I have gone through my undergraduate and graduate school learning while working and taking care of a family being mom of three school aged children and balancing a teacher career has been beneficial and rewarding but I know I can offer more than being a teacher in the classroom. Apart from also being a mom and teacher I am also a military spouse. I have first hand experience of what this type of life style can have on the physical and mental aspects this type of life style can have on a person and family. I have seen my own children struggle with acceptance and having to start over several times in new cities and new states and I want to be able to do more for not only my family but other as well. Starting off as a teacher in mainly military and low-income dominated populations I see the need for more school and mental health counselors who have a understanding of what it means to be a military family. Being a military family brings many different factors than to a non military family including a parent or parents being gone from home for an extended amount of time (deployments), moving to a different city and state every few years, changing schools, non consistent lifestyle or education, and these are just to name a few. Knowing what is means to be a military family my future career goal to to help the military child and their family. My dual degree in School Counseling and Mental Health will allow me to serve the children in school and serve them with their families outside of school. I want to help offer families resources they might not know are available to them through both the military and private sectors. Building relationships has always been a number one priority of mine while teaching in the classroom, cause I truly believe in order to learn and grow you much trust the person standing in front of you. Because of this experience and drive to help others I believe being a should counselor and mental health provider is my true calling in life. If a am fortunate enough to be granted this scholarship, this money will go towards tuition fees for my current program at Walden University. I deserve this scholarship because I am committed to making this world a better place and having a trustworthy educated woman can help make that happen.

In 2011 I got a call that no family member wants to receive. My oldest brother Barry or BJ for short had committed suicide. On my drive home I had a mix of emotions for my brother and I have never been very close given the 19 year age gap between us and only recently in the years prior had we started to have a relationship. While I drove home to be with my family and was not until I got to my parents house when I realized BJ's death was not the only one to occur that day. Before taking his own life BJ also took the lives of his girlfriend, her daughter from a previous relationship and the daughter they had to together who was 14 months old. She never got enjoy the beauties that life can employ. You see these types of situations on tv, but never really think it could happen to you or your family. When going to make funeral arrangements for BJ most funeral homes would not provide the services and having to face his girlfriends family was more than anyone should have to bear. Through the tears, disbelief and getting some of his affairs in order, BJ also had an older daughter who did not live with them at the time who was also blind sighted by the murder suicide. She not only had to deal with not only the media coverage but also the fact that her dad was gone. I got married four weeks later. I wanted to post pone the wedding but my parents would not let me. They said out of the darkness and sadness there needs to be light and happiness and one way to do that is to live our lives to the fullest. It was not till a few months later and after asking some questions as to why. BJ has alway suffered from mental illness including drug addiction but after an impatient program in his late teens and into early twenties he got clean. His current therapist said they had been working on some issues BJ had brought up but he did not see the signs that would have lead to this event. It does show you that you always don't know its coming. My father has never truly dealt with the loss of my brother and niece nor does he talk about it. My younger brother sought out his own counseling to help him deal with the loss, but I went into a different direction. I changed by major from business to psychology with a minor in criminal justice. After I graduated with my undergrad I wanted to do more and decided to get a dual degree in school counseling and mental health counseling. I want to help others and their families I want to work through the pain and not knowing of what else I could have done to help prevent it. I was to let people know that feeling your pain and feelings is part of the process and going through that process and allowing yourself time to heal looks different for everyone. I want to help them through that process but also help other in everyday life who need that extra support in their life. I want others to know that there is always another option and having more available mental health providers can help them receive services faster and be ready available.

I have gone through my undergraduate and graduate school learning while working and taking care of a family being mom of three school aged children and balancing a teacher career has been beneficial and rewarding but I know I can offer more than being a teacher in the classroom. Apart from also being a mom and teacher I am also a military spouse. I have first hand experience of what this type of life style can have on the physical and mental aspects this type of life style can have on a person and family. I have seen my own children struggle with acceptance and having to start over several times in new cities and new states and I want to be able to do more for not only my family but other as well. Starting off as a teacher in mainly military and low-income dominated populations I see the need for more school and mental health counselors who have a understanding of what it means to be a military family. Being a military family brings many different factors than to a non military family including a parent or parents being gone from home for an extended amount of time (deployments), moving to a different city and state every few years, changing schools, non consistent lifestyle or education, and these are just to name a few. Knowing what is means to be a military family my future career goal to to help the military child and their family. My dual degree in School Counseling and Mental Health will allow me to serve the children in school and serve them with their families outside of school. I want to help offer families resources they might not know are available to them through both the military and private sectors. Building relationships has always been a number one priority of mine while teaching in the classroom, cause I truly believe in order to learn and grow you much trust the person standing in front of you. Because of this experience and drive to help others I believe being a should counselor and mental health provider is my true calling in life. If a am fortunate enough to be granted this scholarship, this money will go towards tuition fees for my current program at Walden University. I deserve this scholarship because I am committed to making this world a better place and having a trustworthy educated woman can help make that happen.