The last couple of years have been some of the hardest. I moved across the country from my home in New Hampshire to Arizona. I have felt more alone here than I ever have before. There have been nights when all I wanted was for my pain to stop, but like a double-edged coin, my anxiety stopped me from doing anything. On top of being lonely, my friends back home have been through the worst experiences and I couldn't help them. I was forced to watch my friends through their turmoil, only being able to help through encouraging text messages. I felt hopeless and alone. I was scared of waking up one day and finding out I'd never see my friend again. But they are stronger than my fears give them credit for, and they are still here. Even through loss and abuse, my friends were able to persevere through their turmoil. Even if they are still struggling, they are still here and I'm so grateful. It was devastating being so far away when they had always helped me through my pain. When my mother was diagnosed with an extremely rare bone tumor in her spine, they made dinner for us and made sure we weren't alone. When I had nights where I couldn't sleep and was scared, they stayed up and talked with me. When struggling with your mental health, the scariest thing can be asking for help, but my loved ones taught me that having a support system is the greatest help you can get. Because of this, I believe that asking for help brings people together closer than ever. Being vulnerable and open to those you trust can help you and make them feel happy for being trusted. I believe it is incredibly important to ask for help when feeling hopeless or alone, even when it seems like it's terrifying to open up, it's something that we have to do if we want to get better. I've also learned through my experiences that you never truly know someone's situation, and to give the benefit of the doubt when they act differently than usual. Instead of being hurt or angry, think about their side and if they are going through something of their own. It doesn't excuse their actions, but it doesn't take much to be more patient with someone who is hurting. The other option could be potentially hurting them more, and it's easy to choose kindness over anger. In the future, I want to be open about the effects of bad mental health and spread awareness through art. My dream would be to make others feel less alone with paintings and songs. I want to express difficult emotions and experiences I have been through in my art, hopefully showing someone with a similar past that they aren't alone in what they feel, and more people understand than they might have thought. I am working towards this goal right now in my AP art class. I'm currently working on pieces about my move across the country and the pain it brought me, as well as the new experiences and entirely new environment I got to explore. I have also joined my school's Yellow Ribbon Club, a club aimed at spreading mental health awareness and creating a safe space for the students and staff. In the club, we meet with representatives from local family advocacy centers and raise money for them. We want everyone to be able to receive any help they need, whether it be just someone to vent to or to get away from a bad situation. I'm only one person, and it may not seem like there is much I can do to help others. But just by being open with the experiences you have been through you give others the bravery to do the same. This ripple effect could reach someone who is inspired by others' bravery and reaches out for help. And just like that someone can be saved. If I can save just one person with my art then I will know that it was worth the work and that I struggled for a reason. If I can even inspire others to start advocating for mental health too, I'll know that I am making a difference. I'm only one kid, but I'm working now so that I can help others just like I have been helped. I survived for a reason, and I know that it was to help others while getting to do what I love.

In July of 2021, my family moved from New Hampshire to Arizona in the middle of a monsoon. We packed up and left our home in the pouring rain and arrived at our new apartment in the same manner. This already felt like a bad omen. Of course, the day that we move to Arizona, a desert, it's pouring rain. On the other hand, it was almost like home had followed us, but it hadn't. I soon learned that for the most part, the weather does not change in the desert. Day after day I was met with extreme heat and blinding sun. I would sweat through my clothes and get constant headaches. What I also learned was culture shock is real. In and out of school I was being introduced to an overwhelming amount of new things, for the most part, all alone. My mother had already lived here once before, and my brother had started to avoid me at school. I was forced to walk straight into the unknowns of Arizona high school all alone. Moving affected my high school career and my friendships greatly. Only about 0.6 of a World History credit was transferred, meaning after two years of meetings and figuring out how to fix it, I now have to make it up my senior year. World History is a freshman class at my school, meaning I spend an hour every day with high schoolers who act like 5th graders. It's mentally draining and a relief to be let out to lunch at the bell. Not only this but I'm not able to graduate with a Fine Arts seal on my diploma because my NH credits do not transfer for it and I enrolled too late to get into art classes to replace it. So even as a high schooler with an arts track, planning to pursue art in college, I'm unable to get recognition for the hard work I've done as a high schooler in the arts. The only highlight from this was my chance to take Unified Sports to make up for my PE credit. I love this class and I wish I had known about it earlier. Enrolling late gave me the chance to meet my first friend in Education Professions. I had been the new kid before, but this experience made me realize that I had never learned how to make friends. Having a new kid in school used to be exciting to others, but in high school, no one cared if they hadn't met you before. I'd get to tell my story to some people, they'd say it was cool, but then we'd never interact again. I only made two friends in my sophomore year. I was incredibly lonely and it worsened my anxiety. I was slowly losing touch with my friends from New Hampshire, no matter how much I reached out. I couldn't talk in class because I felt what I had to say was insignificant in a room of people who didn't care about me. I was too scared to join clubs because I knew they were mostly made up of friend groups that I never fit into. My attempts at talking with classmates were met with weird looks and being ignored. I was a new kid cliche. Now in senior year, I'm making new friends. I missed out on high school friendships in the past, but now I'm eternally grateful for finally finding people who'd give me a chance. I'm hopeful now for senior year, and it's true what they say: after the rain, look for the rainbow.

I've always had underlying autoimmune issues, but they started to become more prevalent in middle school. Some of my symptoms have been diagnosed as Raynaud's syndrome, while others are still under investigation. This means I've had to keep going back for blood work with still no answers to the pain in my arms and legs and sudden viral infections caused by stress. I've missed school for weeks at a time from sickness made worse by my symptoms, and the stress from trying to catch up on schoolwork results in my pain flaring up. On top of the pain, through middle school, I received gasps and bewildered looks at my violet hands from the cold. It was hard to focus on my work when all that was going through my mind was if they thought I was weird or if they would treat me differently. Despite the constant obstacles, I have been able to maintain a GPA of 3.8 as a straight-A student and a continued passion for the arts. Even with the pain, I participated in every activity my middle school had offered. I played basketball and did cross country even when my legs hurt and shook, and I drew posters for the student council even when I knew people were staring at my hands. It seemed I had it under control until I hit high school. COVID-19 kept me completely online, and my 300-year-old drafty farmhouse always held a chill during the New Hampshire winter. I worked the best I could in my room with chapped and purple hands. I did math equations until it hurt, and then I did more. Despite this, I ended up with a C in math and a B in biology. My straight-A track was gone. Not long after that school year, I moved to Arizona. I was in an entirely new environment, and my body did not respond well to the stress. My arms became inflamed and it was harder to walk because my knees would give out under me. In my junior year, I dealt with constant mouth sores and itchy patches on my face. Though I wanted to, I was scared to join any clubs or extracurriculars for fear of a flare-up from my anxiety. I was lonely and didn't have anyone to lean on in my pain. So I instead threw myself into school work. My previous grades became smaller as I became a straight-A student once again. My legs have improved and since the 2022-2023 school year, I haven't had concerning infections. So far into senior year, I have been free to focus on my schoolwork and my art, my dream career. My autoimmune disease has broken me down and built me up. It caused me to work harder to achieve what I wanted, and now I am ready for what is required in future college classes. People now know me as a hard worker and an artist. Classmates will compliment my art, never fully knowing the pain I've gone through to grow my skill. In my future works, I want to highlight the emotional and physical journeys that come with chronic illnesses and autoimmune diseases. If even one person feels less alone in their illness because of my work, then I know the perseverance I went through to make it will have been worth it.

Art has been part of my daily life since I was eleven years old. I've been practicing drawing since 6th grade mostly digital and with pencil, but I've recently taken up painting in my AP Studio Art class. My mom would always try to get me interested in the arts when I was younger, but I only doodled stick figures at the time. I was young and didn't know how to get any ideas across, although I had a lot. When I would listen to music, I'd imagine vibrant scenes that follow the lyrics. I used to call them my own "music videos," although I never drew them out. I still get these images when I listen to music, but now I have the tools to show my ideas. In middle school, I used to make short animations and post them to my YouTube channel, Gracicles. I posted videos up until about three years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic. I would still draw, but I didn't feel I had the time or energy to keep up posting. My freshman year of high school was entirely online, and as a usual straight-A student, I struggled not being in the classroom. This meant more of my time went to studying than to making animations. Now it's 3 years later and I want to try again. I moved across the country, started school in person, and now I'm working to improve my art and make up for the time I've lost. I don't have many finished pieces to show off but I continued to draw through the years. I'm hoping to revisit my old middle school channel and show the improvement I've made as a traditional and digital artist. In college, I'd like to go more in-depth in animation and painting. Honestly, I had stopped animating, but I wanted to start again. I believe with the right tools and guidance that I can find in college, I'd be able to hone in on my passion for animation and get to call myself an animator again. I never got to improve when I used to animate, but I can now. Animation would be my stable job, and it would pay for me to be creative in my way and continue with my projects in painting or digital. As a college graduate with a BFA in animation, I hope to work for companies like Cartoon Network that create 2D animated shows. I grew up watching Cartoon Network and it would be a dream come true to provide the happiness it gave me to the new generation of kids. I'd love to start my own animation studio after that. I want to create movies and shows for all ages to enjoy. In my studio, we would give opportunities to younger creatives with movies and show ideas. I'd like to portray a variety of different people in my work, I want people to watch what I make and see themselves in it too. I feel that this way they can connect with it and see it as a safe space. I hope for my studio to be very successful and offer scholarships and chances to young creatives like myself. There are millions of people out there with goals that they can't achieve because the cost of doing them holds them back. My goal is to be successful enough to fund these creatives. I want to give back to the world while doing the things I love. Helping me get to college would help not only me but also the ones I get to help in the future.

My name is Grace Villa, I'm a high school senior looking to pursue a Bachelor's degree in the arts. Doing well in school has always been a big goal in my life. I've had the privilege of learning from amazing teachers over the years. I've also had my fair share of teachers who either don't care about my education or actively try to make it worse. These teachers only make the great ones even greater. The greatest teachers I've had came from my middle school years. They not only believed in my talent for their specific classes, but they believed in the things I was personally interested in. They believed that I could succeed in all things, not just their classes, and I feel that is a sign of a great educator. Education is not just about what a student can learn within their school's walls, but what life knowledge they get for their future adventures. My science teacher, Mrs. Cestrone, felt that not only would I excel as a chemist, but that I could become a great artist too. She always encouraged her students to pursue anything that they were passionate about. She'd show up to basketball games and talent shows and made sure to remind students of any art or writing competitions she found. I participated in one of these competitions, I submitted an art piece and won. I was featured in a newspaper along with all the other art and writing winners. Mrs. Cestrone was so excited for me and showed me the high school winners. She told me that she felt I could improve my art and draw like them someday, and it filled me with excitement for art I didn't realize I had. I liked drawing, but Mrs. Cestrone made me feel like I could be an artist, a goal I am still pursuing today as a high school senior. I didn't leave that class with only an A, I left with confidence in my future. Mrs. Cestrone is a prime example of my view of education. She was a wonderful teacher who was passionate about her students and made her class fun. My success in science even now is because of her class. Not only did she help me in science, but she gave me confidence in what brings me happiness. She prepared me for not only high school but life after. When I have trouble with a drawing that just makes me want to quit, I think of how she genuinely saw an artist in me, and I know that I can keep going. Education is about learning the basics like math, science, and writing, but it is also about getting the chance to find who you are. In school, you make connections with teachers and peers that last a lifetime. You can find your passion in being a chemist or helping others. In playing a sport, or becoming an artist. Your education is the opportunity to take up the challenges that life throws at you and learn how to make it through them. You just need the right teacher to guide you. When you have that, you can learn to do anything you're interested in. For me it's art, and through my education, I will remember Mrs. Cestrone, the one who inspired me to reach for my goals, no matter how hard the work may be.