As my mom says, “to whom much is given, much is required.” I think that through different experiences and lessons in life, I have been given the knowledge and intelligence to speak for myself and understand many of the issues that plague many other people and me, so in return, I think it is only right that I try to give back in as many ways as possible. Serving my community and trying to create change in whatever way possible is something that I have taken very seriously. In my community (a rural place in North Carolina), mental health is not discussed enough. Although we have made some strides in the right direction, we are not where we should be. There are still people that believe people dealing with mental health issues are “crazy” or “not tough enough” when in reality, we are all going through our own struggles. We are not taught how to love ourselves or to care for others. No one gives us the tools to deal with emotions properly; early on, boys are taught “men don’t cry” and “suck it up” when they are hurt when in reality, they need strategies and ways to cope with these issues that they face. Both genders are called “crybabies” and told they “whine too much.” There was never a real emphasis on being allowed to have emotions and not masking your emotions. I want to change these stigmas and breed a new way of thinking for many, so although it has been on a small scale, I have already started trying to help my community. I have worked as a kitchen worker at a retirement home and as an after-school counselor. I can honestly say that these were the best two jobs I could have had while in high school. While working at the retirement home, I tried my best to provide a sense of comfort for people who may not have anyone else to find comfort in. Many residents did not have visitors and needed human contact and conversation. They often wanted things and people that reminded them of home, so I tried my best to fill that void for some of them. I learned many life lessons while interacting with residents at the retirement home, but I have learned even more from 5-11-year-olds. Working as an after school counselor, I find it important to build genuine relationships with every child, to play with them, to let them talk to me about any personal problems, and most importantly, try to be a bright spot in a day that could easily be filled with darkness. I have volunteered to greet them as they walk into the school in the mornings, as I believe them getting out of their cars excited to see me can be what they need to start their day off well. Overall, although I may not be able to be their counselor, I hope my impact lasts much longer than their time in the after-school program. My workplace and volunteer work are not the only places where I have consistently tried to leave a lasting impact. I feel the school system has failed us in mental health awareness and given us the correct tools to deal with issues we may face in life, so I have taken the initiative to change some of that. This passion led to me using my senior project as a vehicle for change and gave me the ability to serve others. One of the biggest issues in many schools is the lack of awareness when dealing with mental health. I have heard students joke about killing themselves and heard stories of students cutting themselves. I wanted to give every student a voice and an opportunity to vent and talk about any issues. On the other hand, I wanted to know how they felt about their relationship with the teachers and if they were feeding into the negative mental health culture. I also wanted to know about this from the teacher’s perspective. The goal of all of this was to gather information to bring awareness to mental health at Oxford Prep and push for a mandatory mental health class. After rounds of surveying with over a hundred and twenty students and every teacher at the school, the results showed a huge disconnect between teachers and students; students feel that they are not cared about or loved enough. It showed that many of us struggle with dealing with our emotions. After presenting to all of the teachers, the administration promised to create a mental health class. I will be going to Warren Wilson and major in Psychology; while there, I will be on the basketball team, and I will continue my community service and volunteering. Once I graduate from there, I hope to go to law school or get my master’s in Psychology. I would be going to law school with the intent of becoming a lawyer; on the other hand, getting my master’s, I would be hoping to become a psychologist in some capacity. The idea of being a lawyer is not enticing because of the possible money that could be acquired, but the thought of helping many who have been wrongfully accused or those who deserve a second chance after a mistake is something that would go along with my biggest goal in life, which is helping others. Being a psychologist would help me do the same thing, just in a more direct capacity. Through all of these experiences, I have found a passion for helping others. Although I have helped others, every person I have interacted with during these times has helped me. In a sense, they have been my therapy and helped me in more ways than I could have ever imagined. As life goes on, I will continue to do my best to impact my community, give a voice to those who may not have one, and be the change that I want to see in the world.

After my knee surgery, I felt completely lost in the world. I could no longer play the sport that made me feel alive. Basketball kept me going in many senses, so I had no idea who I was without it. Throughout the eight months away from basketball, I cried for weeks, it seemed, and felt zero motivation to get out of bed. Over time, the light at the end of the tunnel started to show, but as I looked around, I saw many of my peers that did not see the light. Many of us haven’t been given the correct tools to deal with issues we may face in life, so I wanted to create something to change that. This led to me using my senior project as a vehicle for change. As a student at Oxford Prep, I have heard students joke about killing themselves, heard stories of students cutting themselves, and been around students who seem to be dealing with significant issues with zero help. I wanted to give every student a voice and an opportunity to vent and talk about any issues. On the other hand, I wanted to know how they felt about their relationship with the teachers and if they were feeding into the negative mental health culture. I also wanted to know about this from the teacher’s perspective. The goal of all of this was to gather information to bring awareness to mental health at Oxford Prep and push for a mandatory mental health class. After rounds of surveying with over a hundred and twenty students and every teacher at the school, the results showed a huge disconnect between teachers and students; students feel that they are not cared about or loved enough. It showed that many of us struggle with dealing with our emotions. After presenting to all of the teachers, the administration promised to create a mental health class. Although I have already created change on a small scale, I hope to continue to help in whatever way possible.

As my mom says, “to whom much is given, much is required.” I think that through different experiences and lessons in life I have been given the knowledge and intelligence to speak for myself and understand many of the issues that plague many other people and me, so in return, I think it is only right that I try to give back in as many ways as possible. I want to see a change in the way we treat mental health in our society. Although we have made some strides in the right direction, we are not where we should be. There are still people that believe people dealing with mental health issues are “crazy” or “not tough enough” when in reality, we are all going through our own struggles. We are not taught how to love ourselves or to care for others. No one gives us the tools to deal with emotions properly; early on, boys are taught “men don’t cry” and to “suck it up” when they are hurt, when in reality they need strategies and ways to cope with these issues that they face. Both genders are called “crybabies” and told they “whine too much.” There was never a real emphasis on being allowed to have emotions and not masking your emotions. I want to change these stigmas and breed a new way of thinking for many. I have worked as a kitchen worker at a retirement home and as an after-school counselor. I can honestly say that these were the best two jobs I could have had while in high school. While working at the retirement home, I tried my best to provide a sense of comfort for people who may not have anyone else to find comfort in. Many of these residents did not have visitors and were in need of human contact and conversation. They often wanted things and people that reminded them of home, so I tried my best to fill that void for some of them. If I were on break, I would go out in the eating area and talk to them, and a few times, I even went to the store and bought them some things that they would bring up in conversation constantly. I learned many life lessons while interacting with residents at the retirement home, but I have learned even more from 5-11-year-olds. Working as an after school counselor, I find it important to build genuine relationships with every child, to play with them, to let them talk to me about any personal problems, and most importantly, try to be a bright spot in a day that could easily be filled with darkness. I have volunteered to greet them as they walk into the school in the mornings, as I believe them getting out of their cars excited to see me can be exactly what they need to start their day off well. Overall, although I may not be able to be their counselor, I hope my impact lasts much longer than their time in the after-school program. My workplace and volunteer work are not the only places where I have consistently tried to leave a lasting impact. I feel the school system has failed us when it comes to mental health awareness and giving us the correct tools to deal with issues we may face in life, so I have taken the initiative to change some of that. This passion led to me trying to create something that would create change that maybe I could not even comprehend at the time. With my senior project, I wanted to create something that would provide change at Oxford Prep. One of the biggest issues in many schools is the lack of awareness when dealing with mental health. As a student at Oxford Prep, I have heard students joke about killing themselves, heard stories of students cutting themselves, and been around students who seem to be dealing with significant issues with zero help. I wanted to give every student a voice and an opportunity to vent and talk about any issues. On the other hand, I wanted to know how they felt about their relationship with the teachers. I also wanted to know about this from the teacher’s perspective. The goal of all of this was to gather information to bring awareness to mental health at Oxford Prep and some of the relationships between students and the teachers and push for a mandatory mental health class. After rounds of surveying with over a hundred and twenty students and every teacher at the school, the results showed a huge disconnect between teachers and students; students feel that they are not cared about or loved enough, and it showed that many of us struggle with dealing with our emotions. After presenting to a panel of teachers, they promised to create a mental health class and asked me to present it to all of the teachers at the school. I hope to have a hand in the execution of this class so that this class’s impact is felt for the rest of this school’s future. Through all of these experiences, I have found a passion for helping others. Although I have helped others, every person I have interacted with during these times has helped me. In a sense, they have been my therapy and helped me in more ways than I could have ever imagined. As life goes on, I will continue to do my best to make an impact on my community, give a voice to those who may not have one, and be the change that I want to see in the world. Next year I will major in Psychology and hopefully make an even bigger impact in a new community.

After eighteen months of not being physically able to play basketball, I played in my first real game since May 2019. Here I was; I had reached a moment I felt would never happen again. After knee surgery, many months of rehab, many nights filled with sadness, and many doubts, I was finally back. These images may show me playing basketball in my first game after eighteen months, but it is actually showing me beating the odds. It was BOLD to fight through all of this adversity and get back to doing what I love.