Seeing mental health impact society as a whole, it truly is a problem needing to be addressed. However, in a society full of greed and ignorance we tend to stray away from support and awareness. As someone who struggles with mental health myself and having very close family and friends struggle with it, mental health has changed me entirely. My own Mother for example, I see her suffer in silence. Knowing she takes prescription medication to battle the depression she has, it's very hard to watch. I always support her by being by her side, to always appear when she most needs me, but one thing that I always make sure to do is to provide words of comfort and support. By saying every time that she is a strong and beautiful person who is remarkable in every aspect she displays. True words that I speak. Genuine words that I speak because at times the words someone never says are the words someone needs. I make sure to be open. I make sure to notice. It's hard to keep stable. In such a world that has its mishaps and misfortunes, we are stranded in the abyss all alone. No one to call for, no comfort, no aid, simply no one. We suffer in silence. We keep things to ourselves because at times we feel different, at least that is what I experienced. As a Hispanic male I keep certain standards of myself. I make sure to not express emotion and I always make sure to do things on my own. In a life where I was made fun of for my learning disability, I felt alone. I was hurt beyond repair. I still think of it till this day. Knowing that I'm different. Knowing that I can't be normal. Knowing that people view me as "special." Having attention-deficit/hyperactivity-disorder I acted particularly. My actions were questioned. My behavior was weird. The way I learned was abnormal. Taking medication in between my classes. Being summoned into another classroom specifically for children who were alike as me. Peers were interested in what I was doing. I was open at first so I told them everything there was to it. Worst mistake I ever made. They treated me differently from that point forward. I was left out of groups. I wasn't heard. I was called out. I was even named "special." It resonated within me for the longest time. These actions that I experienced continued all the way through high school until I was able to put myself out of that situation. Before getting out, the only thing I did was to mask myself. I hid the qualities that made me different. Asked for stronger medication so I wouldn't receive it in between classes. Received fewer visits to the classroom I was being summoned to. I hid everything about myself and tried to act normal. Ironically, I was in the same environment with the same people who knew about me. I was stuck in that environment until I was able to walk away from it as I entered high school. Having such traumatic memories to be built from a young age I became trapped. I wasn't who I was. I continued masking myself. I was alone. Ashamed of who I was, I never spoke about it. I never sought support. I was depressed and It only grew after that. I became strict with myself to seem normal. Creating habits that were never a part of me. I always beat myself down to the ground because I try to perfect the idealism I envisioned. Never once did I reach out for support. Not until I reached my late junior year of high school when I gained a new perspective of who I was and on life. Through constant reflections and by having supportive friends in the process, I wanted to beat my depression. In that instant I knew that it was either life or death. Chasing light or continuing wallowing in the darkness I create. From that point forward I became the man I am today. Mental health influenced my beliefs, relationships, and career aspirations greatly. Going from a small fragile kid who believed that isolation and perfectionism would cure all illness of me, I now (an adult) think that speaking up is heavily considered when suffering in silence or in general. Not only speaking up but I have created multiple beliefs within the mental health topic. Beliefs that advocate for positivity and kindness to be disputed. For awareness to be alert at all times. I believe that caring is the way to provide a path of tranquility for everyone, starting with myself. I aim to reach out to everyone's cry for help even when they don't ask for it. By asking a simple question of how a person's day is or even asking them what's on their mind I am able to create an opportunity for not only me to help them but for them to have support. In my mind I always consider someone's feelings. I think of how warm and cozy their hearts can be when I'm there to help them in their times of need. I think of the impact that I can make by being in their life. This then applies to my relationships that I create. Mental health opened the idea that relationships are sacred. Relationships should be accounted for greatly as I do with anyone else. As those relationships are the most important I make sure to never skip a day to ask a loved one how their day was. Just as how I suffered in silence I applied the same standard to everyone who is my friend and family. Mental health has influenced every part of my life and continues to influence my career aspirations. Because of mental health I aspire to go into psychology so I can create impact in my community and use the knowledge of my degree to help and understand my close family/friends.

As a male in a hispanic household and community I always thought that I couldn't express any emotion. Showing any sign of emotions was viewed down upon and considered as weak to many people around me so I always made sure to mask my depression. In the struggle to hide these feelings it only engulfed me more. This mental illness affected me throughout my academics, relationships, and even beliefs. Constantly being in a state of misery I always found myself to be disappointed in the man I was. Depression changed me. I may not have experiences like others do, where one has it even more harsh than me, but I did deal with my own form of depression. I was always in a harsh community. From a young age till I got out of high school I was made fun of for my learning disability, ADHD. I felt very different in my life. I felt out of place. I wanted to be normal. I wanted to make friends. I wanted to make people happy. To create a positive environment around me. No matter how much I tried I was rejected from making a slight interaction into a group. Despite it all I still kept a positive attitude and remained the cheerful supportive person I was. I aspire for nothing more than to help people in my life. I don't know what the reason is particular for this goal but ever since from a young age I always had a passion to help. Do nothing more than to provide the well benefit of this society without a price and through moral actions I display. However, the process of this was difficult. I was always harsh on myself. Knowing that I will never appear normal to a person, I hid my disability. I criticized myself many times and always strived to improve. It took a toll on me. The pressure and anxiety I created from this was too much. Making it worse were the people I surrounded myself with. In desperation of acting normal and having friends I decided to do whatever I could to be social. To create relationships that would make me feel better. Oh how I was wrong. I fell into a bad group. A group filled with people who were rude and wrongfully influential. Not knowing what I put myself into I played along and in the long run I changed as the person I was. I became the opposite of what I wanted to be. Following the same lifestyle as everyone else I decided to be rude, immature, and influentially bad. Spreading negative actions across my community. It hit me one day though. Seeing the disapproval of who I was through my parents' faces, I wanted to change right then and there. I looked back onto my life and realized that I was depressed. I needed help. In this instance, a whole new world was created. I started to pick myself back up. Cultivated myself as a person that people needed in their lives. I pursued my education as I knew that it would be a way for me to make a difference in communities by gaining a degree in psychology. Luckily through this process I was given the blessing of creating new friends. Friends that were supportive of me and who accepted me. I was able to seek help at this point without judgment. My hurdles were teachings to me. Those teachings are then used to overcome challenges I face in life. With years of battling depression I am thankful that I never resorted to drugs.

As a person diagnosed with ADHD I always had the difficulty of succeeding in school. Always finding myself to drift apart from discussions or lectures. It was difficult staying on task knowing that it was beyond my control to focus. I desperately wanted to have a normal education. I wanted to learn because I love to obtain new information. Despite the passion I have with educating myself, I ended up bringing myself down through the learning disability I possess. Being a problem with my work it also became a problem with my mental health. At a young age I was made fun of this learning disability. Being called into the nurses office while in class to take my medication and being called to another classroom, one where they help kids just like me, it sparked the interest of my peers. they questioned me and persisted to know what it was for. Ultimately I ended up giving them what they wanted and in result I was viewed down upon. They treated me different. They perceived me as less. I would be excluded out of group assignments, activities, and even socially. At times one would even call me out for being "special." I felt very isolated in elementary school and middle school. I felt ashamed of myself. In solution to this problem I hid my disability. I built a whole persona. I asked my parents to prescribe me with whole day medication instead of entering the nurses office throughout my school days. I asked for less sessions to help me with my disability. I tried really hard to mask the person I truly am. Never did it work though. It went with me even in High School. It played a major part in the decline of my mental health. The mixture of having a learning disability and struggling with depression made my school process very difficult. No motivation, no passion, nothing was sparked inside of me. I lost all interest and I let my learning disability do its work. I was tired of the way I lived, at least that was what I used to say. Towards the middle of my high school experience I found a way to accept my disability, I realized that I was different but it made more of a reason for me to try even harder. Although having a set back in my education I also saw that I am stronger in a way. I just had to pick myself up and work hard towards my education. I finally had a purpose, a motivation that I still use till this day. Why ruin myself from something I love the most which is learning. I know who I am and I realize that I am brought with this disability because I am strong. I'm chosen to be able to withstand and pursue great lengths with it. I used these exact words to push me through not only high school but currently through my college experience. Having ADHD opened a new world, a new perspective on life. When opening it up and discovering the endless amounts of paths, I created multiple passions. More motivations cultivated. I realized that I wanted to pursue my higher education not only to prove to people that learning disabilities cannot hold you back but also because I want to reach a career in which I can help people who are in the same situation as me. I am a good candidate for this scholarship not only because of my own experience and motivation but also because I am in the same journey as Dylan.

I was always in a bad environment throughout my life. I had a loving home and I am more than grateful for what I have but when coming out of that house and into an environment different from home I experience the opposite of what I expect. I am surrounded by bad influence and wrong doing. The city I live in isn’t the brightest but I always try to make the most out of it. Knowing that my environment was different I always tried to fit in. I tried to make people happy, to always bring a bright smile on their faces, and I made sure to always give them support whenever they most needed it. I accomplished that and am continuing to do so but there were times where I would be caught in a bad group. Being in this situation I was vulnerable. The kid who was innocent and heart warming was introduced to bad actions. I ended up changing as a person through that. I became what I despised to be, a jerk. I became immature and was not the greatest person to people. I realized this change when I was at my lowest. I had ruined my education for a whole year and ruined myself as a person. In that process I never cared about my future, I changed to the people I loved the most, and my outrighteous beliefs were corrupted by evil. I fell into depression. I had ruined the lovable person I was. I was at the deepest part of my life. I experienced so much that it scarred me forever in my mind. I became frightened of who I was. I had countless and countless days where I would cry and beat myself down because I was trying to change into a better person but the memory of who I was always sat in the back of my mind. I ruined relationships. I did things I regretted. I ruined what I aspired to be in life which was to become successful. At that moment, my life changed. I realized life from a large perspective. I took in things that I never accounted for before. My battle through depression had influenced my beliefs, relationships, and career aspirations to be better than it was ever in my life. Changing my beliefs into morally justified ideas. Knowing from right to wrong I made sure that I would do nothing but be pure in my actions, thoughts, and words. I believe that by being a great person not only in life but to everyone I love and come across with, that's the true gift in life. I was also able to create stronger relationships through my family and friends. They knew who I once was and were hurt by that person but then I changed. Cultivating myself into the person they can rely on and love without regret. Ultimately I focused on those two things to fix but the one thing that was influenced entirely was my career aspiration. I was devoted to engineering. I was devoted to becoming successful and wealthy in any way. I always focused on money. Not anymore. I now want to pursue my education in psychology to help people. I want nothing more in life but to be able to have the opportunity to help communities. Currently I obtained a job by working with kids that have autism so I can create an impact in the lives of children with disabilities. My steps are small but surely I know that I will soon bring positivity to the lives of everyone.

Jack Terry's story inspires me by giving me relief and optimism toward a future of success. A sense of hope that no matter where I come from or who I am, I can be the person I admire to be, a person who works hard towards his passion and who gives back to the community just as Jack Terry did with students. With multiple setbacks and trauma, Jack Terry trudged through his journey and became someone who I aspire to be. Not many people can be as resilient in a process of hardships and adversities. This is the reason why I not only want to be like Jack Terry but also why I relate to him as I am going through this process. There have been many difficulties that shaped me into the person I am now but one that really breaks me to this day is the constant pressure I am put for having a learning disability, ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder). People make fun of me and some never take this learning disability seriously. I try to hide this “shame” by never taking medication at school or ever talking about it. It is always a dark figure in the back of my mind that I think about every day. It breaks my heart when I know that I am not like anyone. It pushes me away from succeeding in my academics and goals for the future. A weight that is unbearable to carry is on my shoulders each day. Despite this struggle, I made sure that I never let it drag me. I made sure to never get the best of me. I know I am at a disadvantage and I work even harder to show what type of person I am and what I can be. I push myself out of my comfort zone and make sure to go beyond my reach. I learned that even if I wasn't the same as anyone or if I wasn't given the opportunity everyone else had, that this adversity would not steer me into a mindset full of negativity or mishaps. I not only learned what this setback can do but realized who I stand in this world. I learned that I was never alone. Others were struggling the same as me, which is why through my intended majors I currently have an interest in, psychology attracts my eye. The power to learn the concept of the human mind will make me able to understand others. Understanding others just as I did with Jack Terry makes me feel connected. Through making connections, I can give back to society. Having someone in support of their problems will ease the pain being carried. I want to bring happiness to their hearts and their pathway into the greater good of their future. Why do I consider my learning disability an adversity I overcame in my life, you may ask? Even though I still struggle with ADHD to this day, I’ve had my downfall in life at some point because of it. Junior year of high school was a dark confusing time for me as I also struggled with depression. I took many AP courses and extracurriculars inside and outside of school as well as educational programs. I was building myself from who people perceive me to be as a student who is handicapped in their job of learning. I then realized that I was doing too much. I started to fall behind and my time management became worse than ever. Luckily, I recovered from this incident and became the optimistic person I am today.

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Im destined for Civil Engineering. An engineering discipline that conducts itself with design, construction, and maintenance of the environment. The highest peak if interest was caught from this major. It not only caught the interest but was suitable in the subjects that I most excel in. Overworking myself, bad influence, and the lack of support caused my downhill of junior year in highschool. Filling my schedule with sports to improve and improve at what I love most in and what keeps my mental health stable was the only thing in mind. Along with a packed schedule came with little time for homework, especially my AP classes. 9pm became a regular time to arrive home. The weight of exhaustion became a real problem. I only had about two hours to complete any homework. Two hours wasn't enough when I am a perfectionist with my work. Hygiene disrupted this routine if doing homework as it is mandatory to me and for everyone. The amount of sleepless nights I would have was harsh and for what, to have my homework done half-ways by the time on Thursday? Pack-stile of work is on my shoulders as I tried my hardest to complete it until Thursday came. On Thursdays I had to work a graveyard shift for my dad as he had undergone surgery which meant me assisting him in whatever I can on that specific day. By the time I came into school on Fridays I would have gotten 3 hours of sleep or even a lot less. It was shown that my time management was the worst. Along with that stress came the bad influence from friends. My friend group became my way of coping by having fun and not giving much thought of my actions. I was always pressured to do what I knew was bad for me. I had no support when it came to school and had to find my ways of succeeding as I was viewed as the last hope in the family to succeed. The weight that carried for this status was unbearable. I took as many AP classes as possible even if I have a disability(ADHD) in my way, and it was all for the expectations of my family. I was depressed. I had no idea what I was doing. I was playing a role of what people wanted me to play and not for what my passion is. Took me an entire year to find myself. Although my academics declined by a great number I soon realized what I had done wrong. I looked back on myself and my mistakes to alter them for the better. I stopped hanging out with those friends and stopped listening to any bad influence and put myself in a 6 week summer program called upward bound and was in a strict rule system where I was pressured into doing my work on time with good work showing from it. I loved this program as I got to learn and overcome what was so difficult for me to overcome. Instead of having many missing assignments I started turning them in on time and putting my best effort as well as studying for what will benefit me not during that time but for the rest of my life. In the end I got back into track of the straight A student I was and got an award in physics of the hard work and dedication I put. And i used that very example from that program and used it onto my school year and the rest that follow even if its small.