Ever since I was little, I have loved to watch television. It was something me and my younger brother would do together. One of our favorite shows to watch together was Shake It Up, which of course, stars Zendaya. As I grew older, she also grew--into new roles in the new shows I watched. Growing up surrounded by her, how could I not adore her? However, since I have become more enthralled by her career, I have discovered it to be so much more than a young girl who started on Disney Channel. Aside from being absolutely stunning, Zendaya has the loveliest heart of almost any of todays modern day celebrities. She is smart in the decisions she makes, knowing that her fanbase in large. She has been a wonderful advocate for important issues in our society: racial equality, LGBTQ+ rights, mental health awareness, and feminism are a small portion of the things that Zendaya has used her platform to speak out about. The part that I admire the most about Zendaya is not just one thing. It is the fact that she is able to balance a life of all these things. As we know, she is a lovely actor. The tone range she uses in her various roles transforms her into such an emotional actor. But then, she can go directly into song! Additionally, she just has a good heart. A lot of celebrities now a days do not use their platform for good, however Zendaya is not one of them. She is incredible and inspirational. I love Zendaya.

Growing up as a relatively unathletic student in a district that idolizes the best sportspersons, no matter their attitude, I often felt poorly of myself. With an almost guaranteed bench spot, I dropped volleyball. Shortly thereafter, I dropped basketball. Sophomore year of high school, however, I would make a pivotal decision. I joined the cross-country team. Starting in August, we practiced long and hard. My first ever meet proved successful, although the time I ran was considerably slower than other girls on the team. I was lucky to run anything under 26:00. I was the 7th runner on the team–out of 7. I made it to state through guaranteed entry, as 7 runners were required on a team. The following year I saw practically the same results. The final summer before senior year, something changed in me. I began summer training. I ran almost every day, followed by a heavy lifting session. Some days, I felt overwhelmingly unmotivated. Normally, I pushed past this initial feeling, knowing that it would pay off if I just did it, and it truly did. June and July came and went, and I was ready for actual practice to begin. There is no better feeling than feeling strong when you run, especially at practice. Currently, my personal record is a 22:40, which is an astonishing 2 minutes faster than last year. I’ve found my peace in running, and I could not be more grateful. My entire childhood I was told that I had a ‘loud’ personality. I never thought much of this, until people directed these comments toward me with harmful intent. I cried often and had a difficult time controlling mean and angry outbursts. My entire life I have battled against mental illness, which has ultimately pivoted my whole existence. I began counseling at a young age and began talking with my school counselor regularly in the 5th grade. In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, I developed a severe eating disorder. This led to a noticeable decline in my physical and academic performance. However, it was May 29th, 2022 that truly changed my outlook on life, and would mark the beginning of my mental health journey. After something as simple as a relationship that led me astray, and ultimately ended in disaster, I battled against a wave of depression. I attempted to take my own life. Fortunately, I survived. Lying in the hospital bed in the early hours of the morning, I decided that I was done letting my mental illness control me. I began attending regular counseling and taking medications to treat my disorders. After this experience, I decided to use my loud personality to advocate for others who may be in the same position I was once in. I attended and ended up leading the Wyoming Call for Youth Mental Health Panel, which was an amazing experience. I shared my various ideas on how better support may be offered in school districts, and why mental health is becoming so important in this age. I am a part of Big Brother Big Sister of Wyoming, which focuses on helping children struggling with social skills, education, and of course, mental health. Again, this is something I really enjoy doing and I feel like I am making a difference, even if it is just for one child. Additionally, at the moment I am shadowing an elementary school counselor. Currently, she has me leading group therapy sessions, and teaching various guidance lessons. I believe that with the combination of my empathic personality, my advocacy, and my intelligence, I could change how the world views mental illnesses. The features of various disorders do not define anybody, and I want the world to know that. I am getting an education so I can spread this word. I am getting an education so I can help people. I am getting an education so I can save lives. I have worked vigorously, and my aspiration is to obtain my master's degree in Social Work. I am striving to become a rehabilitation counselor who helps recovering addicts. Mental illness is a rising issue in America, and many people just need a support system. With the right educational program, I can become everything that somebody may need, and that would be the most rewarding gift of all.

May 29th is the day that would change my life, marking the beginning of my mental health journey. After something as simple as a relationship that led me astray, and ultimately ended in disaster, I battled against a wave of depression. May 29th was the day I attempted to take my own life. Fortunately, I survived. Although I have mentally struggled my whole life, this was the turning point at which I decided that I needed to get my life back on track. This event eventually led me to become the person I am today. Descending from a long line of women who have fought various mental disorders and neurological disorders, it felt inevitable that I would be diagnosed with something eventually. However, it was not certain that my disorders would ravage my life. The women in my family are some of the strongest and hardest working people I know, which has also contributed to the woman I am becoming. Mental wellness is such an important concept to me, especially in our rapidly advancing society. More and more diagnostics are coming out that connect so many different things to mental illnesses, like trauma, genetics, environment, injuries, etc… Something that sharply sticks out to me, however, is the speculated link between social media use, depression, and even suicide. Honestly, it all makes sense, and I am able to connect different results to all sorts of occurrences in my life. Personally, school is a huge contributor to my mental well-being, as I struggled to find a real friend group until just this year. Mental health is such an academically challenging, yet pleasing concept. But I see deeper into it than that. I genuinely love advocating for mental health simply because I want to help those who may be stuck in the same mentality that I once was. I want to change the world and leave an impact on people, one at a time. Spending the entirety of my life in a small town in Wyoming, I experienced limited opportunities in the mental health realm. When the occasions finally began arising because of advancing technological social distribution, I jumped on them. I attended and ended up leading the Wyoming Call for Youth Mental Health Panel, which was an amazing experience. I shared my various ideas on how better support may be offered in school districts. I strongly support the idea of specified mental health resources for all students to be available. Social-emotional learning, or SEL, is another concept that I find so important, as it strengthens the self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success. Although I do advocate for mental wellness, I still sometimes find it difficult to maintain my own mental wellness. My favorite thing to do to feel better is simply to move my body. I joined my high school's cross-country team for that exact reason; if I couldn’t find the motivation to exercise, I would just have to be forced to. It always puts me in a better mood, and it helps that my team is all close. I also attend counseling sessions every week and practice different coping strategies. Therapy is such a healthy thing that I think all people should try it at least once in their lives; I could be biased, as I want to become an elementary school counselor in the future. Nonetheless, I do not apologize for my bias. Mental health is undoubtedly becoming a larger issue in our world, and it is crucial to continue spreading awareness.

May 29th is the day that would change my life, marking the beginning of my mental health journey. After something as simple as a relationship that led me astray, and ultimately ended in disaster, I battled against a wave of depression. May 29th was the day I attempted to take my own life. Fortunately, I survived. Although I have mentally struggled my whole life, this was the turning point at which I decided that I needed to get my life back on track. This event eventually led me to become the person I am today. Descending from a long line of women who have fought various mental disorders and neurological disorders, it felt inevitable that I would be diagnosed with something eventually. However, it was not certain that my disorders would ravage my life. The women in my family are some of the strongest and hardest working people I know, which has also contributed to the woman I am becoming myself. Mental wellness is such an important concept to me, especially in our rapidly advancing society. More and more diagnostics are coming out which connect so many different things to mental illnesses, like trauma, genetics, environment, injuries, etc… Something that sharply sticks out to me, however, is the speculated link between social media use, depression, and even suicide. Honestly, it all makes sense, and I am able to connect different results to all sorts of occurrences in my life. Personally, school is a huge contributor to my mental wellbeing, as I struggled to find a real friend group until just this year. Mental health is such an academically challenging, yet pleasing concept. But I see deeper into it than that. I genuinely love advocating for mental health simply because I want to help those who may be stuck in the same mentality that I once was. I want to change the world, and leave an impact on people, one at a time. Spending the entirety of my life in a small town in Wyoming, I experienced limited opportunities in the mental health wrealm. When the occasions finally began arising because of advancing technological social distribution, I jumped on them. I attended and ended up leading the Wyoming Call for Youth Mental Health Panel, which was an amazing experience. I shared my various ideas on how better support may be offered in school districts. I strongly support the idea of specified mental health resources for all students to be available. Social-Emotional Learning, or SEL, is another concept that I find so important, as it strengthens the self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success. Although I do advocate for mental wellness, I still sometimes find it difficult to maintain my own mental wellness. My favorite thing to do to feel better is simply to move my body. I joined my high school's cross country team for that exact reason; if I couldn’t find the motivation to exercise, I would just have to be forced to. It always puts me in a better mood, and it helps that my team is all close. I also attend counseling sessions every week, and practice different coping strategies. Therapy is such a healthy thing that I think all people should try at least once in their life; I could be biased, as I want to become an elementary school counselor in the future. Nonetheless, I do not apologize for my bias. Mental health is undoubtedly becoming a larger issue in our world, and it is crucial to continue spreading awareness.

May 29th is the day that would change my life, marking the beginning of my mental health journey. After something as simple as a relationship that led me astray, and ultimately ended in disaster, I battled against a wave of depression. Although I have mentally struggled my whole life, this was the turning point at which I decided that I needed to get my life back on track. This event eventually led me to become the person I am today. My name is Gracie Wolff, and I am a senior at Powell High School in Wyoming. I am drawn to running and am a part of our school's Cross Country and Track team. I love to lift weights and work out in general. I have many friends, who are all amazing and supportive. Last year I took a class all about educating children, which put me on track to get my substitute teaching license. I adore children, which is why I began pursuing my teaching career in the first place. My favorite thing to do is spend time with the people I love, whether that be taking a nap together, or going rollerskating. However, my biggest, passion is, in fact, mental health. In the future, I would love to work in a rehab facility, either for drugs and alcohol or for eating disorders and mental illnesses. I am planning on obtaining my master's degree, and ideally a Ph.D. Throughout the past 2 years, I have been dually enrolled at our local community college, Northwest College. I have been using this great opportunity to further indulge in studying psychology, completing both General and Abnormal Psychology with a high A. Currently, I am taking Drugs and Behavioral Psychology. I am a strong advocate for mental health. I attended and ended up leading the Wyoming Call for Youth Mental Health Panel, which was an amazing experience. I shared my various ideas on how better support may be offered in school districts, and why mental health is becoming so important in this age. I am a part of Big Brother Big Sister of Wyoming, which focuses on helping children struggling with social skills, education, and of course, mental health. Again, this is something I really enjoy doing and I feel like I am making a difference, even if it is just for one child. Additionally, at the moment I am job shadowing an elementary school counselor. Currently, she has me designing lesson plans for group therapy sessions, which I will lead starting in October. I have worked vigorously, and my aspiration is to attend a good school with a specified Mental Health program. With the right program, I can learn how to help people, and potentially save lives. As I previously stated, I have always struggled with my mental health, and have been interested in counseling ever since I saw my first school counselor in 5th grade. In the summer of 2020, I developed a severe eating disorder, which led to a decline in my academic and physical performance. I saw different therapists for the accompanying depression that came hand-in-hand with anorexia and bulimia. A few years later, on May 29th, 2022, I attempted to take my own life. Fortunately, I survived. Lying in the hospital bed in the early hours of the morning, I decided that I was done letting my mental illness control me. I decided that I wanted to help myself. Not only that but others who may be in the same position. I want to change the mental health world, and hopefully, one day save countless people's lives.

May 29th is the day that would change my life, and mark the beginning of my mental health journey. After something as simple as a relationship that led me astray, and ultimately ended in disaster, I battled against a wave of depression. Although I have mentally struggled my whole life, this was the turning point at which I decided that I needed to get my life back on track. This event led me to become the person I am today. My name is Gracie Wolff and I am currently a senior at Powell High School in Wyoming. I am drawn to running, as my mother has been a distance runner my entire life. I am a part of our school's Cross Country and Track team. I love to lift weights and work out in general. I have many friends, who are all amazing and supportive. I am also on track to get my substitute teaching license. My favorite thing to do is spend time with the people I love, whether that be taking a nap together, or going rollerskating. However, my biggest passion is mental health. In the future, I would love to work in a rehab facility, either for drugs and alcohol or for eating disorders and mental illnesses. I am planning on obtaining my master's degree, and ideally a Ph.D. Throughout the past 2 years, I have been dually enrolled at our local community college, Northwest College. I have been using this great opportunity to further indulge in studying psychology, completing both General and Abnormal Psychology with a high A. Currently, I am taking Drugs and Behavioral Psychology. When I first read about this scholarship, I could not believe how accurately it fit me. I am a strong advocate for mental health. I attended and ended up leading the Wyoming Call for Youth Mental Health Panel, which was an amazing experience. I shared my various ideas on how better support may be offered in school districts, and why mental health is becoming so important in this age. I am a part of Big Brother Big Sister of Wyoming, which focuses on helping children struggling with social skills, education, and of course, mental health. Again, this is something I really enjoy doing and I feel like I am making a difference, even if it is just for one child. Additionally, at the moment I am job shadowing an elementary school counselor. Currently, she has me designing lesson plans for group therapy sessions, which I will lead starting in October. I have worked vigorously, and with a little extra help money from this scholarship, I could attend a good school with a specified Mental Health program, which can help me further pursue my dream of helping others. As I previously stated, I have always struggled with my mental health, and have been interested in counseling ever since I saw my first school counselor in 5th grade. In the summer of 2020, I developed a severe eating disorder, which led to a decline in my academic and physical performance. A few years later, on May 29th, 2022, I attempted to take my own life for the first, and last time. Lying in the hospital bed, puking pills, and stomach acid in the early hours of the morning, I decided that I was done letting my mental illness control me. I decided that I wanted to help myself. Not only that, but others who may be in the same position. I want to change the mental health world, and hopefully, one day save countless people's lives.