When it comes to mental health I have always tried to be someone people can talk to and trust. In middle school and high school, I had some friends who had a lot going on, they felt lost and lonely and I tried my best to lend an ear. Helping people by listening to them and trying my best to understand them became very important to me. I decided to take the advanced psychology course at my high school during my junior year, I fell in love with the subject and what it can do for people. After I get my bachelor's I hope to get my masters so that I will be able to work with people as a adolescent therapist and mental health specialist. I’m currently a psychology major with a human development and family studies minor. I plan on using the information I learn in human development and family studies to better understand my future clients working as a child psychologist or adolescent therapist. In my human development and family studies courses I learn about people and what makes them who they are or how they identify. Classes on relationships, adolescents, and families, what makes them different or similar. All these courses help me better understand the people I meet and the people I hope to help one day, because no one client is the same as another and it’s important to understand the qualities that make them who they are. I also am currently getting my bachelor's in theatre, an art form I have had a passion for for most of my life. I am very involved with my department and our acting courses, if there’s one thing I’ve learned about acting it’s that you have to understand your character to play them correctly. This quality is similar to being a mental health specialist in that you have to find ways to understand your clients to help them. Although you may play a character you don’t agree with or are similar to you still have to play them as best you can, and although you may not be similar to a client or at times agree with them you still have to help them as best you can. These qualities in acting give me a better insight into humanity and with that help me understand people better.

My desired career path is adolescent therapy, currently, I'm in my second year of undergrad working towards my bachelor's in Psychology. My goal right now is to graduate from Purdue University with my bachelor's and then go to graduate school to get my masters in Psychological adolescent therapy. I also am currently minoring in human development and family studies and recently picked up another major in the theatrical arts. Since I want to work with many different types of people any age from 0-18, I decided to minor in human development and family studies to get a good grasp on the different ways that people are throughout their childhood growth and also how their background or culture plays a part in who they are. Taking these courses alongside my Psychology courses helps me bring things fully circle when working with people in the future. I'm currently also majoring in Theatre because not only is it a passion of mine but it helps understand people that aren't as similar as yourself. When you work on a show a lot of the time you play a character that isn't like you, they may do things you don't understand or react in a way you would never react. As an actor, it is your job to figure out why your character does what they do or reacts the way they do, which is a very helpful tool when helping someone else with something they are going through that you have never personally been through before. In Theatre you interact with many different personalities which is similar to anyone who deals in a therapy space. Not only is Theatre a personal passion of mine but I think it will aid me in the future with helping a patient with whatever they may be struggling with. Specifically, I am interested in adolescent therapy because I know what it's like to be young, going through changes, not knowing who to turn to, or how to fix something that feels so inward. Adolescent individuals are our future and they deserve to have an outlet and feel seen when needed, which many children struggle with. I personally feel that with my background and the amount of education I plan on getting I would be a great help in this field for this demographic. I have spent many summers working in an environment catered specifically to children, teaching children to swim, to do basic life skills, I even spent a summer teaching children how to put on a musical. I know how different kids of different ages and different backgrounds may behave or respond to a situation and I know how to deal with them without sacrificing the positive space of the environment which I feel perfectly aligns with my chosen career path.

An important social issue to me is the way youth view and treat the elderly. I currently am involved in the Purdue University Alzheimers Buddies Club. This club focuses on bringing attention to people with Alzheimer's and connecting the youth with this type of elderly demographic. Each student in the club is paired up with one of the residents with Alzheimer's at University Place in West Lafayette. At least once a week for about an hour, each student spends time with their buddies doing a variety of activities. Students do crafts, go on walks, and share stories with their Alzheimer buddies, bringing in a little bit of joy every week. I spend a lot of time talking and sharing stories with my buddies while also checking in on them and just seeing how they are doing that week. In October the Alzheimers club at Purdue volunteered at the Lafayette Alzheimer awareness walk, we not only raised money as a club for the walk but we also helped set up the walk for anyone participating in the event. There isn't currently a cure for Alzheimer's but that doesn't mean those with Alzheimer's should just be discarded and forgotten about in our society. In my experience, people with Alzheimer's may have some bad days but they also have some amazing days where they just want to share their stories with anyone who will listen, they don't want to be forgotten, and sharing stories helps keep them alive. My buddy did a lot of painting as a hobby before she was diagnosed, on good days we talked about that art and the detail in the paintings. I encourage anyone at my college that if they can spare the time they should also join the club and get to know some of these residents. I also encourage people who aren't in my college to spend time volunteering at a nearby nursing home or visit a grandparent who doesn't get visits often, because keeping those people involved in our society matters. I personally have a grandmother who was recently moved to a home due to her worsening dementia conditions, I don't disregard her and I try to visit her when able and am constantly encouraging others to do the same because people matter no matter the age or condition. Staying connected as a society in this way can help support and better heal this ongoing social issue.

If I had to pick one Netflix show that I would recommend to anyone it would be The Crown. I love The Crown and I have watched every season of it since it came out, specifically I've binged every season. I am a huge lover of history and share that love for European history with my mother. The Crown perfectly paints history in such an interesting light and has captured so many different audiences throughout its run, whether that be the drama or the period piece that it is people can't get enough of this show. The Crown somehow casts the perfect actors for each role, not only do the actors resemble their historical counterparts but their dialect and posture and so well refined to any viewer of the show. Elizabeth Debicki went viral online for how she prepared for the role and adapted to the challenge of portraying such a timeless icon. The Crown isn't even about Diana at its core but the season that she's in truly captures so much drama and raw emotion that plays into the story. There's something about being able to watch history back in real-time to where you are immersed and interested in the most mundane events. Claire Foy is another actor that I love watching in this show. There are so many videos where people compare Claire Foy's acting and the real events of Queen Elizabeth and the similarities are uncanny. I just love watching a show where actors have committed to giving the audience the best product possible, the best acting, the most accurate mannerisms, and the core of a character. I also weirdly enough love how long the episodes are, it's an easy binge but it doesn't go by too quickly. Each episode is close to an hour and each one is like a little piece of history, of a story that you get to unlock every time you hit play. As such a huge history nerd I also love learning about new events that happened and then looking them up after watching the episode to learn some more about it. Last but not least I also love the design aspect of this show. The costumes, the sets, the background music, the vehicles, the background actors, it's all so exact and well thought out to every detail. I love seeing how well made and how much thought goes into this show which makes it such an amazing watch in my opinion.

I agree entirely with the possibility of our generation being tremendous and making an impact worth recognizing. Our generation accepts that things aren't right with our world and instead of pushing through it we are acknowledging past mistakes and finding ways to rewrite them or give credit to those who matter. Ideas or corporations that were made to “help” society instead corrupted our mindsets and put mostly innocent people in jail. We are no longer working jobs that don’t bring us joy or enough income to not live in stress and desperation. We no longer are willing to conform to what is set in stone but instead protest the conditions in which we are forced to make life. We are pumping out articles and documentaries exposing the truth of the past with no fear of taking the blame for what our elders did. Some people think that the idea of cancel culture is a bit over-exhausted but if anything we are just making sure people don’t get away with doing things of negative impact under the power they hold. We are making the choice to not support people of bad morals no matter how much we like their movies or music. This generation is holding people accountable for their actions and making sure we can move towards a fair enough playing field that we can comfortably live in this society.

My name is Margaret Gholdson and I am currently a sophomore at Purdue University majoring in Psychology and Theatre with a minor in human development and family studies. After I get my bachelor's I hope to get my Ph.D. and work in the healthcare field as an adolescent therapist. I wanna help people and I think the best way I can help is to let people have access to an outlet for all the things that may be going on in their life. It’s no secret that life can be stressful and can end up weighing on our daily lives. I myself know what it’s like to deal with things that are hard to talk about or in return bury them down until it takes a toll on their physical or mental health. I know what it’s like to be bullied, feel ostracized, and alone in your own head, and with those experiences, I think I have an exciting way of approaching struggle and how to help people overcome it. I feel everyone deserves to have someone to talk to or trust when they need to get something off their chest or out of their mind, and I want to be that for people who need it. If I could help even one person overcome a struggle then that would be enough, but of course, I want to help as many people who need it. I’m minoring in human development and family studies so that I can have a better understanding of different family dynamics, relationships, and backgrounds that could play a part in someone's mental health or how they combat a situation. I also am majoring in Theatre so that I can have a personal insight into human emotion and what makes people feel or think. Theatre in itself, especially if you are an actor, is a very personal field of work, you have to become something else and understand someone that isn’t yourself and how the interworkings of that character came to be or evolve through situations. This is very similar, in a way, to being a therapist because you have to understand a person and why or how they are the way they are. With this type of background, I think I will be well-equipped to help people work through personal issues, everyday struggles, and mental health awareness. That’s why I am working towards all these degrees, It’s so I can be someone's outlet, it’s so I can help people who need it and make the world a better place.

My name is Margaret Gholdson and I am currently a sophomore at Purdue University majoring in Psychology and Theatre with a minor in human development and family studies. After I get my bachelor's I hope to get my Ph.D. and work in the healthcare field as an adolescent therapist. I wanna help people and I think the best way I can help is to let people have access to an outlet for all the things that may be going on in their life. It’s no secret that life can be stressful and can end up weighing on our daily lives. I myself know what it’s like to deal with things that are hard to talk about or in return bury them down until it takes a toll on their physical or mental health. I know what it’s like to be bullied, feel ostracized, and alone in your own head, and with those experiences, I think I have an interesting way of approaching struggle and how to help people overcome it. I feel everyone deserves to have someone to talk to or someone they can trust when they need to get something off their chest or out of their mind, and I wanna be that for people who need it. If I could help even one person overcome a struggle then that would be enough, but of course, I want to help as many people who need it. I’m minoring in human development and family studies so that I can have a better understanding of different family dynamics, relationships, and backgrounds that could play a part in someone's mental health or how they combat a situation. I also am majoring in Theatre so that I can have a personal insight into human emotion and what makes people feel or think. Theatre in itself, especially if you are an actor, is a very personal field of work, you have to become something else and understand someone that isn’t yourself and how the interworkings of that character came to be or evolve through situations. This is very similar, in a way, to being a therapist because you have to understand a person and why or how they are the way they are. With this type of background, I think I will be well-equipped to help people work through personal issues, everyday struggles, and mental health awareness. That’s why I am working towards all these degrees, it’s so I can be someone's outlet, it’s so I can help people who need it.

When I was a senior in high school I lost one of my greatest mentors and friends. When it came to theater I looked up to him, I asked him about his experience and admired his dedication and hard work in anything he was involved in. He attended Marian College for scene design and technology in the arts and I hoped to be involved in something related to the arts one day too, even if it is part-time, I could still put my full heart into it. Sadly he passed before he could ever see me a part of something like he was in college. It was a sudden loss and an unexpected one at that. He needed surgery for a blood clot issue from COVID-19 and quickly died after the surgery while in the hospital. The night I learned of his passing was one of the hardest things I ever had to process, but in his honor, there was still a show to put on. I’d say the strategy that helped me overcome this challenge the most was burying myself in a dedication to him. My last high school production was the only high school production that he wasn’t physically a part of from beginning to end, so I tried to make up for what we were missing. In everything I worked for, I dedicated it all to him, by being proud of the result, I felt he would've been proud of me and that helped me overcome one of the biggest challenges I ever had to face. Throughout this process I learned about who I really wanna be, I learned about what, at the core, I really love to do. I love being proud of what I can do and how loving something just makes it better. I learned that with loss there often comes a great lesson to follow, That lesson for me was to never give up in the face of a challenge especially when it’s something you love, and find it within yourself to remind yourself why you love what you love and then learn to love it even more. So with that being said this scholarship will not only help further my love of the arts but my love of sharing it with others, a love that my mentor and I shared. Whether that be through sharing my love with other students involved or sharing it with an audience. Even though I started out as a psychology major I couldn’t leave theater behind, I missed being involved with it and I missed how it made me feel proud and connected to an old friend. Getting reconnected and acquitted with something that was held dear to me is, in a way, healing. Not only healing for the loss of someone I admired when it came to the arts but also healing for how I felt lost in this field soon after. I fought hard to represent everything he exemplified during his time in the arts and I will continue to represent the man he was and the impact he had.