I am Paris Thomas an 18-year-old woman who identifies as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. I have experience with struggling with my mental health and due to that, I have taken up clinical psychology as my career field. A decent part of my mental health struggles is connected to my sexuality, or rather my family not being open to the idea of any of us being homosexual or part of the LGBT community. I have been dealing with my mental health since I was 14 and I have always wanted to be heard, to have the opportunity to get the help that I needed. As fate would have it, this year I month I was able to have my first therapy appointment and it was due to the counseling services my college provides. It was by no means an easy task to get a counseling appointment. It took me tears of knowing that I needed help and further time trying to get said help. Part of the issues that I went through were a lack of resources, a lack of funding, and lack of support. Therapy in all forms can be very expensive when you come from a low-income family and a family that does not talk much if at all about mental health. So, I want to change that for other marginalized individuals such as myself. I want to make sure that no one else has to feel alone and stuck the same way I did. Part of my goals for myself are as follows: have conferences to spread awareness about mental health in marginalized communities, open a clinic and have a system where I can allow for free or pay-what-you-can appointments, and provide whatever resources that I can. To me spreading awareness is one of the best ways to open peoples' minds up to the fact that mental illness is not some taboo or something that should not be addressed. For my family that was and still is the case, they do not take mental health seriously nor do they talk about which is why I was alone and still alone in my struggles with my mental health. So, if I can have these conferences and change the mind of just one person, I'd feel as though I have done my part. Having my own therapy clinic will give me more power and control over how my clinic operates. I hope that I can create avenues so that individuals who may not have the means to afford an appointment for $100 an hour can still receive the help that they need. Part of the reason it took so long for me to start therapy myself was the costs so, I want to help those going through the same. I also understand that no matter how passionate or ambitious I am in my goals, I cannot help every struggling individual out there. If I can just provide resources or advice whatever the case may be hopefully whoever that person is knows that I tried to help and that I am there to help in whatever way I can. Just knowing that there is someone there for you, someone who cares and is trying to give you a helping hand can change your situation or outlook on your situation even just for a little bit. My goal, my hope is to help those regardless of who they are and what they are going through. All you need is a helping hand.

I apply creativity to my life by doing things that incite my creativity. Things like taking pictures of moments or things I see when on a walk-in nature, or when I gather up my yarn and crochet needle to create something for myself or someone important to me. Honestly, though creativity is just a part of me, it makes up me as a person. I may not be creative on an artistic level, but my words and the way I create things all aid in showcasing how creative I can be. I get my desire to create from my mother, she too has this sense of creativity just wired into her being. To me she embraces this part of herself well, by planning parties, weddings, making shirts, bottles, whatever it is she might desire. For me whenever I saw her in her element it made me crave more creativity on my own, so I branched out and saw creativity on a whole other level.

The world can be a place that makes or breaks people all over, and regardless of this, I believe that every individual deserves a helping hand. This frame of mind motivates me to achieve more so I can do more in hopes to help the people around me, and those who aren't. There are many things people can do to lend a hand or help people out in certain situations. I strive for a world where we can all connect in some ways and regardless of our differences we live in harmony, we balance one another out. The qualities I value the most in myself are my desire to achieve greater success and my passion for helping others. I remember times when I was in both middle school and my freshman year of high school and I could've used some help from my peers or teachers. More often than not, I didn't receive that help and so I got through whatever was going on at those times on my own. I feel like people often disregard or look the other way when people require help and to me, that's something I can't understand. I like to sit and think seriously about all the families and individuals who are in situations that put them in a position of struggle, about all the people who see them struggle and just look the other way. I hope to achieve a certain amount of success so I no longer have to look away or that when I look away I've done something for them. The world as we know it is always changing, from the number of people, social issues, politics, climate, you name it. What hasn't changed though is the willingness of those in power or those with the money to help those in need. When I think about it, it makes me glad to be who I am, to appreciate the qualities I have that makeup who I am today. These qualities help to pave the path of what exactly I want for my future and the future of others I will meet in my journey through life. They will help keep me true to my goals and continue to push me to achieve what I am capable of achieving, and maybe even exceed those expectations. I cannot wait to see what I do throughout my life journey and imagine what others could do too if they desired.