I love Chappell Roan because she is herself loud and unapologetically. She is not only a musical artist, but a visual artist as well, with her detailed outfits, makeup, and hairstyle that come with every performance. She inspires me to reach her level of self confidence, to be brave and loud and proud of who I am. Her music often carries meaning, and behind it peppy beat, shares a message or personal experience with her crowd. Her music blends together so many styles, such as indie or pop, as well as messages that help people who may be opressed have a safe space. She is a role model and icon for queer people, for feminists, for drag queens, makeup artists and fashion designers, and many, many more. She shows that you don't have to conform inside the box of society and can be free to create and succeed while doing what you love. On the other hand, she also shows that life isn't all sunshine and rainbows. She shares her personal struggles she faced while getting to where she is, but she also shows that it is possible. To not give up when faced with difficulty, and not matter how hard it may seem, to keep going in life because you never know where it may take you. She also keeps respect for herself, and doesn't allow people to disrespect her, such as paparazzi or record labels. She's as genuine as some celebrities can get, as she doesnt have the media training o nepotism that a lot of modern celebrities have. She says what she wants to say, when she wants to, and doesnt sugar coat it or tiptoe around what may or may not get her in trouble. Her authenticity is something we need more of in this generation, and shes says a powerful message that many in the upcoming generations can relate to. Her songs such as "Pink Pony Club", "Die Young", and "Good Hurt" relate to modern teenagers, but she also makes songs such as "Good Luck Babe" and "HOT TO GO!" that is just plain and simple, Hot girl, fun music which is also very popular at the current moment in time. She mixes everything we need more representation of.

My favorite athlete from Team USA is Suni Lee from the Gymnastics team! Gymnastics is one of my favorite sports to watch, and while I love all the girls and guys, Suni Lee is a standout for me. I even flew all the way to Auburn to watch her compete. I also watch all streamed events to see her compete. I love her because she is so talented at what she does, and works hard to get where she is. Even without Simone in th 2020/2021 Olympics due to her twisties, he helped carry her team to a silver team medal, even though they had lost one of the most talented athletes that Team USA have ever had. Another amazing feat of hers is being the first Hmong American Olympic athlete, and first Asian American o win an Olympic All- Around. While I am not a member of the Hmong or Asian-American community, it is always inspiring to see someone breaking boundaries and seeing someone achieve what has never been done before. Another thing I love about Suni Lee is community she has built along her fellow gymnists, both Olympic and college. She seems to have a special bond with and care about every single one, which is inspiring to reach her level of care, compassion, and connection. Lastly, Im also a huge Harry Potter fan! So cool I can share interests with my idols!

People are terrifying. The world around me is terrifying. The sights, the sounds, the lights and movement and chaos is terrifying. How do I not get lost in it? How do I not drown in the sea of people around me, or get carried away? As a child I was selectively mute, and refused to go anywhere because every situation was stranger danger. This has carried though toddler and into my teenage years, as I still desperately avoid social interaction. Recently, I went to my states High School Theatre Festival to be able to learn more about the arts I love, but was quickly overwhelmed by the amount of people. Stuck in a crowd for hours, having less than a one foot personable bubble was tortured, and I stood in the crowd for hours. So many people talking around me, walking, accidentally running to me. It was miserable standing there for as long as I had endure it. I quickly began physically and mentally shutting down. Is topped communication my struggles to others around me, began losing control of my body and mind, falling to the ground sobbing, with throbbing migraines and dropping blood pressure. I kept questioning myself and my ability to succeed. How was I going to be able to go to parties, to social events and colleges? How can I get a career when I can speak up and advocate for myself and my needs when I'm overwhelmed? How can I interview for jobs, audition for shows, and do what I want when I'm not in my small, safe surroundings? After all, I was on a college campus and couldn't handle a few hundred people for a few hours, how was I going to handle several thousands for four or more years while getting a degree? Not long after, I saw my doctor and got diagnosed with general and social anxiety, and have begun medication, as well as start seeing a therapist. With the help of medication and my therapist, I devolped methods to deal with my struggles and go in public without the breakdowns. I am able to recognize when I begin to feel overwhelmed and remove myself from social situations before my collapse. I have friends who know when Im uncomfortable and help get me in my quiet, safe, secluded environment until I am able to regain my ability to speak and voice what I need. Im learning skills to talk to strangers, to navigate things that cause me fear, and have discovered small, liberal arts campuses with small class sizes, rather that state campuses with thousands of students and hundreds in each class. Im learning how to survive with my anxiety, and advocate for myself so I don't drown in the real world.

I am currently facing a large effect on mental health and how it is going to shape my life and those around me. I went to my primary doctor less than a week ago and got a diagnosis for both depression and anxiety and have been prescribed medication. However, I have known this for a while. For over 4 years, I have dealt with my struggle of self-harming and suicidal thoughts that originated when my father went to a hospital due to Covid 19. For 129 days, he was in 4 different facilities and it was widely believed he wouldn't survive. For an 8th grader, facing the challenges of returning to school, starting middle school, new sports, learning a new instrument, and more, I thought I was already dealing with a lot of stress. But observing my friends and family around me mourn the loss of someone who wasn't dead, sent me into a deep spiral where I largely blamed myself. I was the first person in my family to catch the disease, and now over 3 years since he returned home, I continue to blame myself. I often thought I should be the one at risk of dying, not him. I struggled in silence for a long time, scared to burden my mother with any other difficulties, and made attempts on my life in private. Now, freshly with my driver's license and the same mental health struggles, I often think about crashing my car or driving off a bridge because I still believe I deserve to be dead, even though my father survived COVID-19. My family was always oblivious to my struggles, as I felt burdening them with a dying husband, father, brother, friend, daughter, niece, or sister who wanted to die. I forced myself to move forward and succeed, even though I often collapsed in on myself. After he got better and returned home, he still had lingering effects and I didn't share my struggles, but I faced the extra burden of failing grades, quitting sports, and losing friends. On the surface, my mother was disappointed I was no longer the child she raised, but she didn't know I was long gone. I was no longer a gifted scholar, top of my class, and a three-sport athlete. I was her worst nightmare, an average, opinionated, eyeliner-wearing kid who had bigger priorities in life than straight A's. But she didn't know why I changed. It wasn't until I truly came crashing down after breaking up with my boyfriend that she saw how unstable I had become. Unfortunately, she didn't believe my struggles. She thought I was a dramatic, overreacting 15-year-old, who was making a bigger deal out of my 3-week relationship than it truly was. Even in my attempts to open up about past struggles and how I became unstable, to begin with, she didn't believe me. To her, I became a liar and was unbelieved. Called a pathological liar, an attention seeker, and a stranger to her. This only worsened my mental health. The one person I was supposed to be able to go to about anything no longer trusted me. I thought I was truly alone, doomed to carry this burden until the day I died, and I was willing to do anything to make that day come sooner. Through my struggles, I found a community at my school called the Gray Matter Collective, which was formed after a local high school boy took his own life. Now, many people join together from local districts to advocate for mental health awareness. This club has allowed me to connect with others who go through the same struggles and join as a group to not only survive but thrive and help others find their meaning in life. I have found friends who face similar struggles, and are a safe space when I reenter my mental health struggles. From driving me home, or even with me when I am too scared to do so alone, to calling me at 2 in the morning when I have panic attacks, they back me however they can, whenever they can, and I do my best to support them the same. Going over on weekends to listen to their struggles, surprising them with food and little gifts so they don't feel so forgotten in the daily chaos of high school and AP classes, in siblings moving away to college and grandparents passing, we found our ways to support and notice each other struggles so we can stay alive and grow into the people we truly want to be in life, not the shell of a human we turn into when we have a bad day. I was also able to begin seeing a therapist through my school. She gave me the tips and tricks I needed to work through my struggles, rebuild the relationships that I thought were unsavable, and help connect me to the mental health resources around me. Even though my community had failed me in so many ways, it was finally saving me. Though I am no longer, and probably never will be, the daughter my mom hoped I'd grow into, she sees who I am and is helping me. I am not a straight-A student again, I and passing my classes and in the top ten percent of kids in my grade. Though a slow, long, difficult journey, I am beginning to heal, and find who I am again.

I am currently facing a large effect on mental health and how it is going to shape my life and those around me. I went to my primary doctor less than a week ago and got a diagnosis for both depression and anxiety and have been prescribed medication. I forced myself to move forward and succeed, even though I often collapsed in on myself. I didn't share my struggles, but I faced the extra burden of failing grades, quitting sports, and losing friends. On the surface, my mother was disappointed I was no longer the child she raised, but she didn't know I was long gone. I was no longer a gifted scholar, top of my class, and a three-sport athlete. But she didn't know why I changed, but she saw how unstable I had become. Unfortunately, she didn't believe my struggles. She thought I was a dramatic, overreacting 15-year-old, who was making a bigger deal out of things than it truly was. Even in my attempts to open up about past struggles and how I became unstable, to begin with, she didn't believe me. Called a pathological liar, an attention seeker, and a stranger to her. This only worsened my mental health. The one person I was supposed to be able to go to about anything no longer trusted me. I thought I was truly alone, doomed to carry this burden until the day I died, and I was willing to do anything to make that day come sooner. Through my struggles, I found a community at my school called the Gray Matter Collective, which was formed after a local high school boy took his own life. Now, many people join together from local districts to advocate for mental health awareness. This club has allowed me to connect with others who go through the same struggles and join as a group to not only survive but thrive and help others find their meaning in life. I have found friends who face similar struggles, and are a safe space when I reenter my mental health struggles. From driving me home, or even with me when I am too scared to do so alone, to calling me at 2 in the morning when I have panic attacks, they back me however they can, whenever they can, and I do my best to support them the same. Going over on weekends to listen to their struggles, surprising them with food and little gifts so they don't feel so forgotten in the daily chaos of high school and AP classes, in siblings moving away to college and grandparents passing, we found our ways to support and notice each other struggles so we can stay alive and grow into the people we truly want to be in life, not the shell of a human we turn into when we have a bad day. I was also able to begin seeing a therapist through my school. She gave me the tips and tricks I needed to work through my struggles, rebuild the relationships, and help connect me to the mental health resources around me. Even though my community had failed me in so many ways, it was finally saving me. Though I am no longer, and probably never will be, the daughter my mom hoped I'd grow into, she sees who I am and is helping me. I am not a straight-A student again, I and passing my classes and in the top ten percent of kids in my grade. Though a slow, difficult journey, I began to heal, and find who I am again.

I am currently facing a large effect on mental health and how it is going to shape my life and those around me. I went to my primary doctor less than a week ago and got a diagnosis for both depression and anxiety and have been prescribed medication. However, I have known this for a while. For over 4 years, I have dealt with my struggle of self-harming and suicidal thoughts that originated when my father went to a hospital due to Covid 19. For 129 days, he was in 4 different facilities and it was widely believed he wouldn't survive. For an 8th grader, facing the challenges of returning to school, starting middle school, new sports, learning a new instrument, and more, I thought I was already dealing with a lot of stress. But observing my friends and family around me mourn the loss of someone who wasn't dead, sent me into a deep spiral where I largely blamed myself. I was the first person in my family to catch the disease, and now over 3 years since he returned home, I continue to blame myself. I often thought I should be the one at risk of dying, not him. I struggled in silence for a long time, scared to burden my mother with any other difficulties, and made attempts on my life in private. Now, freshly with my driver's license and the same mental health struggles, I often think about crashing my car or driving off a bridge because I still believe I deserve to be dead, even though my father survived COVID-19. My family was always oblivious to my struggles, as I felt burdening them with a dying husband, father, brother, friend, daughter, niece, or sister who wanted to die. I forced myself to move forward and succeed, even though I often collapsed in on myself. After he got better and returned home, he still had lingering effects and I didn't share my struggles, but I faced the extra burden of failing grades, quitting sports, and losing friends. On the surface, my mother was disappointed I was no longer the child she raised, but she didn't know I was long gone. I was no longer a gifted scholar, top of my class, and a three-sport athlete. I was her worst nightmare, an average, opinionated, eyeliner-wearing kid who had bigger priorities in life than straight A's. But she didn't know why I changed. It wasn't until I truly came crashing down after breaking up with my boyfriend that she saw how unstable I had become. Unfortunately, she didn't believe my struggles. She thought I was a dramatic, overreacting 15-year-old, who was making a bigger deal out of my 3-week relationship than it truly was. Even in my attempts to open up about past struggles and how I became unstable, to begin with, she didn't believe me. To her, I became a liar and was unbelieved. Called a pathological liar, an attention seeker, and a stranger to her. This only worsened my mental health. The one person I was supposed to be able to go to about anything no longer trusted me. I thought I was truly alone, doomed to carry this burden until the day I died, and I was willing to do anything to make that day come sooner. Through my struggles, I found a community at my school called the Gray Matter Collective, which was formed after a local high school boy took his own life. Now, many people join together from local districts to advocate for mental health awareness. This club has allowed me to connect with others who go through the same struggles and join as a group to not only survive but thrive and help others find their meaning in life. I have found friends who face similar struggles, and are a safe space when I reenter my mental health struggles. From driving me home, or even with me when I am too scared to do so alone, to calling me at 2 in the morning when I have panic attacks, they back me however they can, whenever they can, and I do my best to support them the same. Going over on weekends to listen to their struggles, surprising them with food and little gifts so they don't feel so forgotten in the daily chaos of high school and AP classes, in siblings moving away to college and grandparents passing, we found our ways to support and notice each other struggles so we can stay alive and grow into the people we truly want to be in life, not the shell of a human we turn into when we have a bad day. I was also able to begin seeing a therapist through my school. She gave me the tips and tricks I needed to work through my struggles, rebuild the relationships that I thought were unsavable, and help connect me to the mental health resources around me. Even though my community had failed me in so many ways, it was finally saving me. Though I am no longer, and probably never will be, the daughter my mom hoped I'd grow into, she sees who I am and is helping me. I am not a straight-A student again, I and passing my classes and in the top ten percent of kids in my grade. Though a slow, long, difficult journey, I am beginning to heal, and find who I am again.

If everyone in the world could read one book, I would want that book to be Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller because the book shares a wide variety of messages such as love, loyalty, loss, and motivation as it retells the story of the Greek hero Achilles through the eyes of his lover Patroclus. I would want everyone to read this book because there are so many experiences and events that everyone can be able to relate to the characters and also learn a valuable life lesson. The book starts with a message of abandonment and finding a new home, and shows events of making friends, finding love, and the loyalty and choices that have to be made when protecting people we love and defeating our foes. It shares diversity through different cultures and characters being members of the LGBTQ and the intolerance they face from not only the people around them but also their mother which is a struggle I can relate to on a personal level with myself and some of my closest friends. It shows characters in their darkest moments and happiest times making readers feel okay in their own lives instability. It shows cultural connections, as he befriends someone who is not from the same life or language as a hostage, but they share similar experiences in loss and life, managing to become friends and learn and grow from each other, as well as helping the people around them lose fear and be able to communicate. The book ends with the loss of his lover, and him having to observe what happens as rage overcomes sadness, and Achilles resolves to self-destruct causing his death. Overall, This is a book I feel should be a universal read due to the diversity and life lessons it can teach.