Mental health is one of the trickiest battles to deal with; It is not one that is conquered but one that is managed on the day to day in our everyday lives. It may live in our genetic disposition or it may thrive of our traumatic experiences. Either way mental health has to be dealt with in order for us to a successful human being. Personally, the story my story of mental health issues predates me, stemming from my father and watching him unravel over throughout my life as well. My father Willie Clinton was a US Marine, Vietnam war veteran and he recently passed in 2022 (may god rest his soul). I learned through his military medical documents that we found postmortem that he suffered from PTSD. We never spoke about his experiences much throughout our lives and this would explain a lot. My dad was a drug addict who I did not see for the first 13 years of my life. We would see him maybe once every few years for a single day and he would disappear into the wind. It wasn’t until I was older that I learned about his drug habit. This would be my first experience dealing with someone who was in battling the demon of mental illness. One day when I was 13 years old he randomly showed up on my doorstep, clean and off drugs. For years after that we had a pretty good relationship and I made my way to college. After a few years in college I received a call that my stepbrother had passed from suicide. My step brother made me the person that I am today. Even though we weren't blood he treated me like family from day one. That was my second personal experience with mental illness. At that point he was staying with my dad who found him dead. My stepmother had known about my brother’s mental problem but she kept it a secret. This was extremely disappointing to learn because if she had bothered to get him the help he deserved then maybe he would be here today. My step family blamed my father because he was home at the time of the incident and was not aware of my brother hanging himself in the other room. This led to my stepmother and father splitting up, unknowingly to me this put my father back on the path of drugs. At this point I moved back to Chicago in 2013 and decided to stay with my father. I still had no knowledge of the drug issue and I was paying him rent every month while making minimum wage. I had left college without finishing my degree and I was only working. One day my stepmother appeared at the home and spoke to me privately informing me to not give my father any more money. She then told me he relapsed and most likely was not paying any bills. I soon learned that my father had been fired from his job, two weeks later we were evicted and I was lucky enough to go live with my mother. Fast forward a few years and I ended up with a solid job and things are going well. Until one day on my way home from a routine doctor’s checkup I received the most dreadful news I could have ever received. I was diagnosed with medical issues and to this day it is still one of the worst most impactful moments of my life. I contemplated suicide daily for weeks. My life was forever changed, I did not know what to do, who to cry to, every day I felt as if I was closer to death. It did not help that I did not have a lot of friends either, but the friends I do have I tend to keep close. At some point I sought therapy, which helped. The therapist explained that I really needed an outlet and I just have a lot on my plate. I began to take a more positive approach in life. I felt like if life was going to beat me up, I might as well take it on the chin and do what I can to fight back. I received the help I needed, got my health in order and worked hard to be successful at my job. In this mist of all this on December 22nd 2022 as we were preparing for Christmas I received a call that my father passed away. He has succumbed to his drug addiction and unfortunately fentanyl laced drugs took his life. It was painful, knowing that a parent will never see you bask in your successes is one of the most painful experiences I can think of. I kept going, I kept working and now I am one of the top Junior Financial Advisors in my program at Merrill Lynch. I also just had a beautiful baby girl named “Dream” born 4/16/24. I pride myself on being there for others, being a shoulder to lean on, and letting everyone know that you can make it. Depression does not have to be permanent. Positive thoughts will lead to positive results but we also need a helping hand along the way. This is only a small amount of my life which has reinvigorated my faith in god and boosted my relationships. I know I will be successful because I want to be. I try to tell others that a lot of people aren't bad people, they make mistakes due to mental illness more than anything. If you don't know what you're dealing with then you have no way to course correct. Unfortunately a lot of us don't seek the needed help so we stay making mistake after mistake without being able to truly better our lives. Talk to others, let them know the options for help that exist.

In 2024 I believe we are having what I would call an all out "education civil war". On one side you have those who feel express that having a college degree is of utmost importance. On the other side you have those who feel a degree is worthless and learning a trade is the way to go. At the root of this discussion both sides hold something in common and that is getting an education. Being educated is important not just because of learning a skillset, but more importantly for learning to simply be a constructive individual in society as a whole. In real life applications you will see that the undereducated are those who feel as if they need to resort to crime or other negative means in order to progress in life. The is an emotional trigger when a person doesn't have an education they no longer feel like they can be a productive member of society, they feel as if the world owes them something for nothing. The problem is not that people do not want to become better individuals. It's due to the fact that they either weren't given the same educational opportunities as others, or just did not get the needed help throughout school. I believe in education because I believe in bettering the world and you cannot do that without learning. You cannot expand upon your culture without learning the cultures of others, you cannot grow as an individual without expanding your knowledge. Even with something as simple as learning a supplemental language you have more than double the amount of people you can speak with and learn from. We need more doctors, lawyers, finance majors, etc. especially in our minority communities. Everyone these days wants to shy away from a full education because they do not want to put in the work and effort. You also have to be open to criticism and learning from mistakes. Education is not just schooling, it is mentoring, it is networking and constantly driving yourself to be better. I am 32 years old and I did not complete my degree. I will not say I regret that choice. What I will say it was a choice I made along the way and one I had to learn from. At 32 years old I am going back to finish my degree. I missed the college aspect of human interaction and thought provoking discussions. Bonding through education is one of the most overlooked aspects of the educational system. As we get older we tend to become more closed-off. We lose friends, we close off on our inner circles and we become this robotic machine of work, eat, sleep which is not ideal. One of the additional things that made me want to go back to school is being able to network with likeminded individuals who want to further their successes in life. I believe education should be life long because it not only gives you a consistent goal but you're constantly being pushed and driven. It's not easy, nothing is easy in life. We also need positive well rounded educators to make it as great of an experience as possible. The educator alone can make a drastic difference between a passing or failing student. The value that a good education brings is immense, it is a skillset that can be generationally passed down once the proper mindset is implemented.

Mental health is one of the trickiest battles to deal with; It is not one that is conquered but one that is managed on the day to day in our everyday lives. It may live in our genetic disposition or it may thrive of our traumatic experiences. Either way mental health has to be dealt with in order for us to a successful human being. Personally, the story my story of mental health issues predates me, stemming from my father and watching him unravel over throughout my life as well. My father Willie Clinton was a US Marine, Vietnam war veteran and he recently passed in 2022 (may god rest his soul). I learned through his military medical documents that we found postmortem that he suffered from PTSD. We never spoke about his experiences much throughout our lives and this would explain a lot. My dad was a drug addict who I did not see for the first 13 years of my life. We would see him maybe once every few years for a single day and he would disappear into the wind. It wasn’t until I was older that I learned about his drug habit. This would be my first experience dealing with someone who was in battling the demon of mental illness. One day when I was 13 years old he randomly showed up on my doorstep, clean and off drugs. For years after that we had a pretty good relationship and I made my way to college. After a few years in college I received a call that my stepbrother had passed from suicide. That was my second personal experience with mental illness. At that point he was staying with my dad who found him dead. My stepmother had known about my brother’s mental problem but she kept it a secret. This was extremely disappointing to learn because if she had bothered to get him the help he deserved then maybe he would be here today. My step family blamed my father because he was home at the time of the incident and was not aware of my brother hanging himself in the other room. This led to my stepmother and father splitting up, unknowingly to me this put my father back on the path of drugs. At this point I moved back to Chicago in 2013 and decided to stay with my father. I still had no knowledge of the drug issue and I was paying him rent every month while making minimum wage. I had left college without finishing my degree and I was only working. One day my stepmother appeared at the home and spoke to me privately informing me to not give my father any more money. She then told me he relapsed and most likely was not paying any bills. I soon learned that my father had been fired from his job, two weeks later we were evicted and I was lucky enough to go live with my mother. Fast forward a few years and I ended up with a solid job and things are going well. Until one day on my way home from a routine doctor’s checkup I received the most dreadful news I could have ever received. I was diagnosed with HIV and to this day it is still one of the worst most impactful moments of my life. I contemplated suicide daily for weeks. My life was forever changed, I did not know what to do, who to cry to, every day I felt as if I was closer to death. It did not help that I did not have a lot of friends either, but the friends I do have I tend to keep close. At some point I sought therapy, which helped. The therapist explained that I really needed an outlet and I just have a lot on my plate. I began to take a more positive approach in life. I felt like if life was going to beat me up, I might as well take it on the chin and do what I can to fight back. I received the help I needed, got my health in order and worked hard to be successful at my job. In this mist of all this on December 22nd 2022 as we were preparing for Christmas I received a call that my father passed away. He has succumbed to his drug addiction and unfortunately fentanyl laced drugs took his life. It was painful, knowing that a parent will never see you bask in your successes is one of the most painful experiences I can think of. I kept going, I kept working and now I am one of the top Junior Financial Advisors in my program at Merrill Lynch. I also just had a beautiful baby girl named “Dream” born 4/16/24. I pride myself on being there for others, being a shoulder to lean on, and letting everyone know that you can make it. Depression does not have to be permanent. Positive thoughts will lead to positive results but we also need a helping hand along the way. This is only a small amount of my life which has reinvigorated my faith in god and boosted my relationships. I know I will be successful because I want to be. I try to tell others that a lot of people aren't stupid, they make mistakes due to mental illness more than anything. If you don't know what you're dealing with then you have no way to course correct. Unfortunately a lot of us don't seek the needed help so we stay making mistake after mistake without being able to truly better our lives. Talk to others, let them know the options for help that exist.