My greatest achievement was serving the youth and positively influencing them. Over the summer I had an internship at Briarpatch Youth Services, an organization that gives services to runaway, homeless and at-risk youth. I specifically worked in the Restorative Justice program that gives youth an alternative to the Juvenile Justice System. My role involved listening, talking through existing issues and creating goals to hold our youth accountable. With the completion of set goals and permission through the court system, our troubled youth is then prevented from a municipal conviction record. With the help of the community, Juvenile Justice System and professionals, Restorative Justice Programs allow at-risk youth to grow beyond their offenses instead of defining them as criminals and have a chance to succeed in life. During my internship, I saw firsthand the successful results of the program and found my strengths such as being open-minded, authentic and trustworthy enough to create relationships with the youth to become a positive student leader for the youth. I also learned of my ability to form connections, develop trust and work productively with a group of professionals. Working with a group of professionals helped me realize that I can work in group settings and independently, I'm mature and able to work positively to create a positive environment so that I can connect with others. Because of this experience, I wish to extend my knowledge from Briarpatch Youth Services to the study of criminology because of the school-to-prison pipeline. The school-to-prison pipeline is a very harsh process that pushes students out of school through suspensions, expulsions, detentions and harsh discipline in the prison system. This causes students to be deprived of the resources needed to make rehabilitation an option rather than punishment. The implicit and explicit bias aims this problem toward minorities, specifically students of color; which limits opportunities in their education, economic empowerment and positive relationships that will help them succeed. Finding these resources that work best will help eliminate the school-to-prison pipeline and keep children out of the prison system. I believe that once I obtain the knowledge to make a positive change, I will use my resources to help my community and bring awareness. It's important to me to make a positive change in my community because I believe that anyone can be great and by using that knowledge I will be able to do so in order to make an impactful change.

My experience with mental health has been eye-opening for me. Because of social media having this impact on me I suffered from social anxiety and depression. Social media has this beauty standard that I thought I would never have since I am a Black girl, which then developed my mental health disorders. Having social anxiety and depression made me become perceived by people in the wrong way. Since I was so scared to meet new people I didn't introduce myself when walking in a room and that made me be seen as rude. Depression overall just effected my relationships with people and how they view me as a person because I was seen as nonchalant and selfish. My family didn't really understand what I was going through because being in a Black household those type of things don't matter. They didn't understand that having social anxiety made me feel stuck and I didn't know what to do in my life and limited my opportunities. They didn't realize having depression made me mentally and physically tired and didn't have the energy to enjoy the things that I used to enjoy. I was constantly getting in trouble with my parents, arguing with my siblings, giving up in school and sports and so much more. I thought people would've realized it was a cry for help, but they didn't. Soon then I realized if I couldn't help myself then who would. So to improve myself I deleted social media and lost contact with friends because I needed a break from everything. Then I focused on my school work, worked harder in sports, joined different programs and got a new job. After that I decided that self-love is the best love. My friends didn't ask if I was okay and my family still didn't understand what I was going through when I've tried to tell them several times. I learned to love myself. Being off-the-grid helped me understand how much of my life depended too much on social media I found new hobbies like skateboarding, painting and reading to feel more productive and I gained my confidence by getting a new wardrobe, hairstyle, working out at gym and more. Because of this journey, I wish to pursue a future in psychology because I think that mental health in the black community is often overlooked and never talked about. I hope to be an advocate for black people with mental health and people with mental health in general.