My parents got divorced when I was 4 years old. I have grown up with my biological father not being a consistent part of my life. I never got help from either parent when it came to my academics. I had to teach myself how to study and how to figure things out at a young age. My father did not do well in school, and I have always known that I do not want to be like him so I have always taken my academics seriously. Since my mom has been a single mother of 2 children for the past 15 years she has not been able to save virtually anything to pay for me to go to college. I realized that if I was going to be able to go to college then I would have to make it happen myself. I worked a full time job while I was in high school to save for college. I enrolled in a program my high school does called "dual enrollment". This program lets a high school student take college classes, and earn credits while still in high school. I tried to join every club and extra circular activity that I could because I was told that would raise my chances of getting a scholarship. I joined beta club, honor society, concert band, jazz band, marching band, majorette captain, featured twirler, theater club, and art guild. I took all advanced classes, and graduated with honors and 16th in my class. I had no idea how to apply to colleges or scholarships, and I had no one to help me so I had to figure it out myself. I applied and got accepted into the college I took dual enrollment classes, and I received a scholarship from that college. The scholarship requires me to be a full time student, have a GPA of 3.0 or higher, and participate in school events. I am so thankful for this scholarships, but it does not cover all of my fees and because of the amount of classes I have to take I can not work enough hours to cover everything. The college I am currently attending is a 2 year college, so I have to transfer soon to attend another school. Since I have had to figure out and be responsible for my academics since I was young I excel at critical thinking, leadership positions, and determination. Academically I have always excelled in science and math classes. I prefer social sciences such as psychology and sociology, but I have always understood any type science course that I have taken. In middle school I took the next level high math course because I did so well. The highest math that I have taken is trigonometry, but my favorite math course that I have taken is geometry. I am going to school to be a psychiatrist. My current major is psychology, but when I transfer I am going to change to a dual major, and major in both psychology and biology. I intend to go to medical school once I obtain my Master's degree. I have chosen this career because mental health is important, and I want to be able to help people. When I was a child I was taught that showing any emotions shows weakness. Since I knew I did not want to be seen as weak I buried my emotions for years until I got help. My mom put me in therapy, and at first I was in denial because I thought that therapy would not help me. After 6 months of therapy I realized how much it is helping me. The human mind has always fascinated me, and I have known that I wanted to go into the psychology field. There are many things that drive me to not only continue my education, but to also be the best person I can be. The main thing that drives me to further my education is because I want to make my mom proud of me. She has worked multiple jobs my entire life to ensure that I had what I needed and that I never went to bed hungry. She has made countless sacrifices for me, so the least I can do is make her proud by doing something meaningful with my life. She has always believed in me, and she has been my biggest supporter in anything that I have ever tried. The education that is required to become a psychiatrist is extremely expensive, and I know my mom can not pay for it so I am doing everything in my power to take that pressure off of her. I just want to help people and make the world a better place. I want everyone to know that they are capable of amazing things as long as they work towards their goal just like my mom has taught me.

I currently am a volunteer at my local humane society. The humane society was once a kill shelter, but thanks to me and other volunteers this shelter is now officially a "no kill shelter". That means that no matter how long the animal is there they can not put the animal down. My mother and I started our own animal rescue named "Big Valley Animal Rescue" 8 years ago. I am also a member of another animal rescue named "Cat-Nip Paradise". I have always loved animals. Animals love their owners unconditionally, so the thought of an animal being mistreated, hungry, cold, or scared breaks my heart. I am very passionate about treating animals properly. I began volunteering at animal shelters when I was 7 years old. I currently have 18 kittens that where either abandoned, strays, or hurt. I used to help the homeless people who live in the ares I live in. I was never an official member or volunteer at any shelter, but I would make baskets that where filled with things to meet their basic needs such as: water, socks, jackets, shirts, food, etc. I have also donated to the food bank near me for the past 8 years. I am a college student, so I do not have spare money often but I help when I can. Lately I have been donating clothes more often than food because I have not had extra money to spend on food. I am going to school to be a psychiatrist. I just want to make this world a better place than it was before me. I am an advocate for the importance of mental health. My goal in life is to get rid of the negative stigma when it comes to the importance getting help for your mental health. I go out of my way to make sure that everyone around me knows that I am there for them, and that I am willing and happy to help. I know a girl who has a bad home life. I give her rides to and from school, buy her food, help her study, and makes sure she has clean clothes. I do not do these things with the goal of getting a reward, or telling people so I seem to be a good person. I have not told anyone about her situation, or that I help her in any way because I do not want her to feel embarrassed by her situation.

Unfortunately there is a stigmatism when it comes to mental health, especially in the black community. Before you can fix a problem you must first address the problem. I believe that there are many causes for this stigmatism but I believe that the main ones are: that men need to be strong, people can not afford to seek help for their mental issues, and that getting help for your mental health means that there is something wrong with you. Many men think that if they seek help they will be seen as weak, but in my opinion the fact that they are aware that they need help and are seeking help makes them brave and strong. Since this mentality has been passed down for generations it will be difficult to change this mentality, but if men spoke up about how much getting help improved and changed their lives then more people would seek help. Many insurance companies only cover a certain amount of therapy visits and medicines. When people who live in low income areas it can be difficult to have the spare money to spend on mental health. One thing that would fix this problem would be to offer free therapy for people who can not afford to pay for therapy. That would take the pressure off of having to choose between getting help for mental health or being able to pay bills, get food, etc. This would also make mental health be viewed as just as important as physical health. Many people believe that if you go to therapy or take medicine for mental issues that means that there is something wrong with you. The truth is that everyone should be in therapy. Therapy is not just for people who have mental issues, but it is a place where you can talk about how you feel without having to worry about being judged and get advice on how to handle situations. Everyone copes and differently, so having someone you can talk to about how you feel can help you get a better understanding on not only what you are feeling but also why you feel that way and how to express it in a healthy way. Unfortunately there is a stigmatism around mental health across the country, but it is the worst in the black community. Since this stigmatism has been passed down for generations there is no way to change it overnight, but if people spoke out about how much getting help changed their lives and if mental health was more accessible and affordable then it would begin to destigmatize mental health.