Since graduating with my Bachelor's in Psychology in May of 2024, I have dedicated this summer to my employment with Goodwill Industries of Northern Illinois. Under this organization, I routinely recycle and tag donated textiles to be sold on the floor at affordable prices. I have enjoyed this role significantly due to my contribution to giving back to the community alongside a team of dedicated employees and volunteers. This role has also been proven convenient for me as I await my upcoming start date in the College of Education at Northern Illinois University, which I intend to continue working with Goodwill once classes resume. When working with Goodwill, I feel fulfilled knowing that even after my Undergraduate degree and internship have concluded, I can still make a positive impact on those in need of affordable and high-quality necessities amidst increasing prices and financial stress alike. My plans for continuing to impact my community in the future will hopefully begin with my Master's Degree in Counseling. With prior in-office experience at Sinnissippi Centers, a community-based mental health center, I intend to find opportunities to expand my skills in motivational interviewing, interpersonal communication, and crisis management. With these skills consistently being challenged and utilized, I hope to put them to great use within the university's counseling services clinic or outside of the university with a local mental health center. Post-graduation, I aspire to begin work across a variety of demographics and settings including residential programs, inpatient facilities, as well as in-office. By keeping my demographic range open, I feel that I as the helping professional can learn a lot from individuals of all ages, identities, and experiences; This was something that I learned early on in my internship. While seeing clients of my own, I found that more often than not, I was learning just as much as they were. While clients are indeed the experts of their own lives, each individual also provided me with a new perspective on the world around us. This motivating factor has only driven me further towards pursuing clinical mental health counseling as a profession the more I reflect on what I have learned thus far. Though I was unable to secure an in-office position for the summertime, that only leaves more time for me to continue learning how I can provide the best possible support for my community while also continuing to be my best possible self as I navigate this new chapter in my academic journey.

In the last year, I was accepted into an internship with a local non-profit, community-based mental health center known as Sinnissippi Centers Inc. Under the position of Rehabilitative Services Administrator (RSA) Intern, I routinely saw clients on a weekly or biweekly basis, shadowed in-office and out-of-office therapy services, and engaged and collaborated with a team of unique and passionate clinicians to learn and grow within the internship. Along with participation in the company, I was also able to represent my internship company through career and networking fairs at Northern Illinois University to provide information for fellow passionate psychology students who are looking to start their own journey in the helping profession. Additionally, I participated in mental health advocacy at local mental health conferences, club meetings, and presentations for the community. The services that Sinnissippi Offers also go beyond the office which allowed me to shadow multiple settings such as jails, schools, and even home visits to clients. My experiences with Sinnissippi Centers not only boosted my confidence and professional growth, it also solidified my choice to pursue higher education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Coinciding with my time at my internship, I was also accepted into Psi Chi, a National Honors Society made for those in Psychology and Counseling majors. Engaging in this chapter allowed me to discuss and learn about Psychology-based concepts and team-bonding exercises and activities with fellow students. Along with creating new bonds along the way, I was also provided the chance to engage in debates that expanded my perspective on the vastness of the Psychology field. Psi Chi also allowed me to stay focused and connected with the content that I had learned in courses and meetings. Such information, particularly therapeutic approaches and perspectives, tied in significantly with my experience practicing these skills in my internship. With these experiences being a significant source of development and growth in my academic and professional career, I hope to continue expanding my knowledge and find opportunities to incorporate these skills into future positions in the helping profession; I also hope to build more communicative and supportive relationships with my peers. As my passion for support and advocacy grew further in the past year, so too does my drive to cross new milestones and establish new goals in my next steps of the academic ladder.

Leadership in my eyes goes beyond giving orders and being on top of an organization. Leadership also involves having skills in patience, empathy, problem-solving, creativity, and emotional maturity. Leadership also involves the ability to initiate decisions that benefit not only yourself but the people overall. These values in leadership are important-significantly because the way that someone leads will ultimately dictate whether they truly are a leader or just a boss. Successful leaders in my experience have always been individuals who rather than view themselves as above others, they view themselves among others. A leader understands and initiates equity with goals attuned to the support of every individual. Leaders are selfless, unafraid to make difficult decisions, and can lead without an inflated sense of pride or ego for themselves. Those in leadership positions who display skills such as these have always been the most approachable and doted on by others in my experience, which motivates me to lead with similar values in mind. It takes a special person to put aside their own feelings and opinions before making a decision, and this makes leadership an occupation that requires a special person. Leadership is a quality that is often considered in my line of study (Psychology) as support professionals, clinicians, therapists, psychologists, and other psychology-based professions will usually have a client load in which they listen, guide, and help individuals seeking help. Having the restraint and patience to guide individuals who may be at a very difficult point in their lives is something that not many people can do, but it is a skill that can be life-changing if initiated correctly. In the events where I have had to take the role of a leader, I found myself to be very nervous but at the same time, I had a sense of pride knowing that I had been chosen to take on such responsibilities. my practice in leadership has been jumpstarted recently as I have begun to take on my own client load within my internship this semester. This has been a huge change in my major as I have had little prior experience in leadership. Despite this, I have developed feelings of gratefulness for the opportunity to be able to guide individuals who need a helping hand. When taking on that role as a guide, mentor, or advisor, I could only think of how I am able to help the other person, and I think that is a testament to how a leader should think.

I would like to begin by saying my heart goes out to the family and friends of Elizabeth Schalk. As someone who had also lost a close family member suddenly and without warning, it can be a harrowing and emotional process to grieve and process a personal loss. With this scholarship to memorialize the legacy of Elizabeth Schalk, I hope that mental health can further develop and grow destigmatized with time and understanding. My name is Kendall, I am an undergraduate Psychology student at Northern Illinois University, and I aspire to uplift and support individuals who are struggling and suffering from mental illness and the impacts that mental illness can have on every aspect of an individual's life. My passion for psychology stems from my and my family's history of mental illness. I come from an anxious teen mother who experienced trauma at the hands of an alcoholic father and a teen father whose history involves childhood physical abuse, war trauma, bipolar disorder, and explosive anger which only furthered a generational cycle of abuse. As for myself, I have a history of chronic anxiety, vocal & motor tics, and severe depression which I have only recently recovered from. My childhood had been somewhat positive as long as I was with my mother, but on weekends when I was court-ordered to visit my father's house, I was exposed to highly stressful environments and experiences, which only intensified my somatic and psychiatric symptoms of stress. I had grown accustomed to this lifestyle of constant anxiety and insecurity of what may happen next as I spent a period of my life couch-hopping with my mother after we left my father's home to start anew. I had not realized that much of my childhood lifestyle was, in reality, very unstable until I was much older. a majority of my mental illness did not emerge until my late teens and young adult years. By this time I was driven to periods of extreme restrictive eating as my anxiety always left me sick to my stomach every morning and night. My depressive symptoms led me to experimental events of self-harm, underage drinking, and smoking. These experiences did not debilitate me until I had moved out and was facing mental illness alone and head-on. Large periods of isolation, access to harmful amounts of alcohol, and an unstable sleep and eating schedule had driven me nearly out of my mind until I had the mind to admit myself to be evaluated and entered into an inpatient facility. This was a terrifying period of my life as I was unsure of what to expect once again. Only this time, I could not be certain of whether I would live to see next month, nor did I care what happened either way. My discharge from inpatient was about a year and a half ago. While I was able to recover from this point despite no admittance to a Partial Hospitalization Group and a relapse in depression almost immediately after discharge, I still find myself struggling with negative perceptions, feelings of hopelessness, imposter syndrome, and anxiety when faced with new and/or social situations. I have graduated from therapy recently and am confident that I have the necessary skills to maintain a health-conscious and supportive lifestyle. It is my past which has jumpstarted my aspirations for the future, and with an internship, independent research enrollment, and the closing semesters of my Bachelor's Degree underway, I am looking forward to what higher education has in store for me.

The coexistence between mental health and academics for me has been a trial-and-error process ever since I moved out and began studying at a university. Throughout community college, my mental health fluctuated across a manageable spectrum, with my only true challenge being anxiety that debilitated my ability to be in public settings. My mental health took a sharper turn upon entering my Bachelor's Program at Northern Illinois University, where I met many more challenges with significantly less support that I could reach out to. At its worst, I had returned to school less than a week after my discharge from an inpatient facility, I was taking antipsychotic meds that reduced me to a zombie-like state, and I was unable to reintegrate effectively to a lack of a Partial Hospitalization Program in the area, my therapist only being reachable through virtual meetings, and being exposed to the same environments that I had been in before. At this time, it felt like this would be an impossible battle. Fortunately for me, my mental health had improved upon removing antipsychotics from my med list, forcing myself to attend school events, which paid off as I was able to make friends and eventually meet my boyfriend, practicing anxiety reduction skills, knowing my limits, and seeing life from beyond a traumatic lense. The social factor of this change was the strongest element for my improvement as I was finally able to talk to people, attend parties, and have things to look forward to rather than rotting away in my bedroom and drowning my emotions out with tears, alcohol, and cigarettes. Things for me were looking promising by this point. Today, it truly was promising; I can confidently say that I am thriving in my new environment. My academic performance has drastically improved, my personal life involves more self-care, socializing, and traveling, and I have overall found great success when putting my mental health first. By knowing my limits in social settings, stressful situations, and productivity, I have attained a far more sound state of mind and a more positive outlook on life. My initiative to go out more has resulted in me landing an internship opportunity via a campus job fair as well as an opportunity for independent studies under the guidance of a teaching assistant. When looking back on the last year of my life, I am astounded by how much I have blossomed and flourished since my lowest point. I truly do have to thank my family and my boyfriend for taking the time to guide me out of the mud when I am unable to do so myself. While I have made a phenomenal improvement in my mental health in the last year alone, this does not mean that I am free of any and all stress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety. In the event where I am feeling fatigued, depressed, or anxious, I have been able to strategize my productivity by working ahead or dedicating time blocks to complete my to-do list. I also allow myself more lenience and dedicate more time to positive affirmations, self-care, and allowing myself to share these feelings with my current support systems. I take great care in staying consistent on my medication and maintaining my physical health alongside my mental health. I have created for myself a great coexisting environment that allows me productivity and time for myself and I know that although the future is never guaranteed, I am proud to say that I have found myself in a gratifying place in my life.

The most significant test of resilience for myself can be recalled back to when I had made the decision to separate completely from my father, who was a large contributor to much of the trauma and behavioral responses to stress throughout my childhood. For years I had envisioned a life without having to needlessly walk on eggshells or jump unnecessary hurdles to please my father and his family. Because my parents had divorced long ago, I was required to visit my father's home every other weekend and at least 3 weeks during the summer between my academic years. This arrangement was consistent for over 10 years of my life and it was very clear to my mother the effects that just one weekend had on my mental and physical health. Upon each return from my father's home. I was riddled with verbal and behavioral tics ranging from squeaks in my throat, severe studdering, and hitting myself in the head when I could not manage to get a word out due to my studdering. Over time, it was evident that my weekend visits to my father's house were a significantly intense period of stress for me, but there was little to nothing that my mother could do, so this remained my normal routine until my late teenage years. Co-occurring with this stressor was my history of being bullied at school. At its worst, I had been dubbed "The most hated kid in the school" and experienced daily, chronic, and severe bullying. With these two experiences present in my life, it seemed there was never a moment of calmness in my routine unless I was home with my mother and stepfather. Looking back on these moments in my life, I commend myself for remaining positive and motivated to keep moving forward despite frequent remarks wishing for my demise, statements from my father blaming me for my parent's divorce, and an overall consideration that I was simply a burden wherever I went. It was not until I was 20 years old that I had finally found the strength to take that step and go no-contact with my father. By this point, I had only seen him monthly, but the circumstances within the home had only festered into an instability that I had yet to witness at this point. It was by this point that multiple instances of physical abuse and an order of protection were now present. Horrified, a newfound strength emerged within me, and I was able to make one final leap for the sake of my mental health. I had switched jobs, moved out to a university that was never publically announced to my family, and advised my father that I would no longer be contacting him and vice versa. It has been over two years since cutting contact with my father after years of emotional and verbal abuse, and I have only recently graduated from therapy and consider myself "recovered" from much of my traumatic symptoms. I have found myself thriving in this new environment that I have created for myself; these experiences, while harrowing and sometimes difficult to think about, have ignited my drive to pursue psychology and advocate for others to find their own inner strength that they need to distance themselves from household abuse, whether they live with their abuser or simply visit them on the weekend by court order. I still encounter guilt from time to time, but I know that this difficult decision was the product of years of constant fear, anger, and hopelessness for tranquility in my life. I am proud of myself.

College, while it may appear intimidating as we enter our adult chapter, and often cost a more intimidating price, can be the door to millions of unique opportunities and experiences. To me, college has been a tough journey, but the growth that I've experienced as well as the people that I've met along the way has been vastly rewarding. As an individual who considered skipping college and going straight to work, my final decision to pursue college has been a gratifying and phenomenal choice not only for my own personal growth but for my growth in the complex and ever-changing working world. Along the way, however, I have faced a fair share of mental strain and confusion as to whether I am capable of reaching my goals or if I am even capable of completing my degree on time. To tackle this, I have dedicated a considerable amount of time through trial and error to find my fit when it comes to keeping a sound mind and body. For starters, I have benefited greatly through practicing mindfulness, allowing dedicated time for my hobbies, and maintaining my work under the guise that college is not a raise, but rather an experience. Among the doubts, fears, and struggles during my college experience, I have always managed to come out stronger than before, even if that came at the cost of lectures and points. The strongest lesson in self-care that I've grown accustomed to is that of self-perseverance over grade perseverance. Our mental health should be atop our responsibilities, as we may never see to achieve if we aren't in a sound state of mind. It is also important to understand that as we grow and change, so do our perceptions, interests, and focus. To understand the shift in our focus is especially valid as we narrow in on our desired field of study and eventual career. The challenges that we face in our college years are unique and are often a make-or-break situation for some students. This is why attaining our mind, body, and spirit is not only significant throughout our college experience, it is a necessity. College can be a stressful and often scary moment as we come closer and closer to our desired career paths, but it can also be marvel for our growth in social connections, personal pursuits, and professional background. To make the most out of our university experience, we should also make sure we are achieving this with our best selves.

Social issues, as they are everchanging and reflect the conflict between innovation and tradition, is deeply rooted in elements that resonate closely with me as a psychology major. Social Issues often represent ideologies and mindsets which have never been challenged before. One major social shift since the recent events of COVID-19 have been the global discussion and dissension concerning mental health awareness and how some individuals are often hindered by their own minds, causing them to, more of than not, endure more obstacles toward their goal than the average person. The growing understanding of individuals who battle a mental disorder alongside their responsibilities in life is a major shift from the traditional mindset that those with a mental disorder should simply "get over it" or that they are "lazy" and "ungrateful" when they find themselves immobilized during a mental health crises. Despite this shift, it only appears relevant in select communities, as many countries outside of the US have yet to fully grasp mental health awareness and how it can make day-to-day life more difficult for some individuals. For example, the commonplace idea which I have encountered among my international student peers is that mental disorders or any kind of cognitive deficiency are something that can be "cured" and completely overcome if you simply don't think about it. This could not be further from the truth, as oftentimes trauma, especially if experienced in early childhood, is an element that will, unfortunately, remain a part of us for the rest of our lives. For those, such as myself, who have battled mental health and trauma-related issues on a daily basis, the painful truth is that the effects of trauma never truly go away, they are simply controlled. It is these experiences of mine that have driven me towards contributing to the slow and gradual global teaching of mental health awareness, and how understanding mental health will guide us towards a more empathetic approach to our peers, our environments, and ourselves as individuals. To understand the unique circumstances that make up the individual, as well as how we can support those in our community who are struggling, The psychology field deeply resonates with the realm of public service in the sense that we tackle the issue from the core, from the mind. By teaching key elements such as empathy, mutual understanding, and psychology on a biological level, we are not only destigmatizing the concept of mental illness, we are also paving a pathway to a more unified world; bound by the knowledge of individuality and guided by an understanding of individual circumstances.

My experience with mental health has quite literally shaped who I am as a person, and as debilitating as my experiences have been, I would not change it for the world. Mental health as a spectrum has been something which I have been a witness as well as a subject to since childhood. My experience as a child of divorced teen parents, a child with an undiagnosed tic disorder, an eventual young adult with severe recurrent depression, and now an individual who still struggles at the hand of trauma and mental health has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride through the years. But most of these years were spent shrouded in mystery as I never pursued an interest in psychology until later in high school. It was with the help of a local homeless individual in my community who struggled intensely with bipolar disorder as well as schizophrenia that my interest in mental health and psychology took a dip, then took a dive. It was then that everything in my life seemed to click. I could understand why these things happened, and why I was so affected by them. It made sense, and my perspective turned a brighter corner. My experience did not end in high school. In the years following and up to this point. I dedicate much of my mental health journey and understanding to my best friend, who taught me of her own experiences with mental health, including her own Dissociative Identity Disorder, as well as lengthy conversations, discussions, and exploration of the psychology field through our shared experiences. After 5 years of our friendship, which was constantly tested and strained at the hands of our own mental health struggles, my knowledge and skills in empathy and the fluctuation of mental health have been solidified and primed. I've learned from our friendship that mental health takes patience, compassion, and support from those who truly love us despite our darkest moments often clouding our judgment at times. Being there for my friend, being a key witness to mental health crises of myself and others, my experiences battling depression through trial and error medications, maladaptive behaviors, and ideologies which were nothing short of horrifying, are each among significant driving points in my motivation to study psychology. To witness what my friend went through, realizing what I went through, and how we found ourselves supporting one another as we picked up the pieces, it was my calling, and it was how I met the best friend anyone could ever have. My experiences with mental health are far from the worst. But upon knowing the feeling of calling for help and receiving nothing but silence in response, My strongest goal in life has been to pursue a career in psychology as a Clinical Therapist. I hope to not only support those who feel they've broken down beyond repair but to also educate those who may not realize the importance of their own mental health in a world that seems to constantly push it to the limit. My biggest lesson from seeing and feeling the abysmal moments of mental health has been this: Sometimes all someone needs is a friend, someone who can hold us when we trip up in life, and someone who hears us when we scream and cry. We aren't always searching for an answer, sometimes we just need a presence. Lessons like these are hard to fully understand unless you're someone who has felt true loneliness, true hopelessness, and true distrust of your own psyche. My mental health is still a work in progress after years of therapy, many difficult choices that were made for my own good, and many more regrets as a result of my mental health. But all we can truly do is keep moving forward and understand how and why we are stronger as a result. To reflect, my experiences with mental health have truly shaped my goals, relationships, and understanding of the world. They've taught me to be cautious, yet open to new experiences, they've taught me to value every relationship in my life as they come and go, and they've taught me that the world is a constantly changing, complex realm; one filled with individuals who each have a unique scope of this world which has been shaped by their own experiences as well. We should always keep an open mind as we meet and grow with others. We never know how mental health has shaped their own perspective, but we always have the ability to learn and teach from one another.

Mental Health is something that drives us as a society from beneath the surface. In recent years, mental health advocacy has made massive strides around the world, a phenomenon that was fueled tremendously in the active years of COVID-19. Mental health is not only important, but it is also necessary for a healthy and socially-driven society. Our mental health is our first pillar, our first domino. When our mental health crumbles, soon follows our motivational drive, physical health, nutritional health, work ethic, sleep cycle, and many more elements which make up our best self. We cannot reach our full potential if our minds, our mental state, is clouded and limited by the stressors of life. Furthermore, mental health is especially important to those in the neurodivergent community. Those with mental disorders and cognitive disabilities are often the ones having to jump more hurdles than the average person, and it can feel debilitating and defeating at times. As an individual who has experienced her fair share of cognitive struggles in recent years, as well as receiving help from inpatient services at my darkest moment, It is these lowest points that have taught me the utmost importance that is mental health. Knowing your boundaries and limits is among the highest form of self-care which we can provide for ourselves, and understanding what we can and cannot control inside and around ourselves are an important quality when navigating life with or without mental disorders. Currently, I used my negative mental health experiences as learning tools to build myself back up when mental downfalls emerge. As someone with severe recurrent depressive disorder, mental healthcare is not just important to me, it is a requirement. To utilize coping skills, taking time away for myself, and knowing when and why I am reaching my limit are each very significant practices which I use in my daily life to maintain my own mental health. Knowing when to step away from a situation has helped me immensely when I find it difficult to approach roadblocks in life, being knowledgeable on what constitute responsibilities, and what I can provide myself lenience for are also a skill which has helped me in reducing stress loads while also maintaining my responsibilities in life. Among these skills that I use in my life, however, my most important skill for keeping a level head in the fast-paced and oftentimes confusing world is taking responsibility for myself and my mental health. Understanding that my trauma is not an excuse for negative behavior has been a key driving point when handling tough social situations that may be hindered by my mental health. While my mental health depletion may not have been in my own hands, it is my own which must pick up the pieces so that I may move forward and continue to grow as a stronger individual. I believe that if more individuals can know themselves inside and out, and take responsibility for their mental health care, we can all come to a stronger understanding that mental health is not just an ideology, nor is it a black-and-white concept. Mental health is who we are, and how we grow and change in correspondence with our experiences.

Substance abuse is a phenomenon that has affected millions of individuals and families on a global scale. I, as an individual who has witnessed substance abuse affect nearly half of my family as well as most of my friends, understand greatly how substance use and abuse can severely impact the individual in just about every aspect of their life. From witnessing the destruction of a family tree at the hands of substance abuse to watching close friends being admitted to emergency care due to substance abuse, this concept is not foreign to me. While these experiences of mine have affected me emotionally and mentally as I've grown, it is also a phenomenal push for me to study and pursue an education in Psychology so that I may enter a field aimed to tackle the effects of substance abuse head-on. One aspect of substance abuse that I hope to address and educate my community about is known as Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS). Marijuana, as it is slowly becoming legalized across the United States, has commonly been hailed by users as "non-addictive" and has no long-term effects. This could not be further from the truth as more and more chronic users are finding themselves hospitalized due to their frequent use of marijuana. CHS is characterized by severe instances of vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, and dehydration. I am passionate about educating my peers on this syndrome not only due to the large volume of individuals in my community engaging in the daily use of marijuana but also because I have seen the effects of CHS occur with my very close friend, who described their experience as nothing less than "Pure hell". Alongside CHS, I am also passionate about supporting future clients with a substance use disorder solely because the effects of daily use can last anywhere from months to decades with a risk of relapse or death for chronic users who aim to become fully sober. To undergo recovery from substance dependency is not only difficult in itself but it can also be debilitating to the mental and physical health of the individual. Withdrawal symptoms are an ailment that I am familiar with as someone who depends on multiple medications to function throughout my daily life. Simply quitting a substance cold turkey can leave one with symptoms that range anywhere from dizziness and nausea to severe mental collapse or even death as mentioned before. With an understanding of how perilous and laborious substance use recovery can be, It is an utmost goal of mine to lend a helping hand or to become a source of support for those who cannot do it alone. To help individuals recover, one must not only have a basic understanding of how abuse can dictate the individual's life, but it's also important to teach valuable skills to the individual regarding coping with withdrawals, averting the mind from relapse opportunities, and damage control if a potential relapse does happen. Aiding the individual in their recovery journey requires patience, empathy, and respect. Educating the community on substance abuse, no matter how controversial the topic may be for some, also requires patience but in addition, requires the ability to see the issue from every perspective. This is my dream and if I can help at least one individual on their road to recovery, that's enough for me.