Growing up to me felt like constant trial and error. After being diagnosed with bipolar, depression, anxiety, and ADHD, I was on and off many different types of medications. I only went to counseling for about 3 years, but during that time, I realized that medication is not the only key to coping with mental health and behavioral disorders. The most important thing when dealing with these types of things is therapy. During the rise of the pandemic in 2020, I lost my very best friend to suicide. Since then, I have realized that mental health issues are so much worse than I had previously imagined. I started researching counselors and therapists; after a couple months of trying to find the perfect therapist for myself, I had completely given up hope for any perfect person to help "fix" me. This event made me realize that there is no perfect fit for anyone. There is no "fixing" anyone. There was nothing wrong with me. I had my mind set at that point. I wanted to try and be the perfect fit for people struggling with their mental health or just issues going on in their lives. As I stated before, I never had the perfect person to help me learn how to deal with and cope with my mental struggles. I asked my friends why they think I'd be a good fit to be a counselor. Here are their responses: "You're a really good listener and you give me the best advice for anything I'm dealing with," "you've been through so many things that teenagers normally shouldn't have to go through."

Growing up having multiple behavioral disorders, on and off many different medications, and having absolutely no one to talk with can be imaginably difficult. I would absolutely love to become a psychiatrist for children and teens. I am so passionate about mental health disorders and mental health in general. I would like to be the person who can guide somebody into the right path, learn how to cope with multiple different types of situations and issues going on in their lives. I have learned throughout my years without having someone to talk to, that it can be incredibly difficult harnessing all of your emotions inside of you. I know from experience that holding in too many emotions at one time, can cause a person to eventually "explode," or go into an intense depressive episode. I feel that everyone, at some point in their lives, need a person to put their trust in and talk about personal issues or feelings going on in their lives. I would like to be that person for some people.

Growing up on many different medications, being stressed out, and having absolutely no one to talk to was imaginably difficult. Throughout my life, I have been diagnosed with multiple mood and behavioral disorders. In just the 1st grade, my dad had passed away due to diabetes. His kidneys had failed in his sleep. He didn't take his insulin shots properly. His death caused my family and I much distress. After he passed away, my mother put my sister (3 years old) and I (7 years old) into play therapy. For me, play therapy helped me cope and come to terms with his death. I saw that counselor for about 2 years before she moved away. That event in itself has led me to realize that medication and therapy are beneficial to all aspects of mental health. I truly believe that the most practical solution is talk therapy and medications put together, not one or the other. I am very passionate about being a counselor because I would like to be the person to listen, give advice, and help people learn to cope with issues or situations going on in their lives. I would like to be a pediatric psychiatrist because I would not only be able to be a shoulder to lean on, but I would also be able to prescribe medications to help treat and stabilize any mood or behavioral disorders. I am seeking higher education to be able to earn a degree in order to become this person that many people around the world needs.

Did you know that 4.5 million children aged from three to seventeen years old have a diagnosed behavioral disorder, 4.4 million children within the same age range have a diagnosed anxiety disorder, and approximately 1.9 million children have a diagnosed depressive disorder? Now, you may be saying, "that's a lot of numbers," or "those numbers are really high." Truth is, those numbers are way higher than they should be. With research, I have learned that between 2017 and 2018, there was an increase of 1.5 million adults who were diagnosed mental illnesses. Rates of depression have increased by approximately 54% throughout 2005 and 2017. I have also found that 51.5 million adults in the U.S. alone have been diagnosed with a mood disorder, but only about 19.2% of that 51.5 million received any form of mental health treatment. That means only 9.8 million people have gotten treatment. Growing up, I was constantly being diagnosed with different behavioral disorders. In Pre-K, I was diagnosed with ADHD, now known as ADD. When I was in first grade, my dad passed away. This had a really big impact on my entire family, including myself. My mom had my sister and I going to a counselor every week or so when I was just seven years old. I became very close with this counselor and although it was supposed to be play therapy, I told her almost everything. After about a year of seeing her, she moved away. I became very upset. My mom says that she believes that caused some of my trust issues. I was then diagnosed with a depressive disorder. In just 6th grade, I was diagnosed with Bipolar type 2 and an anxiety disorder. I have been on and off medications my entire life. I have also been through many counselors. I honestly feel I should be awarded this scholarship because I am very passionate about what I want to do. I would love to be a pediatric psychologist. Let's be honest with ourselves, people need help and treatments now more than ever. I would absolutely love to be the person that I never really had as a kid. I am very passionate about being there for children and teens to trust, be open with, and being able to help people in ways they might not be able to get in their day-to-day life. Growing up, my family has never had a lot of money. In fact, my family is very low on money right now, therefore my parents have told me many times that I will have to pay for my own college. Me, a 16 year old working at a fast food restaurant, will have to save up enough money to get an education. That is the reason I am applying for this scholarship and many more. I would be very grateful if I was awarded this scholarship, because I will accept as much help as I can get.

Growing up with several mental illnesses has indeed been hard. Just after Pre-K, I was diagnosed with ADHD. I have since been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and bipolar type one. I have been on and off of several medications throughout my life. As a teenager, I tend to express my feelings creatively throughout many forms of art, including, but not not limited to: painting, sketching, and writing poetry. My life has been filled with many ups & downs, but I'm not going to bore you with all of the details. Over these past couple of years, I have had my mind set on being a psychologist for children and teens. I would really enjoy being the person that people can talk to and trust. Growing up I didn't exactly have someone to lean on and talk about life to. When I was in about 1st to second grade, I had this one counselor, her name was Ms. Mindy. She was very trusting to me and she was definitely someone I could pour my heart and soul out to. She moved to Florida about a year or two into seeing her. Until about two weeks ago, I haven't looked for another counselor since. One of the main reasons I decided to look into counseling and therapy was because I felt that I need to start getting my life together. Recently I've started making some bad decisions. Not like illegal bad, but more of a "That was stupid. Why would you do that?" type of bad. Things such as: not keeping my room clean enough to my parents' standards, eating in my bedroom, spray-painting the walls of my bedroom, buying myself a new desk although I already have one. I think my parents view it as more of a common sense situation, but truth be told, I've been letting myself go these past few months. On August 15th, 2020, my best friend killed herself and I honestly stopped caring about the world. One of the only things keeping me going is the fact that I know that's what she would've wanted. She always told me that she wants be to be someone for the world, so that's what I'm doing.