My name is Orianna Regan, and I am currently a Psychology major. I have just been accepted into the University of Connecticut for the fall 2022 semester for psychological sciences and cognitive science. After receiving my bachelor's, I plan on applying to med school to enroll in a Psychiatry program. I have lived on my own and provided for myself since I was only 17 and have been balancing a full-time job on top of going to school for many years because my mother is on disability and is unable to contribute financially. Growing up in a family of nurses, I was exposed to the medical field at a very young age. I watched the passion for helping others illuminate my childhood and that is where I gained my interest in the field of mental health and psychology. As I continue to see my family helping others through unprecedented times, the desire to continue their legacy grows stronger. I am currently on the path to becoming a psychiatrist, in the hopes to educate and help others to understand the severity of mental illness. There has been such an unfortunate negative stigma regarding mental illness, such as being viewed as a weakness, yet there is an overwhelming increase in demand for mental health workers today. My goal is to help change the industry to be viewed more positively because mental health should be treated to the same degree as physical health, and I won't back down until that change is complete.