My immigrant experience has deeply affected my ability to attain my educational goals. Coming to the United States was not just about moving to a new country. It was about adjusting to a completely different life while carrying emotional, mental, and personal challenges that many people do not see. One of the hardest parts of being an immigrant has been being away from my family. There is a kind of loneliness that comes with that experience that is hard to explain unless you have lived it. You miss the people who know you best, the comfort of being surrounded by love, and the feeling of home. Trying to focus on school while carrying that kind of emptiness is not easy. At the same time, I have also felt a deep pressure to succeed. As an immigrant, success often feels like it means more than just doing well for yourself. It feels tied to sacrifice, responsibility, and the expectations of the people back home. You know people are watching, hoping, and believing that you will build something meaningful out of the opportunity you were given. That kind of pressure can push you forward, but it can also become very heavy. At times, I felt like I could not afford to fail because my success was not only mine. It carried the hopes of my family and the weight of everything they had poured into me. There was also a period in my life when all of this affected my mental health deeply. I went through depression while still trying to function and keep moving forward. That was one of the hardest things I have ever experienced. Coming from a background where mental health is not openly talked about, I did not fully understand what I was going through at first. I did not even know how to process it in my own language, let alone explain it in another one. I felt alone, misunderstood, and emotionally exhausted. On the outside, I was trying to keep going, but inside I was carrying sadness, pressure, and pain that made it difficult to focus on my education the way I wanted to. Still, those experiences did not destroy my educational goals. If anything, they gave them more meaning. They made me stronger, more resilient, and more aware of how deeply people can struggle in silence. They also shaped the reason I care so much about mental health and why I want to pursue a career in that field. I want to help people who feel unseen, misunderstood, or alone, especially those from communities where mental health is often ignored or misunderstood. My immigrant journey has not been easy, but it has given me purpose. It has shown me that education is more than earning a degree. For me, it is a way to build a better future, honor the sacrifices that were made for me, and become someone who can bring hope and healing to others.

My name is Erica Ndinga, and I am pursuing a degree in the mental health field because I want to make a real difference in people’s lives. I want to help people understand themselves better, heal from what they have gone through, and realize that life is not over just because they have faced pain, failure, or rejection. I believe that as long as we are alive, there is still room for growth, healing, and purpose. I am originally from the Republic of Congo, and I have been in the United States for over eleven years. During those years, I have experienced success, trauma, failure, and rejection. Some of the hardest moments in my life forced me to face my own mental health in a very real way. Coming from a culture where mental health is rarely talked about, I did not always have the words to explain what I was feeling, let alone ask for help. That experience changed me. It made me more aware of how many people suffer silently, especially in communities where mental health is misunderstood or ignored. That is why this major means so much to me. I do not just want to study mental health — I want to use it to bring hope to people. My goal is to help every person I come into contact with gain a deeper sense of self-understanding. I want people to know that what happened to them does not get the final say in their life. I truly believe that life is what you make it, and that a bad set of cards does not determine the outcome of the game. Only you have the final say over how your story continues. One cause I deeply support is mental health awareness, especially in communities where people are taught to stay silent about emotional pain. This cause is personal to me because I know what it feels like to go through hard things and not fully understand what is happening inside of you. I want to be part of changing that. I want to help create more conversations, more understanding, and more support for people who feel unseen or alone. If I am awarded this scholarship, it would help me continue my education and move closer to the future I am working so hard to build. It would allow me to focus more on school and on becoming the kind of person who can truly help others. More than anything, this scholarship would support not just my education, but the impact I hope to make through it. I want my life to be a story of resilience that other people can see. I want to raise awareness, raise hope, and show people that healing and purpose are possible. Through my degree, I plan to be someone who helps others see that their life still matters and that their future can still be greater than their past.

I am pursuing a degree in the mental health field because I know what it feels like to struggle emotionally and not fully understand what is happening inside of you. I also know what it feels like to come from a background where mental health is not talked about enough, where pain is often overlooked, and where people are expected to keep going no matter what they are carrying. That reality has shaped the way I see people, pain, and healing. Mental health is important to me because I believe it is the core of who we are. It affects how we think, how we feel, how we respond to life, and how we see ourselves. When your mental health is suffering, everything around you can start to feel heavy, confusing, and hard to manage. I want to study this field because I do not just want to sympathize with people. I want to truly understand them, help them understand themselves, and be equipped to support them in a real way. One of the biggest reasons I want to enter this field is because I want to raise awareness in my community. Too many people are suffering in silence. Too many people do not have the language to explain what they are feeling, and sometimes they do not even realize that what they are experiencing is something that deserves attention, care, and healing. I want to be part of changing that. I want to help create more understanding, more compassion, and more room for honest conversations about mental health. I also want to make a difference by bringing hope to people. My goal is to help every person I come into contact with gain a deeper sense of self-understanding. I want people to know that their life is not over because they have struggled, failed, been rejected, or gone through pain. I believe that life is not done until we die. I believe a lot can happen in a year. People can heal. People can grow. People can rebuild. People can become stronger than what tried to break them. I want to be the kind of person who reminds others that a bad set of cards does not determine the outcome of the game. Life can be unfair, and some people carry burdens that others cannot see, but that does not mean their future is ruined. I want to help people see that they still have value, they still have purpose, and they still have a say in the direction of their life. To me, mental health work is not only about helping people cope. It is about helping them reconnect with themselves, find meaning again, and believe that a different future is possible. Pursuing this degree is personal for me. It is not just a career choice. It is a mission. I want my life to stand for something greater than myself. I want to be a story of resilience that other people can look at and say, “If she kept going, maybe I can too.” Through this field, I hope to bring hope, healing, and understanding to people who need it most.