I think the best way to live a long, healthy life includes three main values. The first value is taking care of yourself aka self-care. Practicing self-care can keep your mind and body fit. Eating healthy foods, exercising, journaling, finding a hobby you enjoy can better your life. Studies have shown that those who are happy with themselves boost their immune systems. Washing your hands, taking vitamins also are part of self-care. Preventing illness helps your body stay strong. The second value in living a long, healthy life is taking care of others. Relationships can have a positive impact on your life. Taking care of a family member can bring joy to your life, and this family member may help you one day. Having healthy relationships with friends and family also provides support in your life. I do not think anyone can travel life completely alone. They may develop issues with their mental health due to the fact that they do not have any relationships. Keeping mental health up can increase the longevity of your lifetime. The third and final value to living a long and healthy life is to have a pure and kind heart. Yes, negative thoughts creep in. You may think that a lie here and there is worth it. I think that if there is some God out there if karma exists if the Universe controls life in the slightest or even if none of those things are true, that having a good heart and being kind increases your life span. Why wouldn't a healthy good heart live longer?

Truthfully, it is harder than most people may think getting help. It is extremely difficult to get help for someone you love when they do not want it. It is difficult to get help from someone you love when you need it. There are hardships to getting help for yourself whether it's doubt or pride preventing you. Help can be the scariest thing to ask for but it can be the best thing to receive. Mental health illnesses are prevalent in my life, ranging from close friends to relatives and it is hard to admit but these challenges even arise in myself. I grew to accept mental health challenges as a norm. Many people go through these challenges in their lives and I have seen people get better and it inspired me to work a little harder on myself. I believe that mental health challenges should not be a scary topic. It should not be a topic we avoid. It should be talked about, with friends and family and if needed a licensed therapist. I found that talking out your anxieties, your doubts, your fears, and episodes of darkness help. It is not that the "solutions" given help but getting emotions off your chest, having someone to listen and support you go a long way. I believe that mental health challenges should not be stigmatized. Someone with depression or anxiety or someone facing anything else is not any less of a person. This person may need special treatment from a doctor but not from the rest of the world. They should be treated as humans. Treating someone like glass only diminishes them rather than strengthens them. You can still invite someone facing mental health challenges out, incorporate them into your clubs and group activities. They deserve love and happiness just like anyone else. I feel that in my relationships it is important to check up on my friends. You never know what someone is going through especially if they do not share. I think it is extremely important to have mental health checkups. "How are you feeling truly?" Letting my friends and family know they can talk to me even if I suspect nothing is occurring allows them to know I am someone they can talk to. A simple "I support you, you can talk to me if anything is going on" can be so impactful for someone. I cannot speak for anyone else but knowing that someone supports me always gives me a little more hope for the future. Even if I am drowning myself knowing someone is going to be there to help me swim gives me a little boost. For my career, I want to become a specialist in neuropsychopharmacology. Essentially these people work in a research lab and develop medicines for mental health disorders as well as mental health challenges. I was inspired by the world around me. I saw that people take medicines that do not help them the way they should. Medicines for mental health challenges may have strong symptoms or a mental health challenge can become more difficult once someone is no longer on prescription. I want to develop better, more efficient medicines. I want to limit these symptoms and help people heal without them having to rely on medicines forever. I am confident that in the future these medicines can reduce the suicide rate. The statistics now are scary and if I can develop medicine to even save one life I want to do it. I know that I am not the best communicator myself when it comes to mental health challenges but those that are and are getting the help they need, deserve medicines that are catered toward them. I am willing to spend hours in a lab to save just one more person.

I think the first step is to make everything a fair playing ground for women. This includes fair wages in the workforce, counterpart jobs for men that include women. We should be striving for equality and making sure our voices are heard. Letting women lead presentations in the workplace, letting young girls go out and explore their interests without confining them to stereotypical jobs for women. I think we should have more resources for young women. This includes clubs for women, safe places for women, and communities in which women can speak freely and work freely. These resources should be free and easy to find so that a woman of any background or socioeconomic status can participate. To ensure this occurs women need to vote as much as they can. Vote on national elections, local elections, and state elections putting their voices out there to be heard. In the workplace, we need to find like-minded women and band together to make a change. That is not to say that men do not have the same views in some cases but with these like-minded women we should ask for the things we want, for the respect we want. In schools and throughout the community we must be those that step up and create clubs and safe spaces. Places made for women by women will connect all kinds of women. Once the field is equal for men, women, and all kinds of women I think the necessary step is to teach women and young girls that you can climb the ranks of society, your job, or anything without stepping on someone else. Women can grow together. For example, women in the STEM fields doing some sort of research can share data and work together to solve a problem rather than competing and using harmful tactics against one another to be the first place winner. We want little girls to be confident but we do not want little girls into bullying each other to be the top dog. Teaching young girls and women to grow and work together rather than fighting can be healthy in growing relationships and better all women. Now with women being able to do anything, and women helping other women, true empowerment begins. Society must provide more opportunities to women. When these opportunities arise women should share them with friends, family members, and colleagues. Most importantly when opportunities arise, we as women should not be afraid to jump. We should put our best foot out there in hopes to get a job, a position, and a scholarship. Society comes in here. Society must support these women. Men and women alike need to support those that got the job or the scholarship. Society needs to support those who are doing research for the better. Society needs to support those women fighting for their rights, or their health. We can ensure society supports us by asking for it. I know some women have a hard time asking for help but asking for help is not a terrible thing. Asking for help is scary but that is the only way to receive help and we CAN receive help. Secondly, if needed we must show that we deserve the support. Likeminded people support likeminded people. We should put our ideas out there and gain support from anyone who wants to listen. I know there are people out there who may think we need to change men to empower women but I don't think that is the case. I think empowering women starts and ends with women.

I didn't start practicing self-care until college. Though my mom has always told me things like "wash your face, eat healthy, exercise" I thought this was her nagging rather than preparing me for the future. Sure, I should have been taking care of myself all along but it is not until you hit the bottom that you realize how important self-care truly is. So, I have started with the little things to practice better self-care. I make sure to drink water daily, and not just a sip, at least a full two bottles. Every morning I use a special soap and acne treatment to clear my skin. I try to eat vegetables or fruits in two meals of my day. Lastly, I have attempted (I have not always succeeded) but attempted to get a full eight hours of sleep. These are physical self-care treatments that I have begun to implement into my life and the transition is amazing. With my skin clearing up and my body feeling stimulated and awake throughout the day my confidence has increased. I am more productive with school work and stay on top of deadlines all because my body feels wonderful. Self-care to me also includes the mental. Two things I have implemented recently would be journaling and setting time to wind down and truly relax. Journaling has allowed me to write out and express my feelings in a way I could not before. I do not hold things in that trouble me anymore and this has freed my mind. While the dedicated relaxation time has calmed my mind. I read a novel or watch television or do anything that eases my mind. This transitions my day from a bustling hustle to a much-needed quiet period. Self-care changed my life for the better.

Friendship has many definitions for many different people. Friendship can mean "a person who is useful to me" to those that do not value their friends. Friendship can mean "a person I sit next to in class" to those who may be on the shyer end in life. Friendship can even mean "a person I talk to every day" even if the conversations are of little substance. Personally, I think friendship can be all three but with their own little twist. A friend is someone who supports you during your tough times and supports you when you are thriving. A friend can be someone useful to you but not because you need them to give you answers to the homework. A friend is useful because they help you grow and become the best version of yourself. A friend can also be someone you sit next to in class. Someone that you talk with and learn that you have the same interest or the same values. People that you share conversations with but the conversation is about your emotions, your feelings, your accomplishments, and failures. Friends have conversations that are more than "how is the weather today." It cannot be forgotten that friendship goes both ways. We must care and support our friends, be there when they need a shoulder to cry on, and be there when they want to celebrate their successes. Friendship also includes the ability to feel completely safe and true to yourself around a person. Friends should be able to showcase the full potential of their personality and not have to hide in fear of judgment. Friendship can mean many things but I will define it in one line. Friendship is two or more people who can be themselves truly with another person in all aspects.

To me, being American means the ability to choose my future and my path. Here in America, we have opportunities for higher education, trade schools, internships, and apprenticeships. There are multiple options to introduce us into a field we enjoy, we just have to go out and take those opportunities by the head. With the diversity of America, there is a choice, whether we fall to the stereotypes created in the past for our generation, ethnicity, or race, or we choose to become someone different, we choose to become our own person. Being American, choices are everything. Having freedom means that no one is forcing you to become a certain person. If you are interested in foods you can become a chef, interested in journaling, well there are multiple companies that you can set your sights on. There are hobbies that we can have on top of our careers. Every person can be different if they choose to be. We have people of all kinds in America, pursuing anything they like, from something in the STEM field to business, to political science. There is truly an interest for anyone and everyone, it just has to be sought out and fought for. In the past, it was called the "American Dream" consisting of the white picket fences, the 2.5 kids, the man that made all the money. Now the "American Dream" is different. Today, everyone can make the money, have the house they dream of. As an American girl, I do not want to fit inside a certain box. I want to explore, have my own "American Dream." I get to pursue the career I want because I chose to. I get to study in college, have my hobbies and friends because I chose to. Overall we can say this is freedom but I think choices is a better word. That is because everyone is free in America, but not everyone makes the choice to be the best person they can be. Not everyone makes the choice to be unique, to accomplish their dreams, to leave behind the stereotypes, and make a difference. To be American is having the ability to choose greatness for yourself and others.

The book that has inspired me most would definitely be East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Though being an account of Steinbeck’s family history with many biblical references there were so many life lessons embedded through the text. Themes of relieving yourself of envy and beginning to find yourself again and live again after hardship were constant in the book. This last theme inspired me the most. Adam Trask loses his wife (she does not die she runs away) and in reaction he loses himself. He is left with two young boys, twins, and a sort of maid man who gives the best advice. For a while Adam cannot be a father to the boys, and Lee the maid man raises them. After a heart to heart with Lee, Adam turns his life around. He slowly starts to teach the boys, care for them and eventually love them. He has business ideas, inventions of ice machines. He works hard for his family and even after seeing Cathy, his long lost wife again, he moves on and continues his life contently. This is so inspiring to me because Steinbeck describes a pain in Adam that not many experience in their life time, and if they do they may not recover from it. Yet, Adam came out stronger than the broken relationship. In the end if Adam can heal and push through rough times so can I, so can anyone. Adam is a prime example of perseverance, a kind hearted man who never changed his soul because of a heartbreak. Shall I be hurt in coming years, I know to strong heartedly do the best I can, and I will heal, be strong, and eventually happy, just like Adam.

This is going to sound unconventional, but keeping a growth mindset for me started with a system. My days had a few key things that were always the same so that my mind had time to wander. Those key things also saw improvement, I began to read a bit faster and for longer time without distraction, I began doing things I love without judgement or fear. Next i’m going to take up journaling, to write down my thoughts and free my mind. Growing emotionally as well as academically. I can stay on top of my work and dump out any negativity I have in the same place. Reading the journal, I’ll be able to look back on my past and reflect, learn from my bad habits, but that’s for the future. For now I take care of my body, eating right, sleeping, exercising and this in turn helps my mind stay healthy so that I am ready to learn. I let go of habits and people that are not good for me or things that are limiting my growth. I’d rather excel ahead then be held back but those who are not happy for me and my progress. I continually communicate with those that I feel can help me in my growth. For example, my mom, a lady with lots of wisdom, is someone I turn to for help. Yes, I ask for help, because growing is knowing when you’re stuck and not being too stubborn to get help to move on. So having a schedule, letting my mind explore itself, keeping myself healthy, and asking for help are all ways that I grow. What’s your way?

“I always get to where I’m going by traveling from where I’ve been” -Winnie The Pooh I know, having a Winnie the Pooh quote seems a bit childish or immature but being a little girl and hearing this, something inside clicked. I work so hard everyday, mentally and physically to get to a new destination in my path, to not give up and to continue “traveling” to where I want to be in life. This quote made me realize it is okay to be stuck or lost at some point in life but as long as I keep going and persevere then I will make it to my end goal without failure. It is a simple concept to not turn back, to move on from being the person you were, to break the cycle you were in and continue to move forward in life, yet it is not that easy. With this quote i’m reminded of where I came from, i’m reminded of my home, the times i’ve hit rock bottom, but i’m also reminded of why I wanted to leave that life behind and become greatness. Even if my end goal is not reached at the first break in my journey i’ve still learned a lot and have grown to be a different person, a sweeter, kinder, person. Someone who’s thankful for the things she has and thankful for just the opportunity to be in college. So yes, my quote came from Winnie the Pooh, a child’s favorite bear, but Winnie’s words resonate with me more now then they ever could’ve when I was a child.

I think the pandemic has in a way gave me more time to think and more time to act. Being in quarantine multiple times, learning online, and being with my family I have been given the opportunity to explore hobbies I once l loved as well as new ones. I have been able to sit and focus on my mental health and have been slowly putting myself back in the world after healing. Without the pressure of society I have been able to grow at my own pace. This has helped with college. I know the activities I enjoy and do not so I am not putting myself in harmful situations. I know tactics that can relieve stress in a healthy way. Most importantly I think I know myself better. Had I been running around in school and my normal activities I would have never had the time to explore myself or my hobbies. Thanks to the pandemic I could. I briefly mentioned spending time with my family. During the pandemic our household of three became closer. We would have game nights, nature excursions and more because we were not going out. I am thankful to be close with them.

As a young black women raised by a single mother I have just been in the presence of a another strong black woman. I look up to other black women who have made it out of the "stereotype" for us. Attending predominantly white schools, I have been looked down upon by peers as well as by teachers. In one class specifically I had to express what the term "Black Lives Matter" means to students that did not understand without creating a "fuss" or making the class "too political." This attempt to silence my voice did not work as I then made racially motivated violence the topic for my presentation. Experiences like these taught me to stand up for what I believe in. To prove my intelligence in spite of being seen as lesser. Even in sports, playing softball as a black girl seemed unheard of. I would have to prove myself as an athlete. I think growing up in this environment just taught me to appreciate the open mindedness of my family and friends. I learned to keep my mind open to change, different ethnicities, and any other diversity I may face. My work ethic has also proven to be stronger due to being looked down upon. Not only did I want to defeat any obstacle in my way but I wanted to prove that I was just as smart, just as independent and just as capable as any other person my age. Now, as a freshman in college going for biomedical sciences, I want to be another powerful black women in STEM. In my field I want to be able to work together with other black women and show that we too can produce research worth investigating. We can change the world through our medicines and our studies together. I would also like to use the money I plan to make to help out black women in need and in my free time help out those that did not have the same opportunities I had. Although I am black, I did have privilege compared to other black girls out there. Was I rich, no, but I had the privilege of attending school and learning. Lastly, I want to be a role model for younger black women. As I grow, I want to be able to attend marches and do the right thing when fighting against injustices. I want to spark a change. I want little black girls to see that they too can go into the medical field. Though the journey is harder for us, we can do it.