The piece I submitted is called "Another Bend in the River of Life". I named it after my grandmother. My nanny is one of the strongest people I know, she has battled several autoimmune diseases for over 20 years, as well as kidney problems caused by some of these autoimmune diseases. She always had this saying when things got tough, she would say that it was "Just another bend in the river of life." She always tries her best to tough it out through the pain and sickness to come to church or to make meet-ups happen for our family. I have seen her on some of her best and some of her worst days, and nothing in her personality or countenance changes, she really is my hero. I thought that her strength was so inspiring that I painted this in honor of her. I have actually done two versions of this painting. The one I submitted and the one that I painted onto a magnet that I gave to my nanny. I kept the one painting because it is always a reminder of this phrase, I love the phrase, it has helped me through some struggles to just remember that it was just a thing in life. I may not struggle through exactly the same things as she does, but little does she know that words that she has spoken like this phrase have helped me and will continue to help me navigate through my life. I wanted to apply for this scholarship for two reasons. One being it was an art scholarship that I qualified for. The second reason is the need for money to fund my college ventures. I am three classes away from finishing my Associate's Degree. After I finish that in the Fall, I will move from Florida Gateway College to Southeastern University to get my Bachelors's in Human Services and then my Master's in Clinical Counseling. My family is not super well off, we do decently but we will need some extra money for my college education. I come from a family of four. My dad is a pastor and my mom is retired, so as you can imagine funds are not incredibly abundant. If I have to go to college without funding, I may only be able to take one or two classes a semester, which means that getting my Master's is going to take forever. For these reasons, I need this scholarship money. Thank you for your consideration.

My name is Lily Thigpen and I am a senior at Bell High School. I have been dual-enrolled at Florida Gateway College for almost 3 years. I have been doing community service at our local library since 2021. I admit I do not believe that I have made a super amount of difference in my community, but I do know that I made a difference in my advisor's life through helping her with her job. However, I do plan to become a mental health counselor. In college, I might encounter a lot of hard things. Like trying to figure out what classes to take and when. I might encounter a struggle with my time management skills, making time to finish all of my work can sometimes be a struggle. I think that all in all, I will be fine, but I do think it will be a bit of an adjustment. I plan to overcome all of my college struggles through hard work, determination, and passion. With these things I know I can work through any problem. My passion is helping people. I love to be of service to people and to feel useful. That is why I aspire to be a mental health counselor and to open my own clinic. I really want to just be able to listen to people and have them trust me with there problems as well as wanting to help them cope and manage these illnesses. Some of my other passions are arts and crafts. I really love to make things by hand, especially gifts. I love when I make something for a friend or family member and give it to them. I love to see the smile on their faces when they open it and they love it. In conclusion, I have been a volunteer at our local library for 2 years and have done other miscellaneous community service deeds. I know that I can overcome any and all challenges in college if I work hard enough, am determined enough, and am passionate enough about my major and getting my degree. Helping people and making them smile is one of my greatest passions. I love to feel useful and like I have a purpose. Speaking of purpose, I do think that my purpose is to be a counselor with my own clinic. In that field I think I could use my skills and passions to influence a lot of people for the good.

I believe mental health is important because it can affect your overall health and your performance in every activity. Mental health cab affect your body as well as your mind. When your mind does not feel well, your body will not feel to well either. This can cause you to not perform as well in school, qt work, or in extracurricular activities. Mental health is important because when it is not good it can affect your whole life.

Picking a favorite Disney character is hard, all or most of the animated movies have formed my childhood. If I had to pick I would have to say Mulan. Mulan is very hardworking and will do what she feels is right even when no one else agrees. She also loves her family very much, which I relate to. Mulan is also my favorite Disney movie.

I have chosen to go into the counseling field for many reasons. Some of my own and some because of what I have witnessed others go through. Many of my friends have been mentally ill. I have had several friends with anxiety and depression. Even some with PTSD or ADHD. I have seen how they struggle sometimes because of their mental illnesses and I have also been there for them to talk to when they need it. Through my life I have had many struggles with anxiety. I know what it's like to struggle to be able to do things because you feel too anxious. In school I sometimes struggle to complete assignments because of my anxiety. A lot of the time I struggle to do the things that I want to do because of anxiety. In conclusion, I want to become a mental health counselor because of my experiences with mental health and what I have seen my friends struggle with. Through these experiences I have found my passion for listening to and giving advice to people when they need it.

I have never been diagnosed with a mental illness, but I have known many people who have. Throughout my life, especially in middle and high school, I have had many mentally ill friends and have helped them deal with their struggles. Thankfully, none have ever committed suicide, but they still struggle and that's okay. In the eighth grade I had an older friend who struggled with depression and substance abuse, she would constantly threaten suicide and I was very concerned, but being an eighth-grader (who before then had very little experience or knowledge about mental health disorders), I didn't know what to do. To cope with her depression she would chain smoke, another thing I did not know how to handle. She never committed suicide, but it was still one of my top anxieties. She has since moved away and as far as I know, is more or less thriving. Later, in the ninth and tenth grades, I had another friend who was also depressed. Her approach to threatening was much different. She would make jokes about it to cope, but sometimes the jokes are scarier because you never know how serious they are or what is actually going through their heads. She also moved away, but we kept in touch. She still struggles from time to time, but is more or less okay. Finally, one of my current best friends struggles with ADHD and anxiety. I have learned so much from her mostly about ADHD and how it affects people. She has shown me many things I was not aware of within the disorder and she continues to inform me more and more every day. I also witness her anxiety every day. I see her struggle with anxiety when we are in crowded areas and when she asks me if she is annoying (which she isn't). It breaks my heart that she constantly worries about how she appears and that she is annoying people. In conclusion, all three of these examples have opened my eyes to the struggles that people with mental illnesses have to live with or overcome. Because of these many encounters with people who struggle with mental illness, my passion has become mental health awareness and counseling. I also, because of these situations, want to combat the stigma surrounding mental illness. After years of listening when my friends needed help, I have learned that it is my calling to listen and to understand the struggles of mental illnesses. My goal is now to become a mental health counselor and open my own mental health clinic, as well as be a supporter of mental health awareness.

I apply creativity to my life through many things. I apply creativity in my life through gift-giving, hobbies, community service, and many other things. In my daily life, my hobbies include painting, drawing, sculpting, sewing, and many other crafty things. Just two days ago, I was trying to finish off a project. I had gotten some VHS’s from the library where I do my community service and I don’t have a VHS player. So, I took the case, and added fabric flaps to keep it from opening too wide and to keep my stuff from falling out of it. Then, I braided yarn and attached them as straps. I now have a Sleeping Beauty VHS bag and am working on a Little Mermaid and Lady and the Tramp bags. I craft when I am stressed, I craft when I can’t sleep, creativity is very important to me. I also apply creativity for gift-giving. I never buy people gifts anymore, I just make them. I made all of my friends two clay animals for Valentine’s day. Yesterday I was painting something for my friend’s birthday. I love to see the looks on their faces when they see what I have made for them. One final way that I use my creativity is in my community service. My advisor at the library has me do most of her decorating, sometimes she has me paint signs, other times she has me do floral arrangements. Most of the time she comes up with the ideas and I execute them. In conclusion, I use creativity in many ways in my everyday life. I use it when doing my hobbies, when gift-giving, and through community service.