my siblings, go to work, and once I am home from work, I would work on homework. I had to balance everything while I went to school. Once it was time for me to transfer to a 4-year university, I had to make the decision of staying close by or going away. I decided to go to a 4-year university that was four hours hour from where I lived as I was ready to live on my own and start my life. The transition was hard but it wasn’t impossible to do. I was happy and excited to see what would come of me living on my own away from my mom. There have been obstacles that I faced while going to school, but I was able to move past them and continue going to school. My dad pushed the thought of going to school once I graduated high school. Since I was a kid, he would always remind me that going to school after high school was my only option. He would remind me that he and my mom would be struggling and he would tell me that he doesn’t want that for me, so I have to go to school. I am thankful he pushed me to continue my education as that was the best decision for me. As I went to a community college, I noticed that I really do like school and I am okay with continuing on if I needed to. I am currently a psychology major because I fell in love with learning about the human brain. I want to continue on become a therapist or a high school counselor and help children and teenagers overcome or live with the obstacles they face. I want to help in any way I can because I would have wanted to receive help when I was in high school. I faced a lot of obstacles while I was in high school, but I wouldn’t be the person I am without them.

Once I found out my parents were going to separate, in middle school, my whole world changed. I believed my parents would be together my whole life, but once my dad told me, everything changed. I was usually a kid that would be outside playing with my brothers and my dad. Once I was told about the separation, I stayed in my room and I didn’t want to go anywhere. Once I enter high school, I was able to understand more of what was going on around me. However, I did not understand what was going on with my mental health. There were days when I did not want to go to school and stay in my bed. There were days when I would be energetic, but later in the day I just wanted to sleep. I did not understand why I was feeling like this as in my Hispanic culture we do not talk about it. There would be multiple days where I stayed home and did nothing because I did not have motivation. There would be days when I would cry for no known reason or my past caught up to me. During those times, I was confused and I did not know what to do. I did not reach out for help as I didn’t know who to ask for help and I know my mom didn’t know how to help me. I did talk to a therapist at school and it helped a bit, but I had to move around a lot and I was not able to continue those sessions in my last year of high school. Once I graduated high school and I began college, I started to learn more about mental health. I did start to do self-care and I noticed a difference in how my mental health changed for the better. However, it still affected my schooling. There were days when I did not go to school because I couldn’t get out of bed or because I felt like I had no reason to get out of bed. I would dwell on my past and I wasn’t able to get over it and move on. It was really hard during those times because I did not know how to help myself. I used to self-harm in high school and I stopped when I was a senior in high school but there were days when I wanted to self-harm. I did not do it but the urge was there. I started to journal, I would write in a journal about how I felt and what was going through my head. It helped and I continued to do that as I felt like I was not my own enemy anymore. However, to this day I have my days where I still stay in my room because I do not want to go anywhere because my mind doesn’t let me. I have noticed that if I let myself feel that feeling that I always get every day, I will be missing living my life. I made a promise to myself that I would at least let myself feel empty, sad, numb, and dead on the inside for one or two days, and I would get out of that feeling for the rest of the week or month. Life keeps going and it stops for no one, I could not continue on without not living my life. I learned how to live my life with my mental health affecting everything I do and I believe it has helped me live my life better.

Perseverance to me means that an individual will do anything to accomplish their goal and not give up. There are multiple tasks or goals where there will be obstacles that an individual will face, but they will overcome those obstacles in their own time and will be able to accomplish their tasks or goals. I will say that continuing my education demonstrates perseverance. My end goal is to graduate with a bachelor's degree and continue my education to receive a Masters's degree. I had to learn how to manage my time as I had to go to class and do my homework while helping my mom with my siblings and do household chores and errands while going to work on time. I went to a community college close by where I lived. Once it was time to transfer, I had to make a decision about where I would continue my education. I could continue with a school close by or at a school hours away. I had to think about what would benefit me, but my mom would still be in my thoughts. It was a hard decision to make as it would be hard to leave her and not be able to help her as much. I decided to continue my education at school hours away from home as I felt it was time to live on my own. It was hard in the first few months when I moved away. I did not have a job when I moved, so I was struggling financially. I went back home to visit and work until the semester started. As I was working, my dad received a call that my grandpa was in the hospital. I had to stop working and make the drive to Texas as that was where my grandpa lived. All the money I saved up, was gone as I had to help with gas on the way to Texas and any food that I needed to buy. Once we got to Texas we made sure he was good and made the drive back to California. By the time I came back, the semester started and I still had no job. I was stressed out as I did not know how I would be financially stable. I applied to all the jobs I could and waited till one job reached out. I decided to work at Amazon until other jobs reached out. I worked at Amazon for a little while, but the drive and the shift I worked were not working well with my class schedule. I quit Amazon and luckily one of the jobs I applied for reached out I was hired I started to work right away as I had bills to pay. Everything was going well and I decided I was financially stable, and that I would be able to visit my mom and that is what I did. I went back home and spent time with my family. Once it was time for me to return, I got into a car accident. I once again struggled financially as I had to pay for my car to be fixed. I believe there were multiple obstacles my way that I had to overcome to be able to continue my education. I never once stopped or gave up because it was too hard. I continued because I want to be able to help teenagers and children when I become a therapist or a school counselor. I believe that continuing my education while I face obstacle after obstacle demonstrates that I have perseverance.