Mental health has impacted my life and my community in ways I will never forget. Growing up Native American and living in a small reservation community, I have witnessed the pain that mental health struggles can bring to individuals and families. In a close-knit community, loss does not affect only one person or household; it affects everyone. We know one another, share family and cultural connections, and support each other through difficult times. When someone is hurting, that pain can reach far beyond their immediate family. One experience that has affected me deeply was watching my cousin bury two of her sons only six months apart. Experiencing that kind of loss within one family was heartbreaking. A few years later, our community experienced another devastating loss when my younger cousin died by suicide. These events were painful reminders of how important mental health awareness, prevention, support, and connection truly are, especially in communities where resources may be limited or difficult to access. As I watched my family and community experience unimaginable grief, I began thinking about what could be done differently. I realized that mental health is not something we can ignore or address only after someone reaches a crisis point. Teenagers and adults need people who will listen to them, take their feelings seriously, and help them find healthy ways to cope. Sometimes, having someone available to listen without judgment and connect a person with appropriate resources can make an important difference. These experiences are a major reason I have chosen to pursue a Master of Social Work. I want to learn how to connect individuals and families with mental health services, schools, community organizations, and other resources so that people do not have to navigate their struggles alone. I am especially interested in strengthening support systems for teenagers and adults within Native communities. I want to contribute to culturally responsive services that respect each person’s identity, experiences, traditions, and values. My goal is not to control how people feel, because I understand that emotions are a natural part of being human. Instead, I want to help people understand their emotions, develop healthy coping skills, recognize when they need support, and know where they can turn for help. I also want to help create environments where asking for assistance is viewed as a sign of strength rather than weakness. The losses I have witnessed changed the way I understand mental health and gave me a sense of purpose. I cannot change what happened to my family or community, but I can use those experiences to motivate me to become an advocate for others. Through my education and future career in social work, I hope to build stronger connections, reduce stigma, expand access to support, and help ensure that people know they are seen, valued, and worthy of care.

Growing up in a low-income family shaped me in ways that I did not fully understand as a child, but those experiences have become some of the greatest lessons of my life. I learned early that life could be difficult, that money could determine choices, and that sometimes children have to grow up faster than they should. I began working at 14 years old because I learned that if I wanted to support myself or have the things I needed, I could not always depend on someone else to provide them. One of the hardest experiences of my childhood was being separated from my twin sister. My mother struggled financially and could not afford to care for both of us, so she sent us to live with different family members. I went to live with my aunt, but she also struggled financially and could not afford to support me either. Moving between family members and experiencing financial hardship made me feel uncertain about where I belonged. However, those experiences also taught me independence, strength, and empathy for people who are struggling. During high school, I stayed involved in sports. Sports gave me something positive to focus on and taught me discipline, teamwork, commitment, and perseverance. They showed me that even when life is difficult, I could continue showing up and working toward something better. At 20 years old, I became a mother. Becoming a parent changed my life and gave me an even greater reason to keep pushing forward. Today, I am raising four sons while also fostering a daughter. I understand what it means to make difficult decisions, stretch limited resources, and put the needs of children before my own. My children have become one of my greatest motivations to create a different future. Growing up with financial struggles taught me to value hard work, family, education, compassion, and perseverance. I do not take opportunities for granted because I know what it feels like to have very few choices. I also understand that behind every person who is struggling is a story that may not be visible to others. My background has shaped my goal of continuing my education and pursuing a master’s degree in Human Services with a focus on social work. I want to use my education and my life experiences to help children, families, and individuals who are facing poverty, trauma, mental health challenges, or difficult circumstances. I want to be someone who listens without judgment and reminds others that their circumstances do not determine their worth or their future. I cannot change the circumstances I grew up in, but I can choose what I do with them. My past taught me how to survive; my future will be about helping others find the strength and support to thrive. Most importantly, I want my children to see that your beginning does not have to define your ending.

One of the greatest challenges I face as a student and single parent is trying to build a better future for my children while meeting the needs of my family today. I am raising five children, including a child I have raised through foster care. I work two jobs to make ends meet while continuing my education and trying to be present for my children. I am now working toward starting and completing my master’s degree in Human Services with a focus in Social Work. This is a major goal for me because I want to turn my education and life experiences into a career helping individuals and families who are struggling. Balancing school, work, and motherhood is not easy. Every day requires me to manage school responsibilities, work, parenting, transportation, sports, appointments, household responsibilities, and everything else that comes with raising five children as a single mother. There are days when I feel exhausted, but I remind myself that I am working toward something bigger than myself. Three of my children are involved in sports, and as they have become more serious about athletics and started participating in AAU, the commitment has grown. I make every effort to attend their games, practices, and tournaments and travel with them when they need to go to events. I also volunteer whenever I can because I want my children to know that I support their dreams and that being present matters. Sometimes I am working one job, going to another, attending a sporting event, helping with schoolwork, and then trying to find time to complete my own assignments. It can feel overwhelming, but I continue because I know what I am working toward. One of my biggest responsibilities as a mother is teaching my sons to make positive choices. I want them to understand the importance of remaining drug- and alcohol-free, staying out of trouble, choosing positive friendships, and thinking about how their decisions today can affect their future. We live in an area where it can be easy for young people to wander off and make choices that are not healthy or safe for them. I cannot make every decision for my children, but I can teach them, guide them, set expectations, and remind them that they have a future worth protecting. I want my sons to understand that strength is not following the crowd. Strength is having the courage to walk away from something that could hurt their future. I encourage them to stay involved in school, sports, family, and positive activities because I want them to have goals to work toward. Most importantly, I try to lead by example. I want them to see their mother continuing her education, working hard, overcoming obstacles, and refusing to give up. Starting a master’s degree while raising five children and working two jobs will be one of the biggest challenges I have taken on. There will be sacrifices, but I am prepared to make them because I know this degree can change the direction of my future. My goal is to complete my master’s degree in Human Services with Social Work and build a career where I can help people dealing with mental health challenges, grief, trauma, addiction, family struggles, and other difficult circumstances. This scholarship would help relieve some of the financial pressure of pursuing graduate education while supporting five children. It would give me an opportunity to put more energy toward completing my degree and reaching a goal that I have worked hard to achieve. More importantly, it would help me create a stronger and more stable future for my family. I am not pursuing my master’s degree simply for myself. I am doing it for my children and for the people I hope to serve. I want my children to see that their circumstances do not have to determine their future. I want them to see their mother overcome obstacles and continue reaching for her dreams even when the road is difficult. My goal is to turn my struggles into strength, my experiences into purpose, and my education into an opportunity to serve others. This scholarship would be an investment not only in my education, but in the future of my five children. I want to show them that with hard work, education, faith, perseverance, and healthy choices, they can create a future different from anything that may try to hold them back. I am not simply trying to earn a master’s degree. I am trying to change the future of my family while preparing myself to help change the lives of others. I want to finish what I start, become the social worker I know I can be, and leave my children with an example they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.

Mental illness, grief, suicide, and addiction have affected my family in ways that have changed how I see the importance of mental health support. These experiences are not just statistics or stories I have heard from others—they are experiences that have touched people I love and have shown me how deeply one person’s pain can affect an entire family. One of the most heartbreaking experiences my family has faced was watching my cousin lose two sons only six months apart. Losing one child is an unimaginable loss, but losing two within such a short period of time left a pain that is difficult to put into words. I have watched how that grief has affected my family and how difficult it can be to know what to say or how to help someone carrying that kind of loss. Another devastating loss occurred last July, when another cousin, only 20 years old and just beginning his life, died by suicide. He had so much life ahead of him, yet he was struggling with something that those around him could not fully see or understand. His death reminded me that mental health struggles can be hidden behind a smile, and that we cannot always know the battles someone is fighting. I have also witnessed the effects of grief and addiction. After losing her brothers, another cousin struggled so deeply with her pain that she turned to alcohol to cope. Her drinking became so severe that she nearly lost her life to cirrhosis of the liver. Watching someone I love reach that point showed me how important it is to address the emotional pain behind destructive behaviors rather than simply judging the behavior itself. These experiences have become a major reason I want to pursue a career in mental health social work. I want to help individuals and families who are experiencing grief, trauma, addiction, depression, and other mental health challenges. More importantly, I want to be someone who listens without judgment and helps people understand that asking for help is not a weakness. I know I cannot erase someone’s pain or change what has happened to them. However, I can be a person who shows up, listens, connects them with support, and reminds them that they are worthy of care. I want the people I work with to know that someone sees them, hears them, and genuinely cares about what happens to them. My family’s experiences have taught me that mental health affects entire families, not just individuals. I want to turn the pain I have witnessed into purpose by becoming a mental health social worker who helps others find hope, healing, and the support they deserve.

Pursuing higher education as a single mother is one of the most challenging things I have ever taken on. My days are not divided simply between school and home. They are filled with the needs, schedules, activities, and responsibilities of raising five children while also trying to build a better future for our family through my education. One of my biggest challenges is finding a balance between being a student and being the mother my children need. Three of my children are involved in sports, which means our family calendar is constantly filled with practices, games, tournaments, and other activities. I want to be present for those moments because I know how important it is for my children to look into the stands and see their mother supporting them. At the same time, I have assignments, deadlines, studying, and other responsibilities as a college student. There are many nights when I have to wait until my children are settled or asleep before I can focus on my schoolwork. Two of my children also have ongoing health needs that require appointments and follow-up care every six months. These appointments are another responsibility I carefully plan around school and work. As a mother, their health will always come first, but I also have to find ways to make sure I do not fall behind academically. Another challenge is trying to volunteer and be involved whenever I can. I believe being present in my children’s lives means more than simply getting them where they need to go. I want to support their schools, their sports, and the activities that matter to them. I volunteer for my sons whenever I have the opportunity because I want them to know that their mother believes in them and is willing to show up. Sometimes that means giving up the little free time I have, but I would rather be busy creating memories with my children than wishing I had been there. There are days when the responsibilities feel overwhelming. I have had to learn how to organize my time, prioritize what truly matters, ask for help when necessary, and keep moving forward even when I am tired. Being a single mother has taught me that strength does not always look like having everything under control. Sometimes strength is simply getting up the next morning and trying again. Despite the challenges, I refuse to see being a single mother as a reason to give up on my education. Instead, it is one of the reasons I am determined to finish. My children are watching me, and I want them to see that it is possible to work toward your dreams even when life is complicated. I am pursuing higher education because I want to create a stronger future for my family and build a career where I can make a difference in the lives of others. Every late night, every assignment completed after a long day, every appointment, practice, game, and volunteer opportunity is part of the journey. I may not always have an easy path, but I am determined to keep walking it. My children are my motivation, my education is my opportunity, and the future I am building is worth every sacrifice.

I am pursuing a degree in the mental health field because I have personally experienced how deeply difficult circumstances can affect a person’s emotional well-being, relationships, confidence, and hope for the future. My experiences with physical and emotional abuse taught me that people can carry struggles that others cannot see. They also taught me how important it is to have someone who listens, understands, and helps you recognize that your circumstances do not define your worth. As a mother of five, I have also seen how challenges within a family can affect children and the people around them. These experiences have strengthened my desire to work with individuals and families who may be going through difficult seasons of their lives. I want to be the person who helps someone feel heard instead of judged and supported instead of alone. I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Human Services with a focus in Mental Health while raising my five children and working to provide for my family. Continuing my education by pursuing a Master’s degree in Human Services and social services is the next step toward turning my experiences and education into a career of service. I hope to make a difference by working directly with individuals and families who need support, advocacy, and access to resources. I want to help people recognize their strengths, develop healthier ways of coping with challenges, and connect them with services that can help them build stability and hope. I also want to advocate for children and families whose voices may not always be heard. My goal is not simply to have a degree or a career. I want my education to have a purpose. I want to take what I have learned from both my education and my life experiences and use it to help others believe that their future can be different from their past. My children are a major part of my motivation. I want them to see that difficult experiences do not have to determine the direction of your life. I want them to see their mother turn adversity into compassion, education into service, and challenges into a reason to help others. I believe making a difference does not always require changing the whole world. Sometimes it means changing one person’s day, helping one family find support, giving one child a voice, or reminding one person that they are not alone. That is the kind of difference I hope to make.

Providing for children who need homes so their parents can get themselves together. It has its good and bad times. Having children of my own and having to sit them down before a child comes into my home, and then we have them for short or long periods. It's hard to explain to my children that we have loved them the best we could, but they have a family they have to be returned to. We have fostered my daughter and their sister into guardianship. They told me if her parents come to fight for her and they get her back, they'll be so broken that they don't want me ever to foster again. When my daughter, being my foster child first, the hardest thing I had to deal with was dealing with her withdrawals. So scared to leave my home with her because she needed to be close to a shower to help relax her. That broke me into pieces. How can a mother choose to put drugs in her system while having a baby? Then she doesn't want to do a case plan because she's in a good home. Then not worry and just have another baby afterwards. When we were two and a half years into having my baby girl in our home, and dealing with all the sicknesses she had. Her biggest being having to deal with her lungs. Having to sit and do nud treatments four times a day. Not be able to take her outside on the good days because her lungs can't handle the heat, or it's too cold. Having her caused me to take a lot of days off from work while trying to finish classes. I have had to take so much leave, I no longer have any more leave, so it's leave without pay. It's shaped my life into wanting to help children understand and feel that avoidance of being unwanted and unloved. I fear my daughter will face that in life, and I don't want her to ever feel like that. I wanted to go into therapy or play therapy so I can help her or learn how to avoid that feeling for her. When I deal with teenagers and the way they feel, wanting them to feel loved and cared for, and to know they are our future. I struggle with telling kids no, it's getting to be too much. I have opened my home more times to children who needed a place to sleep and a table to eat at for the night. In hopes that my sons will understand the struggle that other children have compared to them. It's not hearing the thank you afterward. It's seeing them come back to my home, knowing that helped they come back to feel that love again for the night. This scholarship will allow me to keep going to school, or allow me to pick up more classes than only be able to take a certain number at a time. Instead of worrying if I have enough money to cover the cost of classes or enough to continue to help kids or the foster children that come home, my home stays warm orfedd. Working two jobs to help cover the loss of income, I have when I can leave without pay to stay home with my daughter for a job with less money doesn't always help cover all the bills and food costs

I was once told about a man and woman who wanted a child so badly that they prayed and prayed for it. They ended up pregnant with a son. As they say, time ended up being too long and the father promised to be sober and ended up becoming a heavy drinker. When the wife said she was with child the husband thought she was with someone else. It caused a fight between them both all the time. When the baby was born the father was never home. She ended up picking up drinking over the fighting and him not believing the child belonged to him. One day the husband came home from work early thinking he would catch her with someone. But she was putting the son down for a nap. They fought until Mom noticed the baby had not gotten up from his nap. She went to check on him the husband followed her into the room still fighting. When she felt baby boy, he was cold to the touch. The mom yelled and said something happened to my baby. They call for help and get told the baby has passed. The father grows more angry and wants to know who called his son. They go to sweat and the father asks the son what happened. When the son comes to him he tells him Dad you and Mom killed me. You guys wanted me so much but only fought over me being here. I thought my coming back home would make this better for you and Mom. After hearing that story and me being a foster mom myself I had a child come into my home at 5 days old. I made me take the year off from taking classes. So I could pay attention to this baby girl who needed all the love she could get. I didn't want this baby girl to ever feel as if she needed to return to the happy grounds. I choose to take a year off from college and raise her in a good way. I returned to classes this year and she hasn't noticed the difference as the time I've been taken away is during times she is asleep or I am at work doing so. I am more of a boy mom so raising a baby girl has been so much different for me. But having her has made me want to push myself and become better as a mom and as a woman. Having a baby girl who's looking up to you. Hoping I can push forward enough to adopt her and call her forever mine as she's still in my home. My children see how lucky they are to have a home whose mom is sober. A mom who cares enough for them to bring them into a world of health. All while they watched the baby girl they called her sister to withdraw from drugs she never got the chance to say no to. I have since gone back and forth from wanting to help those struggling with drugs to wanting to only help children who need help because their parents put them there. But I know our native American families need that help so they can be home with their parents.

This started when I was in high school. I couldn't have a Boyfriend because I had family thinking I was going to get pregnant and drop out of school. I never lived with my dad but we had family going behind my mom's back and telling him how bad of drug addicts and alcoholics we were. Once I became a senior in high school I felt like my own family was stopping me from doing senior stuff and exploring the world. I finished high school and had a college picked out. I chose to go because I wanted to experience life away from home. I ended up pregnant during the second semester in college I decided to stay and finish that semester. I felt as if I let everyone who said I'd never make it win. So I end up picking on going to the community college as my baby would be born that Oct. I finished that semester out and let my family know that I wanted to go back to the school where I first started and finish what I started there. My mom steps up and tells me to go and leave my son home with her so that I can focus on college and complete the 2 semesters I need to finish. I do that and finish with my AA degree. That feeling felt good because even with my own family (auntie/uncles) they thought the worst of me. All because I chose to have a boyfriend in high school. I have gone on to have three more sons and have now adopted a daughter. Having 5 children in total. Going this far with my education I feel like I have to still prove myself to those who have thought so low of me. Now working for a school system I feel like I have to set a better example and get more education to so my children and their friends to not be afraid and go after it. Being Native American in a public school and showing them we too can get that same understanding and we can beat the odds that are given to us. I am a first-generation college student. My dad has 9 children and my mom is 3 children. Being the first and my children watching now has made them start to think about what they want to do with their lives. My oldest son is 14 years old and he has seen me struggle and struggle and has told me Mom this is my plan and when I finish I hope I make enough so you don't have to work this hard. That choked me up knowing I am just their mom and not their dad but I set enough there for him to beat the odds too. He as has a father who's in and out of the jail system because of alcoholism. His father beat him like he was a grown adult at the age of 12 years old. He has since pushed himself more in his education that he's getting. So being Native American and pushing yourself to do better pushes those you love and hold close to your heart do that much better.

My mental health is okay most days. The days I struggle with the most I have learned to reach out and say todays to much and i have to much on my plate. Being a single mother, with sons in sports and in the process of adopting my daughter. Days it gets so over whelming I thinking why did I even start classes this semester. Those are the days I want to withdraw and call it good. Those are the days I take it out on myself the most because it's times I promised my sons i would make it to their sporting events or its times I told them i can afford their shoes for their sporting events. I do not like telling them we have to pick and choose playing in sports. Because this is something positive for my sons to do. It helps them stay busy and not just waiting on mom all the time. It helps them gain friendships i would hope that last a lifetime for them. I work and taking classes in the evening time so trying to show up and support my children the best way i can has been working hard. Learning to be more on i need help when life really hate me hard has gotten to the point i have gained enough people to say they will come to help me. If that means getting them to practice another town away or helping taking my daughter for the evening or the weekend so i can get my homework finished. Once i opened up more on who i can trust i learned people really do care about you. Some are so much in your corner they'll come to your home and make dinner for your whole family and then clean up the crazy mess that is left be hide. That has been the biggest lesson i have been learning that has much as their are people who want to see you fail there that much more people in your life that want to see you finish something you've started. I also have picked up reading the bible. Every day it is a must that i read something and learn what it means. That way carry myself that much better and learn to not let myself get so over whelmed that i will be okay and my children will be okay. That they have never seen their home without.

Being a single mother and living life has been me since I first went to college. I have taken breaks for my mental health. But what am i to say being a mother and telling my children they cant start a sport and not finish something. But i can know i can try and afford college i have gone back. I promised myself I wouldn't allow my children to see the kind of childhood i had seen growing up. Growing up think if there is going to be water for me to shower. Ride home after school because i wanted to try out a sport. Food on the table because mom didn't make it home to cook dinner. Having to move two hours away thinking it would be better for me but it had only gotten worse. Wanting to finish my college classes I started so i can tell my children i never gave up. I love hearing how my children never had plans for going off to college and them even thinking they'll give trade school a go. Learning to be a mom and learning that riding a bike wasn't always easy. That the bumps given to us in life was like a bridge that needed to be crossed. I know my five children may not see it all right now. But them seeing us adopt our baby girl and the possible life that she could have gotten compared to the life they have. I am 34 years old still thinking what am i going to do with my life. I haven't even worked a job that will give me good retirement. Wanting to be able to be hired at a job that'll offer something like that. That way my children won't have to worry for me when they get older and start their own families. My future goals aren't about me they are about the younger children like my daughter i adopt due to drugs. When my children started seeing how see she. They would ask questions like mom do all of us babies shake like that. Explaining to them they she was withdrawing from meth was hard. Because they haven't been near people who even would drink. Hoping that my future helps save more life's like that daughter i adore today. The strong baby that the town i live in became to adore and love full heartly.

Living with a single was hard. Days my twin, sister and I had to get ourself to school because mom did not make it home the night before. Mom stayed at work all night and would take cloths to her office because she did not want to miss work or needed to be on time. My twin and I both learned on catching rides from that lived closes to us. Most days we just walked the extra 10 miles after school just so we didn't have to ask anyone for a ride and explain ourself. Days we had to go without eating or lights getting shut up or we had no running water. The summer I moved to my aunts house and away 2 hours from my twin. My mom wasn't a drink or a drug mother. She was just a mom who struggled to support us alone. When we reached the age to able to start working at 14 and 15 years old. That's the day i had to support my own hobbits. I was in cross country basketball, track, and JROTC. Living with an aunt who was kept her eye on me and barley let me do just anything. I had to earn a lot other peoples trust and love. When I became a single mother to my children i made myself a promise I wasn't going to make my children struggle like i did and wanted them to enjoy all the memories they could make. I work hard to get to my children's events. Support them in anything they do. Ensure my car is always updated and able to make drives that get them to their practices and whatever extra active they planned. Having a 14 year old who had no goals to watching him create them because he wants mom to retire at a young age. So I can watch him finish growing and when he has children i can always feel healthy enough to love them the way i have loved them. My children have never had to learn about lights being turned off or water not running because i couldnt pay the bill. The only thing they had to worry about his mom not having enough money to get them their deserved sports shoes. They know if they dont get shoes the first few weeks into practice that mom makes it happen. Since going to school my school all have gained and trusted me enough to know i dont give up easy and i want to finish.

My mom tried to not show my brother and twin sister she was struggling. She did whatever she could to give us the best life. We did not have the best clothes or shoes. She would have to take us and goodwill for our schools. We even ended up having to live with our aunties or other family members. Everyone called us good kids or ugly. Some days my sister and I would have to sleep in different places because we couldn't find rides home. The family we would be staying with only cared for their child(ren) and got them back and forth to sporting events. My mom got so sick everyone told us she even was on drugs and had aids. Had us believing we had aids too. But as we got older we were able to get jobs at 14 and 15 years old. So we could get our clothes and look half okay. We learned to save enough to ensure we can give others gas money to get a house home. When our water would get shut up we would pay that for our mom. Having barely even bread to eat sometimes was even a struggle. My mom would cry and tell us she was so sorry for making us have a life like that. Even her being a sober mother that didn't use she felt horrible. But I thank her for giving her the best life I could have ever asked for. Makes given me such great life lessons. I learned to get a job to learn. I learned that no matter what my children will only be taken care of the way I want them to be. It showed me not to give up. Now I work two jobs to make ends up for my children and me. But the only way I know I can learn anything and provide my children with a good life is by being educated. I can truly look at my mom and tell her she showed me all that. The even amount of love always gave me hope. I learned to accept people no matter where they come from. What they wear. My mom tells her children, thank you for being my grandchildren and the live I wasn't able to provide you, my children. I can lie down in my bed and not have to worry if they are being fed or if they have been fed. My grandbabies can call and ask me Grandma do you need anything.

I currently work for a women's shelter and in a school. Getting myself an education has been the biggest goal in my goal as I have 10 eyes looking at me. Four children are my own and one child I foster. I want to be able to provide stability in my childrens lives. Already having to work two jobs just to make ends up. I know right now is a struggle. But when my children tell me "Mom you need it to happen" reminds me how much of a role my life and its life lesson come from me to my children. When I work with abused women and they come in with their children. I have a hard time knowing addiction. I thought the only way I will understand where and why is getting an education. Me being educated will help someone else. If I want someone to know or if I am going to know. I have to get out there and find out and learn it so I can't turn someone away. Being in one woman's shoes of being abused. scared I was never going to see a good road. Fearing for your life thinking this will be the last time I see God's creation. I won't forget how it feels to have your hair being used to choke you. How does it feel when being told to shut up or this knife will make you? When I got away from that life. I knew I had to find myself. Well studying it's taken my mind off certain PTSD moments. I founding myself telling saying I am m IMPORTANT! I am LOVED! I am STRONG. As my children get older I want to be able to work one job. So I can be able to watch them play football or wrestle. Wanting to provide a home of abuse free, and telling my sons (4) their lives are important. The more I learn the more I try to change my lifestyle so that I can help my sons be better men. Or I will be a better mom, a better person. My boys are always telling me I am going to bet you in a race. But it's not about who crosses that finish line first I tell them. It's about if you started the race right and what you do during that race. Will you be able to have enough energy to run another race afterward or will you quit?

Graduating with my BA is who important to me because I started this wanted to better my children's lives. My mom has since pushed me more because I will be the first in our family to earn a BA degree. She said that way if anything happens to me I will be able to go knowing that my children set great examples for my grandchildren. Scholarships are what pay my way throw college right now since I am a single mother raising four children. They sports days have since started so extra gas money, buying shoes that are needed for their sports and their sporting events fees. I am close to getting my BA degree in Human Services: Mental Health. I am so excited to finish this. Once I am finished I plan to use it and help with my tribes local CPS office. I am hoping to get more hands on with this and then starting my Masters degree to so I can be a Native American in psychology. As we do not have much of those in my state.

My passion for mental health came about with my oldest son. I kept being told he had ADD/ADHD. But as a mother I thought he was just being a boy. So my journey in the mental health field because of him. Until I started dealing with my own PTSD. Now that i am going into my senior year in my 4 year degree I have learned a lot. It is now pushing my to go for my masters degree. As I am seeing it that for the state of SD there is not a lot of help to help with those dealing with any type of mental health issues. My future plan is to get a masters degree once I get my BA degree and return to my small community and help children. Those to scared to speak up and asking for help. As being a Native American suicided is amongst our culture. I hoping they see a change and they see that someone with their back ground knows they are hurting. I have seen children come from homes with nothing to sleep on but a bed made of blankets. Cry to go home because that is their peace their home. But not be able to return because they do not have running water, lights or food to feed them. That is what is pushing me. My four sons watching me. Hoping they know they no matter how busy I am studying they are able to speak to me.

I have been a single mother since I started my college journey. I became a mother at the age of 20. I lived so far from my family right in the middle of my second semester into college I found out I was expecting my first born son. I had no choice but to finish out the semester and return home. After being home with my son and raising him. My own mother pushed me right back out the front door. Leaving my first born was the hardest decision I made. I took a break once I earned my AA degree. I returned back to college in Spring of 2018. I not only one another child. But I chose to return back with a new born and three other sons. Leaving me have four children. I have struggled missing family events to ensure homework is done. I had baby sitters for them during the evening times. My sons having sports practice. Having to drive extra miles on the road to get them to where they need to be. It has really opened my eyes. My children are now setting their own goals. I had so my set backs but push forward because those little voice and eyes are what push me. I can not tell my sons to start something and them see me not finish. This goal to be the first in my mother and fathers family to earn a 4 year degree is something i set out for myself and for my children. I was in the social work field but i had to make a choice between my degree or my schooling. I choice schooling. Once I finish my degree i am hoping i can return back to the Social work field and work to protect abused children.