My name is Jennifer Cardenas, and I am a grateful recovering alcoholic. I want to use my education as a mental health professional and substance abuse counselor to help people who suffer from substance abuse and their families learn to live reasonably happy and healthy lives. I can personally attest to the numerous adverse effects that having a substance abuse problem or having family members who suffer from substance use disorders can have on one's objectives, hopes, and dreams. I can also attest that leading a healthy lifestyle and undergoing recovery can completely transform a person's life, enabling them to accomplish anything they want. My childhood trauma left me with dysfunctional coping mechanisms that followed me into adulthood, including masking my emotions, misbehaving, skipping school, and experimenting with drugs and alcohol. Before I knew it, I was a full-blown alcoholic who was unable to connect with anyone, including myself, emotionally. Mental health issues and addiction run in my family. During my active addiction, I was quiet, reserved, aloof, emotionless, and withdrawn; I believed I didn't have the right communication skills when I wasn't drinking. But after a few drinks, I felt like the life of the party; my confidence grew, and all of my pain seemed to go away, which was a complete delusion. Getting sober was a matter of life or death for me, and I realized that I needed help, had to change my life, and could not get sober on my own. In March 2021, I enrolled in a thirty-two-day rehabilitation in-patient program. While in the program, I received a clinical diagnosis of depression, anxiety, complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD), and substance use disorder, which is known as a dual diagnosis. A Dual Diagnosis occurs when a person has both mental health issues and substance abuse problems; the two frequently overlap, making it challenging to diagnose and treat, let alone try to distinguish which symptom is related to which issue. With a diagnosis and the proper support, I began to face my traumatic past and address years of substance abuse. After a rigorous process of medically assisted detoxification, I was finally ready to begin the process of learning the necessary coping skills, start intensive therapy, and begin the healing process. During my stay at the facility, I also discovered that many people suffer from dual diagnosis and trauma, and for the first time in my life, I did not feel alone. I knew then that I had finally found my true calling and started the process of enrolling in the psychology program at Southern New Hampshire University. To combat the lasting effects of substance abuse and addiction in my community, I plan to use the education I'm receiving at Southern New Hampshire University to become a respectable and well-educated professional in the field of psychology specializing in Dual Diagnosis. I want to help those suffering like I did find the beacon in the night so they can overcome the residual effects that years of substance abuse and trauma leave behind. My main focus will be patient care and creating safe spaces where people with an addiction can openly discuss their issues, learn valuable coping skills, and find the right recovery path to grow and heal. I appreciate your time and consideration for the Alexander Hipple Recovery Scholarship and for giving me a platform to tell my story.

As someone who has experienced childhood abuse and domestic violence, I can attest to the numerous ramifications of early childhood development trauma. My name is Jennifer Cardenas, and I hope to use my education as a mental health specialist, child abuse advocate, and substance abuse counselor to assist abused minority children, youth, and families in my community. Early childhood trauma can have a lifelong impact on an individual, causing anxiety, depression, Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD), suicidal ideology, and distorted coping mechanisms in children and adolescents. My biological father was a drug addict who also had untreated mental health disorders, personality disorders, intense rage, and uncontrollable anger issues. I witnessed and suffered from physical, emotional, sexual, and mental abuse at the hands of my father from the time I was born until my mother, brother, and I were able to escape. Things would be thrown at us; drugs would be openly consumed and displayed, and there would be screaming, fighting, inappropriate touching, and physical abuse coupled with threats of death, all at any given time in my home. As I grew older and started visiting relatives' and friends' homes, I realized that my home environment was not "normal." It was pretty hostile. As a defense mechanism, I learned to lie, cover up my bruises and pain, and manipulate to avoid "outing" my father and putting my family in greater danger. Furthermore, to avoid drawing attention to myself, I also began to withdraw, which halted the organic process of forming friendships, healthy connections, and meaningful relationships. I discovered early on that I had to be vigilant about people because I could not trust them, as I did not know the difference between happiness and sadness or hate and love. I was quiet, reserved, unemotional, and distant and lacked the necessary skills to express myself appropriately. I eventually started "stuffing" my emotions, misbehaving, skipping school, drinking, and experimenting with drugs and adult relations by the age of twelve. The dysfunctional coping mechanisms I developed to numb my pain haunted me well into adulthood, and I eventually became an alcoholic who was unable to connect with anyone, especially myself, on an emotional level. In March of 2021, I realized there was something drastically wrong inside and decided to enroll in a mental health rehabilitation in-patient program for thirty-two days. While in the program, I learned about C-PSTD, addiction, and Dual Diagnosis and acquired the proper coping skills to begin healing myself from my traumatic past. During my stay at the facility, I discovered that many people suffer from dual diagnosis and trauma, and for the first time in my life, I did not feel alone. I knew then that I had finally found my true calling and started the process of enrolling in the psychology program at Southern New Hampshire University. To combat the lasting effects of domestic abuse and violence, I plan to use the education I'm receiving at Southern New Hampshire University to become a respectable and well-educated professional in the field of psychology who specializes in childhood trauma and addiction. I want to help those suffering like I did find the beacon in the night so they can overcome the residual effects that domestic violence and childhood abuse leave behind. For those children and families to lead reasonably healthy and happy lives, my main focus will be patient care and creating safe spaces where victims and survivors can learn, grow, and heal. I appreciate your time and consideration for the Early Childhood Developmental Trauma Legacy Scholarship and for giving me a platform to tell my story.

My name is Jennifer Cardenas, and I am of Cuban descent. I am an advocate and lover of all animals and a professional vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. My career aspiration is to work with minorities in my community as a dual diagnosis mental health specialist and substance abuse counselor. As a sophomore at Southern New Hampshire University, I am earning a bachelor's degree in psychology with a concentration in addiction. Some of my academic achievements include maintaining a 4.0-grade point average, being named to the President's list three times, becoming a member of the Student Engagement Council, earning the honor roll seven times, and being a member of the National Society for Leadership and Success, of which only eight percent of students nationwide receive the honor. Reflecting on my life's journey, I have realized that I have spent most of my life since graduating high school in 1995 in one profession and neglected to pursue any interests outside of entertainment and music. Most of my friends and family benefited immensely from earning a degree, and it made me ask myself, why not me? While my career as an entertainer has led me down many beautiful roads and brought me much success, I felt I was ready to embrace new challenges. Owning my business and being self-motivated for over twenty-five years taught me the importance of continually pushing out of my comfort zone. I recognized that I had to make profound changes to accomplish my new goal of earning a degree. So, in October of 2018, I decided to leave the music business and accept a position with Amazon as a work-from-home full-time employee, as their wages, benefits package, and career advancement programs could take me closer to my goal of earning a bachelor's degree and securing a stable financial future for my family and me. In March of 2021, I took advantage of Amazon's health benefits and enrolled in a mental health and wellness rehabilitation in-patient program. While in the program, I learned the skills necessary to adjust to life outside the entertainment world and became a stronger and more polished version of myself. During my stay at the facility, I discovered that many people suffer from mental health issues coupled with addiction, which is called a dual diagnosis. The experience I had interacting with the patients forever changed my perspective on addiction and opened my eyes to the challenges that so many people face. At that moment, I realized I had finally found my true calling. I contacted Amazon Career Services to request information on pursuing a degree in psychology with a concentration in addiction. The education I am receiving at Southern New Hampshire University will enable me to become a respectable and well-educated professional in psychology. The skills acquired will teach me how to focus on patient care and provide safe spaces for minority youth and families to learn and heal from trauma and how to teach my patients and their families how to live reasonably healthy lives in recovery. Currently, to give back to my community, I use my expertise in aggressive animal behavior to volunteer at the local Humane Society. Volunteering has allowed me to facilitate behavioral support services for abused and neglected canines and their new owners. I teach essential skills to help adopting families successfully transition their pets from shelter to home life, reducing the rate of returned animals back to the shelter. Thank you for your time and consideration in helping me complete my degree; it would be an honor to be considered for and awarded the Debra S. Jackson New Horizon Scholarship.