It is very important for students and all individuals to be involved in their communities because it conveys pride and togetherness. By volunteering, it makes you feel good, also others that you can help by doing so. Helping your community can be as simple as collecting food for those less fortunate in your area and can almost motivate others to help out as well. Volunteering has always been in my family and I can remember my first time volunteering for the FISH foundation when I was just six or seven. Every month for a few years, my mom and I would stand outside of our local acme and hand out flyers. On those flyers were lists of foods that someone could donate to the organization to help families who were less fortunate in our community. These times who have always stuck with me, and I remember one time around Thanksgiving my mom and I volunteered. We handed a flyer to a young woman who had black curly hair and brown eyes. She politely took the flyer and after thirty minutes walked back to us with four turkeys to give to us. My mom and I were so ecstatic and she even began to cry. It was memories like this that I remember so vividly. Ever since that moment I really understood the power of volunteering and what others were capable of when presented an opportunity. Although I don’t participate in that specific organization anymore, when I reached middle school, I had helped our local rec softball team twice a week with all different skills in the game. I really loved going and helping others. It made me appreciate myself as well and I felt important to those around me. I continued doing this for three years, and then once I entered high school, I helped run a pitching clinic for the elementary girls in our high school gym every year with two other coaches from my town. I love every minute of those camps and was so blessed for the opportunity to work with the up and coming players in my community. My future career is going to be a clinical psychologist. Through volunteering I recognized that I loved helping people. There was something inside of me that constantly wanted to be there for others physically and mentally. I plan on attending college next year at Widener University where I’ll get to start my journey! In the future when I graduate, I plan on having my own practice, but also plan on volunteering in my community to provide these services for free. I want to be a local resource where any individual can come to me with their issues and I can provide help for them, as well as other outlets where they can have access to help 24/7. My hometown, being a square mile big, community is very important to us. It is ingrained in me to help others, but also look out for the faces I grew up with, the role models I had, and my high school.

this is me hiking the rocky mountains in colorado :)

My favorite quote, as cliche as it sounds is, “everything happens for a reason.” Although I can admit that there are lots of amazing quotes that can articulate this idea as well, it cannot compete with the simplicity. Personally, this quote is extremely comforting to me. I know there are individuals who think this is overused, bland, or blatantly just not true, but I firmly believe in this quote and its meaning. In my life, there have been many unfortunate events that have happened. I have lost both of my grandparents by the age of 12, and recently my dad back in August. With so many things happening in life, good or bad, it can be hard to work through, especially when the ones you love most are not here anymore to celebrate with you, but you have to trust that the universe is putting you in the place it's supposed to be. This is the path that was chosen, and it needs to be respected; something good comes out of everything. With this quote, it’s a gentle reminder that any event that happens in life, there was a reason for it. The reason why may not be apparent in the moment, but it will reveal itself later on. For example, sometimes when I’m running late to softball practice, I call my mom and express my annoyance, and every time she says this, “Elizabeth. You are being protected. There is a reason why you’re late.”

Currently, I am working on applying for many scholarships while finishing my last year of highschool. I was recently accepted and committed to Widener University where I’ll play softball while studying for my degree. Since I was a little girl, my dream was to always play collegiate softball and with that I had put in copious amounts of work (and money- thanks mom!) that included private lessons in all areas of the game, attending team practice three times a week, and travelling literally all over the country. It was some of the best times of my life. My dream was finally accomplished last July. I am so grateful for the opportunity I was given. However, I didn’t just choose Widener for their amazing softball program, but also because of their psychology courses they offer. Their program is outstanding, and my dream is to one day open my own practice to help families who were in similar situations to mine. Unfortunately, my dad was an alcoholic, and that put a strain on my family. This emphasizes why clinical psychology is what I feel I am born to do and I will do anything in order to reach my goals. I would use this scholarship to help pay for some of my school. By going to college I will be able to dive into what I want to learn and push me that much closer to becoming a clinical psychologist. I am an extremely dedicated and hardworking student and with this grant, I can feel more secure throughout my four years before attending graduate school, where I’ll earn my masters and PsyD.

November of 2019, my mother, brother, and I had to leave our family home because of my dad and his vicious alcoholism. At around 12:30 AM, I was woken up by the sounds of an ambulance and cops outside of my home. My dad had gotten in very serious trouble with his friends, and that was the last straw for my mom. We packed as much as we could and left to stay at my friend’s house. With two families living in one house, it was difficult feeling like you were always in the way. With my friend’s sisters away at college, my brother and I stayed in their rooms while my mom stayed in the basement. We were fortunate enough to have a place to stay in this awkward and confusing time. Leaving my childhood home because of my father had created a new reality for me. I was living with my best friend, which was fun at times, but I experienced the worst heartbreak of my life. We ended up staying for four months while my mom saved enough money to support us on her own. It was an excruciatingly depressing time for my family. My father, as per usual was up to his antics and in denial about us leaving. His alcoholism had increased to the point where in June of 2020, he was diagnosed with cirrhosis. With him being in the hospital, my brother and I had a lot to figure out mentally and emotionally. A man who had caused our whole family immense pain, took away our innocence, and who was also our father, was now in the hospital dying. The end of July, beginning of August, my father had done hospice in our apartment. He lived for a little more than two weeks and passed away on August 15th. Watching him slowly pass had hurt tremendously. He lost his color, he turned yellow, lost his hair, and couldn’t speak. It felt like he disintegrated right in front of me. He died with his two best friends reading his favorite bible verses by his side. From this experience, I learned how to stay strong and resilient in troubling times. All while this was happening (2019-2020), I was a junior in high school. I was taking three AP classes that were computer science, biology, and english, as well as pre-calc honors all while maintaining a 3.8 GPA. As well as committing to Widener University to play softball and earning a presidential scholarship a few weeks before my father passed. I learned the importance of pushing through anything that happens in life, good or bad. Resilience is an amazing characteristic I was able to acquire during a depressing and confusing time in my life. Of course it’s a tragic event, and the grieving process is important to feel fully and work through, but with the help of family and friends, anything is possible. Of course in the future, I can always look back on this moment and remember the good times I had with my dad, but also recognize that I am a strong, independent woman and can accomplish anything I set my mind to. I would never wish this experience on someone else, but I am grateful for it, and I know my dad is in a happier place, looking down on me. He is proud of me and family and despite everything he has put us through, I miss him everyday.

I would like to study psychology in college because I have dealt with a lot of mental health issues of my own. Growing up I have experienced what it's like to have poor mental health. My mother has depression and anxiety. My father was undiagnosed, but he struggled with addiction. With that comes a plethora of disorders that can be fueled by alcohol. He had passed away this past August from cirrhosis. I have seen and experienced first hand what addiction can do to a family and to mental health. By becoming a clinical psychologist, I can help others who had families just like mine. It was a scary experience, but with the knowledge I have, I can put it to use and save families and relationships. It's important to me that I get into this field because I would never want someone to have to go through a similar experience. The day to day battle can be tiring and damaging. Helping people is my top priority, and I can't wait until I can have my own practice to do so.

Ever since I was a young girl, I had a fascination with the human mind. My father, unfortunately for me, was an alcoholic where I experienced many types of behaviors from him. He was short-tempered, yet loving, but also somewhat scary. Constant emotional abuse, gaslighting, and fear was a daily fight for my family. As well as being five or six years old, a range of emotions like that from a caregiver was nerve-racking and I noticed all sorts of triggers he had. I had lived with an alcoholic for 17 years before my mother had enough. My father had invited her friends over to hang out, which resulted in the cops showing up to my house twice for physical fights where people had to be detained and brought to the hospital. my mother, brother, and I ran away to live with a friend until my mother had enough money to provide for us on her own. As I grew up, I started to experience the emotions he talked about such as depression and anxiety. It was a confusing time, and in the last few months he had passed away which emphasized those feelings heavily. Living with an addict who is also your parent creates an unhealthy environment. The dynamic was an extremely toxic household, where it makes living day to day feel nearly impossible. It hurt my relationships with others as well because It had damaged my self-esteem, especially because most of the time I felt like I was on the outside of the fun and happiness of the world. Over time, I had adopted a new mindset with the help of my therapist. I learned that everything happened for a reason, as cliche as it sounds. Living in a chaotic household I learned to roll with the punches, understood that whatever happened was going to make me a better person. It taught me to be resilient, mature, and grateful for every positive opportunity and influence in my life. Due to that experience with myself and my father, I always knew I wanted to help others who were in a tough situation with addiction or dealing with family members who suffer from it. It’s an extremely important topic for me because I would never want a family to suffer and fall apart as mine did. By pursuing my dream career of being a clinical psychologist, I feel I can give life and hope back to the families who feel they won’t make it. If I can make at least one family feel successful and healthy again, then it’s a job well done in my book. Although it was a tough situation to grow up with, I'm excited about what's ahead of me. It taught me very valuable, yet challenging lessons. I would not be who I am today without the tribulations. This is what I feel is meant for me, and is my dream job to help individuals who were like me. As well as to help the addicts themselves to break that cycle and find happiness again.