From the very beginning, I have wanted to use my college education to help people from my community who may not have access to mental health resources. I chose to study Psychology because I believe that this newer generation of students will be the one to reshape how the world views mental health. Growing up I heard many adults talk about mental health and mental illness as if it's taboo or something to be ashamed of, I even believed it for a while. But I've come to realize that everybody's experiences are different. And mental health is something that everyone has to deal with. Coming from a single-parent, low-income family has affected my mental health in more ways than one. When my family lost my father, we had no idea what to do. I know so many other families feel the same. If my family had better access to mental health resources and went to grief counseling, we would have benefited from it a lot. Speaking up about mental health and helping people see that it is not something to be ashamed of has been something I've been doing for years, which I am very proud of. I hope to give back to my community and families similar to mine.

My name is Jessi, Im a high school senior with dreams of changing the world. Very ambitious I know, allow me to explain. My goal is to help make mental health resources easier to access for low-income families or simply for people who don't know where to start. I also want to break the stigma surrounding mental health because it is not a taboo topic and should not be treated as something to be ashamed of. My journey with mental health started ten years ago when I was eight years old when my father passed away very abruptly. My family took the loss very hard and our lives changed forever. I don't know how my eight-year-old self would have grieved if it wasn't for the very sweet psychiatrist I was assigned to. She helped me stay out of the dark place my mind would have gone to if it wasn't for her. Now ten years later I've found what I want to pursue in life. I want to help families and kids who have gone through or are currently going through situations much like mine. I don't want children to have to grieve alone and in silence just because they are unable to access mental health resources. This scholarship will help me pay for my University expenses. Growing up in a single-parent household has made it difficult for us to afford many things since most of my family's income came directly from my mother. My two older brothers did not have the opportunity to pursue further education due to the cost of tuition and such. But as the youngest child, my family has been such a motivation for me in pursuing a career in something that I am passionate about, and that thing happens to be psychology. My educational goals are to become a psychiatrist. To return to my current high school as an on-site therapist, or maybe even join the school staff as an educator. Because I believe that educating young people about mental health and teaching them that it is okay to reach out for help will help change so many lives. I am so excited to start university, I sincerely believe that my generation will be the change that this world needs. My generation is already incredibly open and accepting when it comes to talking about mental health, and we will be the ones to change the world's views on this topic.

Mental illness has been a very big issue in my life for a while now. Worsened by the unfortunate year of 2020, I realized that there are so many people affected by mental illnesses who don't have access to the mental health resources that help. I suffer from some form of mental disorder called facial dysmorphia. Meaning it is incredibly difficult to look at my face, that is the easiest way to explain it. Looking in the mirror brings very heavy feelings of anxiety and sadness, and the thought of having to be perceived by other people doesn't make it any easier. This caused me to be afraid of being around large numbers of people and afraid of leaving the house which you can only imagine made it worse. In an attempt at making it a bit more tolerable for me to go outside and be around others, I have to wear a privacy mask to cover the lower half of my face. Looking back there have been several indicators from the past few years that may have led to the facial dysmorphia that I ignored. Since the seventh grade, I had found myself looking for reasons and excuses to have my face covered up. The use of camera filters on social media apps like Instagram also played a part in my warped perception of my face. I could go more into detail about my issue with Instagram filters but that is a topic that deserves its own lengthy article. My goal is to make mental health resources easier to access for those who need them. I know my journey with mental illness would have been a whole lot easier if I had the chance to reach out for help. I know so many people who know that they have mental illnesses and want help, but are unable to reach out for help for several reasons. They may be discouraged by their families for admitting that they are mentally ill (which is much more common than you'd think), and others may not be able to have mental health resources covered by their insurance provider. Many don't even know where to start when it comes to reaching out for help. Giving people resources for mental health care will make so many people's lives more tolerable to live. Growing up seeing the effects of mental illnesses go untreated, I know how many people's lives would change if they were given the chance to reach out for help. I want to be the one to make that change, I want to make mental health resources more accessible because I believe that mental health is health care.

How do you miss someone you can't remember? My father's passing happened so abruptly that nobody knew what to do or how to grieve. He passed away ten years ago when I was only eight years old. I don't know if it's a trauma response or not, but I can't even remember his face or his voice. Not remembering the face of your late family member hits you hard when you grow up hearing that you look exactly like them. His passing was very sudden, I remember hearing the news from the doctor and turning to look at the faces of my mother and two older brothers. Their faces looked like their whole world came crashing down, and that was when I realized the direction of our lives took a turn. My eight-year-old brain couldn't figure out if it was for the worst or not. That loss caused me to realize two things. 1: bad things happen in this world, and you can't control them. 2: What you can control is how you decide to live your life moving forward. I came to realize that I wanted to be there for people going through similar situations. It only took me a while to realize it. If the three of us had gone to a grief counselor we would have been doing so much better. I want to fight for easier access to mental health resources for families much like mine.

Mental health in media is stigmatized. Despite how open and accepting you may think the world is in today's day and age, people are still being looked down on for talking about their mental health struggles. Mental health issues aren't just feeling sad and wearing black clothes all the time. Mental health issues are different for every person. Some may be so unable to take care of themselves that they can't shower or brush their teeth. Others may not clean their homes for some time. This is the part of mental health issues that isn't pretty and is still very looked down upon by society. My experience with mental health has been a rocky one. I've lost friends, ruined relationships, fought with my family, and inevitably hated myself for all of it. My mental health for a long time had been on the back burner of my life. I tried ignoring that there was a problem in that area of my life. But recently after speaking to people about it and reaching out for help I've begun to prioritize my mental health over everything. After realizing that my mental health is nothing to be ashamed of for talking about I began to strive to do more. When my mental health was not so great I kept telling myself that I didn't know what I saw myself doing in the next five years. I had no future goals set for myself and thought I'd just end up wherever I end up. But now I know what I want to do and my future feels bright for once. My understanding of the world is this: People aren't always going to be nice, and ignoring that there is a stigma surrounding the topic of mental health is just adding more fuel to the flame and will make the problem worse. There will be people out there that still won't fully understand and they'll try to put you down for being open about your mental health. But you must remind yourself that your experience is not going to be like everyone else's experience. Everyone's journey with mental health will be unique to each person, and that is completely okay. It is not weak to reach out for help and you are strong for talking about it.

I used to be afraid of my queerness, and I used to hate the fact that I was different. I used to live my life in fear of what I was, but I'm done being afraid. My name is Jessi and I am so incredibly proud to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community. I feel like I should be a recipient of this generous scholarship because I believe the younger generation of queer and Hispanic students will bring the change we need in this world. Growing up in a predominantly Hispanic and black community, my motivation to seek higher education stems from my personal experiences and the hardships my family had to go through to get to this point. Ten years ago I lost my father when I was eight. So my mom and two older brothers had to raise me. My mother who is an immigrant from Mexico worked so hard to take care of the three of us. I took the loss of my father pretty hard and went mute for an entire year. I was assigned a very sweet psychiatrist who helped me learn how to grieve properly, I want to do the same for other children going through similar situations. I want to give back to my community, while also fighting for more LGBTQ+ and Hispanic representation in the world. I am excited to say that I am proudly a Latinx nonbinary lesbian. My proudest accomplishment was coming to terms with my true identity. I am not yet out to my family, but I'm sure my brothers are starting to catch on(haha). My family, specifically my oldest brother, is the most important thing to me. He has openly expressed that he would support me no matter what I identify as, I just don't think that I am quite ready to tell him just yet. Some of my personal goals are to write and illustrate my webcomic series in my free time, the current story I have been creating has been stuck in the writing stages for a while but I'm excited to get it up and running very soon! My professional goals consist of helping children in unfortunate situations much like I was, and helping those in the LGBTQ+ community access the mental health resources that they need. I wish to one day come back to my high school as a school counselor or school psychiatrist, or maybe even join the educator staff. The younger generation of queer students will be the driving force of change in this world. I will be more than proud to be a part of this community fighting for change and representation. What distinguishes me from other applicants is my motivation. My goals. I am so ready to change the world and help those who are both like me and not like me. Queer and Hispanic students have the power to create a brighter future for the LGBTQ+ community. I hope you give me the honor and opportunity to do so.