One thing that I believe is a big problem the world is facing right now is public education failing to adequately approach mental health in schools. I am a senior at Appalachian State majoring in Psychology, Education Studies with the goal of continuing my education in a MA/SSP School Psychology graduate program. I believe that an overall inclusive year long course in mental illness awareness and resources, sex education with more emphasis on consent and inclusion with LGBTQ+ education, and physical health plans more centered around nutrition rather than exercise. Health courses should touch on topics that directly impact a shockingly large percentage of middle and high school students today including substance misuse, eating disorders, self-harm, suicidal tendencies, depression, and anxiety. The class should introduce these topics as a way to identify if oneself is possibly struggling with mental illness and to even be able to identify it within their peers. Finally the course should make students aware of the long term effects of mental illness along with easily available options within the school hours like support groups, brochures, and schedules of counselors. Consent is a very important aspect of sexual education that is overlooked, and almost never taught. A gender and sexual preference inclusive education for expansive safety and acceptance is extremely necessary in our education today. Lastly, our physical education relies heavily on exercise rather than a healthy nutritional balance in our diet. I believe that our public education system's sports programs and exercise dependent health courses directly impact the high prevalence of eating disorders in our adolescent population today. All in all, mental health is overlooked in our students academic success. I firmly believe that better addressing mental health, physical health and sexual education will positively impact our student's education for future generations.

One thing that I believe would make education better for future generation is a shift in mental health initiatives and middle school/freshman year health courses. I am a senior at Appalachian State majoring in Psychology, Education Studies with the goal of continuing my education in a MA/SSP School Psychology graduate program. Our health courses are currently centered around physical health and sex education to do with prevention of pregnancy and STDs. I believe that an overall inclusive year long course in mental illness awareness and resources, sex education with more emphasis on consent and inclusion with LGBTQ+ education, and physical health plans more centered around nutrition rather than exercise. Mental health, nutrition, and stress to do with sexual health directly impacts academic success because of time dedication and motivation. Health courses should touch on topics that directly impact a shockingly large percentage of middle and high school students today including substance misuse, eating disorders, self-harm, suicidal tendencies, depression, and anxiety. The class should introduce these topics as a way to identify if oneself is possibly struggling with mental illness and to even be able to identify it within their peers. The class should also be clear and concise with their options, such as resources for themselves and their peers wether it is through the school or with private practice. Finally the course should make students aware of the long term effects of mental illness along with easily available options within the school hours like support groups, brochures, and schedules of counselors. Sex education today relies too heavily on the scare tactic of exposing students to every STI, STD, and terrifying stories of teenage pregnancy ruining lives. A clear description of every gender's option for birth control and STI/STD prevention along with their side effects should be provided rather than only discussing condoms and birth control pills. Consent is a very important aspect of sexual education that is overlooked, and almost never taught. A gender and sexual preference inclusive education for expansive safety and acceptance is extremely necessary in our education today. Lastly, our physical education relies heavily on exercise rather than a healthy nutritional balance in our diet. I believe that our public education system's sports programs and exercise dependent health courses directly impact the high prevalence of eating disorders in our adolescent population today. All in all, mental health is overlooked in our students academic success. I firmly believe that better addressing mental health, physical health and sexual education will positively impact our student's education for future generations.

I value my goals I have for my future. The idea of addressing and preventing mental illness in children and young adults make me happy. I wish to be a school psychologist in the state of North Carolina which currently rates 38th in mental health care access and in public education in the United States. As a school psychologist, I can help students access the adequate academic, mental and physical health resources that they are entitled to through their state and through their public education. My job would also consist of fair and accurate class placement into special education, general education and giftedness programs in order for each student to get the academic resources they need to access their full potential. My goals of helping each and every student learn to their fullest potential while preventing as much mental illness as possible makes me happy. Middle and high school students have an extremely high prevalence of depression, anxiety, substance misuse, eating disorders, self harm, and suicide, and the idea of possibly being able to reduce that by just a small percentage is what I value most. Having this quality will help me in my life journey by pushing me to continue finding ways to help others, particularly children and young adults. After earning a MA/SSP in School Psychology and spending a significant amount of time in the field, I would love to be able to continue my education further towards a doctorate degree and educate future school psychologists. After doing my part in the public education system, helping to inspire more individuals to do the same is another goal of mine. I am graduating in the spring of 2022 with an undergraduate degree in Psychology, Education Studies with a 3.85 GPA and currently applying to Appalachian State University's and East Carolina University's MA/SSP School Psychology Programs in order to achieve these goals. Growing up, my school did not provide adequate mental health services nor access to services to prevent, address, nor treat mental illness. My peers and I had several different mental illnesses that could have been addressed in schools with awareness, support groups, and even a simple bulletin board with information on the disorders. Public schools have the capability to provide more mental health services, where any child without regard to money or resources can have access to care. All in all, I believe my values will lead me in the direction of bettering future generations quality of academic, mental and physical health resources.

My goals make me happy. The idea of addressing and preventing mental illness in children and young adults make me happy. I wish to be a school psychologist in the state of North Carolina which currently rates 38th in mental health care access and in public education in the United States. As a school psychologist, I can help students access the adequate academic, mental and physical health resources that they are entitled to through their state and through their public education. My job would also consist of fair and accurate class placement into special education, general education and giftedness programs in order for each student to get the academic resources they need to access their full potential. My goals of helping each and every student learn to their fullest potential while preventing as much mental illness as possible makes me happy. Middle and high school students have an extremely high prevalence of depression, anxiety, substance misuse, eating disorders, self harm, and suicide, and the idea of possibly being able to reduce that by just a small percentage is what makes me happy.

Middle and high school was definitely difficult for me. Throughout middle and high school, I had an eating disorder known as bulimia which lead to an esophageal disorder that I struggle with on a daily basis. I currently have to undergo surgeries every five weeks, constantly change medications and currently have a very restrictive diet. I am in the process of overcoming this and hope to prevent others from going through the same thing. In high school, my father was diagnosed with stage four head and neck cancer and I didn't have much support. This was recently after I quit playing softball, which happened to be where all of my friends came from, and my mother had her own struggles with the process. Medical bills were overbearing for the family considering he lost his job only a month before he was diagnosed. With this in mind, the possibility for college slowly diminished. I had to go through something drastic, alone. With academic scholarships and help from family, I was able to go to Appalachian State University for my Undergraduate degree, where I intend on continuing my education even further. I wish to help support students going through family conflict during their K-12 education. I am currently a senior at Appalachian State University graduating in May of 2022 with a degree in Psychology, Education Studies. I currently have a 3.85 GPA and I am participating in a school psychology lab with the university. During my college career, I have worked two jobs; University Housekeeping, West Side Lead and a Resident Assistant. Within only a couple of weeks of working as with housekeeping for university housing during COVID-19, I was promoted to student lead for west side of campus. Along with this, my time as a resident assistant was extremely influential in my undergraduate journey as well. These jobs also helped me pay for for education along with my scholarships. In high school, I received many awards and scholarships to do with my commitment of volunteering and working with the public schools in my district. I was a club leader, a volunteer, a care.com worker and a peer mentor working with elementary and intermediate school children on a daily basis. This shaped my career choices to pursue a bachelors degree to do with public education. With my love for psychology, there was an option to incorporate both aspects; School Psychology. My dream in life is to help as many children work to their fullest potential through public education. I firmly believe that our public schools generally fail to accurately place students in correct learning environments and address mental illness. I can contribute to this as a School Psychologist for the state of North Carolina, who currently ranks at 38th for both access to mental health care and quality public education in the United States. As a School Psychologist, one of my duties would be to accurately and fairly place students in special education and/or giftedness programs. To do with Special Education, in order to provide each student with adequate educational services that they are entitled to, it is important to place students in a setting where all of their physical, academic, and emotional needs are met, without over-placing students resulting in taking resources from those who need them. To do with giftedness, it is important to consider motivation. If a student is not placed in a gifted program and they should have been, a general education classroom would be too slow and would never work up to their potential. On the other hand, good grades can be solely based on the time available for them to do homework, or the money available for tutoring rather than actual giftedness. This leads to taking resources away from those students as well as incorporating unreasonably high expectations to above average students. I see my vision positively impacting the world by slowly reducing the prevalence of mental illness and increasing overall healthy lifestyles in our future generations. This will directly impact illness to do with obesity related illness, crime rate, substance misuse, and reduced immune system productively as mental illness and low SES are the main contributing factors to these topics. Schools continue to misplace students to do with special education, failing to provide the public education. My goal is to continue my education in order to put me in a position capable of creating such change. The educational goal of having a MA/SSP in School Psychology by 2025 will help me achieve my life goal of improving the academic, emotional, and physical wellbeing of students without regard to money or resources in order to incorporate an overall healthier and more efficient lifestyle of future generations. I firmly believe that my intention of becoming a School Psychologist in the state of North Carolina will help me pursue my life goals.

My dream in life is to help as many children work to their fullest potential through public education. I firmly believe that our public schools generally fail to accurately place students in correct learning environments and address mental illness. I can contribute to this as a School Psychologist for the state of North Carolina, who currently ranks at 38th for both access to mental health care and quality public education in the United States. I see my vision positively impacting the world by slowly reducing the prevalence of mental illness and increasing overall healthy lifestyles in our future generations. This will directly impact illness to do with obesity related illness, crime rate, substance misuse, and reduced immune system productively as mental illness and low SES are the main contributing factors to these topics. Schools continue to misplace students to do with special education, failing to provide the public education. My goal is to continue my education in order to put me in a position capable of creating such change. The educational goal of having a MA/SSP in School Psychology by 2025 will help me achieve my life goal of improving the academic, emotional, and physical wellbeing of students without regard to money or resources in order to incorporate an overall healthier and more efficient lifestyle of future generations. I firmly believe that my intention of becoming a School Psychologist in the state of North Carolina will help me pursue my life goals. I want to help others for a living, by helping them best utilize their public education and improve overall mental wellbeing in others.

My dream in life is to help as many children work to their fullest potential through public education. I firmly believe that our public schools generally fail to accurately place students in correct learning environments and address mental illness. I can contribute to this as a School Psychologist for the state of North Carolina, who currently ranks at 38th for both access to mental health care and quality public education in the United States. As a School Psychologist, one of my duties would be to accurately and fairly place students in special education and/or giftedness programs. To do with Special Education, in order to provide each student with adequate educational services that they are entitled to, it is important to place students in a setting where all of their physical, academic, and emotional needs are met, without over-placing students resulting in taking resources from those who need them. To do with giftedness, it is important to consider motivation. If a student is not placed in a gifted program and they should have been, a general education classroom would be too slow and would never work up to their potential. On the other hand, good grades can be solely based on the time available for them to do homework, or the money available for tutoring rather than actual giftedness. This leads to taking resources away from those students as well as incorporating unreasonably high expectations to above average students. I see my vision positively impacting the world by slowly reducing the prevalence of mental illness and increasing overall healthy lifestyles in our future generations. This will directly impact illness to do with obesity related illness, crime rate, substance misuse, and reduced immune system productively as mental illness and low SES are the main contributing factors to these topics. Schools continue to misplace students to do with special education, failing to provide the public education. My goal is to continue my education in order to put me in a position capable of creating such change. The educational goal of having a MA/SSP in School Psychology by 2025 will help me achieve my life goal of improving the academic, emotional, and physical wellbeing of students without regard to money or resources in order to incorporate an overall healthier and more efficient lifestyle of future generations. I firmly believe that my intention of becoming a School Psychologist in the state of North Carolina will help me pursue my life goals.

If I were a highly influential figure, I would want to stand for a fair education for every student. A fair education includes accurate class placement, access to educational resources, and access to mental health resources through public education. I wish to become a School Psychologist in the State of North Carolina, which is currently ranked at 38th in access to mental health care and in public education in the United States. I could become a highly influential figure as a School Psychologist through social media. Every day I see posts from influential workers like nurses, psychologists and teachers that share their every day experiences through humor and education. As a school psychologist, I could raise awareness on common mental illness in adolescence like eating disorders, substance misuse, suicidal tendencies, depression and anxiety through a social media platform. I could also raise awareness of special education issues and disability awareness, giftedness programs, bullying, health courses, and issues within public education curriculum. I believe that furthering my education to become a school psychologist would positively influence the lives of many, and continue the influence for future generations.

My dream in life is to help as many children work to their fullest potential through public education. I firmly believe that our public schools generally fail to accurately place students in correct learning environments and address mental illness. I can contribute to this as a School Psychologist for the state of North Carolina, who currently ranks at 38th for both access to mental health care and quality public education in the United States. As a School Psychologist, one of my duties would be to accurately and fairly place students in special education and/or giftedness programs. To do with Special Education, in order to provide each student with adequate educational services that they are entitled to, it is important to place students in a setting where all of their physical, academic, and emotional needs are met, without over-placing students resulting in taking resources from those who need them. To do with giftedness, it is important to consider motivation. If a student is not placed in a gifted program and they should have been, a general education classroom would be too slow and would never work up to their potential. On the other hand, good grades can be solely based on the time available for them to do homework, or the money available for tutoring rather than actual giftedness. This leads to taking resources away from those students as well as incorporating unreasonably high expectations to above average students. I see my vision positively impacting the world by slowly reducing the prevalence of mental illness and increasing overall healthy lifestyles in our future generations. This will directly impact illness to do with obesity related illness, crime rate, substance misuse, and reduced immune system productively as mental illness and low SES are the main contributing factors to these topics. Schools continue to misplace students to do with special education, failing to provide the public education. My goal is to continue my education in order to put me in a position capable of creating such change. The educational goal of having a MA/SSP in School Psychology by 2025 will help me achieve my life goal of improving the academic, emotional, and physical wellbeing of students without regard to money or resources in order to incorporate an overall healthier and more efficient lifestyle of future generations. I firmly believe that my intention of becoming a School Psychologist in the state of North Carolina will help me pursue my life goals.

My dream in life is to help as many children work to their fullest potential through public education. I firmly believe that our public schools generally fail to accurately place students in correct learning environments and address mental illness. I can contribute to this as a School Psychologist for the state of North Carolina, who currently ranks at 38th for both access to mental health care and quality public education in the United States. I see my vision positively impacting the world by slowly reducing the prevalence of mental illness and increasing overall healthy lifestyles in our future generations. This will directly impact illness to do with obesity related illness, crime rate, substance misuse, and reduced immune system productively as mental illness and low SES are the main contributing factors to these topics. Schools continue to misplace students to do with special education, failing to provide the public education. My goal is to continue my education in order to put me in a position capable of creating such change. The educational goal of having a MA/SSP in School Psychology by 2025 will help me achieve my life goal of improving the academic, emotional, and physical wellbeing of students without regard to money or resources in order to incorporate an overall healthier and more efficient lifestyle of future generations. I firmly believe that my intention of becoming a School Psychologist in the state of North Carolina will help me pursue my life goals.

My dream in life is to help as many children work to their fullest potential through public education. I firmly believe that our public schools generally fail to accurately place students in correct learning environments and address mental illness. I can contribute to this as a School Psychologist for the state of North Carolina, who currently ranks at 38th for both access to mental health care and quality public education in the United States. I see my vision positively impacting the world by slowly reducing the prevalence of mental illness and increasing overall healthy lifestyles in our future generations. This will directly impact illness to do with obesity related illness, crime rate, substance misuse, and reduced immune system productively as mental illness and low SES are the main contributing factors to these topics. Schools continue to misplace students to do with special education, failing to provide the public education. My goal is to continue my education in order to put me in a position capable of creating such change. The educational goal of having a MA/SSP in School Psychology by 2025 will help me achieve my life goal of improving the academic, emotional, and physical wellbeing of students without regard to money or resources in order to incorporate an overall healthier and more efficient lifestyle of future generations. I firmly believe that my intention of becoming a School Psychologist in the state of North Carolina will help me pursue my life goals. I plan to give back for a living. Give opportunities to students that I never had. Schools need to adequately provide fair education services and mental health support for every student, and I want to contribute to the change.

My dream in life is to help as many children work to their fullest potential through public education. I firmly believe that our public schools generally fail to accurately place students in correct learning environments and address mental illness. I can contribute to this as a School Psychologist for the state of North Carolina, who currently ranks at 38th for both access to mental health care and quality public education in the United States. I see my vision positively impacting the world by slowly reducing the prevalence of mental illness and increasing overall healthy lifestyles in our future generations. This will directly impact illness to do with obesity related illness, crime rate, substance misuse, and reduced immune system productively as mental illness and low SES are the main contributing factors to these topics. Schools continue to misplace students to do with special education, failing to provide the public education. My goal is to continue my education in order to put me in a position capable of creating such change. The educational goal of having a MA/SSP in School Psychology by 2025 will help me achieve my life goal of improving the academic, emotional, and physical wellbeing of students without regard to money or resources in order to incorporate an overall healthier and more efficient lifestyle of future generations. I firmly believe that my intention of becoming a School Psychologist in the state of North Carolina will help me pursue my life goals.

My dream in life is to help as many children work to their fullest potential through public education. I firmly believe that our public schools generally fail to accurately place students in correct learning environments and address mental illness. I can contribute to this as a School Psychologist for the state of North Carolina, who currently ranks at 38th for both access to mental health care and quality public education in the United States. I see my vision positively impacting the world by slowly reducing the prevalence of mental illness and increasing overall healthy lifestyles in our future generations. This will directly impact illness to do with obesity related illness, crime rate, substance misuse, and reduced immune system productively as mental illness and low SES are the main contributing factors to these topics. Schools continue to misplace students to do with special education, failing to provide the public education. My goal is to continue my education in order to put me in a position capable of creating such change. The educational goal of having a MA/SSP in School Psychology by 2025 will help me achieve my life goal of improving the academic, emotional, and physical wellbeing of students without regard to money or resources in order to incorporate an overall healthier and more efficient lifestyle of future generations. I firmly believe that my intention of becoming a School Psychologist in the state of North Carolina will help me pursue my life goals.

My dream in life is to help as many children work to their fullest potential through public education. I firmly believe that our public schools generally fail to accurately place students in correct learning environments and address mental illness. I can contribute to this as a School Psychologist for the state of North Carolina, who currently ranks at 38th for both access to mental health care and quality public education in the United States. I see my vision positively impacting the world by slowly reducing the prevalence of mental illness and increasing overall healthy lifestyles in our future generations. This will directly impact illness to do with obesity related illness, crime rate, substance misuse, and reduced immune system productively as mental illness and low SES are the main contributing factors to these topics. Schools continue to misplace students to do with special education, failing to provide the public education. My goal is to continue my education in order to put me in a position capable of creating such change. The educational goal of having a MA/SSP in School Psychology by 2025 will help me achieve my life goal of improving the academic, emotional, and physical wellbeing of students without regard to money or resources in order to incorporate an overall healthier and more efficient lifestyle of future generations. I firmly believe that my intention of becoming a School Psychologist in the state of North Carolina will help me pursue my life goals. These goals can only be achieved if I actively listen to those around me during this career; students, teachers, parents, and administration.

My dream in life is to help as many children work to their fullest potential through public education. I firmly believe that our public schools generally fail to accurately place students in correct learning environments and address mental illness. I can contribute to this as a School Psychologist for the state of North Carolina, who currently ranks at 38th for both access to mental health care and quality public education in the United States. I see my vision positively impacting the world by slowly reducing the prevalence of mental illness and increasing overall healthy lifestyles in our future generations. This will directly impact illness to do with obesity related illness, crime rate, substance misuse, and reduced immune system productively as mental illness and low SES are the main contributing factors to these topics. Schools continue to misplace students to do with special education, failing to provide the public education. My goal is to continue my education in order to put me in a position capable of creating such change. The educational goal of having a MA/SSP in School Psychology by 2025 will help me achieve my life goal of improving the academic, emotional, and physical wellbeing of students without regard to money or resources in order to incorporate an overall healthier and more efficient lifestyle of future generations. I firmly believe that my intention of becoming a School Psychologist in the state of North Carolina will help me pursue my life goals.

My dream in life is to help as many children work to their fullest potential through public education. I firmly believe that our public schools generally fail to accurately place students in correct learning environments and address mental illness. I can contribute to this as a School Psychologist for the state of North Carolina, who currently ranks at 38th for both access to mental health care and quality public education in the United States. As a School Psychologist, one of my duties would be to accurately and fairly place students in special education and/or giftedness programs. To do with Special Education, in order to provide each student with adequate educational services that they are entitled to, it is important to place students in a setting where all of their physical, academic, and emotional needs are met, without over-placing students resulting in taking resources from those who need them. To do with giftedness, it is important to consider motivation. If a student is not placed in a gifted program and they should have been, a general education classroom would be too slow and would never work up to their potential. On the other hand, good grades can be solely based on the time available for them to do homework, or the money available for tutoring rather than actual giftedness. This leads to taking resources away from those students as well as incorporating unreasonably high expectations to above average students. I see my vision positively impacting the world by slowly reducing the prevalence of mental illness and increasing overall healthy lifestyles in our future generations. This will directly impact illness to do with obesity related illness, crime rate, substance misuse, and reduced immune system productively as mental illness and low SES are the main contributing factors to these topics. Schools continue to misplace students to do with special education, failing to provide the public education. My goal is to continue my education in order to put me in a position capable of creating such change. The educational goal of having a MA/SSP in School Psychology by 2025 will help me achieve my life goal of improving the academic, emotional, and physical wellbeing of students without regard to money or resources in order to incorporate an overall healthier and more efficient lifestyle of future generations. I firmly believe that my intention of becoming a School Psychologist in the state of North Carolina will help me pursue my life goals.

My dream in life is to help as many children work to their fullest potential through public education. I firmly believe that our public schools generally fail to accurately place students in correct learning environments and address mental illness. I can contribute to this as a School Psychologist for the state of North Carolina, who currently ranks at 38th for both access to mental health care and quality public education in the United States. I see my vision positively impacting the world by slowly reducing the prevalence of mental illness and increasing overall healthy lifestyles in our future generations. This will directly impact illness to do with obesity related illness, crime rate, substance misuse, and reduced immune system productively as mental illness and low SES are the main contributing factors to these topics. Schools continue to misplace students to do with special education, failing to provide the public education. My goal is to continue my education in order to put me in a position capable of creating such change. The educational goal of having a MA/SSP in School Psychology by 2025 will help me achieve my life goal of improving the academic, emotional, and physical wellbeing of students without regard to money or resources in order to incorporate an overall healthier and more efficient lifestyle of future generations. I firmly believe that my intention of becoming a School Psychologist in the state of North Carolina will help me pursue my life goals.

My dream in life is to help as many children work to their fullest potential through public education. I firmly believe that our public schools generally fail to accurately place students in correct learning environments and address mental illness. I can contribute to this as a School Psychologist for the state of North Carolina, who currently ranks at 38th for both access to mental health care and quality public education in the United States. As a School Psychologist, one of my duties would be to accurately and fairly place students in special education and/or giftedness programs. To do with Special Education, in order to provide each student with adequate educational services that they are entitled to, it is important to place students in a setting where all of their physical, academic, and emotional needs are met, without over-placing students resulting in taking resources from those who need them. To do with giftedness, it is important to consider motivation. If a student is not placed in a gifted program and they should have been, a general education classroom would be too slow and would never work up to their potential. On the other hand, good grades can be solely based on the time available for them to do homework, or the money available for tutoring rather than actual giftedness. This leads to taking resources away from those students as well as incorporating unreasonably high expectations to above average students. I see my vision positively impacting the world by slowly reducing the prevalence of mental illness and increasing overall healthy lifestyles in our future generations. This will directly impact illness to do with obesity related illness, crime rate, substance misuse, and reduced immune system productively as mental illness and low SES are the main contributing factors to these topics. Schools continue to misplace students to do with special education, failing to provide the public education. My goal is to continue my education in order to put me in a position capable of creating such change. The educational goal of having a MA/SSP in School Psychology by 2025 will help me achieve my life goal of improving the academic, emotional, and physical wellbeing of students without regard to money or resources in order to incorporate an overall healthier and more efficient lifestyle of future generations. I firmly believe that my intention of becoming a School Psychologist in the state of North Carolina will help me pursue my life goals.

My dream in life is to help as many children work to their fullest potential through public education. I firmly believe that our public schools generally fail to accurately place students in correct learning environments and address mental illness. I can contribute to this as a School Psychologist for the state of North Carolina, who currently ranks at 38th for both access to mental health care and quality public education in the United States. As a School Psychologist, one of my duties would be to accurately and fairly place students in special education and/or giftedness programs. To do with Special Education, in order to provide each student with adequate educational services that they are entitled to, it is important to place students in a setting where all of their physical, academic, and emotional needs are met, without over-placing students resulting in taking resources from those who need them. To do with giftedness, it is important to consider motivation. If a student is not placed in a gifted program and they should have been, a general education classroom would be too slow and would never work up to their potential. On the other hand, good grades can be solely based on the time available for them to do homework, or the money available for tutoring rather than actual giftedness. This leads to taking resources away from those students as well as incorporating unreasonably high expectations to above average students. Another duty would be to prevent and address mental illness where most start; middle and high school. Topics like depression, anxiety, substance misuse, eating disorders, self-harm, and suicide need to better be address in schools, better incorporated in the general curriculum, and have continuous and easy access to resources to do with a students possible mental illness.

My experience living with eosinophilic esophagitis has resulted in constant endoscopies and biopsies, constant change in medication, and an extremely exclusive diet. I was diagnosed with this during my undergraduate experience at Appalachian State University, after years and years of not understanding what was wrong. Growing up I constantly had random food allergies and intolerances including vomiting, instances of choking, constant abdominal pain, headaches, asthma, extreme weight fluctuation, and constant confusion of what this could be. Foods like meats and bread are a constant issue, as I persistently choke on these foods making it extremely uncomfortable to each in public places. It was also embarrassing to be having food intolerances with friends or family, constantly having to leave a room. Realizing that food was such a big aspect of social life was extremely difficult. I have slowly learned from this and adjusted to be able to live and conquer these struggles. Through this process, I was able to find friends that truly supported me. After an incident, it was easy to tell who was concerned and who was embarrassed. This struggle turned into a strength in order to see friends and family members that would continue to support me through this journey. I even had a friend help find me options for paid studies for those suffering with Eosinophilic Esophagitis. It is always interesting to think back to difficult times to do with my disorder, like choking at a public restaurant, and think who was eager and quick to help, and who seemed embarrassed to be near me. Considering I was diagnosed after I turned 18, a lot of surgery and treatment payments fell onto me. This also helped me better understand how hard we need to work in order to pay bills and live on our own. This gave me the opportunity to learn how to properly save money and work consistent hours. I worked plenty of hours in high school and I barley spent my money, so having to spend my earnings on something that isn't exactly desirable was hard to get used to. All in all, living with an autoimmune disease has helped me understand true friendship along with becoming more independent and hardworking to achieve my goals. My hard work will hopefully continue through my undergraduate degree into my MA/SSP degree in School Psychology, where I can contribute to accurate and fair class placement, preventative mental health services, and help improve the nature of public school settings.

I am one of the most hardworking people that I know, and I love that about myself. I have worked part time along with taking high school, dual enrollment and college classes since I was fifteen years old and I have saved enough money to pursue graduate school. After finishing my undergraduate degree in 3 years in Psychology, I wish to continue my education to become a School Psychologist in the state of North Carolina. I love how ambitious and hardworking I am in order to realistically achieve my goals and do my part to make the world a slightly better place. I wish to contribute to the prevention of mental illness and allow for each and every student to best utilize their educational resources entitled to them. My hard work will allow for future generations to better apply their learning, understand the world around them, and better understand how their environment impact their mental health. I am hoping for a healthier, happier, and more efficient world, and I love that about myself.

My name is Kim Sharp and I am graduating in May of 2022 with a degree in Psychology, Education Studies. I am currently in the process of applying to numerous School Psychology MA/SSP in the state of North Carolina, which currently ranks 38/51 for mental health access to care in the United States. I strongly believe that the best way to address Substance Use Disorder is prevention through public education. Issues like self harm, eating disorders, suicidal behaviors and substance use disorders can be addressed by education and prevention services in middle school and early high school. This involves clearly explaining to every student the easily accessible resources provided through public schools. These resources can be expressed to students through posters and bulletins, breaks in the day designed for tutoring and mental health breaks where teachers clearly explain their options, and middle school/freshman year health classes. These health classes need to better address mental illness, explain causes and longterm effects, and provide students with treatment options. Before this is addressed, we need to dive into the most common causes of substance misuse in adolescence; family conflict, unreasonably high expectations, physical and sexual abuse, emotional abuse, bullying, and mental illness. Family conflict, excluding abuse and expectations, can include financial wellbeing and physical health of those in the household. Financial services need to be better expressed for each and every family. Though there are programs like the "Free and Reduced Lunch Program," there is plenty more that can be addressed through public schools as it directly influences a child's education. Schools should provide parents with options of their local and federal governments as well as implement donation programs for clothes, food, and furniture. For students that are struggling with family illness, resources such as support groups and age appropriate education about the illness should be provided. Implementing support groups through schools can provide students with same aged peers to share and exchange information with as well as create their own support system rather than reliance on a subject, without the concern for school budget. Unreasonably high expectations can be addressed in schools through support groups for general anxiety and depression, better class placement to do with general education and AIG programs in early grades, and sports. AIG programs are extremely reliant on time, money, and resources at home rather than actual giftedness. Implementing such programs at these extremely young ages not only set high expectations of those accepted but also make those in general education feel the need to prove themselves or they lose a great amount of confidence in themselves. Secondly, we put too much emphasis on student success on sports rather than general extracurriculars. Schools praises those in sports and coaches push students to the point of feeling they need to constantly prove themselves, contributing to the high prevalence of eating disorders and substance misuse in adolescence. Abuse (physical, sexual, emotional and bullying) can be better recognized and address through proper training of teachers and more collaboration between school social workers and administration. Resources for students need to be more clearly expressed by administration, counselors, teachers, and other school employees. I strongly believe that the prevalence Substance Use Disorder can be drastically decreased by better implementing mental health related services in public K-12 school systems for prevention and treatment where every student has adequate access, without concern for money or time. In doing so, we are better preparing students for life after graduation and proper education on common factors, services provided, and effects after continuous use.

During my high school career, there was always one teacher in Mooresville High School that I always went to about my post-secondary goals. My sophomore English teacher not only helped in the persuasion process to go to a University at all, but specifically to Appalachian State University. She constantly reminded me how smart and capable I was, and how beneficial it would be to continue my education. She herself went to Appalachian State University, a public school that is known for its psychology and education programs. Growing up, my parents and I were depending on a scholarship for a division two or three school that I wasn't interested in. When my father was diagnosed with stage four head and neck cancer, a lot of the family income went towards medical bills. Though it was possible to get a scholarship playing softball, it was also extremely expensive to continue playing showcase ball at the time. Considering money was an issue with continuing my education, this teacher helped me in finding local scholarships, wrote several recommendation letters, and continued to motivate me. She also helped me decide a major that was personal to me rather than my family. If I were to go to school, I was expected to do something in the field of Biology, which I had no interest for. I wanted to do something in the field of public education, which I can only assume comes from this teacher being a wonderful role model. I am now a senior at Appalachian State University graduating with a degree in Psychology, Education Studies and in the process of applying to the School Psychology, MA/SSP programs at ECU and Appalachian State. I was able to achieve this with awards and scholarships that I would not have received without the help of this teacher. I received the following awards. N.C. Association of Educators Scholarship - Mooresville Association of Educators (2019) N.C. Association of Educational Office Professionals - District 5 Scholarship (2019) DKG International Society for Key Women Educators - NC Delta Pi Grant (2019) These awards helped me complete my undergraduate degree in three years, and I wish to continue my education in order to put myself in a position to motivate and inspire someone in the way that Ms. Bustle did. I have yet to express how much of an impact she made on my career, but I plan on doing so after graduation showing my gratitude. Thanks to Ms. Bustle, I am pursuing a career in what I am passionate about; fair and accurate class placement in order to let every student best utilize the academic services they are entitled to, school mental health, and preventative services.

I am currently applying to several School Psychology MA/SSP programs in the state of North Carolina, currently ranked at 38/51 for access to mental health resources in the United States. I will be graduating in May of 2022 with a degree in Psychology, Education Studies and have a current GPA of 3.85. I am currently involved in research with Dr. James Deni, a professor in the School Psychology Program at Appalachian State University that delves into implementation science, effectiveness of special education, legitimacy of giftedness programs, school mental health, and self-care. I was personally assigned to one of the research teams examining the perspective of parents to do with the IEP process of their children. Current research is showing parents inability to make meaningful contributions to the IEP process, and several issues to do with the IEP meetings. It is extremely important to incorporate parent perspectives in education planning for students receiving special education services, as they have a great deal of knowledge on the students strengths, weaknesses, goals, and post graduation aspirations. This scholarship would help me further my education in order to allow myself to become a School Psychologists, which requires a MA/Specialist degree. The programs I am currently applying to (and will put any updates in my bio) are three year programs where two are completed in university classroom settings and the final year consisted of working in public school settings. A MA/SSP degree in School Psychology will assist me to propel the field of applied behavioral analysis using the principles of positive behavior support to improve the quality of life for individuals with developmental disabilities by utilizing MTSS and RtI frameworks for students receiving special education services. MTSS (multi-tiered system of supports) is an evidence based framework for students identified with behavioral and/or academic difficulties that outlines individualized instruction, intervention and support. It is extremely important to fairly and accurately identify and place students in order to provide adequate education services to every student without taking away from those who need individualized assistance. Lastly, I would like to express my past experience to do with leadership, education, and childcare to express my long lasting interest in the subject of ensuring each student is provided with the academic and mental health services that they are entitled to. Before attending Appalachian State University, there were a multitude of experiences that led me to major in Psychology; Education Studies, and fostered my desire to pursue a career in School Psychology. All four years of high school, I led a club known as “Students Helping Students” (SHS) which involved assigning high school students to K-6 classrooms in the district that needed extra help during the last hour of instruction. I helped 4th and 5th grade classrooms twice a week and kept up with the volunteer hours of every club member. I also completed an internship through my high school “Child Development” course. During the academic semester of June-December 2017, I worked with a kindergarten class of Park View Elementary School. The most important experience that I gained leading to my self-awareness regarding my fit for this career path was working at South Elementary School for a Summer Literacy Lift Program. For two consecutive summers, I worked as a Peer Mentor serving as an exceptional role model to students throughout the program. Unfortunately, I was unable to return for a third summer because of the pandemic. The program focused on individual students by engaging in literacy-focused activities and instruction delivered through digital resources. The main goal of this program is to bring students up to grade level with literacy skills. Two more experiences that are relevant in the field of School Psychology include my babysitting and tutoring experiences through Care.com as well as my time as a Resident Assistant (RA) during my second year at Appalachian State University. Through Care.com, I was able to babysit and tutor for numerous families, ranging from six months old to twelve years old. These families included children with intellectual disabilities, children in foster care, and children struggling with literacy. From my role as an RA, I was able to expand my experience with conflict management and I worked with many people with clashing personalities. I believe that I held a healthy balance of strictness on safety issues and high expectations of residents along with academic/campus support and friendliness during my time as an RA. I also have plenty of leadership experience, including being an Officer of American Red Cross Club (ARCC) of Appalachian State University, being a shift lead at Smokey J’s BBQ during my junior and senior year of high school, being an officer of Young Scholars of America Club (YSA) for all four years of high school, and working as the West Side Student Lead of University Housing Housekeeping Staff during the academic year of 2020-2021. My college experience consists of activity participating in research with a professor at Appalachian State University where I am currently conducting literature review and data collection, taking several classes to do with Special Education, Communication Science Disorders, Literacy and Educational Psychology, and will be shadowing a school psychologist in Watauga County NC in the Spring 2022 semester. My experience in childcare, education, psychological research and leadership have all prepared me for a career in School Psychology, as well as influenced my decision to pursue the career. I strongly believe that a career in School Psychology will assist me in propelling applied behavioral analysis in come, school and community environments using implementation science and MTSS/RtI frameworks to improve the overall quality of life for individuals with developmental disorders.

My name is Kim Sharp and I am a Senior at Appalachian State University. I am currently in the process of applying to Appalachian State's and East Carolina's School Psychology MA/SSP programs. My current bachelors degree is in Psychology with a Concentration in Education Studies, where I have a current GPA of a 3.85. I am currently shadowing a School Psychologist in Watauga County, NC and I have several experiences to do with education and research. The following are awards that I was granted before attending Appalachian State University. N.C. Association of Educators Scholarship - Mooresville Association of Educators (2019), N.C. Association of Educational Office Professionals - District 5 Scholarship (2019), DKG International Society for Key Women Educators - NC Delta Pi Grant (2019) During my college career, I plan on researching bullying in schools. I am particularly interested in looking into administration’s preventative/disciplinary methods relating to bullying as well as the school psychologist’s role in the topic. This is of particular interest to me as it is a leading cause of absenteeism, changing of schools, dropouts, and homeschooling. School Psychology’s role in special education and its overall effectiveness is another research interest of mine. Aspects of special education such as class misplacement, disproportionality, inclusive education, and problems within the IEP process are extremely interesting to me because they are overlooked in public education. I am also very interested in the validity of gifted programs, specifically in relation to testing of gifted students, anxiety disorders, and secondary and postsecondary academic success. I mention this because I believe that the majority of students in gifted programs rely on resources at home rather than actual giftedness, and the impact of high expectation and anxiety set on students at such an early age. I plan on making a positive impact on the world through my mental health career by ensuring that every student is provided with accurate accommodations to best utilize their public education, utilize preventative services in the public school setting including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and suicide awareness and prevention in early grades, and providing overall mental health services to each and every student without the concern for money or time. Public schools are a perfect place to address and prevent mental illness. Middle and high schools continuously fail to address issues concerning mental health and students will continue to suffer if implementation is not set. Mental illnesses should be introduced along with education on the long term effects in intermediate/middle school, while more preventative services and further education on the subjects should be implemented in late middle school and early high school. Subjects like self harm and eating disorders can be heavily prevented with early education of present and future outcomes as well as easy access to mental health services to help. Subjects like anxiety and depression can be addressed through easy access to services as well, along with academic and social guidance in schools. I strongly believe that a career in School Psychology will allow me to further address and prevent mental illness in the general population through social, academic and mental services for each and every student, no matter the financial or home situation.