It seemed like suddenly, my parents got a divorce. I was only three and was not old enough to process what was going on, but I do remember a lot of changes. My mom got remarried, my dad had a girlfriend, we would visit his new house every now and then, and my family was not a family anymore. That is how I felt then. I have grown from this and now have a much healthier perspective on this time of my life. It took me a while to adjust to all this change, but I do remember immersing myself in books. This immersion shaped a path for me that now has moved into my adulthood. When I was younger, the books were all about prehistoric life. I moved on to aquatic life, terrestrial life, everything living, I would study. Then I started watching countless documentaries and loved to learn. My mom would take my brothers and me to aquariums, animal sanctuaries, wildlife museums, and zoos all over the country. I eventually applied for a volunteer internship program at Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium. I had to interview for the position and there were many candidates that applied. I was offered the position and it was an awesome experience. I spent my high school career sharing the knowledge I had with guests and continuing to learn. This experience confirmed my desire to pursue a career in marine biology or zoology. All these things, whether good or bad, show that history is vital for shaping who a person is. I’m grateful for my history.

I love to read quotes, especially this one. It is common sense but put in such a way that makes this quote fascinating. The correlation between the body and the mind. We have known it, but do we all practice in ways that help our body and ultimately our mind? I started realizing that in order to feel better about myself and about life that I had to do something about it. For a couple of years, my home was chaotic and my family was dealing with my younger brother that had mental issues and drug use problems. This put us all in a state of chaos and depression. We each handled it differently, with me hiding out in my room. I eventually started trying to snap out of it and started working out in my room. Then I started going outside and exercising and after a short time, I could tell my mind was more clear and it made me want to engage more in activities. I then joined a martial arts class that I attended two to three times a week. This taught me discipline, focus, made me stronger physically and mentally. All of this helped my mind and helped me deal with our situation at home better. My younger brother is doing well at this point. We are grateful for that. But one of the many things this experience taught me was what the quote states, "To keep the body in good health is a duty, otherwise, we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear." I have continued to stay healthy with exercise, eating nutritious foods, and at times meditating because I know from experience this is all related. I believe these habits I have developed with be beneficial in college too.

One of the things I would like to change in my community and beyond is the access kids my age and much younger have to various drugs and harmful products. These substances have clearly been shown to inflict damaging long-lasting effects on the younger generation. I, unfortunately, have seen this firsthand with my younger brother. The accessibility and addiction potential have allowed many kids to fall victim to this mental and physical destruction of their lives. It has been horrible to watch in my community and in my home. While it can’t be stopped fully no matter the law enforcement, I would enforce more regulations of these products. I would have assemblies in the schools and guest speakers to talk about what drugs can do to your life. Guest speakers like my brother from one side and me from the family side. I feel like just doing these two things could make a difference. Drugs don’t discriminate. We live with my mom in a decent neighborhood, and we were a normal family. It can happen to anyone. I want people in my community to be healthy and content. The drug use that is prevalent within numerous other communities, including mine, is slowly taking away people that could otherwise have better lives. I want to help them as much as possible with regulations so as few people as possible must deal with this. Not just for themselves, but for their families also.

I plan to pursue my interests in the environment by going to college and majoring in biology, specifically marine biology. During my high school career, I was a year-round volunteer at the North Carolina Aquarium for three years. I helped to educate people on the various animals that live on our coasts. I loved marine biology before I had this opportunity, and this internship solidified my passion forever. Some of my responsibilities during my internship were overseeing two touch tanks that enclosed the two fascinating groups of animals. The first was the invertebrates such as the starfish, horseshoe crabs, and whelks and the second were the stingrays. During my time there I also learned of other programs at the aquarium that helped sea turtles and other beach and ocean-related issues. I recently applied for a summer intern position with Hutton Fisheries Biology Program. This program is geared towards stimulating interest in careers in fisheries science, aquatics, and environmental science. I am excited about learning what types of careers are available and the ones I might want to pursue. I believe this hands-on experience will be awesome. Who knows what doors this could open for me in the future? For my personal goals, I am really looking forward to making friendships while at college with like-minded people. I hope that these friendships will last beyond college. I am also looking forward to relationships with my professors and mentors that I might be fortunate enough to have. I am looking forward to all the aspects of the future, academics, career, and personal. Thank you for the opportunity to apply for this scholarship.

When I was younger, I was passionate about prehistoric life. That love moved on to aquatic life, terrestrial life, everything living, I would study. I watched countless documentaries and read book after book trying to soak up any knowledge I could. I loved learning, so I guess learning could be considered a passion of mine too. My mom would take my brothers and me to aquariums, animal sanctuaries, wildlife museums, and zoos wherever she could. I eventually applied for a volunteer internship program at Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium in North Carolina. I had to interview for the position and there were many candidates that applied. I was offered the position and it was an awesome experience! I spent my high school career sharing the knowledge I had with guests and continuing to learn. This experience confirmed my desire to pursue a career in marine biology or zoology. I also learned about the need for research and programs to help endangered species like our sea turtles. I am interested in engaging in some form of research from the very beginning of my college career so that I may be a part of bringing change to our marine life and helping in any way I can. Thank you for the opportunity to apply for this scholarship.

I plan to pursue my interests in the environment by going to college and majoring in biology, specifically marine biology. During my high school career, I was a year-round volunteer at the North Carolina Aquarium for three years. I helped to educate people on the various animals that live on our coasts. I loved marine biology before I had this opportunity, and this internship solidified my passion forever. Some of my responsibilities during my internship were overseeing two touch tanks that enclosed the two fascinating groups of animals. The first was the invertebrates such as the starfish, horseshoe crabs, and whelks and the second were the stingrays. During my time there I also learned of other programs at the aquarium that helped sea turtles and other beach and ocean-related issues. I recently applied for a summer intern position with Hutton Fisheries Biology Program. This program is geared towards stimulating interest in careers in fisheries science, aquatics, and environmental science. I am excited about learning what types of careers are available and the ones I might want to pursue. I believe this hands-on experience will be awesome. Who knows what doors this could open for me in the future? But I definitely dream of a career in marine biology. It has been my dream since I was very young.

Hardships and strife the past couple of years caused me to lock up my passions and my bedroom door to escape what was going on outside. It was the summer of 2019, we moved to a new school and a new town. I was going into the 10th grade. I have a twin brother and a younger brother that was going into the 9th grade. My younger brother immediately became involved with the wrong people and it led him down a very dark path with drugs, violence, and him trying to take his own life. This has lasted for over two years. He is currently in a treatment program. One day we were all close and the next day I was hiding in my room. But even the shut door could not stop the noises or the pain of knowing what my mother was having to deal with and knowing that my little brother’s innocence was gone. So what good has come from this? To escape from my room, I did two things that will stand out as life-changing experiences. I began to participate in martial arts training and applied to be a volunteer intern at the NC Aquarium. Through martial arts training and my time at the aquarium, I have had tremendous personal growth, gained confidence, learned how to interact with people, set goals for myself, learned self-discipline and the value of hard work. I want to continue to better myself and am constantly looking for ways to do this. I have learned early that life can be tough. But I have also learned that I am strong, my family is strong and God is greater than any problem I have. I have also learned the horrors of what drugs can do to a life.

I have a few things that inspire me to keep going. Faith and God. I would also want to add my mother too. Whenever I am doubting myself I can look around my room. I have several inspirational quotes on the wall. Another thing I do is pray. I typically pray at night before I go to sleep. But there have been times in the past two to three years that I have prayed several times during the day. We have had a family situation with my younger brother and he has needed a lot of guidance and a lot of prayers. Guess what? He has been doing amazing for the past four months. I know four months does not sound like a long time. But you have to have four before you can have five and so on. My mom is a big inspiration to me. She gives so much to me and my brothers and no matter what is going on, she takes the time to listen to us and to guide us. She has never given up even for a second on my younger brother who has required a lot of care. Watching her and how she handles life has definitely helped fuel me for my life. Thank you for the opportunity to answer this prompt.

First of all, I love quotes. So I am happy to be able to answer this question with this prompt. Every interaction you have with someone matters. If you have this mindset, you will support others and you never know when your kindness can make a huge difference in someone's life. I have had a personal experience within my family that I have seen this work. My younger brother has struggled with mental illness and drug use for over two years. I have seen times when he has been depressed and I will say to him that I believe in him or do not give up on yourself. I can see his entire demeanor change in a positive way. Now, this does not always happen, but if it happened even once, then I am glad I did it. My mom and grandmother have always taught us to hold the door for other people or if you see someone struggling with something, offer to help. I try to do this all the time. I am especially aware of the elderly. They may not have anyone to go home to or they may struggle just to get groceries. Situations that a lot of people take for granted. Offer to help or say hello. Doing these things may make an impression on someone that observes this encouragement or act of kindness and who knows, maybe they will follow my lead. Of course, if someone comes to you in need, take the time to listen. You could literally make a difference in a person's life.

My bucket lists consist of a diverse couple of items. The first is going to Africa. Ever since I was young I have dreamed of going to Africa and going on a safari. I love animals and my plan is to major in biology and pursue either marine biology or a zoology degree. I love to observe animals in nature, even small insects. So to travel to Africa and observe a zebra or elephant in its natural habitat would be amazing! I applied for a volunteer internship at the North Carolina Aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores for the summer before my freshman year. It was a competitive position and they chose me. Then I applied for the year-round volunteer program they had and I was chosen again. This was a great experience and further increased my love for marine life. The next item on my bucket list is to create a game for my YouTube channel that is a hit! I created a character and an interactive game this summer and from June to August, my subscribers went up to over 23,000. When school started back in August, I put my channel on the back burner to focus on school. I am hoping to be able to take some courses in college and learn more about coding and game design. It is very relaxing to me to create and design, but also very rewarding to see that people like what I am creating. I create my characters, draw the scenes and create the music to go along with the scenes. I am proud of this accomplishment.

I would say the study strategy that works best for me is to get up early and get to work. I am very regimented and I like to follow a schedule. So on most school days, I am up, I do not skip breakfast and then I am off to school. When I get home in the afternoons, I like to go ahead and get my work done. This way after my work is done, I can go on a bike ride or go for a walk. This gives me something to look forward to. I also work out at night after I eat dinner. If I get off my routine I can tell it impacts how I feel mentally. It is interesting to me because I have a twin brother and is the opposite of me with his study strategies. He likes to come home, have a snack and he does not start his work until later. For me, knowing that I have school work to do would somewhat prohibit me from enjoying my day.

Over the past two and half years, I have had to persevere through a very difficult situation in my family. After moving to a new town and a new school, my brother started hanging out with the wrong crowd of people. He had started dealing with some depression issues that came about from my parent's divorce. But the combination of that and the new group sent my family down a long horrible road of depression, violence, drugs, and attempted suicide. Our home was not the safe, calm place I once knew. My mom did everything she could to try to find my brother's help. There were glimpses of how my brother used to be at times. He would cry, tell us he was sorry for an outburst or a hole in the wall or a dent in the dishwasher. We would try to take these times and move forward. But drugs do horrible things to people and with his depression, he felt the only way to escape was to use. I started locking my door and hiding in my room. I withdrew from my family and my friends because I didn't know how to help my brother or my family. It was so hard watching my mom deal with all of this and crying. She never gave up on trying to find him help and keeping him alive. He was 14 when it started. He's 16 and for the past two months has been clean and showing amazing progress! I grew from this experience and came out a better, person. unlocked my door, and started living again. Now, I am applying to college. I hope to help someone struggling with drugs or depression one day. Or maybe the family member, because it affects everyone in the family. I believe because of this experience I had, I have become more resilient. If life had gone smoothly, I might not have an appreciation for the little things. I also learned coping skills during this time that I believe will help me in the future. I am choosing to learn from this and not wonder why this had to happen to our family. I want to be a kind and selfless soul to people and try to help however I can. Because what you don't know, is what someone else is going through. You never know when your kind words or actions will make a big difference in someone's life. You can see in this picture of Mrs. Doherty that she wanted people to smile. That is a wonderful quality in a person. Thank you for the opportunity to apply for this scholarship.

I learned some ways to relax and take care of my mental health over the past two to two in a half years. Due to challenging family circumstances, I found myself hiding out in my room for a while and not dealing with issues that needed to be addressed. The first thing I started doing was lifting weights. I had some hand weights in my room and I started with this. Then I started to do some exercise videos. These all helped my mental health and I would feel better physically too. After this, I talked to my mom about starting martial arts classes. She had me signed up within a week. I started martial arts my freshman year of high school. I just tested for my black belt and received it. Working out and martial arts have been amazing for me. It has gotten me through some difficult times and I plan on continuing both while I am in college. I work out about three to four times a week and attend martial arts classes two times a week. I also try to go on walks. Being outside helps me destress too. All of this keeps me motivated and in shape. Thank you for the opportunity to apply for this scholarship.

I stay committed to speaking my mind by staying true to who I am. I am not a forceful person and I do not speak over people. I think that would be rude. But I also do not conform to an opinion or idea that someone else may have just to try to fit in. I watched my brother fall into this trap over the past two years and this lead our family down a dark path of depression, drug use, and hanging around the wrong crowd. This taught me a hard lesson. It taught me that you have to do what you think is right, go with your gut, and don't let someone else influence you into doing something that you know is not right. I believe if someone struggles with this, they have to make a real effort to stop and think before speaking their mind to make sure that what they are saying is truly what they believe. I also do not want to hurt someone's feelings, so if they feel adamant about something, I think about what I want to say and how I want to say it. I am careful about blurting things out. You can still speak your mind even if it takes a little longer to do this. Just to make sure how it is coming out is appropriate to the conversation. Thank you for the opportunity to apply for this scholarship.

I have loved nature ever since I could remember. Appreciating it changed a little for me other the years, however. When I was younger, I would ride my bike around the neighborhood to get fresh air, see the birds, squirrels, turtles, or if I was lucky a rabbit or deer. I would go on nature walks at a park that was nearby. About two years ago, my nature walks were a way for me to take a break from home life. My family went through a lot of turmoil with my younger brother's mental health problems. Our house was chaotic a lot of the time and it was helpful for me to go on walks and appreciate nature and the quiet in order to be able to go back home and deal with our reality. I will say that during this time I came to appreciate my walks and listening to the sounds of nature on a deeper level. Our life has calmed down as of the past four months. I still go on my walks and I still love it. I am grateful for the outdoors and all the beautiful opportunities to observe what God has created. Thank you for the opportunity to apply to this scholarship and tell my story.

I have applied creativity in my life while working on a YouTube channel I began last year. I draw my characters, put together the music for my skits, and then blend all of that together. I spend hours at times drawing, redrawing my characters, and coming up with scenes that subscribers might find interesting. I have two diverse interests and I am looking forward to learning about both during my college career. One is marine biology and I plan on majoring in biology. I love aquatic life and have studied it for years. The other is the design and creation of cartoon characters and scenes that I can make come to life. I would love to minor in creative design or some type of gaming design. Who knows, I may end up flip-flopping my major and minor once I learn more about what is out there in the way of creative outlets. I began drawing when I was young. I would create books with illustrations, staple them together and have my mom and my brothers read them for fun. My mom has a very large box of these books that she keeps and plans on keeping forever. I remember one particular little book I wrote about a character that was simply named, "Bob." The entire story and illustrations were about Bob, until the end, it was discovered the story had actually been about Bill. I know it sounds silly, but it was fun to be creative and to try to make people laugh. Thank you for the chance to apply to this scholarship.

Every interaction you have with someone matters. If you have this mindset, you will support others and you never know when your kindness can make a huge difference in someone's life. I have had a personal experience within my family that I have seen this work. My younger brother has struggled with mental illness and drug use for over two years. I have seen times when he has been depressed and I will say to him that I believe in him or do not give up on yourself. I can see his entire demeanor change in a positive way. Now, this does not always happen, but if it happened even once, then I am glad I did it. My mom and grandmother have always taught us to hold the door for other people or if you see someone struggling with something, offer to help. I try to do this all the time. I am especially aware of the elderly. They may not have anyone to go home to or they may struggle just to get groceries. Situations that a lot of people take for granted. Offer to help or say hello. Doing these things may make an impression on someone that observes this encouragement or act of kindness and who knows, maybe they will follow my lead.

I would say that I listen to them. I am not one to talk loud or interrupt people. I am on the shy side. Thinking about what to write in this essay made me examine what that means about my personality and maybe it is not such a bad thing. This is what I mean. Since I am on the shy side, when I do interact with people I seem to do a lot of listening. When it is my turn to comment or talk, I have truly heard what they are saying and I think that means a lot to people. My friends are all the time interrupting each other and trying to have a better story than the person talking. That does not make the person talking feel better. So there may be positives in the fact that I do communicate the way I do. By truly listening, I am showing that I care about what they are saying. Another way I show people that I care is by doing. If I see my grandmother getting ready to open a door or she is carrying something heavy, I help her. When my mom looks like she may have something heavy on her mind, I ask her if she wants to hang out and watch TV. If my friend got some bad news, sometimes they don't want to talk, and distracting them by playing a video game or something like that, helps the people I care about. Something I do that means the most, however, is that I pray about all the people I love. They may or may not know this, but the power of prayer is the best gift I could give them.

Joy for me comes from being with my family. We have had a tough couple of years and it has made me thankful for the little things in life. Maybe watching a movie snuggled up in a blanket with a bowl of popcorn. This is my mom's favorite thing to do. Now with the holidays upon us, I am sure she will be calling us to the family room for many movies in the next few weeks. I also enjoy my time with martial arts. This has been a life-changing experience for me learning martial arts. I had no idea that it could teach so much more than just the movements. I learned self-discipline, focus, and confidence. This came during a time of my life when I needed this. I believe having martial arts in my life, helped me get through the difficult family time we were going through. I am very grateful. I have reached getting my black belt and plan on continuing on because this also gives me joy. Thank you for the opportunity to apply for this scholarship.

Over the past two and half years, I have had to persevere through a very difficult situation in my family. After moving to a new town and a new school, my brother started hanging out with the wrong crowd of people. He had started dealing with some depression issues that came about from my parent's divorce. But the combination of that and the new group sent my family down a long horrible road of depression, violence, drugs, and attempted suicide. Our home was not the safe, calm place I once knew. My mom did everything she could to try to find my brother's help. There were glimpses of how my brother used to be and at times. He would cry, tell us he was sorry for an outburst or a hole in the wall or a dent in the dishwasher. We would try to take these times and move forward. But drugs do horrible things to people and with his depression, he felt the only way to escape was to use. I started locking my door and hiding in my room. I withdrew from my family and my friends because I didn't know how to help my brother or my family. It was so hard watching my mom deal with all of this and crying. She never gave up on trying to find him help and keeping him alive. He was 14 when it started. He's 16 and for the past two months has been clean and showing amazing progress! I grew from this experience and came out a better, person. unlocked my door, and started living again. Now, I am applying to college. I hope to help someone struggling with drugs or depression one day. Or maybe the family member, because it affects everyone in the family.

The first thing that absolutely comes to mind is more mental health resources for people, especially children. I say this because of my little brother and what we have been through with his mental illness the past couple of years and how hard it was to find help for him. It was horrible for us to see him suffer and then to see all the sadness my mom went through not being able to find him appropriate care. We actually ended up having to send him across the country to a wilderness program because it became clear that his life was in danger. He had suicide attempts and then drugs and he was not himself and we could not reach him. It was a horrible time. My mom tried everything and called so many places in our county and beyond our county. Every place she called, my brother did not fit their "criteria." There were many nights I heard her crying and praying for my brother and for the rest of us. Having to make the decision of sending him to a wilderness program was probably the hardest thing she has ever done. But I truly believe this saved his life. For me and how I want to make a difference in someone's life is that this experience has made me never assume what someone is going through in their personal life. I make a point to be kind to everyone I come in contact with and if that person is having a hard day, you never know what one act of kindness can do for someone's mental health. I hope in my future that I can help as many people I can that are struggling with mental health. Thank you for helping bring more awareness to this subject.

I have a younger brother that is currently dealing with mental illness and it has been a difficult journey. It started with his depression and this led to drug use and suicide attempts. My uncle died from suicide and his struggles with mental illness. It impacts a lot of families and mental health resources are lacking for people. I hope to change this. I have written an essay titled, "The Escape," to tell my story of how it has impacted my life and the members of my family. Even though this is not the journey I would have chosen, it has helped shape who I am, my goals, and how I view the world. I am grateful for the good that has come out of this. I am excited about how my view of the world has changed and how all of this has given me a strong desire to help change the world in a positive way. If I can help one person, I have succeeded. But my goal is much higher than that. The Escape Hiding in my room, trying to escape is part of my past. Hardships and strife over the past few years caused me to lock up my passions and my bedroom door to escape what was going on outside. It started in the summer of 2019, we moved to a new town and a new school. I was going into the 10th grade. I have a twin brother and we have a younger brother that was going into the 9th grade. My younger brother started feeling depressed about not fitting in at our new school. He was also having problems dealing with my parent's divorce. To deal with this, he became involved with the wrong people and this led him down a dark path of drugs, violence, and several attempted suicides. This has lasted for over two years. One day we were all close and the next day I was hiding in my room trying to hide. Even the shut door couldn't stop the noises or the pain of knowing what my mother was dealing with and knowing that my little brother’s innocence was gone. I began to feel helpless. I felt like I wasn’t good enough for people because I couldn’t help my family. My brother was using vapes first, then pot then harder drugs, and quickly began to have episodes of screaming and damaging property in our house. I remember a time my mom had my brother’s room painted. Something triggered him and he punched a giant hole in the wall that night and I heard my mom crying. He was like a wild animal and all I could do was hide. I didn’t feel safe in my own home, none of us were safe, especially my brother. I finally thought we had found him somewhere to help; he went to a wilderness program in Utah. This was probably the hardest decision my mom has ever made. But in order to keep us safe and to get my brother help, she had to do it. Since October 2019 he has been in and out of treatment centers and in and out of our lives. It's been horrible. However, my brother is currently doing much better and has gotten a lot of mental health help over the past two years. We are cautiously optimistic that he is coming out of this. We know he will struggle with depression and addiction and that he will always need our support. We will be there for him. So, what good has come from this? Let's talk about that. To escape from my room, I did two things that will stand out in my mind as life-changing experiences. I began to learn and participate in martial arts training, and I applied to be a volunteer intern at the NC Aquarium. My mom used to take my brothers and me to the aquarium all the time when we were little. So, to work at an aquarium has been amazing! I loved educating the visitors, answering their questions, and seeing them interact with the exhibits. It also helped me feel good again and to be out of the house and interact with people. My martial arts training has been good for me too. It’s astonishing how it not only increases physical ability but also even more important it helps with self-discipline and confidence. I have been attending training sessions 2-4 times a week since that first session. I just tested and received my black belt. Through martial arts training and the aquarium, I’ve had tremendous personal growth, gained confidence, learned how to interact with people, set goals for myself, learned self-discipline and the value of hard work. I have also learned the power of prayer. This was my escape. This is the good that has come from the bad. I have learned never to give up and never to judge. I have learned that I want to help people during my lifetime. I am not sure in what capacity yet, but just knowing that you never know if someone is dealing with mental illness themselves or with a family member. It makes my heart hurt knowing others are struggling and they may not know how to escape yet. My understanding of the world is not as innocent as it used to be. But that's okay. I feel ready to go out into the world and make a difference. I feel ready to form relationships with people that may need to hear my story or may need someone to talk to. I am ready for college and to see the doors that my open to help me carry out my goals. I am sorry for the loss of your mother and the darkness you must have felt and still feel. I hope that because of people like you that are helping bring awareness to mental health and suicide, it will help others. Thank you.

I practice self-care through exercise and my diet. I started a couple of years ago to really focus on my mental health. There are two things I did that have shaped who I am today and changed my life. The first is that I decided to give martial arts a try. I instantly fell in love with the principles that martial arts taught such as focus, self-discipline, goal setting, and respect. I was not in a good place a couple of years ago, due to family circumstances and I needed something to help me come out of the darkness. The other thing I did was start working out with a personal trainer that taught me about exercise and nutrition. This has been amazing to learn and I began to see a change in my mood and mental health pretty quickly. I have been practicing martial arts and doing personal training now for over two years. I just got my black belt actually, which made me very happy to get to this point. I feel like I have learned so much from these two experiences that I will take with me for the rest of my life. Now preparing for college especially, I think with the change in my routine that continuing my self-care routines will help me handle the different circumstances that I will be facing over the next four years and beyond.

Friendship to me is my relationship with my twin brother. Our family has had some hardships the past couple of years with my younger brother and his mental illness. This has brought my twin brother and me closer and together we have been able to make it through and be there for each other and my mom. Interestingly enough, I know that twins are known to be close, but we are so different and up until a couple of years ago, we did not really have that twin bond. However, when our family life started becoming chaos, we started forming a bond that in all respects is what I would want in the perfect friendship. Kindness, patience, being there to talk to each other, listen to each other, work things out. I don't think either one of us could have made it the past couple of years if we didn't have this bond. I am grateful for my brother.

This is Charlotte! We rescued her two years ago from a local shelter and she has been a huge part of our family ever since. The pandemic has been hard on everyone, especially kids that had to stay home for virtual learning because our schools closed. Charlotte was always with me helping me stay positive and helping me through this scary time. She would jump on my desk and walk across the keyboard and remind me she was with me. I am blessed to have her in our family. Captions for my photos: My best friend My Instagram is coolcat7242

Being at home and not at school during the pandemic started out rough. But it turned around after I made my mind up to make something positive happen with this time at home. I have dabbled in graphic design prior to the pandemic, but my hobby turned into so much more than that. I began to learn more about graphic design, coding, editing, and music editing. This led me to create my own YouTube channel. I currently have over 23 thousand subscribers and growing. I created a unique, whimsical character that people can interact with and play games. It is fun to entertain people and allow for a little escape from reality. During the pandemic, we all needed this. It was good for me to have this outlet to feel productive and to feel like I might be helping someone struggling that had to be at home because our schools were closed. This has also made me interested in learning more about design in college. I want to study marine biology, but now I'm looking into minoring in some type of design. I love to create and entertain people with my work. I hope to be able to continue.

I have a younger brother that is currently dealing with mental illness and it has been a difficult journey. It started with his depression and this led to drug use and suicide attempts. My uncle died from suicide and his struggles with mental illness. It impacts a lot of families and mental health resources are lacking for people. I hope to change this. I have written an essay titled, "The Escape," to tell my story of how it has impacted my life and the members of my family. Even though this is not the journey I would have chosen, it has helped shape who I am, my goals, and how I view the world. I am grateful for the good that has come out of this. I am excited about how my view of the world has changed and how all of this has given me a strong desire to help change the world in a positive way. If I can help one person, I have succeeded. But my goal is much higher than that. The Escape Hiding in my room, trying to escape is part of my past. Hardships and strife over the past few years caused me to lock up my passions and my bedroom door to escape what was going on outside. It started in the summer of 2019, we moved to a new town and a new school. I was going into the 10th grade. I have a twin brother and we have a younger brother that was going into the 9th grade. My younger brother started feeling depressed about not fitting in at our new school. He was also having problems dealing with my parent's divorce. To deal with this, he became involved with the wrong people and this led him down a dark path of drugs, violence, and several attempted suicides. This has lasted for over two years. One day we were all close and the next day I was hiding in my room trying to hide. Even the shut door couldn't stop the noises or the pain of knowing what my mother was dealing with and knowing that my little brother’s innocence was gone. I began to feel helpless. I felt like I wasn’t good enough for people because I couldn’t help my family. My brother was using vapes first, then pot then harder drugs, and quickly began to have episodes of screaming and damaging property in our house. I remember a time my mom had my brother’s room painted. Something triggered him and he punched a giant hole in the wall that night and I heard my mom crying. He was like a wild animal and all I could do was hide. I didn’t feel safe in my own home, none of us were safe, especially my brother. I finally thought we had found him somewhere to help; he went to a wilderness program in Utah. This was probably the hardest decision my mom has ever made. But in order to keep us safe and to get my brother help, she had to do it. Since October 2019 he has been in and out of treatment centers and in and out of our lives. It's been horrible. However, my brother is currently doing much better and has gotten a lot of mental health help over the past two years. We are cautiously optimistic that he is coming out of this. We know he will struggle with depression and addiction and that he will always need our support. We will be there for him. So, what good has come from this? Let's talk about that. To escape from my room, I did two things that will stand out in my mind as life-changing experiences. I began to learn and participate in martial arts training, and I applied to be a volunteer intern at the NC Aquarium. My mom used to take my brothers and me to the aquarium all the time when we were little. So, to work at an aquarium has been amazing! I loved educating the visitors, answering their questions, and seeing them interact with the exhibits. It also helped me feel good again and to be out of the house and interact with people. My martial arts training has been good for me too. It’s astonishing how it not only increases physical ability but also even more important it helps with self-discipline and confidence. I have been attending training sessions 2-4 times a week since that first session. I just tested and received my black belt. Through martial arts training and the aquarium, I’ve had tremendous personal growth, gained confidence, learned how to interact with people, set goals for myself, learned self-discipline and the value of hard work. I have also learned the power of prayer. This was my escape. This is the good that has come from the bad. I have learned never to give up and never to judge. I have learned that I want to help people during my lifetime. I am not sure in what capacity yet, but just knowing that you never know if someone is dealing with mental illness themselves or with a family member. It makes my heart hurt knowing others are struggling and they may not know how to escape yet. My understanding of the world is not as innocent as it used to be. But that's okay. I feel ready to go out into the world and make a difference. I feel ready to form relationships with people that may need to hear my story or may need someone to talk to. I am ready for college and to see the doors that my open to help me carry out my goals. I am sorry for the loss of your mother and the darkness you must have felt. I hope that because of people like you that are helping bring awareness to mental health and suicide, it will help others. Thank you.

I have two qualities that I'd like to talk about, determination and gratitude. I believe I've developed these because of the challenges I have had in my personal life and in later years with our family life. When I was born, I had many developmental delays that prohibited me from me completely being present for the first few years of my life. I have a twin brother, so my mom knew that something was different with my development. After many evaluations, I was diagnosed with autism at an early age. After several years of intensive early intervention with physical therapy, occupational therapy, etc, I was re-evaluated before entering kindergarten and my diagnosis was taken away. I am grateful for my mom's determination and all she did to help bring me out of my darkness. Another time in my life that I retreated into the darkness was many years later with my younger brother. I wrote the following essay for my college application and I titled it, "The Escape." Hardships and strife the past few years caused me to lock up my passions and my bedroom door to escape what was going on outside. It was the summer of 2019, we moved to a new city. My twin brother and I were going into the 10th grade. My younger brother was going into the 9th. My younger brother immediately became involved with the wrong people and it led him down a very dark path with drugs, violence, and him trying to take his own life. This has lasted for over two years. One day we were all close and the next day I was hiding in my room. But even the shut door could not stop the noises or the pain of knowing what my mother was having to deal with and knowing that my little brother’s innocence was gone. I began to feel helpless, I felt like I wasn’t good enough for people because I couldn’t help my family. It started with vaping, then pot to harder drugs, and quickly began to have episodes of screaming, damaging many things in our house, things my mom worked hard for us to have. He was like a wild animal at times and all I could do was hide. I didn’t feel safe in my own home, none of us were safe, especially my younger brother. My mom made a very hard decision to send him to a wilderness program in Utah. Since October 2019 he has been in and out of treatment centers and in and out of our lives. It has been horrible for me and my family. However, just in the past month, he has made tremendous progress. We are cautiously optimistic. So what good has come from this? To escape from my room, I did two things that will stand out in my mind as life-changing experiences. I made my escape through martial arts and applying to be an intern at the NC Aquarium. My Mom used to take my brothers and me to the aquarium all the time, so to volunteer at an aquarium has been awesome! Through martial arts training and my time at the aquarium, I have had tremendous personal growth, gained confidence, learned how to interact with people, set goals for myself, learned self-discipline and the value of hard work. Determination and gratitude will help me through all aspects of my life. I have learned this from my mom and I've already put both characteristics to work in my own life. I cannot wait to help others in my life's journey.

The Escape Hiding in my room, trying to escape is part of my past. Hardships and strife the past few years caused me to lock up my passions and my bedroom door to escape what was going on outside. It started summer of 2019, we moved to a new town school. My twin brother and I were going into 10th grade and my younger brother the 9th. My younger brother became involved with the wrong people and led him down a dark path of drugs, violence, and him trying to take his life. This lasted for two years. One day we were all close and the next day I was hiding in my room. I began to feel helpless. I felt like I wasn’t good enough for people because I couldn’t help my family. My younger brother was using vapes first, then pot, harder drugs, and quickly began to have episodes of screaming and damaging property in our house. He was like a wild animal and all I could do was hide. None of us were safe in our home, especially him. I finally thought we had found him help; he went to a wilderness program. He came home and since October 2019 has been in and out of treatment centers and in and out of our lives. So what good has come from this? To escape from my room, I did two things that were life changing experiences. I began martial arts and I applied for an internship at the NC Aquarium. Through martial arts training and my time at the aquarium, I have had tremendous personal growth, gained confidence, learned how to interact with people, set goals for myself, learned self-discipline and the value of hard work. This is the good that has come from the bad.

Hardships and strife the past couple of years caused me to lock up my passions and my bedroom door to escape what was going on outside. It was the summer of 2019, we moved to a new school and a new town. I was going into the 10th grade. I have a twin brother and a younger brother that was going into the 9th grade. My younger brother immediately became involved with the wrong people and it led him down a very dark path with drugs, violence and him trying to take his own life. This has lasted for over two years. He is currently in a treatment program. One day we were all close and the next day I was hiding in my room. But even the shut door could not stop the noises or the pain of knowing what my mother was having to deal with and knowing that my little brother’s innocence was gone. So what good has come from this? To escape from my room, I did two things that will stand out as life changing experiences. I began to participate in martial arts training and applied to be a volunteer intern at the NC Aquarium. Through martial arts training and my time at the aquarium, I have had tremendous personal growth, gained confidence, learned how to interact with people, set goals for myself, learned self discipline and the value of hard work. I want to continue to better myself and am constantly looking for ways to do this. I have learned early that life can be tough. But I have also learned that I am strong, my family is strong and God is greater than any problem I have. I have also learned the horrors of what drugs can do to a life.

Hardships and strife the past couple of years caused me to lock up my passions and my bedroom door to escape what was going on outside. It was the summer of 2019, we moved to a new school and a new town. I was going into the 10th grade. I have a twin brother and a younger brother that was going into the 9th grade. My younger brother immediately became involved with the wrong people and it led him down a very dark path with drugs, violence and him trying to take his own life. This has lasted for over two years. He is currently in a treatment program. One day we were all close and the next day I was hiding in my room. But even the shut door could not stop the noises or the pain of knowing what my mother was having to deal with and knowing that my little brother’s innocence was gone. So what good has come from this? To escape from my room, I did two things that will stand out as life changing experiences. I began to participate in martial arts training and applied to be a volunteer intern at the NC Aquarium. Through martial arts training and my time at the aquarium, I have had tremendous personal growth, gained confidence, learned how to interact with people, set goals for myself, learned self discipline and the value of hard work. I want to continue to better myself and am constantly looking for ways to do this. I have learned early that life can be tough. But I have also learned that I am strong,my family is strong and God is greater than any problem I have. I have also learned the horrors of what drugs can do to a life.