What is perseverance and resilience? In my case, I discovered the answer to this question through my own experience with clinical depression and an anxiety disorder, my greatest challenges. I never thought I would embody both bravery and vulnerability, but writing this essay proves that an illness can spark the bravest fire. My journey took flight during my freshman year of high school. I distinctly remember the daily panic attacks and stressful nights. My parents and I were clueless about mental illnesses because they were taboo in our culture, so we concluded it was “normal” teenage stress. Nonetheless, I knew constant panic attacks, confusion, and self-hate was abnormal. When summer began, my anxieties submerged like a submarine underwater; however, I lost a close friend, and my depression resurfaced. A mixture of low self-esteem, paranoia, stress, and self-guilt that always resided within me, returned. This resulted in two emergency hospital trips, sleepless weeks, panic attacks, a near-death situation, and constant therapist trips. After being rushed to the Emergency Room a final time, I was diagnosed with depression and an anxiety disorder. I was prescribed a handful of medications that would help tame my depressive brain, and they did. Slowly but surely, I learned to become stronger, braver, and happier. The experience of overcoming my depression was a game-changer. I was a seedling of weakness that blossomed into a flower of strength. The experience had thorns, but it gave me roses that will help me in the future. The painful panic attacks I endured because of school and stress have submerged once again. I cultivated the knowledge that no matter how much I stress, panic, and worry, the work will still be there. I learned how to accept the problem and strive for the solution. I dedicated time to self-care. As a senior in high school, I have prodigious piles of assignments, but I haven't had a panic attack since I commenced school. I owe it all to my experience that taught me how to welcome work without worry. College and my future career will be time-consuming and challenging, but I will accept the work with a smile. My experience has also cultivated my passion for medicine. While depressed, I was completely shattered. I lost hope in myself and my divinity. However, as I learned how to accept and cope with my imperfections, I discovered perseverance and resilience. I hope to help people who suffer from the pain I suffered from find their own perseverance and resilience. I want to love, care for, and support people’s mental health. Ensuring that my future patients feel safe and normal when dealing with a medical condition will give me happiness. I want to be an example so that patients can gain hope from my experience. I will feel accomplished when my painful journey motivates someone to overcome their painful journey. I believe my experience will make me a better, more understanding medical provider. It will help me emotionally connect with my future patients. I will be able to effectively communicate like an empathic friend rather than a stern provider. My experience will remind me to spread positivity and heal with kindness. This daily reminder will encourage me to be a successful nurse. This suffering has taught me a valuable lesson: to always love myself and never give up. I didn't choose this journey, it chose me, but I'm forever grateful because it made me stronger. Still, I deal with anxieties and medications, but I don’t resent them anymore. I love these imperfections because they taught me how to fight my obstacles like a warrior. I discovered my passion to encourage future patients to fight their own illnesses like warriors, too.

What is perseverance and resilience? In my case, I discovered the answer to this question through my own experience with clinical depression and an anxiety disorder. I never thought I would embody both bravery and vulnerability, but writing this essay proves that an illness can spark the bravest fire. My journey took flight during my freshman year of high school. I distinctly remember the daily panic attacks and stressful nights. My parents and I were clueless about mental illnesses because they were taboo in our culture, so we concluded it was “normal” teenage stress. Nonetheless, I knew constant panic attacks, confusion, and self-hate was abnormal. When summer began, my anxieties submerged like a submarine underwater; however, I lost a close friend, and my depression resurfaced. A mixture of low self-esteem, paranoia, stress, and self-guilt that always resided within me, returned. This resulted in two emergency hospital trips, sleepless weeks, panic attacks, a near-death situation, and constant therapist trips. After being rushed to the Emergency Room a final time, I was diagnosed with depression and an anxiety disorder. I was prescribed a handful of medications that would help tame my depressive brain, and they did. Slowly but surely, I learned to become stronger, braver, and happier. The experience of overcoming my depression was a game-changer. I was a seedling of weakness that blossomed into a flower of strength. The experience had thorns, but it gave me roses that will help me in the future. The painful panic attacks I endured because of school and stress have submerged once again. I cultivated the knowledge that no matter how much I stress, panic, and worry, the work will still be there. I learned how to accept the problem and strive for the solution. As a senior in high school, I have prodigious piles of assignments, but I haven't had a panic attack since I commenced school. I owe it all to my experience that taught me how to welcome work without worry. College and my future career will be time-consuming and challenging, but I will accept the work with a smile. My experience has also cultivated my passion for medicine. While depressed, I was completely shattered. I lost hope in myself and my divinity. However, as I learned how to accept and cope with my imperfections, I discovered perseverance and resilience. I aspire to be a nurse, it's always been my passion and I know I'll achieve this goal if I continue to preserve with a resilient mindset. I hope to help people, who suffer from the pain I suffered from, find their own perseverance and resilience. I want to love, care for, and support people’s mental health. Ensuring that my future patients feel safe and normal when dealing with a medical condition will give me happiness. I want to be an example so that patients can gain hope from my experience. I will feel accomplished when my painful journey motivates someone to overcome their painful journey. I believe my experience will make me a better, more understanding medical provider. It will help me emotionally connect with my future patients. I will be able to effectively communicate like an empathic friend rather than a stern provider. My experience will remind me to spread positivity and heal with kindness. This daily reminder will encourage me to be a successful nurse. This suffering has taught me a valuable lesson: to always love myself and never give up. I didn't choose this journey, it chose me, but I'm forever grateful because it made me stronger. Still, I deal with anxieties and medications, but I don’t resent them anymore. I love these imperfections because they taught me how to fight my obstacles like a warrior. I discovered my passion to encourage future patients to fight their own illnesses like warriors, too.

I always dreamed of being a nurse because I love helping people. Nurses are dependable leaders during times of crisis. I believe leadership is a willingness to act and assist others without expecting rewards. When I see an opportunity to help in my community, I do my best to offer assistance. Four particular instances have been meaningful to me: organizing a community clean-up after a tornado, assisting in my parents’ store, serving as a camp counselor, and volunteering during an annual marathon. On March 3, 2020, a tornado hit Nashville and damaged much of the city and surrounding neighborhoods. Schools, parks, homes, and power lines were destroyed. On my way to school one day, I realized how much devastation the tornado caused. At that moment, I decided I wanted to help clean the environment. I utilized my National Honors Society vice president position and organized a community service event. I presented my proposed nature clean-up plan to my club members and provided research to explain why it is crucial to keep our community grounds clean. After presenting the proposal and getting club members on board, I effectively executed the clean-up at my high school with nine other students. During this volunteer experience, I was able to demonstrate leadership and responsibility. The entire local road to my school was demolished, and multiple houses were crushed. I know my club impacted the community positively because we removed harmful waste. While we couldn’t reconstruct buildings, we were glad to support the community residents who were affected by the tornado. I believe I embodied leadership because my act of kindness encouraged others to do the same. Another notable instance was when I stepped in to help my family’s business. After the tornado, 100,000 people in Nashville were without power. My family’s gas station was struggling due to the black-out. Gas stations are vital because they provide supplies such as snacks, water, and fuel. Fuel is a crucial resource, in times of emergencies, to travel to places where there is electricity and to power generators. I stocked groceries, made ice bags, mopped, swept, and cleaned the outside debris. I also assisted with technological issues because my parents don’t speak English and have little tech knowledge. I not only got to help my family, but I was also able to assist the city during an emergency. Another example of a meaningful experience was when I took the initiative to help a local elementary school. I learned about a need for counselors at a week-long summer camp, so I offered to help. I volunteered 40 hours during my summer break to help the kids create scientific inventions. I could have walked right past the “HELP” notice, but instead, I took ownership like a responsible citizen and led myself to offer assistance. Similar to my camp experience, another memorable event was when Nashville hosted an annual marathon. Short on medics, I and others from my high school volunteered to help. Knowing that 30,000 runners were participating, I saw this as an excellent opportunity to help my community. I voluntarily helped bandage bruised ankles, bloody knees, chafed thighs and treated wounds while managing hydration and sodium levels. This experience also helped me solidify my interest in nursing. Throughout these volunteer experiences, I discovered how I could willingly participate and help my community while strengthening my leadership skills. I hope my experiences motivate others to help their communities as well. I would like for everyone to care for the environment and make a healthy change for the world. The change I would like to see is everyone taking responsibility and assisting their local communities. If each individual community lives by this principle, as a whole country we will be able to make the Earth a better and cleaner place to live in.

What is perseverance and resilience? In my case, I discovered the answer to this question through my own experience with clinical depression and an anxiety disorder. I never thought I would embody both bravery and vulnerability, but me being here and writing this essay is living proof that a failure can spark the bravest fire. My journey took flight during my freshman year of high school. I distinctly remember the daily panic attacks and stressful nights I encountered. My parents and I were clueless about mental illnesses because they were infrequent in our culture, so we concluded it was “normal” teenage stress. Nonetheless, I knew constant panic attacks, confusion, and self-hate was abnormal. When summer began, my anxieties submerged like a submarine underwater; however, I lost a close friend at the end of the summer and my depression resurfaced. A mixture of low self-esteem, paranoia, stress, and self-guilt that always resided within me, returned. This resulted in two emergency hospital trips, many insomniac nights, hysteria attacks, a severe near-death situation, and constant therapist trips. After a neurotic ER trip, I was diagnosed with major depression and an anxiety disorder. I was prescribed a handful of medications that would help tame my depressive brain, and they did. Slowly but surely, I learned to become stronger, braver, and happier. My experience has led me to my passion for medicine and to become a successful nurse. I hope to help people who suffer from the pain I suffered from and help them find their own perseverance and resilience. I want to love, care for, and support people’s mental health. Ensuring that my future patients feel safe and normal when they are dealing with a medical condition will give me happiness. I want to be an example, so patients can gain hope from my experience. I will feel accomplished when my painful journey motivates someone to overcome their painful journey. As I embodied my experience, I want others to accept their imperfection- filled journeys. I believe my experience will make me a better, more understanding medical provider. It will help me emotionally connect with my future patients. I will be able to effectively communicate like an empathic friend rather than a stern provider. My experience will remind me to spread positivity and heal with kindness. This reminder will encourage me every day to be a successful nurse. This suffering has taught me a valuable lesson: to always love myself and never give up. I didn't choose this journey, it chose me, but I'm forever grateful because it made me stronger. Still, I deal with anxieties and medications, but I don’t resent them anymore. I love these imperfections because they taught me how to fight my obstacles like a warrior. I discovered my passion for encouraging future patients to fight their own illnesses like warriors, too. If depression is a failure, then I'm grateful I failed because now I'm stronger.