Recovery to me means taking back the parts of my life that I pushed aside. It means seeing life in a completely different perspective. I often compare addiction to wearing a pair of rose colored glasses, and it can be scary when you take them off. Things don't seem as bright, life doesn't seem as beautiful. I think that recovery is all about learning how to live without those glasses. I truly believe it is about learning. I have been sober from drugs for 4 months and it was hard to learn how to live at first. Recovery seemed like an enemy; something that would take away that special feeling that made life worth living. Now I see recovery for what it is: salvation. If I had never recovered, I would have never been enlightened to the dangerous path I was on. At the time, it didn't feel dangerous, but I was failing in every way. Even though I am no longer wearing rose colored glasses, I know now that I could never see the beautiful, true colors of the world if I had kept them on. Recovery was the only way I could truly connect with life and its beauty.

As an individual with bipolar I disorder, it is hard to think of a time where my mental health has not influenced my life. Until the age of 18, I was undiagnosed. Periods of mania and depression were parts of my life that I did not recognize. I thought that was just "how I was." This is common among those who suffer with mental illness. However, I always knew something was off. The biggest way that my mental health impacted my beliefs was believing that something was inherently wrong with me. It is not an easy belief to hold about yourself. I went around thinking that it was my fault that I was experiencing symptoms that were out of my control. Even still, there are sometimes thoughts that it is somehow my fault that I am this way, although it is a genetic condition that was passed down to me. In bipolar disorder, my most apparent symptom was anger. Anger to me is like something that is constantly running in the back of my head, no matter what I do. Yes, medications and therapy have helped me with this greatly, but that feeling is always there. I have a complicated relationship with anger, as it feels like it is a part of me. This has impacted my relationships greatly, as I can become very irritable at the people I love for reasons sometimes I don't even understand. What most people don't realize about anger is that is disorienting, like someone is covering your eyes. You can't see things in the way they really are. It isn't just being angry, it is being lost. Lost from yourself, and those who love you. It is one of the most painful parts of my life. I come from a large, blended family filled with other individuals that suffer from mental health problems. This causes friction often. My relationships with my family are so important to me because they have been there for me when I was at my worst. I also have a loving boyfriend, who I care about more than anything in the world. In a sense, my mental health has made my bonds with him and my family stronger. When bones break, they heal to be stronger than they were before. Knowing that the people I love were there for me when I felt broken made me appreciate them more. For a while, I felt like I took advantage of their kindness and grace, but now I know the value of what they have done for me. Some of my favorite things to do are to make art and music. My mental health has allowed me to be more creative in those things because of the heightened range of emotions I feel. In my life I have felt everything, and I have decided to try in share those feelings in my own way. I think the most beautiful thing about existence is that we can feel things, both good and bad. I think that my illness is a part of that existence, and something that is just a part of life. I've started looking at things from a different perspective and it has helped me greatly. Life is what you make of it, and it is up to you to prevail in the inevitable times of struggle.

Art and music are two of the most important influences in every culture. It is something everyone can connect with, and something that everyone finds personal meaning in. Oftentimes, art is: an escape, an outlet, an extension of the self. Through art, one can find themself. One can escape; one can make sense of their world. Pain is a part of life, and a part of the world. Through my own experience, I have found art as a way to connect with the pain in my life and transform it into something beautiful. In creation, a new life is born in a sense. I want others to see the things I create and feel understood and seen. I plan to make a positive impact by creating art that others can see themselves in. Those who suffer with mental illness or personal problems often feel alone. I plan to create art that others can connect with to feel less alone. When people feel connected to something outside of themselves, it gives them a sense of release and purpose. I think this is the true purpose of art, and something that I wish I can provide for people. In my works I depict different subjects and emotions. I often depict subjects who represent different Jungian archetypes. These archetypes are universal models of people, behavior, and personalities. Therefore, anyone can find themselves in what I make. I am interested in Jungian theory and I think the concept of the collective unconscious is interesting and relevant in terms of self-improvement. The collective unconscious is a consciousness inherent to every person, and something that connects all people. I hope to represent this unity among people in my art so that every person can feel seen.

I am an individual who knew they were queer since a young age. I have always been gender-nonconforming and enjoyed the aesthetics of male and female appearances. I struggled with finding a name for my identity, because of my fluctuating gender expression. I was lost until I found the term, "genderfluid." Hearing this term opened my eyes, but I was reluctant to ascribe myself to it. I was afraid of being seen as weird, and I still kind of push this side of me away. The biggest misconception about LGBTQ+ people is that they aren't like straight people, but we are just the same in many ways. We have aspirations, careers, talents, and a full range of traits besides being queer. I want to be a criminologist and a prosecutor. I have a strong set of morals and would define myself through that more than anything. Gender is something I don't see as important. I express myself however I want, without care or judgement. I often will hear people say, "Is that a boy or a girl?" What I do in response is just move on as if it never happened, I do not see it as an insult or a compliment, because I am focused on my goals. My gender is all, it is nothing, I am who I am, without boundaries.

I study creative writing because fiction and stories are important to me. I've always clung to them in the hopes that I could be a part of another world, and through telling stories I believe this is possible. I have many ideas inside of my head that I want to share with the world. I hope that I can spread my stories with others and connect with them. I want to make other people happy and excited over what they read. I want to write scripts for movies people will remember for a long time. I want to create art through writing and television.

"Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose," was said by Janis Joplin. Ever since I heard the song where she sang this line, I haven't stopped thinking about it. Freedom is something that is very important to me, more than anything else. Although there are no specific restrictions keeping me from doing anything, I've always felt trapped in this life, wanting to fly away somewhere new. I think this feeling will always be a part of me and I truly think that I was born with this desire. I think the reason I desire for freedom so much is because I feel like I'm unable to leave what's currently around me. I want to have nothing left to lose, and this lyric made me realize that I want to leave my past behind me and start over with a new life. I want to move to a far away college and start over, this time on my terms. My life has been traumatic, and I am the survivor of emotional and physical abuse. I want nothing more than to be set free from the bonds that keep me in my city, the past is like an open wound that keeps splitting open. "Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose," I think means that sometimes to heal, you need to start new from the beginning. The thought of that is something that I think about every night before I go to sleep and first thing when I wake up. I hope that soon I can be reborn into the new season of my life.

My goals in life are to become a writer and spread my ideas and creativity through the world. I want to write and translate in multiple languages and become a master in them. I hope to achieve a long life full of wisdom and adventure. I've always considered myself to be someone who lives in the moment, and I think that is what I want to spread into this world. I find that when you live in the moment, it is the only way you can truly appreciate life. The thing that excites me the most about this world is the vastness of it. I want to explore every nook and cranny possible, and I want to experience the world in its entirety. I think of life as a wicked yet beautiful thing, and the world as even more beautiful. I want to write and direct films that are set in different locations, and show people the beauty of the world through writing and cinematography. I plan to give back to my community by putting them first and helping in any way I can. I consider myself to be a generous person, and I would use my skills to help provide services to those in need. I would also donate money of my own to young students, because I think they are the most tenacious group of people on the planet. I am proud to be a part of the world's youth, and I will always want to give a better world and life to the generations ahead. I think this is because no matter how old I grow, I will always feel young in my heart. It's easy to feel young when you live in the moment, and I hope to show the whole entire world how great it is.

I hope to show others what it means to be a good person and how to live life in a way they can be proud of. I always encourage everyone I know to be their most authentic selves and follow their dreams and aspirations, and I hope to impact them by using myself as an example. I believe that it is effective and intuitive to lead by example, as it shows people you practice what you preach. What good would a mentor be if they didn't take their own advice? I also encourage people to stand for their freedoms and independence as an individual, and to always hold true to what they believe is right. I hope I impact others to be open minded, as well as strong willed and firm in their actions. It is important to have both. More than anything, I hope the people I mentor are driven to succeed in life and work hard to be happy. I want them to have a growth mindset, and to thrive from their hard work.

My passion for art stems from the fire burning inside of me. Ever since I was a child, I was angry. I always had emotions that felt too big for such a small body. I never had a place to put them when so much space was taken by other things: angry dad, angry mom, angry schoolteacher, pretending to be fine. I tried to find a way to soothe myself and I still do. The only thing that heals me is my passion for art, it seems that it is so deeply entwined with me and my healing process that it is a part of me itself. My passion for art is driven by injustice, joy, depression, anger, jealously, apathy, boredom, love, sex, and more. My passion to create is fueled by the things I feel within me. My passion to create is fueled by the things everything feels, the emotions that make all of us human. I find when expressing myself through art, I feel like I am one with everyone else. During times when things feel hopeless, it feels special to let other people know you are human through art, and in turn, reminding people that they themselves are human as well. It is very easy to be led astray, and it is guaranteed that hard times are a necessary part of life, but I always find the beauty in even the most ugly feelings. My passion for art is my passion for living, and as long as I breathe it will be so.