Living in a small town in Northern Michigan, I see firsthand how mental health and its challenges affect communities. In a small town, everyone knows everyone, and sometimes that is a good thing. However, what they say is very true. Nothing travels faster than a small town word and its judgment. It becomes easier to just brush things under the gossip rug. One of my biggest motivations to pursue a career in mental health is my late friend and coworker, Titus. I met Titus when he was a fresh high school graduate just looking for a summer job before pursuing his future at the maritime academy. He was full of plans and dreams that he shared with all of us that summer. None of us could have ever imagined that one day we would get a call explaining that Titus had taken his own life. It fundamentally changed the way I saw the world. Titus was the kind of person who was always smiling, goofing around, or telling a bad joke. He was always the happiest, lightest, and kindest person in every room. Titus was a hard worker and a good friend. It made absolutely no sense to me that he was gone. It may sound cliché, but losing him and his presence made me realize how incredibly invisible pain can be, and how important it is to create spaces where people feel safe to talk about it, especially in small communities. After his passing, I started noticing the way people would discuss him. Always in hushed voices and quick, quiet conversation. To me, it always had a strange undertone, more like gossip than mourning or remembering. Of course, everyone recognizes a tragedy, but the way they spoke made it sound dirty, like he was now somehow less than because of what happened to him. The fact of the matter is, I don't know one person who hasn't had a brush with bad mental and mental illness, from my friends to our parents. But no one ever speaks out for fear of the same shame they also spread. That experience motivated me to pursue a future in mental health. I plan to attend Ferris State University in the fall, where I hope to study social work and receive my master's degree. I will use it to explore how small communities can expand access to care and reduce judgment, prejudice, and stigma when it comes to mental illness. My ultimate goal is to challenge the silence that surrounds mental illness and to build a future where the reaction isn't one of shame but one of understanding, so that kids like Titus will never have to suffer in silence.