My daily choices impact the environment because everyone's daily choices impact the environment, and we are all a part of something bigger, even if we don't see it. I try really hard to live sustainably, and to be as environmentally friendly in my daily habits as I can be. One of the biggest things I do every day is that I bring my reusable water bottle with me everywhere, in order to avoid having to get plastic bottles or plastic cups of water when I am out and about. This small act of bringing my reusable water bottle around with me helps me to prevent a lot of plastic waste in my daily life. Another big thing I do to live sustainably is that I avoid trends of fast fashion, and I do not constantly buy new clothes and throw away old clothes. The manufacture of and disposal of clothing is a major contributor to pollution on our planet, and by avoiding taking part in this cycle as much as I can, I am helping to avoid contributing to this massive polluter. Another big thing I do in effort to live sustainably is that I bring my own utensils places when I know I will need them. For example, when I go out to get ice cream, I will bring my own spoon from home, instead of having to use a plastic one. My family also tries really hard to live sustainably at home. We have solar panels in my home, so all of the electricity we use comes from a renewable resource. We also have little space heaters to heat our home, which plug into the wall and use electricity, instead of using natural gas, which saves on nonrenewable resources, and is also cheaper. Another thing we do at home is that we have a little compost bucket that we use green compostable compost bags in, and we put our food scraps (like banana peels) in the little bags, and then bring the bags out to our compost bin to be picked up by the city and composted once the bags get full. Together, all of these things help me live more sustainably. I know that not all of these things I do are possible for everyone, but these things all work for me, and they help me to do my part in living sustainably. It is difficult to live sustainably, but I try my best every day to do so.

Some of the ways I manage my personal wellness in college are by focusing on my mental health, nourishing my social network, and treating my body with kindness. I focus on my mental health by doing things that I enjoy doing when I have time, like making music and doing art. I love to express myself through music by singing, writing songs, playing ukulele and bass, listening to music, and going to concerts when I can. I also love to be able to express myself through art by painting, and I just recently started learning how to crochet. Additionally, I just recently started going to therapy a few months ago, because I have been struggling a lot with feeling sad and depressed, and also with feeling overwhelming anxiety and dread about life. Attending therapy has been really helpful, because it has been an additional way for me to help me prioritize myself, my health, and my happiness, and it has helped teach me more skills to focus on and do better for myself. I have also worked really hard to build myself a strong social network of friends and family who support me and care about me, and who are there for me when I need it. This social network has been vital to me in helping to maintain my wellness. Additionally, I try really hard to always treat my body with kindness, by doing things like eating well and drinking water, getting enough sleep and getting good quality sleep, and exercising regularly. I recently started rollerblading down by the boardwalk near where I live, and it's been great. I had been wanting for a few years to get into rollerblading, because I used to go rollerskating with my family when I was younger, and I wanted to get back into it, so I bought rollerblades a few months ago to try to get into it. It has been a really great way for me to get exercise in, while also giving me time to myself and giving me time to listen to music. Maintaining my personal wellness helps me succeed as a student because when I am doing well mentally and physically, I am able to give more to my schoolwork. When I am happy and healthy, I have more mental capacity to focus on school and absorb the information in my lectures and in my textbooks, and I am more candid and reflective when completing my assignments for school, thinking about how what I am doing connects to my life and how it is important. When I am feeling especially depressed or really anxious, I struggle to focus on school. I struggle with motivation, and I struggle with my commitment to school. This is why it is so important for me as a college student to make myself a priority, focusing on my mental and physical wellbeing, because I really do need to be doing well mentally and physically in order to be able to fully commit to school and to succeed in my academic life. Making the effort to actually focus on myself though by doing the things I love, starting therapy, keeping up my social network with my family and friends, and treating my body well has really helped me in life. I am so much happier and healthier than I used to be, and I am also able to do better academically.

I have struggled a lot throughout my life with my mental health. Specifically, I have dealt with anxiety and depression. I am definitely getting better at managing my anxiety than I used to be, but my anxiety is still a very present part of my life. I used to suffer from panic attacks all the time, where I would feel like the world was closing in on me, and I would hyperventilate, get lightheaded, and feel immense dread and unquenchable anxiety and fear. I do still suffer from panic attacks sometimes, but overall I do not get them as much, and my anxiety instead has been manifesting itself in other ways recently. Specifically, I have been feeling extra anxious all the time about everything, which is really frustrating because it is so irrational. I have also struggled with depression a few times in my life. The way that these mental problems have affected my schooling are for the most part by canceling each other out. When I get depressed and feel completely unmotivated to do anything at all, my anxiety still forces me to complete my schoolwork. I will often wait until the last minute to complete my exams, essays, and homework assignments when I am depressed, but I will still do them, because of my intense fear of failure and of being a disappointment. My grades definitely do suffer a little bit when I am depressed, because I am not able to commit as much time and effort to school as I should when I have no motivation or interest in anything, but I still get by. I am currently working on being able to better manage my anxiety because it controls my entire life. I just recently started seeing a therapist, and she is wonderful. I am hopeful that I will be able to get my anxiety under control and have a healthy relationship with stress and anxiety, instead of a constant and harmful relationship with stress and anxiety. My mental health problems have affected my life a lot, but I am finally trying really hard to actually become a better person and to get my mental illness under control. It has been difficult to actually make steps in the right direction, but I am proud of myself for everything I have done, and I definitely am heading in the right direction. I can't wait to see where I will be in the future, because I know that if I continue to make steps in the right direction and continue to get help for my anxiety and my depression, I will be able to be a happier and healthier person.

Two attributes that make me unique are my hard work and tenacity, and my initiative to take advantage of new opportunities and try new things. I work really hard to always accomplish what I set my mind to. An example of this is that when I was younger, I really wanted to attend an arts high school near my house, so I applied to attend that school three times before I was finally accepted. I didn't take no for an answer, and I kept applying, for three years in a row, until I was finally accepted to the school, and was able to go. And it was a wonderful experience and I am so glad that I did not give up and that I went to that school. Another example of my hard work and my tenacious nature is that I decided I wanted to graduate from college in three years, so I worked really hard to make that happen, and I am successfully graduating from my university at the end of this semester, after only three years. An example of how I take advantage of the opportunity to try new things is demonstrated by my goal to study and intern abroad in Argentina this fall. I would love to have the opportunity to do this study and internship program, and I am currently working really hard to try to secure funding to be able to do this program. I also love to participate in new experiences involving music, like going to concerts, taking music classes, playing instruments, and writing my own music. I am currently in the process of working on an album, and I'm actually recording the album later this week. This is super exciting because I have never recorded anything before, but I love music, and I am really excited to share my hard work with the world! These two things show how I take initiative and how I love to start new projects, and how I do everything I can to finish projects after I start them. I plan to give back to my community by helping others in some way. I'm not sure in exactly what way I want to help others, but after I finish my undergrad I am hoping to get my Master of Social Work, and that degree will provide me with many more options and many possible career paths I could take in order to work with and help other people. I have struggled a lot in my life with my mental health and with finding my place in this world, so I would love to be able to help other people who are struggling in some capacity.

I have struggled a lot with my mental health throughout my life. Specifically, I have struggled with anxiety and depression. My mental problems have had a great influence on the relationships in my life, because I tend to push people away and isolate myself when I am going through a tough time, or people will leave me when they can't deal with me. That actually just happened to me recently, when my ex-boyfriend of nearly four years broke up with me. My anxiety has been really bad recently, and he couldn't handle it anymore. Honestly, I do not blame him, because I understand that I can be very difficult to deal with, and if I could run away from my anxiety, I would also do so. I think that this breakup was really the push I needed in the right direction though. Even though it has been really difficult, it has forced me to actually prioritize myself and to really focus on doing things that are good for me and things that will make me happy. Of course, I'm not just magically cured of my mental problems just because I have decided to start making efforts to be a better person, but I am definitely making steps in the right direction. I started going to therapy, and my therapist is wonderful. I have also recently been placing a really high priority on doing things I enjoy, specifically listening to, playing, and writing music, and also working hard to make new friends at school and keep up the friendships that I have. My problems with my mental health have greatly shaped the way I experience and understand the world, in that I have had to make a more concerted effort than most people do to actually view the world in a positive light and to have hope for the future. Because I struggled so much with my mental health, and also have struggled with addiction in my family, I want to be able to help other people when I grow up. I'm not sure exactly what I want to do for work in the future, but I know that I want to get my Master of Social Work after I graduate from my undergrad, and then I want to use that degree to work with and help other people in the future in some capacity.

Mental illness, especially depression, runs in my family. My mom's mom struggled with depression when she was younger, and she had to be institutionalized for a while after the death of one of her sons, because her depression was so bad. My mom's sister has also struggled a lot with depression, and after attempting to commit suicide when she was younger, she was also admitted to a mental hospital. And then there's me. I have also struggled a lot with my mental health throughout my life. I have struggled a lot with anxiety, and I have also gone through three bouts of depression in my life. My mental problems have made my life so difficult for me. My anxiety can sometimes be absolutely ridiculous. I will get anxious and panicked about the most random things or about things I have no control over, and then that worry will begin to consume me. I used to have panic attacks a lot when I was younger, where I would feel like the world was closing in on me. I would hyperventilate and feel like I couldn't breathe, and I would feel immense dread and panic. My panic attacks have become less frequent as I have gotten older, because I have gotten better for the most part at managing my anxiety, but my anxiety still can get the best of me. Recently, my ex-boyfriend of nearly four years broke up with me because my anxiety has been so bad recently, and he could not deal with it anymore. I don't even blame him, because I know I can be a lot to deal with, and honestly, if I could also run away from my anxiety, I would. I have also struggled a lot with depression in my life. I grew up with an alcoholic father, and I struggled a lot when I was younger with not feeling good enough and feeling unworthy of life. I have gone through periods of time in my life where I don't want to do my favorite things, like listening to music. When I would get in the car, instead of listening to whatever music I want to on my Spotify, I would turn on the radio and turn the volume all the way down, or just listen to commercials. In these same times of helplessness and hopelessness, I also feel unmotivated to drive anywhere, which is also something I like to do, and to make music (sing, play instruments), which is another one of my favorite things to do. Honestly though, I think I am finally starting to get better. I think my ex-boyfriend breaking up with me provided me with a lot of clarity. It has given me the time I needed to really prioritize myself, and to think about what is important to me and what I really want to be doing with my life. I have started going to therapy, and my therapist is an amazing person. She is so kind and so great at her job. I have also been focusing a lot on doing things for myself, instead of doing them for other people. I have been writing a lot of music recently, and I am actually going to be recording an album later this week. I'm definitely not magically cured of my mental illness, but I think this is a step in the right direction for me. My ex-boyfriend breaking up with me was the push I needed to start taking better care of myself, and I'm proud of what I have done for myself and of where I am today.

The thing about college that excites me the most is new opportunities. I love meeting new people, learning new things, and getting to do things that I have not done before. I love having a little bit of change in my routine, and I love that college is full of opportunities for change and growth. I maintain a healthy mind, body, and soul even through the challenges I face in school by placing myself as a priority. I make sure to always give myself time to do things I love, like playing music, writing music, singing, doing art, and spending time with people who make me happy. I have also made it a goal to treat my body with kindness, and I aim to always get good sleep, sleeping for at least seven hours every night but aiming for eight, and eating well and exercising in ways that make me happy. I've struggled a lot throughout my life with my mental health and with self-love, so it's really important to me to be able to do everything I can to take care of myself and to avoid my old habits of self-deprecation and falling down the rabbit hole. I want to be happy in life, and one of the ways that I strive to find happiness is through new opportunities. I love to meet new people and get to know them, I love learning new things, and I love picking up new hobbies when I can. I really like that attending school gives me so many opportunities to be good to myself, through making new friends, and through providing me with new experiences and new perspectives through which to see the world. I have definitely grown as a person since I started college, and I still continue to grow and change all the time, which I am really proud of. I don't want to be stagnant. I want to be constantly getting better as a person. I want to be constantly building on my skills and talents, constantly learning new things, and constantly making new connections with others. This excitement for life and for the opportunities provided to me through my college experience is a positive outlook on life that I have spent years trying to cultivate in myself, but I really do feel this way now. I really am excited about life and about school and about all of the things that my future has in store for me. I will continue doing my best to care for myself by listening to my body and doing what I think is right for me, and I can't wait to see where my life takes me!

My health is really important to me. I have struggled a lot throughout my life with my mental health, and I am working really hard to be a better and a healthier person, both physically and mentally. I have struggled with anxiety for almost my whole life, and I have also gone through a few bouts of depression in my life, and these struggles push me to try to be better. Sleep is really important to me now, and I try to get eight hours of sleep every night. Getting good sleep makes me feel good for the following day, because it helps me feel rested and ready for the day. When I do not sleep enough, I feel cranky and tired, and I consequently do not have as good of a day. Additionally, having a creative outlet is a really important part of having a healthy lifestyle to me. My creative outlet is music, and I love to listen to music, go to concerts whenever I can, sing, practice playing bass, and write and practice songs on my ukulele. Maintaining healthy relationships with my family and my friends is also really important to me, because these relationships provide me support in times of need. I also think that eating well is a really important part of having a healthy lifestyle. Breakfast is an especially important part of my day, because having a fulfilling breakfast sets me up for success for my day. I have peanut butter banana toast or granola with almond milk and a banana for breakfast almost every single day, and I love that these meals are easy and consistent, while they are also healthy and provide me with the necessary nutrients and energy to get through my day. Finally, exercising regularly is an important part of having a healthy lifestyle for me. I just started practicing yoga a couple months ago, and love the calmness and the relaxation that practicing yoga provides. Practicing yoga is a nice reset for me, because this practice is both physically and mentally cleansing. I also just recently started rollerblading, and I have really been enjoying that new hobby. Rollerblading is fun and I love that it gets my heart racing and makes me feel energized. Having a set schedule to exercise and practice having a healthy body and mindset is really important. After having struggled so much with my mental health throughout my life, it's really important to me to be better and to practice healthy habits, to feel better about myself and to feel happier and healthier every day. Working on all of these things in my daily life (getting sleep, practicing music, seeing my friends, eating well, and exercising) helps me to do that.

Healthy eating habits are an essential component of living a healthy lifestyle and being a healthy person. Eating healthy, along with other health components like getting enough sleep, drinking water, managing stress, regularly exercising, maintaining relationships with important people in our lives, and caring for our mental health, is such an important part of being a healthy and happy person. When I take care of myself and take care of my health, I notice that I feel so much better about myself and feel so much more well than when I don't take care of myself properly. I have noticed that when I eat well, I simply feel better. Breakfast is an especially important part of my eating habits. Eating a healthy breakfast sets me up for success throughout the day, because it starts me off with energy and nutrients to get through the day. I almost always eat peanut butter banana toast or granola with almond milk and a banana for breakfast every single day. I love the consistency of not having to figure out what to make for breakfast, and I love that my set breakfast meals are healthy and give me protein and nutrients to start my day off strong! Lunch is also a super important meal to me. I have noticed that when I do not eat lunch, I do not have as good of a day, because my nutrient levels and my energy drop when I am not eating enough. I feel more cranky and tired when I do not eat lunch. Basically, eating well is super important, and I have realized that from first-hand experience between when I do not eat well, and when I do eat correctly and I give my body the nutrients I need. Along with just feeling better and having more energy, eating right really helps my mental health. I have noticed that when I fall into a bout of depression, I tend to not eat lunch, because I don't feel as hungry, but that serves to further make me feel worse, because it keeps my energy low. When I actually do eat enough though, it definitely makes me feel a little better, because I’m at least treating my body well, even though I’m struggling. My goal for myself is to continue eating well, even (and especially) during times of stress and unease. Eating well is really important for my health, which I have learned first-hand from experiencing how not eating enough or not eating well enough deceases my energy and makes me feel unwell. Eating well, when done consistently, provides me more stability in my moods and my energy, and makes me feel healthier and happier in general in my everyday life.

Growing up, my father was an alcoholic, and this had a profound impact on me. He is now sober, but he was an alcoholic for my whole childhood, and this was really hard for me. I grew up to be an intensely anxious person, who is always afraid of upsetting or disappointing others, or doing something wrong. My dad’s alcoholism shaped my entire childhood, and it directly shaped the person I have turned out to be. My relationship with my father has struggled as a result, although it has been improving since he got sober. I also really struggled with resentment when I was younger toward my mom for marrying my dad. I thought she was too good for him and I was so angry that she married him because he caused so much stress, anxiety, and upset in my life. I know from first-hand experience how much addiction can burden a family, and I never want to make my future family suffer like that. My mom's side of the family has struggled with alcoholism too, and both her dad and her sister struggled with substance abuse. My dad's parents were also both alcoholics. I know that alcoholism is genetic, and I am very wary of that. I didn't drink until I turned 21, and I still don't drink frequently. I don't want to turn out like other people in my family. I want to break the cycle. I think my childhood and how affected I was by my dad's alcoholism had a large impact on my career aspirations. After I graduate from my undergrad, I want to go on to get a Master of Social Work, where I hope to be able to help other people. I know that life can be sucky, especially when you are raised in a negative environment or in a family that struggles with substance abuse, and I want to be able to work with and help other people who have experienced similar things. Overall, my experience with my dad's alcoholism has had a really big impact on me. It turned me into the person I am today, both for better and for worse. I think my childhood really taught me to have compassion and empathy for other people, especially when you don't even know them and you don't know what they're going through. Sometimes, people are mean or lash out at others just because they are struggling in their own life, but it's important to still have compassion for others and to try to understand where people are coming from, even when it's difficult.

I have struggled with my mental health a lot throughout my life. I have struggled with anxiety for as long as I can remember, and I have gone through three separate bouts of depression in my life. I have really struggled to understand what is wrong with me and why I can't just be normal, but I am finally starting to get help for my mental health. I started going to therapy through my university last semester, and I just recently started going to private therapy a couple of weeks ago. Overall, my struggles with my mental health have sucked, but I am really proud of myself for finally doing something to get help. I also hope to be able to help other people one day. After I graduate from my current university, I would like to go on to study and get my Master of Social Work (MSW). I am not entirely certain what I want to do with my life, but I know that obtaining an MSW would point me in the right direction. I would most likely like to do something in social welfare, or maybe become a therapist myself. I know how important caring for yourself and working for good mental health is. My intense anxiety has caused problems in my relationships with people close to me, especially my mom and my ex-boyfriend. I can get worried and anxious about things that might not seem like a big deal to other people, and that worry can make me irritated. I also have a tendency to push people away when I am upset or sad. Recently, my ex-boyfriend broke up with me, and that was such a slap in the face, because we had been together for almost four years, and I honestly thought we were going to stay together forever. It also finally pushed me in the right direction though. I had just met with my new therapist for the first time the day before he broke up with me, so it was especially hurtful because I thought I was finally doing what he and my family wanted, by getting help for my mental health struggles, but that apparently wasn't good enough. Now, though, I understand where he was coming from and I understand that just because we were right for each other when we started dating, that doesn't necessarily mean that we are right for each other anymore, and it doesn't mean that we would have been right for each other forever. I am proud of myself for finally doing what I need to do for myself though, finally starting to go to therapy and more seriously focusing on my mental and physical health. I know that I will not reach an epiphany where I am all of a sudden, once-and-for-all cured of my mental struggles, but I am really excited and hopeful to make the journey toward becoming a healthier and happier person. I am also excited at the prospect of being able to help others in the same way in the future with their mental struggles. It has been a long journey to get to where I am today, but I am heading in the right direction, and I am hopeful for what the future has in store for me.

I am currently, in the most broad sense, working on obtaining my bachelor's degree in Interpersonal Communications with a minor in Anthropology. In working toward obtaining this degree, I am taking lots of different classes to help me become a better communicator and a better person in general. I am super excited to be going to school and to be learning these skills and abilities with the goal of one day hopefully positively impacting others and others' lives. Specifically, my classes are teaching me how to best communicate with others not only verbally, but also with body language, paralanguage, and through writing. If I was awarded this grant, I would use it to help pay for my tuition for college, so that I can continue taking these classes and continue working toward becoming a better communicator. It is my hope that one day, after I have graduated, I will be able to confidently and effectively use these skills I am learning to help other people. I am not sure exactly what I want to do in the future, but I know I want to continue working with others, and if possible, I would love to help others by utilizing these skills.