I came from a less than desirable environment. I was neglected from birth to about age two. By the time I was adopted, I was severely RAD (reactive attachment disorder). I was also a failure to thrive child with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and Bipolar. Because of these unfortunate mental and physical issues, I was a distraught child. Emotionally, I shut myself off from any feelings and created a wall of shadows and negativity that "protected" me from giving or receiving any feelings like love. I also had many negative feelings like self-hate, self-loathing, and inadequacy. Despite all of my disabilities, my friends and family stayed by my side and helped me through these tough times. As I grew up and matured little by little, I eventually began to open up my shell and break down my wall piece by piece. I went from feeling nothing to feeling something to being able to function like an average person. Now I can empathize with others, as well as give and receive positive feelings. Despite this positive change, I still struggle with depression and controlling my feelings. I still bottle up any negative feelings and find it hard to share them. However, I am still working hard every day to make a positive change in my life. I see my progress and past situation as a blessing. If I did not come from a less than desirable situation and experience many struggles, I would have no reason to feel proud of my accomplishments. These experiences and struggles have made me who I am despite the challenges, and I am grateful and would not change anything. I think that others who have had similar experiences or have many struggles in their lives should heed these words and take some assurance from the fact that, yes, it is a struggle every day. Still, those struggles define who we are and make us strive to become better little by little every day. Also, these accomplishments we made should make us feel proud.

I came from a less than desirable environment. I was neglected from birth to about age two. By the time I was adopted, I was severely RAD (reactive attachment disorder). I was also a failure to thrive child who had ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and Bipolar. Because of these unfortunate mental and physical issues, I was a distraught child. Emotionally, I shut myself off from any feelings and created a wall of shadows and negativity that "protected" me from giving or receiving any feelings like love. I also had many negative feelings like self-hate, self-loathing, and inadequacy. Even though my disabilities made it hard for people to get close to me, my friends and family stayed by my side and helped me through these tough times. As I grew up and matured little by little, I eventually began to open up my shell and break down my wall of shadows piece by piece with the help of the people who were closest to me. I went from feeling nothing to feeling something, to being able to almost function like an average person. Now I able to empathize with others, as well as give and receive positive feelings. However, despite this positive change, I still struggle with depression and controlling my feelings. I still bottle up any negative feelings and find it hard to share them. However, I am still working hard every day to make a positive change in my life. My experiences with mental health have made me realize that I have a rough journey ahead of me. Having mental health has given me the motivation needed to reach goals and open doors of opportunity that I once thought would never be open. Thanks to mental health, I am now a successful student who strives to work hard to be the best person/student/ friend I can be. Because mental health gave me the motivation to work hard, My relationships have improved substantially. I can now interact with people and open myself up to friends even though I know opening myself up to others leaves me vulnerable. Along with giving me motivation, mental health has also opened my mind and positively changed my view of people and the world. When I was younger, I viewed everyone with a suspicious and untrusting gaze and saw the world as a troubled place filled with people who had the potential to hurt me. Now that I have grown and matured, I can see the potential good in everyone, and I view the world as an awesome place filled with wonderous people, places, and things. Looking back on my life and seeing the progress I have made, I now view my past situation as a blessing. If I did not come from a less than desirable situation and experience many struggles, I would have no reason to feel proud of my accomplishments and grow into the man I am today. These experiences and struggles have made me who I am despite the challenges, and I am grateful and would not change anything. I think that others who have had similar experiences or have many struggles in their lives should heed these words and take some assurance from the fact that yes, it is a struggle every day. However, those struggles define who we are and make us strive to become better little by little every day. These accomplishments we made should make us feel proud of who we have become by overcoming the struggles we face every day and not regretful of the less than desirable situation from which we came from.

I came from a less than desirable environment. I was neglected from birth to about age two. By the time I was adopted, I was severely RAD(reactive attachment disorder). I was also a failure to thrive child who suffered from ADHD(attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and Bipolar. Because of these unfortunate mental and physical issues, I was a very troubled child. Emotionally, I shut myself off from any kind of feelings and created a wall of shadows and negativity that "protected" me from giving or receiving any kind of feelings like love. I also had many negative feelings like self-hate, self-loathing, and inadequacy. Despite all of my disabilities, my friends and family stayed by my side and helped me through these tough times. As I grew up and matured little by little, I eventually began to open up my shell and break down my wall piece by piece. I went from feeling nothing to feeling something, to being able to function like an average person. Now I able to empathize with others, as well as give and receive positive feelings. Despite this positive change, I still struggle, with depression and controlling my feelings. I still bottle up any negative feelings and find it hard to share them. However, I am still working hard every day to make a positive change in my life. I see my progress and past situation as a blessing. If I did not come from a less than desirable situation and experience many struggles, I would have no reason to feel proud of my accomplishments. I feel that these experiences and struggles have made me who I am despite the challenges, and I am grateful and would not change anything. I think that others who have had similar experiences or have many struggles in their life as I do, should heed these words and take some assurance from the fact that yes it is a struggle every day, but those struggles define who we are and make us strive to become better little by little every day. Also, these accomplishments we made should make us feel proud of who we have become and not regretful of the less than desirable situation from which we came from.

I came from a less than desirable environment. I was neglected from birth to about age two. By the time I was adopted, I was severely RAD(reactive attachment disorder). I was also a failure to thrive child who suffered from ADHD(attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and Bipolar. Because of these unfortunate mental and physical issues, I was a very troubled child. Emotionally, I shut myself off from any kind of feelings and created a wall of shadows and negativity that "protected" me from giving or receiving any kind of feelings like love. I also had many negative feelings like self-hate, self-loathing, and inadequacy. Despite all of my disabilities, my friends and family stayed by my side and helped me through these tough times. As I grew up and matured little by little, I eventually began to open up my shell and break down my wall piece by piece. I went from feeling nothing to feeling something, to being able to function like an average person. Now I able to empathize with others, as well as give and receive positive feelings. Despite this positive change, I still struggle, with depression and controlling my feelings. I still bottle up any negative feelings and find it hard to share them. However, I am still working hard every day to make a positive change in my life. I see my progress and past situation as a blessing. If I did not come from a less than desirable situation and experience many struggles, I would have no reason to feel proud of my accomplishments. I feel that these experiences and struggles have made me who I am despite the challenges, and I am grateful and would not change anything. I think that others who have had similar experiences or have many struggles in their life as I do, should heed these words and take some assurance from the fact that yes it is a struggle every day, but those struggles define who we are and make us strive to become better little by little every day. Also, these accomplishments we made should make us feel proud.

Music, the heartbeat of life, is the lifeline that keeps me going even on the most troublesome of days. Music has a way of lifting me with its catchy beats or aligning itself with my mood when needed. Music has been a part of my life since I was old enough to sing along with its thrumming heartbeat. On a happy day, I like to listen to upbeat music that has a way of lifting me past the clouds. On a sad day, music is there to strum its sweet melody. When needed, music can also be a way to immerse myself in the humming waters of melody and let the troubles of the day slip away. When focusing on a drawing or an intricate puzzle, DJ music's funky, upbeat rhythm is there to weave a web of focus that helps to finish the project with no distractions. When cleaning, I find that the passionate vibes of a love song help to get into the groove of cleaning. When my dog died, the song 50 Ways to say Goodbye by Train helped to ease the burden of grief and come to terms with the fact that her death was not goodbye because she would always be with me in my heart. One song that is special to me is How Far I'll Go by Alessia Cara. This song sings of a person who tries hard to be the person everyone wants and expects them to become and proves how far they are willing to go. However, in the end, that person wants to be themselves and break free of the confines of who everyone wants them to become. The lyrics of this song speak to me on a deep level because, in a way, I too feel confined to become who everyone wants me to become. Everyone wants me to become a psychologist so I can get a good job and salary. I try my best to meet these views, but in the end, I want to be an Illustrator because art has always been my one true passion.

Words like worthless and failure have come up often when I describe myself. I came from a less than desirable background of abandonment from birth till about age two. Thankfully, I was adopted into a loving family. However, by that time, I already suffered from feelings of inadequacy, self-loathing, and self-hate. I have struggled with these feelings most of my life. However, these feelings have lessened over time, the more I surrounded myself with friends and family. Each family member and friend has opened my eyes to the truth; that I am loved and cared for and not the worthless failure, I saw myself as. Because of them, I eventually learned to take down my impenetrable wall of shadows and negative feelings and replace them with feelings of self-love. My friends and family made me realize that to improve my relationships with others and my beliefs about myself, I must first learn the secret to self-love. Suppose this feat was accomplished, my negative feelings about myself and my beliefs would change positively. My journey for self-love has been a struggle, but I eventually became successful. When I think about myself now, I use words like loved, successful, happy, and worthy to describe myself. My aspirations have also changed from believing I would never be successful or worthy of success to thoughts of being successful, worthy of that success, and wants to exceed my current success.

Intelligent, witty, successful. These are words that I would use to describe the role model in my life. This role model is my eldest brother Chris. Chris has always been my number one supporter, advocate, and confidant. Since I was a small boy growing up, Chris has been there to show me how to act and stand up for myself. I came from a less than desirable background, so growing up was difficult. However, Chris was the light that led me back to the right path and brightened up my darkest days. Even when I was drowning in my darkness and anger, Chris found a way to penetrate my wall of shadows and surround me in his warm glow. As I grew older a matured, Chris transformed from a shining light into a comforting whisper that steered me and helped to guide me through tough times. Now, Chris is my closest friend, who always has my back and lifts me like a cloud by a breeze with his support. Even when I don't see the goodness in myself, Chris shows me all the good qualities that I possess. As I have grown and matured, Chris has become successful with his own life, and that success had led me to strive to be the best that I can be and as successful as he is. Because Chris has always been there to lift me and guide me, I have developed a want to help others who have struggled like I have and be the guiding light and warm whisper that Chris was to me. I plan to become A Marriage and Family Therapist with a heavy concentration in Art Therapy to better help others who have struggled and are still struggling with issues.

Imagine a world where every individual is willing to help their fellow neighbor. A world where people help each other despite the many differences they may or may not share. I believe that everyone should be kind, courteous, and respectful and help others who have a need. When able, I like to volunteer to help out people in need. I give individuals help depending on what that individual or group of individuals is looking for. I can be a shoulder to cry on, a listener, and an empathizer to a tale of woe, a friend to the friendless, or just some muscle to help carry or move heavy objects. I am part of the National Society of Leadership and Success, the Honor Society, my local college art club, and sometimes help out when the Kiwanis Club of Lake Tahoe hosts activities. I have been known to arrive early to my classes to help the teacher set up the classroom for the students' arrival. I have also been known to help them fix, clean, move, and organize classrooms and materials. Currently, I am finishing my Bachelor's degree. The annual tuition for my classes is roughly $10,000. This scholarship would help lessen the burden created by my tuition for at least one semester. When I graduate from Sierra Nevada University, I plan to search for a higher education level and work to achieve my Master's degree. I have always had a passion for art and psychology. I plan to acquire a degree in Marriage and Family Therapy with a heavy concentration in Art Therapy. This degree will satisfy both my passion for art and my passion for psychology. I also plan to become an Illustrator. I have a deep passion for drawing, and I want to become successful with this skill.

Funny, happy, creative, friendly, honest, loyal, and understanding. These words are most often used to describe my character and personality. I have a strong passion for art and use my creative juices to create artistic masterpieces that express my inner feelings. I also have a passion for psychology and continually use my gained psychological knowledge to better my life and the lives of those around me. I came from a less than desirable background and have struggled to establish whom I wanted to become as a person. Thanks to the outside help and influence of my family, friends, and teachers, I was able to work and overcome some of the struggles that I faced as a young man growing up and achieve a higher level of enlightenment and success. I graduated from Lake Tahoe Community College in 2019 with an AA in Studio Art and a ceramic certificate. I then moved on to achieve a higher level of education at Sierra Nevada University. This dream will be realized when I graduate from Sierra Nevada University with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. I have many goals that I wish to achieve throughout my college career. I hope to become a Marriage and Family Therapist with a heavy concentration in Art Therapy. This goal will satisfy both my passion for art and my passion for psychology. Another goal I would like to achieve during my lifetime is to become an Illustrator. I have always been drawn to art [pun intended]. I have a love for ceramics but have a deeper passion for drawing. I am looking to achieve these goals by achieving a higher level of education and an extended learning career. I believe the education that I will strive for in the future and the education I am currently achieving is helping me prepare to make the goals I have stated above a reality.

As you sit under the shade of a tree on a warm sunny day, you spy a butterfly landing on a flower. As you shift your gaze to the sky, you see a beautiful cloud formation. As you contemplate these images, you start to create a masterpiece inspired by these experiences. This process is usually how my art takes shape and creates an image on the page. Like Van Gogh, my art is greatly influenced by my mood and inspired by the emotions and other experiences I face every day. For example, suppose I am sad or depressed. In that case, the subject matter reflects the darker aspects and emotions of that experience. Also, the colors I use are often dulled or darkened. When I am happy, angry, or experience a life situation that mirrors or causes those feelings, the subject matter and colors are greatly influenced. Along with Van Gogh, I am also inspired by Salvidor Dali's use of Expressionism and Surrealism. When creating a masterpiece, I tend to add extra elements that do not make sense to the viewer as to why I added those elements. For example, depending on my mood and experience that my creative juices are pulling from, I may give a butterfly that I create firey or watery wings. To the viewer, giving a butterfly the wings of fire or water does not make sense. However, the firey or watery wings' added element makes sense to the artist because they reflect my anger or sadness about a personal experience. One of my career goals is to become an illustrator. This scholarship will help with any materials and education needed to pursue that goal and help me grow as an artist. If I continue to grow as an artist, I am confident I will succeed.