As someone who struggles with Bipolar disorder, managing my depression and mania is an everyday, uphill battle. Recently, due to financial constraints, I was no longer able to afford my medication and was forced to go without them for the majority of this year. As a result, my mental health plummeted and I discovered new lows I had never experienced before. It is a strange phenomenon to be at war with oneself day in and day out, to constantly be at the battle against your brain. It has without a doubt been the hardest year of my life, and as much as I have wanted to give up, it has been a significant learning experience and has influenced and changed all of my current goals in life. I realized I was unhappy with the path I was currently on and (albeit it was largely due to mania) I was energized to pursue other paths and found a true passion for creating art through graphic design. This realization led to me changing majors, adding a new minor, and revamping my career aspirations to something that I was more passionate about and was excited to pursue. This period also led me to value my friendships and relationships more and realize that it is okay to be honest with the people who love me, and allow them to help me when I need it. In the past, I often struggled to allow people to help me, preferring to suffer alone if it meant the ones who cared did not have to worry, but it only made things harder and drove wedges in relationships I cared about. However, during what has been arguably my toughest battle with my mental health yet, I came to realize that all of these people want me to be honest and want to know how I am doing and that it is okay to tell them. In turn, my relationships have become stronger and I was able to curate healthy and much-needed support systems. Strengthening my relationships also directly impacted my overall beliefs, as I started to form healthier beliefs about my friendships, relationships, and myself as well. While it is still an everyday battle, and I am still without the medication that I need, I have learned to cope and manage by simply telling myself that things will get better and adopting better habits to manage stress. For example, being consistent with journaling and creating art and being open about my struggles. I started to tell myself more positive things and chose to believe these positive things until they became regular, everyday thoughts. It is not easy and I still struggle a lot, it is still hard to function without medication and some days are still just as dark as others, but it is a constant effort. Though I would not go back and do it twice, I would not trade all that I have learned about myself and the growth I have made for anything in the world.

As someone who struggles with Bipolar disorder, managing my depression and mania is a daily, uphill battle. Recently, due to financial constraints, I could not afford my medication and was forced to go without them for the majority of 2022. As a result, my mental health plummeted and I discovered new lows I had never experienced. Having to battle your brain is the hardest thing to do when you are bipolar and unmedicated and statistically puts you at a higher risk of suicide and substance abuse. So it is no surprise to say that 2022 was a difficult year for me. However, as much as I wanted to give up, in a way it was a necessary experience because I was forced to manage my emotions on my own and without the necessary substance to aid in that process. From this, I learned a lot about myself as well as perseverance and the importance of letting go (of all that hurts me in life) and allowing myself to grow. I have also learned how to identify my triggers and develop ways to keep myself from crashing when things get hard. I know this experience was important because now I have the skills to manage my mental health and forge through adulthood. Before I switched my field of study to Psychology, I was majoring in Kinesiology with a focus on physical therapy. While psychology is a long way from kinesiology, my reasoning for pursuing this degree is largely the same. At heart, I am a creative and I love to help and inspire people in any way I can, especially through various art forms such as photography and poetry. What attracted me to kinesiology was the ability to help athletes recover and return to the sport they love because I understood how it felt to sit out due to injuries and how heartbreaking it tends to be sometimes. Because I had that experience, I made it my mission to ease that burden for other athletes who were in my situation and nurse them back to health, and be cleared to return to their sport. However, because I am a creative, I started to feel as though kinesiology was not a suitable path due to not having the time to pursue other avenues once I am in the field. I have always had dreams of having a career in physical therapy while pursuing other things on the side such as having a photography business and traveling around the world and capturing art at every turn. I realized that a career in kinesiology was going to be too stagnant to provide the flexibility to do other things. For this reason, I felt as though psychology was a good in-between because I will have the ability to help people in various ways without having to be tied down to a stagnant career that will take me years to have time to do what I love to do. Ultimately, I want to be able to help and inspire people through interloping psychology through different forms of creative measures such as photography and poetry to help people through hard times.

In 2020, I lost my cousin to domestic violence, and the incident shook my family to its core. The times that I had spent with my cousin and her boyfriend would have never led me to believe anything so deadly and violent could become of their dynamic. It was very painful to see the way the tragedy impacted my family, and it was during this time that I was informed of the abuse many of the women in my family faced, which is why it was so impactful for many of the women in my distant and immediate family. It is said that 1 in 4 women will experience some form of domestic violence from their male partners, and domestic violence hotlines see upwards of 20,000 callers per minute (NCADV.org) and take the lives of thousands of men, women, and children each year. Year after year, these numbers seem to steadily increase, as household and intimate violence continue to ravish the lives of those around them. The tragedy of this accident, and the unfortunate reality that my cousin was forced to become another statistic, caused me to revamp how I view certain situations and constantly push for those I love to try to leave situations that are unhealthy for them. For example, if a friend of mine is currently in a toxic relationship but is incapable of realizing such, I try my hardest to get them to understand what is wrong so that they can get out before it is too late. This is much easier said than done though, as it is just as hard to get someone to recognize abuse as it is to break the cycle of abuse, but despite the difficulty, I am committed to never give up doing so. I have made it my mission to fight for the ones I love, help them get to a safe place, and hopefully show them what a healthy version of love looks like so that they can take it with them for their next relationship. The people close to me, family, friends, and anything in between, are what matter the most to me in this life, and without them, I do not know what I would do with myself, so I will always do what I can to ensure they live a long, happy life full of love and happiness, and I will fight every day to make that their reality.

Living a life suffocated by fear is the same as not living at all. I believe that today more than ever, it is easy to live a life of fear, downplay your potential and stifle your progress due to comparing your lifestyle to others. And while I will be the first to admit that I enjoy a nice "get ready with me" or "a day in the life" TikTok video now and then, too much of this content leads to a world of self-doubt. It can be hard to be yourself and take risks when you're so busy comparing yourself to others, because you will always feel like your best won't be good enough or that you're already too behind to try. So, how do I practice bravery and live boldly despite it all? It's a simple, yet incredibly difficult method and it revolves around letting go of the need to compare myself to others. Once I began to detach myself from the desire to compare my success and journey to others, I found that it became easier to be brave, take risks and be loud and bold both about myself and the path that I am taking. Learning to master this skill is key because in mastering it, I also let go of the fear of what others think and the fear of failure. I became free from the shackles of fear and doubt, no longer suffocated by the thought of what others may think, and was able to unapologetically live my best life and become my best self. A life like that can make anyone unstoppable.

While I realize that it is largely up to major corporations to reduce the impacts of climate change, I still believe that individuals should try to do their part, no matter how small it may be. For me, doing my part means choosing to walk when I can rather than driving. Since I am lucky enough to live close to campus, I often choose to skate to campus as well as around it. On days when my classes are too far, I take the shuttle that takes residents from my apartment to the campus bus hub, and from there I use my skateboard or an electric scooter (provided by my university) around campus for the day. Alongside choosing to walk or skate, I also try to ensure that I am recycling my garbage and clothing, and I usually try to donate all of my old things rather than throwing them away, as I believe that there is always someone who can fix or restore old items. While it may not seem like much, I believe that every little effort is worth it and we should all try to do our part to make the Earth a little greener.

As someone who struggles with Bipolar disorder, managing my depression and mania is an everyday, uphill battle. Recently, due to financial constraints, I was no longer able to afford my medication and was forced to go without them for the majority of this year. As a result, my mental health plummeted and I discovered new lows I had never experienced before. It is a strange phenomenon to be at war with oneself day in and day out, to constantly be at battle against your brain. It has without a doubt been the hardest year of my life, and as much as I have wanted to give up, it has been a major learning experience and has influenced and changed all of my current goals in life. I was able to realize I was unhappy with the path I was currently on and (albeit it was largely due to mania) I was energized to pursue other paths and found a true passion for creating art through graphic design. This realization led to me changing majors, adding a new minor, and revamping my career aspirations to something that I was more passionate about and was excited to pursue. This period also led me to value my friendships and relationships more and realize that it is okay, to be honest with the people who love me, and allow them to help me when I need it. In the past, I have often struggled to allow people to help me, preferring to suffer alone if it meant the ones who cared did not have to worry, but it only made things harder and drove wedges in relationships I cared about. However, during what has been arguably my toughest battle with my mental health yet, I came to realize that all of these people want me to be honest and want to know how I am doing and that it is okay to tell them. In turn, my relationships have become stronger and I was able to curate healthy and much-needed support systems. Strengthening my relationships also directly impacted my overall beliefs, as I started to form healthier beliefs about my friendships, relationships, and myself as well. While it is still an everyday battle, and I am still without the medication that I need, I have learned to cope and manage by simply telling myself that things will get better and adopting better habits to manage stress. For example, being consistent with journaling and creating art and being open about my struggles. I started to tell myself more positive things and chose to believe these positive things until they became regular, everyday thoughts. It is not easy and I still struggle a lot, it is still hard to function without medication and some days are still just as dark as others, but it is a constant effort. Though I would not go back and do it twice, I would not trade all that I have learned about myself and the growth I have made for anything in the world.

For nearly three years now, COVID has caused great devastation across the globe, impacting the lives of many. Thousands of people worldwide have had their lives changed by this pandemic, be it losing a loved one, unemployment, financial struggles, or social isolation; we all have been impacted in one way or another. It is imperative to find and appreciate the little things in life during times like this. For me, those things are photography, journaling, gaming, and spending quality time with the people I'm around as much as possible. Many of us have been forced to be distanced from those we love, so even on bad days, simply having my closest friend nearby makes my day. Photography, journaling, and gaming are all ways to relax and unwind, and capture the beauty of the outdoors and log my thoughts for the day. Things like Starbucks runs, going out at 1 am with a friend to drive around attempting to find something to eat, and hanging out in The Quad are other minor things I find pleasure in. It has been hard to find the light in the dark during these trying times, but we can always find one thing to shed a little light in the darkness.

Growing up, being the person others can rely on and come to when they're in need has always been my goal. Over the past few years, I have taken several different personality tests, all with various questions and other personality types. Each time I take one, I get the same result; the giver and the caretaker. For me, giving to those in need is not about looking for something in return; it is about the feeling of knowing I helped someone who needed it, in whatever way they needed it. These days, there are more ways to give back than simple donations to organizations. I believe that giving to these organizations, like St. Jude's, is a great way to give back, and I encourage all to do so, but I try to make giving back more personal as well. For example, 'gofundme' has become an excellent way for individuals to raise money for personal expenses, such as tuition, medical bills, or funeral costs. Recently, people have also begun to prefer receiving donations to a mobile payment option of their choices, such as Paypal, CashApp, Venmo, apple pay, and several others. To give back, I look for people struggling to gain donations and donate to them, as well as posting their links on social media to a broader audience. Even if only a few more people contribute to their cause, I feel satisfied knowing I helped someone get a little closer to their goal.