Two years ago I was diagnosed with severe anxiety and prescribed fluoxetine or Prozac to relieve anxiety and prevent panic attacks. Before starting the medication I was having anywhere from three to five panic attacks per week and was struggling to go to school and work. Instead of letting it consume me though, I worked hard to develop coping mechanisms and sought out a therapist to help me find a fix that was right for me. After long consultations with my doctor, family, and friends we decided that medication paired with therapy would be the best option for me. Since then, I still struggle with feelings of anxiety but I am getting much better and I have grown a lot since then. In the beginning, my mutual relationships struggled because of my anxiety. I had trouble hanging out with people that I didn't know very well because I found it to be very stressful not knowing what they were thinking or how they felt about me. As for my close friends, my anxiety made us closer because I put a lot of trust in them. As for my career, I found anxiety to be a huge barrier to going after what I wanted. I was scared that I wouldn't be happy in whatever I chose to do and It made me stagnant in my decisions. I started to pursue medicine because I thought that it was the only field that I couldn't possibly get bored with even though I was very interested in it. After I was in it, I stayed with it for three years of high school just because I was afraid to change it or make a mistake that I would regret in college. Lastly, I struggled with my belief in god out of fear that I could be wrong and live with regrets. It was not until my senior year in high school that I decided to make a change. I didn't want to let anxiety control me for the rest of my life and miss out on fun opportunities just because I was scared. I put the work in, got medicated, started therapy, and created coping mechanisms to overcome my anxiety. I switched out of the medical academy to explore engineering, a field that I now love. Now I know not to let my anxiety control me and that life is better when you face your fears. Since then my relationships and religion have improved and I finally feel like I am on the right track for my career.

In the future I would like to go to college and complete a degree in mechanical engineering with a focus on mechatronics. With this degree, I would like to help bridge the gap between mechanics and humans within factories to ensure safety, productivity, and job security. I think it is extremely important to value robotics and technology within our workforce, but also humanity. I would like to push for progress in the field of combining these forces specifically for the use of exoskeletons within manufacturing. Exoskeletons like these can strengthen human characteristics while still keeping the user safe. But they are not well-known or consistent enough yet and they still need a lot of work. Advancements like these that move to support and protect factory workers without eliminating their jobs or completely automating the field are something that I would love to explore and improve. Additionally, I believe that mechatronics is the key to lowering the costs of products within our country and moving away from the horrific child labor that we export to other countries to cut costs. Finally, regardless of just the potential for good that this holds, I also just have a lot of love and interest in this field. Not only is it interesting but it is an everchanging and dynamic career that I can not wait to explore.

Motivation; the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way. Every action you complete or word you say has a particular motivation behind it and every step you take pushes you towards a certain goal. For me, the thing that gets me up in the morning, pushes me through difficult situations, and guides my choices day by day is the simple pursuit of happiness. I believe strongly that we live for a miniscule time and we all have the right to live the way that we want as long as it does not impose on others. My goal for life is and has always been to work a job that makes me happy regardless of pay, and to make good financial decisions to live the way I want without worry. If the situation arises, I want to be able to help my friends and family in whatever way they need. I have no desire to live in control of others or build an empire. Some may say my motivation is simplistic, but sometimes beauty lies in commonality and happiness lies in taking steps towards making it for yourself.