Life has a way of teaching us things we never wanted to know; this I know for certain. At the age of 8, my son had his first auditory hallucination. “Momma, I hear an old lady telling me to get hit by a bus”. I had to sit down. Not long after, he began seeing words on the walls, colors and shadows. I was entering a world I had no idea existed. I was about to be propelled into the world of mental illness and nothing could have prepared me. Over the years that followed, I have learned about the chronic lack of services and overwhelming stigma that surrounds mental illness and psychiatry. I have learned about the minimal number of psychiatric beds in our hospital systems and the almost non-existent emergency services available to people who are in crisis. Ten years later, this world has become our “normal” and I have become a better version of myself because of this journey. However, the fact remains that mental health parity is still not a real thing and this vulnerable population is discriminated again every single day. If you had told me in 1995, when I was beginning my nursing career, that in 25 years I would be working in psychiatry, I would have been shocked. Today there is no specialty I’d rather commit myself to. I am so passionate about advocating and fighting for an under-prioritized population. I work on the in-patient psychiatric unit at the University of Michigan Hospital and wear my badge proudly. I care so much about my patients and am privileged to work with other professionals who have my same devotion. My son is one of the bravest humans I know. He has endured more adversity and emotional pain than most will in a lifetime. I didn’t even know what I didn’t know; until his illnesses taught me so much. I want to continue to fight for people with mental illness, who often can’t do so for themselves, by becoming a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. No career would make me prouder!

Life has a way of teaching us things we never wanted to know; this I know for certain. At the age of 8, my son had his first auditory hallucination. “Momma, I hear an old lady telling me to get hit by a bus”. I had to sit down. Not long after, he began seeing words on the walls, colors and shadows. I was entering a world I had no idea existed. Although my son had been diagnosed with autism at the age of 6; over the following years I would learn about words like “co-morbidity”, “medicinally-resistant” and “suicidality”. I would learn about the complete and utter lack of services available and the minimal number of psychiatric beds accessible in our hospital systems. I would learn about the stigma attached to mental illness, how to develop the thick skin of a momma bear and how to navigate down the road less travelled. Ten years later, this world has become our “normal” and I have become a better version of myself, because of this journey. I have worked with children my entire life. I earned my babysitting certificate as soon as allowed and I was the Santa Claus helper at our local mall’s holiday picture display. I have worked as a RN in pediatrics, neonatology, mother-baby, child-birth education and even practiced as a school nurse. In all those years, it never occurred to me that children could be seriously affected by mental illness. This epiphany changed every single thing about my perception of childhood illness. If you had told me in 1995, when I was beginning my nursing career, that in 25 years I would be working in psychiatry, I would have been shocked. Today there is no specialty I’d rather commit myself to. I am so passionate about advocating and fighting for an under recognized and often underserved population. I work on the in-patient psychiatric unit at the University of Michigan Hospital and wear my badge proudly. I care so much about my patients and am privileged to work with other professionals who have my same devotion to this incredible specialty. My son is one of the bravest humans I know. He has endured more adversity and emotional pain than most will in a lifetime. I didn’t even know what I didn’t know; until his illnesses taught me so much. I want to fight for people with mental illness. I want to become a practitioner who can compassionately advocate for patients who often can’t do so for themselves. No career would make me prouder, than becoming a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. I can't wait to begin this next chapter; honoring all those whose lives have been affected by mental illness.