I've found great passion in being involved in mental health outreach. I previously designed and presented my invention of a Fashion Novel App that recognizes the effect of "enclothed cognition" which is the ability of the mind to make emotional connotations based on clothing, colors, aesthetics, etc. The app utilized official mental health survey questions to determine the user's most likely mental health concern and generate a list of colors, types of clothing and others that could possibly mend their mental health a bit. It has about the same use of suggesting products like a blue weighted blanket to someone with anxiety, or a green light jacket to someone with depression. The purpose of my project was to create a bridge between fashion and mental health because it has been proven that the types of clothes you wear can affect your mental state whether you have anxiety, depression, or even autism. The results of my science project are that I completed the majority of my engineering goal and I also learned of the extensive work needed for coding and the limitations that certain coding programs have. Overall, the project was difficult but educational about the extensive work needed for coding and the limitations that are in certain coding programs. I hope that once I gather the necessary knowledge I can revisit the idea and work to create a new and creative idea to help those who have suffered in the same way many, including myself, have for a long time.

Throughout my life, I’ve experienced a lot of loss. Loss of family members, loss of friends, loss of motivation, etc. When you experience loss, you become someone who makes having more than what you’ve lost a big goal of yours, at least in my case. A big moment in my life that created my strong desire to be more was when I was in middle school, and I experienced the death of my aunt. I was very close to her and valued her wisdom a lot as a child. I watched how my family crumbled under her passing. Her children became unrecognizable as they spiraled into a process of self-destruction. My grandparents were riddled with grief to the point they rarely left their rooms and if they did, they looked exhausted. Even my mother could barely function. She couldn’t talk about the situation without crying and took care of herself less. I wasn’t taking the news any better than the rest. However, during this time I was also being bullied at school which only made my depression worse. Almost every day my classmates would pick at or tease me about my height, my weight, my luck or lack of, my clothes which weren’t name brand, etc. My self-esteem was the worst it could have ever been, my mental health was basically nonexistent and worst of all I couldn’t figure out why. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t be enough, why no matter what I went through, it just wasn’t enough for me to finally reach the end goal. If you met a person who’s hit rock bottom before, they’d tell you exactly what I would: it changes you. Through my depression and hardship, the only glimpse of hope I could gather was thinking about my future, praying that all that I’ve experienced at the moment would amount to something more. To me, being more means being greater than who you were before. Being a means of wisdom, friendship, or guidance for someone else, but it also means being someone that you are proud of. In my life, I’ve faced adversity in terms of my skin color, trauma, and demographic, but it only pushed me to make myself better and make connections to all my “flaws in society” as my strengths. I’ve worked diligently on my small business: creating business plans, participating in competitions, traveling throughout my high school through the guise of a pop-up shop and selling in person to other students, etc. Additionally, during my time as a student, I have taken many risks by taking honors courses, pursuing higher education at the famed University of Alabama, participating in extracurricular activities concerning my community, etc. I’ve received recognition for the work that I’ve done in my academic career including being named as a National African American Scholar by College Board. I’ve continued to feed into my academic progress more and more striving to become the best student I can. I continue to strive to be more so that I’ll never have to worry about not having enough. In the present day, I am now adjusting to my new life as a UA college student and am looking to participate in clubs, community events, business-lead initiatives, etc. My passion does not stop at my business or my academic career, it continues in the people I help and interact with and my efforts towards mental health outreach. I will never stop striving to be more because there will never be a limit on how much more you can improve or become.

Throughout my life, I’ve experienced a lot of loss. Loss of family members, loss of friends, loss of motivation, etc. When you experience loss, you become someone who makes having more than what you’ve lost a big goal of yours, at least in my case. A big moment in my life that created my strong desire to be more was when I was in middle school, and I experienced the death of my aunt. I was very close to her and valued her wisdom a lot as a child. I watched how my family crumbled under her passing. Her children became unrecognizable as they spiraled into a process of self-destruction. My grandparents were riddled with grief to the point they rarely left their rooms and if they did, they looked exhausted. Even my mother could barely function. She couldn’t talk about the situation without crying and took care of herself less. I wasn’t taking the news any better than the rest. However, during this time I was also being bullied at school which only made my depression worse. Almost every day my classmates would pick at or tease me about my height, my weight, my luck or lack of, my clothes which weren’t name brand, etc. My self-esteem was the worst it could have ever been, my mental health was basically nonexistent and worst of all I couldn’t figure out why. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t be enough, why no matter what I went through, it just wasn’t enough for me to finally reach the end goal. If you met a person who’s hit rock bottom before, they’d tell you exactly what I would: it changes you. Through my depression and hardship, the only glimpse of hope I could gather was thinking about my future, praying that all that I’ve experienced at the moment would amount to something more. To me, being more means being greater than who you were before. Being a means of wisdom, friendship, or guidance for someone else, but also means being someone that you are proud of. In my life, I’ve faced adversity in terms of my skin color, trauma, and demographic, but it only pushed me to make myself better and make connections to all my “flaws in society” as my strengths. I’ve worked diligently on my small business: creating business plans, participating in competitions, traveling throughout my high school through the guise of a pop-up shop and selling in person to other students, etc. Additionally, during my time as a student, I have taken many risks by taking honors courses, pursuing higher education at the famed University of Alabama, participating in extracurricular activities concerning my community, etc. I’ve received recognition for the work that I’ve done in my academic career including being named as a National African American Scholar by College Board. I’ve continued to feed into my academic progress more and more striving to become the best student I can. In the present day, I am now adjusting to my new life as a UA college student and am looking to participate in clubs, community events, business-lead initiatives, etc. My passion does not stop at my business or my academic career, it continues in the people I help and interact with. I will never stop striving to be more because there will never be a limit on how much more you can improve or become. I've found great passion in being involved in mental health outreach. I previously designed and presented my invention of a Fashion Novel App that recognizes the effect of "enclothed cognition" which is the ability of the mind to make emotional connotations based on clothing, colors, aesthetics, etc. My idea was to create an app that utilized official mental health survey questions to determine the user's most likely mental health concern and generate a list of colors, types of clothing and others that could possibly mend their mental health and make it easier for them to get through the day by day. It has about the same use of suggesting products like a blue weighted blanket to someone with anxiety, or a green light jacket to someone with depression. The purpose of my project was to create a bridge between fashion and mental health because it has been proven that the types of clothes you wear can affect your mental state whether you have anxiety, depression, or even autism. I used a school-distributed app-building program known as code.org. I used the website to program and build the basis of my app despite the many limitations of its program. The results of my science project are that I completed the majority of my engineering goal and I also learned of the extensive work needed for coding and the limitations that certain coding programs have. If further research were to be implemented, then my project could be completed or even improved upon. Overall, the project was difficult but educational about the extensive work needed for coding and the limitations that are in certain coding programs. I hope that once I gather the necessary knowledge I can revisit the idea and work to create a new and creative idea to help those who have suffered in the same way many, including myself, have for a long time.

Throughout my life I’ve experienced a lot of loss. Loss of family members, loss of friends, loss of motivation, etc. When you experience loss, you become someone that makes having more than what you’ve lost a big goal of yours, at least in my case. A big moment in my life that created my strong desire to be more was when I was in middle school, and I experienced the death of my aunt. I was very close to her and valued her wisdom a lot as a child. I watched how my family crumbled under her passing. Her children became unrecognizable as they spiraled into a process of self-destruction. My grandparents were riddled with grief to the point they rarely left their rooms and if they did, they looked exhausted. Even my mother could barely function. She couldn’t talk about the situation without crying and took care of herself less. I wasn’t taking the news any better than the rest. However, during this time I was also being bullied at school which only made my depression worse. Almost every day my classmates would pick at or tease me about my height, my weight, my luck or lack of, my clothes which weren’t name brand, etc. My self-esteem was the worst it could have ever been, my mental health was basically nonexistent, and worst of all I couldn’t figure out why. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t be enough, why no matter what I went through, it just wasn’t enough for me to finally reach the end goal. If you met a person that’s hit rock bottom before, they’d tell you exactly what I would: it changes you. Through my depression and hardship, the only glimpse of hope I could gather was thinking about my future, praying that all that I’ve experienced in the moment would amount to something more. To me, being more means being greater than who you were before. Being a means of wisdom, friendship, or guidance for someone else, but it also means being someone that you are proud of. In my life, I’ve faced adversity in terms of my skin color, trauma, and demographic, but it only pushed me to make myself better and make connections to all my “flaws in society” as my strengths. I’ve worked diligently on my small business: creating business plans, participating in competitions, traveling throughout my high school through the guise of a pop-up shop and selling in person to other students, etc. Additionally, during my time as a student, I have taken many risks by taking honors courses, pursuing higher education at the famed University of Alabama, participating in extracurricular activities concerning my community, etc. I’ve received recognition for the work that I’ve done in my academic career including being named as a National African American Scholar by College Board. I’ve continued to feed into my academic progress more and more striving to become the best student I can. In the present day, I am now adjusting to my new life as a UA college student and am looking to participate in clubs, community events, business-lead initiatives, etc. My passion does not stop at my business or my academic career, it continues in the people I help and interact with. I will never stop striving to be more because there will never be a limit on how much more you can improve or become.

Throughout my life I've endured many hardships in many ways including the passing of loved ones, my journey through depression, sexual harassment, abandonment by both friends and family, etc. I've met many people along the way as I've gone through school and seen the hardships they also go through. I don't typically talk about the things I've experienced in my life, but I have shared them with the few close friends I have. Along with me, my close friends have also gone through very traumatic events, and we tend to bond over such things and helping one another to work through our issues. For example, I went through, and am still going through, depression as I'm still trying to cope with my feeling of abandonment when it comes to my family and "friends" along with grieving for the death of family members. My Auntie LaWanda passed away in 2017 from unknown causes and it torments me how sudden and confusing her death was. I am still grieving as she was a second mom to me. If I was upset, she'd cheer me up, if I needed help with something, she'd do the best she could to help me with it, if I just needed to talk, she was there for me. I also had to deal with a lot of body dysmorphia while I was growing. From a young age, I’ve seen the ways that girls of my size (chubbier/chunkier) girls are sexualized and surrounded by negativity. It's not a rare event that I'm sexualized and sexually harassed by men when I go out. However, I've been told all my life that men don't like bigger women and only use them for entertainment. Along with such mentality, most of the women in my family have preached wholeheartedly that I, as a girl, should dress modestly and that I should stay away from men as much as I can. Furthermore, the fully believed that if anything happened to me, including sexual assault it would be of my own fault for not "dressing modestly" or being "in a man's face." It's taken me a long, long time to see that this mentality is what brings women down and what brought me down. I always thought that because I had a stomach and curves that people saw my body as too mature but also as a fat girl's body. That's not true at all. Honestly, I've come a long way when it comes to my self-love and change in mentality as much as I am still working to change it further. Due to my aunt's protectiveness of me and the issues I have with abandonment, I tend to be a very protective friend when it comes to my friends' feelings. I am always there for others and try to shield my friends from anything that may harm them, whatever that may be. Often, my friends call me the mom of our friend groups. Multiple friends have told me what a good friend I am. For example, a friend of mine keeps telling me of how much of a difference I've made to her with how I helped during a difficult time in her life, but how I've persevered through difficult times in my own. She says that my strength is something that she looks up too and hopes to have the strength that I've had to make it to the next day. I truly appreciate her comment more than she'll known. I don't feel that I have much strength to me but hearing that people find me inspiring is eye-opening and amazing.