In a post-pandemic world, there has been a spike in many different mental health concerns. During an incredibly isolating and grief-stricken time, many people had to adjust to new norms and deal with the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, there was already a high prevalence of depression and anxiety among much of the population, specifically ages 18-24, and the pandemic exacerbated these issues. The pandemic impacted youth suicide rates and a much higher number of suicides were seen ten months into the pandemic compared to previous years (Bridge et al., 2023). Ultimately, the pandemic highlighted the mental health crisis that is happening within the United States and how devastating and deadly its effects can be. It was through the effects of the pandemic that I was pushed to pursue a career in the mental health field. During the year 2020, life was flipped upside down and it seemed there was nothing constant to be found in anyone’s daily life. It was almost impossible to be around others and engage in any type of social activity, which was extremely isolating. At the height of the pandemic, my family received devastating news. My cousin, who was only nineteen years old, had lost his life to suicide. This news left everyone completely dumbstruck and the pandemic made it difficult to mourn his loss. There was no way for my family to engage in a large gathering to celebrate the nineteen years that were spent with my cousin. This made mourning his loss and dealing with the circumstances of his loss incredibly difficult. During this time, I found that I also began to struggle with depression and found myself alone and isolated amid incredibly dark thoughts. My family has a rather long history of mental health issues and I was no stranger to the same thoughts that held many of the previous generations of my family captive. They were incredibly debilitating and I found everyday tasks nearly impossible to pursue. I had no desire to interact with anyone and the only thing that I could find the desire for was sleep. I spent many hours in my bed sleeping hoping that when I awoke the dark thoughts would no longer exist. I could never fully understand what my cousin went through, but through mourning his loss, I had a more empathetic view of the struggles he might have been facing. At some point, I acknowledged that I needed help, and I was able to reach out to loved ones and get the support I needed to get through an incredibly difficult time. After facing my cousin’s death and dealing with depression, I was motivated to help guide others through scary and isolating times. Approximately one year later, I decided that I was going to pursue graduate school in the mental health field. I had thought about pursuing this same goal during my time in undergraduate school, but the pandemic halted many of my plans. This time, I was pushed to pursue this and felt a calling so great that nothing could stop me from pursuing my passions. Upon starting the process of applying to graduate schools, many things started to fall into place. I ended up interviewing and pursuing my education at Georgia Southern University, where I am currently enrolled. I decided to pursue school counseling as I feel this is a field in which passionate, driven, and educated people need to be placed. I wanted to pursue school counseling so I could be an advocate for student’s social/emotional, academic, cultural, developmental, and career needs. Many students will not have equitable access to mental health resources once they leave the walls of the school building. All the resources that some of these students may ever know reside within the schools that inhabit. I wanted to serve as one of those resources and assist as many students as possible to increase the mental health and wellness of the upcoming generation. The pandemic has had a significant impact on the entire population, but there has been a significant impact on the youth within this nation. In one of my courses, I pursued research about the statistics of suicidality among adolescents within the specific county in which my college is located. According to the Georgia Student Health Survey (2021), the survey results showed that approximately twelve percent of students considered suicide while five percent of students made at least one attempt. These numbers have increased since the 2017 Georgia Student Health Survey, which showed that among adolescents approximately eight percent of students considered suicide while three percent of students made an attempt. While there was no research to determine if these percent increases were statistically significant, there were higher percentages of reports of students struggling with suicide in 2021 as compared to 2017. Since the pandemic, there has been a higher need for resources regarding mental health concerns among the younger population. With these numbers in mind, this only fuels my passion to pursue a future in school counseling and advocate for accessible and applicable mental health resources for all students. From my research, it is apparent that there is a need for mental health resources, as mental health seems to have declined among teenage students post-pandemic (Jamshaid et al., 2023). The pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health of the younger generation and it is part of my responsibility to ensure that I understand how to best meet their needs. Since the needs of this generation have shifted, it is important to take on an efficacious approach and provide applicable and appropriate resources to most adequately meet the needs of students. Knowing this as a future school counselor, I understand that I have to address suicide and implement a comprehensive suicide prevention program to address a pressing need of the younger generation. It is important to implement these suicide prevention efforts in settings where students will receive this information (Bridge et al., 2023). As a future school counselor, it is imperative that I employ as many preventative measures as possible, as the school may be the only place where students receive this information. It is evident that there is a mental health crisis among the younger generation, and the pandemic has contributed additional concerns. The pandemic impacted youth suicides (Bridge et al., 2023) and the Georgia Student Health Survey (2021) saw an increase in thoughts of suicide and number of suicide attempts among adolescents within Georgia schools. Knowing how the pandemic has shifted the needs of students, the schools must respond to these needs as effectively as possible. As mentioned previously, as a future school counselor, it is my ethical responsibility to understand the needs of the population that I am working with. From my research, there is an apparent struggle with suicide and suicidal ideation within the younger generation. The pandemic has highlighted this mental health crisis and as a competent and responsible mental health practitioner I must respond with an efficacious approach to meet student needs. Ultimately, my experience with suicide and knowing the struggles of students post-pandemic, this has pushed me to pursue a career in school counseling. Suicide prevention must be delivered through a medium in which as many individuals within the younger generation can have access to it. I believe that the best way to serve the younger generation is through an efficacious comprehensive school counseling program that addresses the needs of the student population and provides applicable and appropriate mental health resources to students. Overall, it is obvious that the pandemic has highlighted the mental health crisis that the United States, and many other places, is experiencing. Through my research and personal experience, the pandemic has had a significant impact on the younger generation within this nation. Knowing this to be the case, I have felt pushed to pursue a career in school counseling to address the mental health needs and concerns of the younger generation. There are obvious struggles with suicidality and students must have effective and adequate resources to obtain the support that they need. I want to play a role in this process and advocate for student’s mental health, social/emotional needs, academic needs, and career needs and reach as many students as possible. References Bridge, J. A., Ruch, D. A., Sheftall, A. H., Hahm, H. C., O’Keefe, V. M., Fontanella, C. A., Brock, G., Campo, J. V., & Horowitz, L. M. (2023). Youth suicide during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pediatrics, 151(3), Article e2022058375. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2022-058375 Georgia Department of Education. (2021) Georgia Student Health Survey [Data Set]. Georgia Department of Education. https://www.gadoe.org/wholechild/GSHS-II/Pages/Georgia-Student-Health-Survey-II.aspx Jamshaid, S., Bahadar, N., Jamshed, K., Rashid, M., Afzal, M. I., Tian, L., Umar, M., Feng, X., Khan, I., & Zong, M. (2023). Pre- and post-pandemic (COVID-19) mental health of international students: Data from a longitudinal study. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 16, 431. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S395035

Mental illness can affect anyone, even those who seem to always be incredibly empathetic with a huge smile on their face. It is an illness that does not discriminate and never ceases to wreak havoc on the individual and those around them. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I lost my nineteen-year-old cousin, Josh, to suicide. Josh loved to play guitar, joke around, and always make sure that others knew they were loved by him. He was always referred to as the gentle giant with an old soul. His loss caused me to wrestle with many unknowns and made me question the direction I was pursuing in life. Ultimately, my cousin’s death pushed me to pursue a career in something that I never thought would be possible. It completely changed my outlook and trajectory of life and it has pushed me to live each day to the fullest in honor of him. During the pandemic, I received my Bachelor's degree in psychology, but had no intention of pursuing graduate school as circumstances were extremely unprecedented. However, after my cousin’s unexpected death, I realized that life is incredibly short and there is no time to waver when it comes to things of passion. I have always had a passion for mental health and caring for others. Becoming a counselor was always a dream of mine, but it seemed like something that was out of reach. However, my cousin’s loss reminded me of the finite time that I have and pushed me to pursue anything that brought me joy. One year after the loss of my cousin, I decided to apply to graduate school. A few months and interviews later, I received word that I had been accepted into the program and I had even received an assistantship to cover the cost of tuition. I have never had anything fall more into place than during this time in life. Currently, I am enrolled in a Masters of Counseling program, with a concentration in school counseling. I chose this concentration, as I wanted to serve as an advocate for students who may not have access to mental health resources outside of school. I wanted to ensure that students had access to an individual who would aid in their mental health and well-being. Growing up in a rural area, my school did not have access to many, if any, mental health resources and many students were not able to get the help they deserved. In this career, I know that I cannot help every student, but I know my drive, passion, and education will aid me in assisting as many students as possible. I want every student within my school building to know that they have one person who cares for them and will serve as an advocate for their social/emotional, developmental, cultural, academic, and career needs. As I mentioned earlier, mental illness does not discriminate and the earlier children can have access to mental health resources the more beneficial. Ultimately, my cousin’s death completely changed my outlook on life. It reminded me anyone can struggle with mental illness and it showed me the importance of always showing kindness and empathy to everyone. Additionally, it pushed me to pursue a career that I never believed I would have the gumption to pursue. I plan to always serve as an advocate for mental health and equitable access to mental health resources. Mental illness wreaks havoc on the individual and those around them, but ultimately, I have decided to see the beauty within the chaos.

In the middle of a hot September day, I received a phone call that would ultimately impact my entire perception of the world. I received the news that my 19-year-old cousin had committed suicide. It was completely devastating and his loss left ripples throughout my entire family. There was no note, no explanation, only hurt and loss that left many of my family members in a state of shock. It was a situation that was completely unexplainable and painful. People attempted to give their condolences but there were no words that could soothe the sting of my cousin's unexpected passing. My family knew that my cousin struggled with depression, but we were obviously unaware of its significant role in my cousin's life. We had no way of knowing that he would succumb to the negative voices in his head that repeated lies and negativity. Ultimately, my cousin's suicide negatively impacted the majority of my family's mental health. How could it not? We were grasping for straws wondering how our light-hearted and easy-going cousin could take his life and not let anyone know his plan. His loss left us all with a huge hole in our lives, grabbing desperately at everything in an attempt to fill it. After my cousin passed, I struggled significantly with depressive symptoms. I questioned the point of anything and very seldomly left my room. I cried myself to sleep nearly every night and wondered if I might suffer the same fate as my cousin. Luckily, after my cousin's death, my family began to communicate with each other more regularly and served as a great support system as I was beginning to navigate this great loss. After facing the scary symptoms of depression and dealing with suicide, I was encouraged to pursue a career in the mental health field. I know the rates of suicide, specifically among young males, in this country are astronomically high. I have dealt with the effects of suicide first-hand and I wanted to serve as a point of support for others who have been in the same or similar situation. I juggled the ideas of many different careers and ultimately landed on the role of a school counselor. I felt that if students could access support and resources regarding suicide prevention as soon as possible, then maybe the statistics regarding suicide rates could begin to trend downward. I know I am only one person and I can only do so much, but I will work every day to support as many students as possible by providing effective mental health resources. I have been severely affected by the impact of mental illness and I want to use that as a drive to help others who have endured those same struggles.