Upperclassmen’s favorite warning is “Junior year is the worst.” They say the workload is difficult to manage, friendships will be tested, and the stress of senior year approaching will drain you. The underclassmen’s favorite response is “Yeah, right.” My junior year was defined by my rapidly declining mental health, friendship betrayals, and unhealthy academic validation. If it hadn’t been for my history teacher, Mr. Trovato, I would not have made it through the year. On the first day of school I was surprised when the teacher I had been warned about promised that if we ever needed help with anything, even if it was not school related, we could come to him. This meant a lot, but I didn’t think I would ever need anything, especially from a teacher who it seemed was only trying to win us over. Our school's anti-bullying program, OLWEUS, was laughed at by other teachers who did not want to teach the content. In Mr. Trovato’s class, if we laughed we were sent straight to the office. The program relied on teachers taking it seriously, and Mr. Trovato was the only teacher that did. This made me realize he truly cared about us, and would do anything to get us the help we needed. A month into the school year I had a younger friend who needed more help than I could give him. His mental health was not well, and I was struggling on my own. He was hesitant to talk to the counselors and scared to tell anyone about what he was going through. I told him about Mr. Trovato. He agreed to talk to him because I trusted him, and the situation was much less stressful with Mr. Trovato’s help. In the weeks after we talked to him, Mr.Trovato checked up on me and my friend daily. He assured me that if the workload was too much for me to handle it was always okay to ask for extensions. He taught me that even though that is not a treatment I will receive in college, it is important to take care of myself and decide which assignments need priority if I am unable to complete them all. Mr. Trovato saved my life when I was at my lowest. He continues to check on me when he sees me in the halls, and knowing I have his support even when I am not in his class gives me comfort. I carry the lessons from his class with me that help me in other college classes, as well as in my everyday life. I could never thank him enough for the impact he made on my life.

My first panic attack came when I was sitting on my couch watching Fairly Odd Parents when I was in fifth grade. I remember it so vividly because I thought I was going to die. I knew nothing about anxiety, and my parents never talked about it. After my cousin talked me down and explained what happened to me, I never stopped being scared of when it would happen again. My mom told me it was something private that I’m only allowed to talk to my family and my school counselor about. To this day I struggle with anxiety and panic attacks, but I’m much more aware of mental health. Before high school I didn’t know anything about mental illnesses, and I didn’t believe I would ever meet anyone who struggled with any mental disorders. I joined theatre in my sophomore year. I learned that it is a place where people who are looking for support find their safe haven. There are so many different personalities in theatre, and everyone has their own story. I made friends who opened up to me about their problems with mental health whether it be mood disorders, personality disorders, or neurodevelopmental disorders. Theatre is a community in which, even though we are taught to keep these things private, everyone has sympathy and feels heard. I learned to have more patience with some people because nearly all of my friends had ADHD. I learned to be observant of everyone to make sure they were taking care of themselves. Up until my junior year, I saw mental illness as something that only affected other people, and regardless of having bad anxiety, I thought that mine didn’t matter as much. At the beginning of my junior year of high school, I was on top of the world. I had a large friend group, I was doing well in all my classes, and I was making new friends in theatre. After about a month of school, everything fell apart. One of my new friends was struggling, and I was so focused on helping him I lost the support of my friends. Not only did I want to help him through hard times, but I felt entirely responsible and immensely guilty for what he was going through. Losing friends took a toll on me and I felt worthless. I already struggled with eating because of low self esteem, but after a month of feeling hated everywhere I went, I had an eating disorder. Two of my friends could tell and tried their best to help me through it. A few others wanted to make a show of helping in order to seem like good people, but anytime I needed them they were never there. The experience was terrible, but being recovered for that helps me to recognize symptoms in others. I know what is helpful and what is harmful when it comes to helping someone with an eating disorder, and I am glad I am able to get other people through it. The same year it felt like my life kept going downhill. I lost friend after friend, and my name was thrown around in rumors. When winter came I was very depressed. I didn’t want to go out, I didn’t want to try to talk to people. This was another miserable experience that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone, but it taught me my capabilities. I know I will make it through hard times because I made it through my lowest point. I am able to empathize with others who feel overwhelming sadness because there was a point where that was all I ever felt. Sometimes recovering is not the part that matters. No matter how terrible an experience is, I believe it was always God’s plan to put me through it. There is a reason for everything, and even if it is not to help me it is to help others. There is a lyric from a Noah Kahan song that resonates with me that goes, “Don’t let this darkness fool you. I’ve been exactly where you are.” I can look someone who is hurting in the eye and tell them I understand what they are going through. It’s not only about sympathy and kindness, but being able to relate to someone to show them how much stronger they will be. All these experiences shaped my beliefs and relationships. In regards to my career aspirations, I decided to study psychology in order to carry out my passion of helping others. I want my experiences to turn into beautiful stories that will give hope to the hopeless, and that will forever show me how strong I am.

As a child I bounced around different passions. The first one I can remember is wanting to be a dance instructor. I was in ballet and tap classes between the ages of four and eight, but my penchant for that turned into a deep love for teaching. My mom and brother were my students, and I would teach them with an American Girl Doll teaching kit and the whiteboard I received for Christmas. This lasted for five years. Even when I was young I was grateful for the kindness my teachers always showed me, and I thought everyone deserves the same experience. I was always seated next to kids that needed a little help on their work because my teachers knew I was more than willing to help them. When I was in fourth grade I developed a love for the environment. I would watch the news with my parents and learn about environmental issues. I told my parents I wanted to make a difference when I was older. My dad suggested an environmental lawyer, and I held on to the idea. I went through five first days of school where my teachers would ask, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and they would laugh at the little girl who said, “environmental lawyer”. The answer was always amid the classics; professional baseball player, dancer, teacher. In my junior year I wanted to be a teacher again after being a teacher aid at an elementary school in my county. That dream changed the same year when I took AP Psychology and realized how passionate I was about mental health. Since then I have wanted to be a therapist. I want to make people happy, and I realize looking back at all my career choices that is all I have ever wanted to do. Although my interests changed I realize that the compassion others showed me led me to develop the quality for myself. I hope to study psychology in college in order to make a difference in the world. I want to understand the way different humans think and feel, and I want to assure them that there is hope and an answer for whatever is going on in their head that they do not understand. Through all the changes in what I wanted to be when I grew up, every one of my dreams centered around caring for others, and I know that will never change.

Being raised as a Catholic means I was raised to serve God. In order to serve God, I strive to better my community and spread love to those around me. My faith taught me to be accountable and aware of the way my actions impact others. I teach fifth graders religious education each Sunday which has been an incredible opportunity that taught me sympathy for those around me. Additionally, playing softball for ten years of my life helped develop my personality. Playing for various teams over the years taught me teamwork and to communicate with people in order to succeed. In my sophomore year I realized it was time for me to move on from softball, and take the skills I had learned elsewhere. Since sophomore year I participated in my school's theater program and met many different kinds of people. Having already learned communication from years of softball, I thrived in the program. The bonds I made in the class are some of the strongest I have in my life. Many people in theater have an increased awareness and always check up on each other. My school has an anti-bullying OLWEUS program and has preached anti-bullying since I was in fifth grade. Adopting the slogan of kindness has made the school system and faculty look outstanding, however, it is still obvious there are students in need of help. Bullying is not the same as it used to be. Bullying now comes in forms of spreading all different kinds of rumors and simply hurting a friend by talking about them behind their back. I have not experienced being directly picked on or hurt by someone, but in my junior year I had a disgusting rumor spread about me and a friend, but when I reported it the school did nothing. I believe that today adults do not understand the way teenagers grow up. They do not understand our emotions or see our problems as real problems. I believe having students helping students is the only way to combat bullying and provide a safe space for kids. Allowing for a judgement free place for someone to talk about how they feel without being judged for it. I have had friends that let me talk about the same upsetting situation for months to help me feel better, but not everyone has that kind of support. I am a part of the 4-H Teen Club and our hope is to gain as many members as possible to help teens in the community to make friends and have a safe space they can come to every month and peers that they can count on. I am the Vice President of this program and have been a part of it for four years. I have seen the incredible and safe community that 4-H provides and hope to help the program grow to help as many people as possible. There will always be bullying in the world, and the only way to alleviate the problem is to give those who are bullied a source of strength. Entering a higher education comes with financial challenges for my family. In order to support myself in both physical and mental health living away from home, as well as to achieve my dream of receiving a higher education, I need assistance in being able to afford college. I hope to make the most out of my college experience and positively touch the lives of others. I hope to spread strength and give others hope when they need it the most.

Since I was young, writing has always been my favorite pastime activity. Any school assignment that had to do with writing I would take above and beyond because I loved using words to tell a story. In seventh grade, I was given a fiction writing assignment. My classmates groaned over having to write 500 words, but I celebrated knowing I could complete that assignment in an hour. However, I did not take only an hour on the assignment, I took five years. The fantasy prompt we were given stayed in my head for two years, turning into a completely different world. In my freshmen year, I put that world to paper and by sophomore year I had a 84,000 word book. In the beginning of junior year I sent the book to an editor, and I have been working on the edits since. I have been weighed down by classes and other activities, but the goal to complete that book still remains. I pull it out whenever I have time and work on making it better. I constantly forget the accomplishment of even having a second draft of a book, but my family never stops encouraging me. My grandma is my biggest supporter in writing. She lets me tell her my ideas and read my new chapters to her. I want to publish a book in college. I want my name on shelves and the story I have created in the minds of others. This is the biggest goal I have set for myself, and I will continue improving my writing until I achieve it. Attending college will allow me to explore new clubs and classes that can help better my writing. Going to college in order to pursue a career as well as develop my hobby of writing has always been my dream. I hope to meet others with similar interests who can continue to support me in achieving my goal. Reading other people's writing and offering them advice is something I enjoy as I know how much it has helped me. Sharing a love for writing with others is something special that very few people understand. Connecting with someone who has an entirely different world in their head is not something that should be looked over, but it is. Meeting others who enjoy writing is such a unique experience because they are the only ones who truly know what it is like to take the limited words in the English language and use them to take other people on a journey. Going to college and meeting these kinds of people is an experience I look forward to and hope to be able to do in the future.

In my junior year of high school I decided I wanted to enter the field of psychology when I go to college. This decision came about after I watched a few friends of mine struggle with mental problems. Watching them go through this and working to connect them with resources that could help them was difficult for me. I wanted them to be happy, but I didn't know how to make them happy. I took an AP psychology class in the fall of my junior year and was intrigued by every topic we discussed. It helped to explain brain phenomena and the causes of certain behaviors that I had noticed even in some of my classmates. Studying psychology helps me to analyze behaviors in people and understand them better. It gives me a sense of empathy as I know there is no simple answer to explain antisocial behavior, and there is an explanation for each action of an individual. I can recognize symptoms that align with certain mental disorders such as ADHD, OCD, and Bipolar Disorder and be more patient when classmates act out. In my future education I want to further my ability to sympathize with others and learn how to help them. I hope to become more patient as I expand my knowledge on the causes of behaviors and ways to shift negative behaviors into a positive direction. I wish to do this not only in my education and eventual career, but in everyday life. I want the knowledge I gain to spill over into my actions to make me more forgiving and caring for people. When I see someone struggling I want to be able to appropriately help them in a way that is going to be beneficial based on what I have learned. I strived my whole life to spread love and positivity. As someone who was raised Catholic I want to make God proud and love and care for people the way Jesus did. Each day I pray to God to direct me towards my calling and he answered me in setting me on a path to learn more about psychology. Although I am unsure exactly which career type I would like to have, I know that I want to help people, and I know that God wants me to help people. I knew for a long time that going to college was an experience I needed. My parents always told me it was not my only option, but I knew that no matter the cost I wanted to live away from home and get an education. I want to meet new people and be surrounded by every different type of person. I want to learn other people's stories and get to know people who want their future to look similar to mine. Being exposed to others who are working towards a psychology degree will help to increase my motivation in learning as much as I can about that field. I want to have the same impact on others and encourage them to pursue their goals no matter the circumstance. I hope to spread positivity to as many people as I can in the future in order to achieve my personal goal of giving each person the love and support they deserve.