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Melanie T

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Bio

I am a passionate, driven, hard working and fearless person. I come from a Hispanic family, my father immigrated from the Dominican Republic as a child, my mother's side came to New York from Puerto Rico. I would be the first graduate in my family. I was born and raised in the Bronx, NY and currently work with special needs students. I absolutely love teaching these students and want to continue to serve the underserved in my career. I am passionate about people. Advocating for people, helping people, teaching people. I am also passionate about the Bible, something that many would not know just looking at me. I have volunteered since I was 12 years old, I have even worked with a ministry that visited youth detention centers (Juvenile Centers or prisons) to help however we could. My goals are to be a world changer and raise world changers all around me. I am passionate about my community, teaching, the underrepresented, underserved and those who cannot speak for themselves. In a world that plants only doubts and fears, I want to be a trailblazer for many others who look like me, believe what I believe or come from where I come from.

Education

Arizona Christian University

Bachelor's degree program
2021 - 2023
  • Majors:
    • Behavioral Sciences
  • Minors:
    • Bible/Biblical Studies

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Master's degree program

  • Graduate schools of interest:

  • Transfer schools of interest:

  • Majors of interest:

  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      Education

    • Dream career goals:

      School Counselor

    • Special Education Paraeducator

      CAFA INC.
      2019 – Present6 years

    Arts

    • TRUCE

      Acting
      2007 – 2008

    Public services

    • Volunteering

      Oasis Christian Center — Youth group director
      2010 – Present

    Future Interests

    Advocacy

    Volunteering

    Philanthropy

    Entrepreneurship

    Mikey Taylor Memorial Scholarship
    My mental health paralyzed me. I grew up in the Bronx, New York where no one spoke about mental health. If you were told by a school counselor to go see a therapist, something was seriously wrong with you. New York was a dog eat dog world and the weakest dogs were eaten first. There I was, suffering from debilitating anxiety and depression. I remember having an anxiety attack (or panic attack) so bad that I was physically paralyzed for what seemed like forever but was barely an hour. I remember the terror on my mom’s face as my body pulled my arms to my chest, my knees stopped bending and my jaw froze to the side. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t speak. My father physically carried me outside in an attempt for me to get “fresh air” while my mother was uncontrollably crying debating on whether to call 911 or not. It was the scariest thing I have ever experienced. Thankfully, I regained movement and my body went back to normal but that day, anxiety paralyzed more than just my body. My anxiety has stopped me from doing many things, and taking many risks. It has caused me to double think everything and count the cost thrice. I put my dreams in a safe and anxiety and depression threw away the key. For many years, I was paralyzed by my anxiety instilling fear in me. Anxiety shaped my goals, relationships and view of the world into fear filled boxes that only showed the worse case scenario in every scene. It caused me to take relationships for granted, dismiss my goals and dreams, and view the world as cold and unforgiving. I worked with foster children and students with special needs. I felt like I was exactly where I needed to be. I was the one on one behavioral coach for a young boy who was born drug addicted. He began to confide in me, his behavior improved and I felt like I needed to help him even more. I advocated and fought for him to be admitted into therapy. It took a while but it happened. He improved so much more. I decided to tell my anxiety to take a back seat and I enrolled back into school, in my thirties with many regrets about how I let my anxiety control me but it’s better late than never. My goals were thwarted because of anxiety but I have learned a lesson. My mental health is of the utmost importance but my goals shouldn’t bow down to my anxiety. I need to live my life to the fullest and dream my dreams big! My anxiety is a tool, I take the fear I may feel and use it to motivate me to reach my goals. I have learned how to deal with my anxiety properly and not allow it to control me. My anxiety told me the world was cold, abusive and unforgiving. I told it that I would be the one to change that. I would become the warmth and forgiveness someone else needed. I would blaze a trail for others to go further than I could. I am studying behavioral health with an emphasis in counseling. I want to help young people, in ways that I wish I had the help. My mental health distorted my view of my goals, relationships and the world. Though, anxiety has not ceased to feed my fears, I learned to overcome those messages and I wish to help others do the same when I finish my degree and continue my education.
    Ethel Hayes Destigmatization of Mental Health Scholarship
    My mental health paralyzed me. I grew up in the Bronx, New York where no one spoke about mental health. If you were told by a school counselor to go see a therapist, something was seriously wrong with you. New York was a dog eat dog world and the weakest dogs were eaten first. There I was, suffering from debilitating anxiety and depression. I remember having an anxiety attack (or panic attack) so bad that I was physically paralyzed for what seemed like forever but was barely an hour. I remember the terror on my mom’s face as my body pulled my arms to my chest, my knees stopped bending and my jaw froze to the side. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t speak. My father physically carried me outside in an attempt for me to get “fresh air” while my mother was uncontrollably crying debating on whether to call 911 or not. It was the scariest thing I have ever experienced. Thankfully, I regained movement and my body went back to normal but that day, anxiety paralyzed more than just my body. My anxiety has stopped me from doing many things, and taking many risks. It has caused me to double think everything and count the cost thrice. I put my dreams in a safe and anxiety and depression threw away the key. For many years, I was paralyzed by my anxiety I stilling fear in me. I would even get panic attacks for things so small such as paying $80 for a pair of new sneakers with my first check from my summer job during high school. My mother had to stop me because my anxiety told me to return my purchase. However, once I became older and realized I was 30 years old with nothing but fears and unfulfilled dreams, I knew something had to change. Anxiety shaped my goals, relationships and view of the world into fear filled boxes that only showed the worse case scenario in every scene. It caused me to take relationships for granted, dismiss my goals and dreams, and view the world as cold and unforgiving. Therapy became a lifesaver for me, not only something I believed it and recommended to everyone but something I decided I needed to be a part of. I worked with foster children and students with special needs. I felt like I was exactly where I needed to be. I was the one on one behavioral coach for a young boy who was born drug addicted. He began to confide in me, his behavior improved and I felt like I needed to help him even more. I advocated and fought for him to be admitted into therapy. It took a while but it happened. He improved so much more. I decided to tell my anxiety to take a back seat and I enrolled back into school, in my thirties with many regrets about how I let my anxiety control me but it’s better late than never. I am studying behavioral health with an emphasis in counseling. I want to help one young people, in ways that I wish I had the help. It took me too many years to get help. Too many years suffering from debilitating anxiety and depression. Too many years wasted being fearful of everything that came my way. I don’t want that for anyone else. I want others to be able to live freely. My goals were thwarted because of anxiety but I have learned a lesson. My mental health is of the utmost importance but my goals shouldn’t bow down to my anxiety. I need to live my life to the fullest and dream my dreams big! My anxiety is a tool, I take the fear I may feel and use it to motivate me to reach my goals. I have learned how to deal with my anxiety properly and not allow it to control me. My anxiety told me the world was cold, abusive and unforgiving. I told it that I would be the one to change that. I would become the warmth and forgiveness someone else needed. I would blaze a trail for others to go further than I could. My mental health distorted my view of my goals, relationships and the world. Though, anxiety has not ceased to feed my fears, I learned to overcome those messages and I wish to help others do the same when I finish my degree and continue my education.
    Melanie T Student Profile | Bold.org