Selective Mutism has been very hard for me during my entire life. My doctor has only two patients with this: me and one other patient. Selective mutism is really difficult to have. I have a severe case of it. It makes me not talk to anyone outside my family, and even some of my family members, too. It's also hard for me to find a job because I think no one would hire someone who doesn't talk. I do have my permit, but Selective mutism is making me think that I can't do it because I do not want to get pulled over and have to talk to the cop. It is also hard for me to make any friends because I do not talk. When I was in elementary school and middle school, I would sit at the table at lunch around other students and not talk to them When I was little, I was diagnosed with selective mutism while I was in elementary school. A lot of people did not think it was a real disorder and thought I was faking it, including one of my teachers and a counselor who was an IEP counselor too. The teacher was my math teacher, and I was actually struggling in math, but instead, she did not find a math tutor; another teacher, who was not even a math teacher, had to find me one because my math teacher did not want to help me. Another thing the math teacher did was make me sit on the wall during recess because my whole table in class was talking, but I wasn't, so she still made me and the other students sit on the wall. Other people who do not have Selective Mutism do not get how hard it is to live with every day. That is why I decided to share my experience and how it has challenged me and set me back. Pursuing higher education is so important to me because I have known what I want to do since I was little, but selective mutism makes me think I can't do it. I have been off and on about wanting to go to college and want to pursue my dream career. Since I have been in my senior year of High School, my school counselor has helped me find the perfect school for me, and even recommended the school to another student. I have been an animal lover ever since I was born. I love going to the zoo or the aquarium. I have always wanted to help and take care of animals. When I was little, I started to watch vet shows and zoo shows and got desensitized to the surgeries that they perform on the animals to help them feel better. Ever since I have been watching the shows, I decided that I wanted to help animals just like the vets that I watched, so after I graduate high school, I am going to do an online Veterinary Technician school called Penn Foster. When I became old enough, my grandfather started to let me help with the vaccinations for his cows. I actually had an amazing opportunity to work with a vet with my grandfather's cows, and after that, I wanted even more to become a vet tech to help the animals in need.

The type of mental health I have is selective mutism. Selective Mutism is an anxiety disorder in which a person who can speak normally in some settings is unable to speak in specific social situations due to fear and anxiety. It is a rare condition. My doctor has only two patients with this: me and one other patient. Selective mutism is really difficult to have. I have a severe case of it. It makes me not talk to anyone outside my family, and even some of my family members, too. It's also hard for me to find a job because I think no one would hire someone who doesn't work for them. I do have my permit, but Selective mutism is making me think that I can't do it because I do not want to get pulled over and have to talk to the cop. It is also hard for me to make any friends because I do not talk. When I was in elementary school and middle school, I would sit at the table at lunch around other students and not talk to them When I was little, I was diagnosed with selective mutism while I was in elementary school. A lot of people did not think it was a real disorder and thought I was faking it, including one of my teachers and a counselor who was an IEP counselor too. The teacher was my math teacher, and I was actually struggling in math, but instead, she did not find a math tutor; another teacher, who was not even a math teacher, had to find me one because my math teacher did not want to help me. Another thing the math teacher did was make me sit on the wall during recess because my whole table in class was talking, but I wasn't, so she still made me and the other students sit on the wall. Other people who do not have Selective Mutism do not get how hard it is. That is why I decided to share my experience and how it has challenged me and set me back.

Ever since I was in school, I have been an IEP student. The Special Education program, or IEP, helped me in so many ways and made me want to join college. My IEP provided me with a counselor who helped me find a school that I wanted to join after I graduated from high school. It took me all of my 4 years of high school to decide on what school I wanted to attend. I am finally in my senior year of high school, and I figured out which school to attend and what I want to do and study in school. I was always off and on about joining college because I have Selective Mutism. Having selective mutism is a difficult challenge. Selective Mutism is a rare anxiety disorder in which a person who can speak normally in some settings is unable to speak in specific social situations due to fear or anxiety. My case of Selective Mutism is severe. My selective mutism does not allow me to speak to anyone outside of my family, even though there are some family members I do not talk to at all. I do have my driver's permit, but selective mutism is making it hard for me to drive because I do not want to get pulled over and have to talk to the cop. It is also hard for me to get a job because I do not think people are going to hire me, since I do not talk. It's also hard for me to make any friends. When I was in elementary and middle school, I would sit at the lunch table alone, even though there were a bunch of other students around me. When I was in elementary school, is when I was diagnosed with Selective Mutism. A lot of people did not believe in Selective Mutism, for example, my 5th-grade math teacher. My teacher would not help me when I was struggling in her math class. I had to get a math tutor because I was not doing so well in her class. My other, who was not even a math teacher, had to help me with math, and had to help me find someone who would help me with math and help me with my math homework. I would have to eat my lunch in the classroom so I could get help with my homework. Another time, my table with students was in my math teacher's class were all talking except me, but she did not care, she punished us by making us sit on the wall at recess and watch all the other students play around us. I even got a little sunburnt sitting out there. Enough about talking about haveing Selective mutism, I want to tell you now about what I want to do with my life and what I want to study in college. All of my life, I have loved going to the zoo and the aquarium, which made me want to work with animals. Ever since I was little, I wanted to become a veterinary technician and to help animals in need of help and care. When I decided this, I started to watch a lot of vet shows and zoo shows. I knew that I wanted to help animals just like the vets I would watch. I actually desensitized myself to the surgeries that the vets would perform on the animals to help them become healthy and happy. When I became old enough, my grandfather knew that I wanted to be a vet tech, so he decided it was my time to help with the vaccinations, ear tagging, and pregnancy checks of his cows. After a while, my grandmother's best friend, who graduated from vet school, got her veterinary license and is now a vet. I had an amazing opportunity to be able to work with her for three days with my grandfather's cows. I loved learning so many things from her; it made me even more determined to become a vet tech. She even said that when I graduate from college, she would hire me to work for her at her vet's office. After high school, I am going to join Penn Foster online college. It sounds like an amazing school to join, but I really need to get scholarships to be able to join the college.

Right now, I am still in online high school at Georgia Connections Academy. I am going to graduate in May of 2026. I have been an animal lover ever since I was born. I love going to the zoo or the aquarium. I have always wanted to help and take care of animals. When I was little, I started to watch vet shows and zoo shows and got desensitized to the surgeries that they perform on the animals to help them feel better. Ever since I have been watching the shows, I decided that I wanted to help animals just like the vets that I watched, so after I graduate high school, I am going to do an online Veterinary Technician school called Penn Foster. When I became old enogh my grandfather started to let me help with the vaccinations for his cows. I actually had an amazing opportunity to work with a vet with my grandfather's cows, and after that, I wanted even more to become a vet tech to help the animals in need. I know that it is really hard for people to pay for their animals' vet bills because it is very expensive, so if I could start my own charity work, I would make it my mission to help stray animals get healthy and potentially help them find homes. I would also get the animals spayed and neutered, so they will not produce multiple litters of puppies/kittens. I would also go to small towns that did not have a vet in their town, or they would have to travel far for a vet, and help with their animals; either they will pay a little bit, or if they do not have the money to pay, I would still work with their animals, and I will not ask them to pay. I would also go to farms or ranches that need help with their animals, but can't pay much or none at all. I would even donate to the people's farm or ranch if they need the extra money to take care of their animals. I would ask the volunteers to help with catching the stray animals, so I can help them, maybe even if the volenteers wants to help take them home or even foster them to help the animals find their forever homes. I would also ask the volunteers to go to the people's homes who want to adopt the animals, to see if they are a good fit for the living situation, and see how the people treat the animals. I would also ask the volunteers if they can make sure the animals who are looking for homes can try to get the animals used to children and other animals in their space. Even if I can, I would also foster as many animals as I can to help them find homes and keep them happy and healthy. I would just love to help animals that require health care and forever homes, so that they are healthy and happy.

I think mental health is important for people to know and understand what mental health is and learn all the different types of mental health that are out there in the world. A lot of people struggle with mental health; some cases are more severe than others. One of the most popular mental health conditions is anxiety. I am one of those people who has the worst case of anxiety. The mental health condition that I have is called Selective Mutism. Selective mutism is an anxiety disorder for a person who makes him or her unable to speak in social situations, even though they can talk normally to others; it is a rare condition. My doctor has only two patients with this: me and one other patient. Selective mutism is really difficult to have. I have a severe case of it. It makes me not talk to anyone outside my family, and even some of my family members, too. It's also hard for me to find a job because I think no one would hire someone who doesn't talk to work for them. I do have my permit, but Selective mutism is making me think that I can't do it because I do not want to get pulled over and have to talk to the cop. It is also hard for me to make any friends because I do not talk. When I was in elementary school and middle school, I would sit at the table at lunch around other students and not talk to them When I was little, I was diagnosed with selective mutism while I was in elementary school. A lot of people did not think it was a real disorder and thought I was faking it includeing one of my teachers and a counselor who was an IEP counselor too. The teacher was my math teacher, and I was actually struggling in math, but instead, she did not find a math tutor; another teacher, who was not even a math teacher, had to find me one because my math teacher did not want to help me. Another thing that the math teacher did was make me sit on the wall during recess because my whole table during class was talking, but I was not, so she still made me and the other students sit on the wall. Other people who do not have Selective Mutism do not get how hard it is. This is how I wanted to advocate for mental health: by sharing my story of what kind of mental health I have and my experience with it.

I think a challenge that definitely set me back is having Selective Mutism. Selective mutism is an anxiety disorder for a person who makes him or her unable to speak in social situations, even though they can talk normally to others; it is a rare condition. My doctor has only two patients with this: me and one other patient. Selective mutism is really difficult to have. I have a severe case of it. It makes me not talk to anyone outside my family, and even some of my family members, too. It's also hard for me to find a job because I think no one would hire someone who doesn't talk to work for them. I do have my permit, but Selective mutism is making me think that I can't do it because I do not want to get pulled over and have to talk to the cop. It is also hard for me to make any friends because I do not talk. When I was in elementary school and middle school, I would sit at the table at lunch around other students and not talk to them When I was little, I was diagnosed with selective mutism while I was in elementary school. A lot of people did not think it was a real disorder and thought I was faking it includeing one of my teachers and a counselor who was an IEP counselor too. The teacher was my math teacher, and I was actually struggling in math, but instead, she did not find a math tutor; another teacher, who was not even a math teacher, had to find me one because my math teacher did not want to help me. Another thing that the math teacher did was make me sit on the wall during recess because my whole table during class was talking, but I was not, so she still made me and the other students sit on the wall. Other people who do not have Selective Mutism do not get how hard it is. That is why I decided to share my experience and how it has challenged me and set me back.