My mental health struggles have been extreme but have also been the reason for my current strength. The day I met my now fiance, I was suicidal and right before I attempted I talked to him for the first time. Since then I've been a strong advocate for mental health. I've struggled with extreme depression, severe social anxiety, and a bipolar disorder diagnosis for two years. My social anxiety has been so severe that I've locked myself in my room for a week refusing to step foot in my house and be around my roommates. I've lost extreme amounts of weight, had to force myself outside of bed in the morning to go to work only to cry during my whole 45 minute commute because my mental health hits rock bottom. I've worked 16 hour days running of 2 hours of sleep. My nights have seen me crying laying on my bedroom floor while I try to figure out how I can possible go on. I've lost friends, family, and jobs. I've been blocked, sworn at, despised, and forced into the most painful of situations. I've failed classes, sat there reading whole textbook chapters and not remembering a word. I've scrolled through slides, watched college assigned videos, and typed out reports all while being in a blank void of nothingness. I've gone through phases of letting myself suffer physically because emotionally and mentally I can't keep going. I've lost my home, almost everyone who's mattered, and been jobless with no money to my name at all wondering when I'd be homeless. I've worked jobs I hate all the while pushing myself until I snapped and had bouts of paranoia and delusion. I recently submitted a request for higher pay at my job because my bills weren't being covered and ultimately lost my job over that and an increasingly abusive boss. I'm now without a job, car, or money putting myself through college through student loans. And through that all I've chosen to keep going because I know that somewhere out there, in a luxury high rise loft in Los Angeles or a tiny one bedroom apartment in Memphis, another student, an aspiring doctor or graphic designer is going through the same struggle. They're fighting for a brighter future for themselves, their family, their friends, and their community. I want to be one of those people that can help. I'm currently enrolled in a teaching certificate program but my biggest dream is to get my associate's degree in psychology and from there work as a victim's advocate or a counselor. I dream of helping youth that struggle with their mental health follow their dreams and receive the help and support I wanted and needed so much. I'm putting myself through school financially because one day I want to help others fight for their dreams too. That is why I've chosen to pursue a career in mental health as well ad education so I can use my skills, talents, and accreditations with others and help fight for the next generations.

Hi, my name is Faustina, I am an upcoming education major and a young person in today's America. Accountability is something I have been working on for the past while. I've been through some big life changes in the past year+ which has greatly affected how I see myself and respond to different situations and life circumstances. The first way I hold myself accountable is with the help of my boyfriend. He is the number one person who knows me, my ups and downs, my specific behaviors, and my biggest faults. I've had to learn some hard lessons about accountability, honesty, and being communicative even when I don't want to. And he's been right there teaching me what accountability truly means and how to be strong even through that. Accountability is hard. Having to admit to oneself that you have mistakes, failures, problems, and faults is one of the biggest growth areas a human can have. For me accountability means holding myself to a certain standard of life and growth. It means that I have to daily tell myself that I will fail but that I have a personal norm I should adhere to in order to grow as a human. And most especially it means that I have the humility to allow others, especially my partner in, and be communicative, honest, and patient as I navigate all the areas I'm working on. Accountability isn't fun. When I'm accountable it means I allow the weakest most vulnerable parts of myself to open up and put my utmost trust in the people I encounter so I can work on the biggest flaws I have as a human. Those flaws are the ones that hold me back from living and working to my fullest potential. Sometimes I can do it by myself. Those days are amazing, I rejoice, and I feel so accomplished. On other days I need to say the hard words "I need help" and "Can you please be there for me?". It's hard to say that. It's hard to allow another human into the deepest parts of your being and allow them the huge job of holding you accountable to those things that can greatly affect who you are as a human. Accountability isn't fun. Some days it feels like a personal rehab. Other days it makes me feel like such a weak human and I want to quit. But my biggest motivation to move on and hold myself to that personal standard is the reminder that I have people who love me. I have people who see the value and worth in me. And because of that, because of the love I have for those close and special people in my life, accountability is something I continue to work on so I can be the best version of myself.

My childhood was a somewhat turbulent and influential part of my life. During this formative time in my growing journey a question I wish I had been asked more often is "What do you truly want to do with your life and how can we help you get there?". This question would've been a huge difference had someone asked it. I have always had one steady dream in my life but have never gotten much support in pursuing it. I have always dreamed of being a wife as well as working in either childcare/teaching or social work/victim advocacy. I am currently pursuing this dream and have come farther than I ever thought possible. The absence of this question in my life has forced me to ask myself that and has given me the determination and will to pursue my goal and not allow the challenges I've gone through to stop me. The presence of this question in my life has been a daily reminder that I DO have a dream and the only one stopping me from pursuing that dream is myself. No matter where I've been in my life, especially during my early teens and the past few years of my life, I've always reminded myself that one day my dream will be a reality. Through a forced cross-country move, miserable jobs, long nights, depression, mental health battles, telling myself I couldn't keep going, and feeling like I was alone I've always reminded myself that my dream is still there and that I can answer that question and make it a part of my life. And it is now becoming a reality. I am in a relationship with my best friend and the man who daily reminds me to not let other people or the world define who I am, that I am who I am, not who the world says I am, and to not let my intrusive thoughts or the anxiety of the world project onto the woman I am. I work as a full-time babysitter, a job I truly never thought I'd have but one I go to choose. And I will be starting my education certification next month, something I thought wasn't possible for my life. It's been a journey. "What do you truly want to do with your life and how can we help you get there?" A question the world never really asked me became a question I asked myself daily and then, one day a person came into my life who helped me answer that question and also made it become a reality day by day. Your question can truly become your life, the most important lesson I learned was to not let the world or others get in the way of that or define who I was.