Throughout my life, I've been someone people can confide in, which is important to me because I enjoy helping people and making people feel as though they’re being heard. In my experience, my own anxiety and depression wasn't taken seriously because it was often seen as me just wanting attention and having that stigma of being a "strong" black woman. My mom had to live up to that ideal too, being a single mother and having to raise 3 children while my father was in the military. This stigma took a toll on me because I’ve been expected to always be strong and be independent, but in reality I was really struggling with confidence, creating relationships with others, overthinking and my emotions. Because of this experience, it inspired me to want to give people safe spaces to be able to express and channel their emotions in a positive way. I also became inspired to pursue psychology in college. When I looked into the career, the study of the mind and behavior fascinated me. I became interested in neurological studies, wanting to understand how the brain influences how people act in different situations. As I evolved, I started to realize that there are racial disparities in healthcare, especially mental health care. Hearing people share their struggles, seeing it happen and going through it myself has made me see how much of a problem this kind of discrimination really is. Over the summer I had an internship with Briarpatch Youth Services which is an nonprofit organization that provides resources to runaways and at risk youth. I specifically worked in the Restorative Justice Program that gives youth an alternative to the juvenile justice system. The youth would come in and talk about what happened and create goals to be held accountable for what they did and to make themselves the best person they can be. Once they complete their agreement with the court they will no longer have a municipal conviction record. This program made sure that the youth would not let their offense define them as a person and to succeed in life. Because of that amazing opportunity to be able to connect and create relationships with people, I want to be able to give back and counsel youth and give them the resources that they need to make sure that they have a successful and rewarding future. By doing so, I would like to further my degree and go into criminology because of the school to prison pipeline. It is a very harsh process that pushes students out of school through suspensions, detentions, expulsions and harsh discipline and into the prison system. This would make teens more deprived of the resources needed to make rehabilitation an option rather than punishment. The implicit and explicit bias aims this problem toward black students. I want to be able to find the resources that work best such as restorative justice circles, therapy and mindfulness spaces in order to eliminate the school to prison pipeline.

Currently, I am a sophmore at Grambling State University majoring in psychology and I plan on using my education to become leader and be a positive influence for our troubled youth. I had the opportunity of having an internship at Briarpatch Youth Services which is an non-profit organization that works with runaways and at-risk youth. I specifically worked in the Restorative Justice Program that gives youth an alternative to the Juvenile Justice System. My role with troubled youth involved listening, talking through existing issues, and creating goals that held our youth accountable for their actions. With the help of the community, juvenile justice system and professionals, the Restorative Justice Program allows our at-risk youth to grow beyond their offenses instead of defining them as criminals for the opportunity to succeed in life. During my internship, I saw first-hand the successful results of the program and found my own strengths such as being open minded, authentic and wanting to seek knowledge to be a leader and to make a difference. I also saw the lack of mental health resources like mindfulness spaces, therapy, support groups and more within the black community, specifically black youth. Because of this experience I’ve learned of my own ability to form connections, develop trust and work productively in a team with professionals. I wish to not only learn more about mental processes, brain functions and behaviors, but to learn about the study of criminology because of the school to prison pipeline which targets minorities and involves a harsh process that pushes students out of school through detentions, expulsions and harsh discipline into the prison system. It limits opportunities in their education, economic empowerment and positive relationships. With my organization, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated, I have had the opportunity to promote the importance of college to high school students, read books to the youth, mentor, and more. Also, attending my HBCU and studying and learning among students who look like me have inspired me to make a change as well and to promote postivity. I believe that as I continue to obtain the knowledge needed and having access to these opportunities to make a positive change, I will use my resources to help my community and bring awareness to this situation. I believe that making a positive impact on the world will create safe spaces for the youth and to grow beyond the troubles of the world today.

Currently, I am a sophmore at Grambling State University majoring in psychology and I plan on using my education to become leader and be a positive influence for our troubled youth. I had the opportunity of having an internship at Briarpatch Youth Services which is an non-profit organization that works with runaways and at-risk youth. I specifically worked in the Restorative Justice Program that gives youth an alternative to the Juvenile Justice System. My role with troubled youth involved listening, talking through existing issues, and creating goals that held our youth accountable for their actions. With the help of the community, juvenile justice system and professionals, the Restorative Justice Program allows our at-risk youth to grow beyond their offenses instead of defining them as criminals for the opportunity to succeed in life. During my internship, I saw first-hand the successful results of the program and found my own strengths such as being open minded, authentic and wanting to seek knowledge to be a leader and to make a difference. I also saw the lack of mental health resources like mindfulness spaces, therapy, support groups and more within the black community, specifically black youth. Because of this experience I’ve learned of my own ability to form connections, develop trust and work productively in a team with professionals. I wish to not only learn more about mental processes, brain functions and behaviors, but to learn about the study of criminology because of the school to prison pipeline which targets minorities and involves a harsh process that pushes students out of school through detentions, expulsions and harsh discipline into the prison system. It limits opportunities in their education, economic empowerment and positive relationships. With my organization, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated, I have had the opportunity to promote the importance of college to high school students, read books to the youth, mentor, and more. Also, attending my HBCU and studying and learning among students who look like me have inspired me to make a change as well and to promote postivity. I believe that as I continue to obtain the knowledge needed and having access to these opportunities to make a positive change, I will use my resources to help my community and bring awareness to this situation. I believe that making a positive impact on the world will create safe spaces for the youth and to grow beyond the troubles of the world today.

I chose the study of psychology as a part of my post-secondary plans at Grambling State University because of my internship at Briarpatch Youth Services which is a non-profit organization that works with runaways and at-risk youth. I specifically worked in the Restorative Justice Program that gives youth an alternative to the Juvenile Justice System. My role with troubled youth involved listening, talking through existing issues, and creating goals that held our youth accountable for their actions. With the completion of set goals and permission through the court, our troubled youth could prevent a municipal conviction record. With the help of the community, juvenile justice system, and professionals, the Restorative Justice Program allows our at-risk youth to grow beyond their offenses instead of defining them as criminals for the opportunity to succeed in life. During my internship, I saw first-hand the successful results of the program and found my own strengths, such as being open minded, authentic and wanting to seek knowledge to be a student leader for our troubled youth. I also saw the lack of mental health resources like mindfulness spaces, therapy, support groups and more within the black community, specifically black youth. Because of this experience I’ve learned of my own ability to form connections, develop trust and work productively in a team with professionals. I wish to not only learn more about mental processes, brain functions and behaviors, but also learn about the study of criminology because of the school-to-prison pipeline. which targets minorities and involves a harsh process that pushes students out of school through detentions, expulsions, and harsh discipline into the prison system. It limits opportunities in their education, economic empowerment, and positive relationships. 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 to this situation.

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.