Not only as a woman, but as a person of color and of queer person, the odds stacked against me can feel enormous. Not only do I have to worry about my academic responsibilities, extracurricular activities, social lives, and personal growth, but also I have to navigate these with the multiple forms of oppression and discrimination I experience at the intersections of misogyny, queerphobia, and racism-- all of which that are often intensified by one another. The anxiety I experience on a daily basis is overwhelming and is often debilitating. In school, it often prevents my mind from being present and focusing on lectures and causes me to procrastinate big assignments until the last minute. In my personal life, my anxiety prevents me from being social, going out, and making an effort to find new friends. In addition to the anxiety I experience, I have a history of depression that continues to manifest itself in my life at random times. My depression leads me to isolating, staying home, not interacting with professors, friends, and peers. It makes completing assignments feel like an insurmountable task, as the pain of what I feel in the moment weighs so heavily on my shoulders. My anxiety and depression are often compounded by each other, leading me to have mental health spirals and breakdowns. My mental health can feel like it consumes me at times, and frequently during times where I'm struggling with my mental health, it blinds me from recognizing that my mental health can, and will improve in the future. Although the mental health challenges I face have been extremely difficult for me, I have developed many skills to prioritize my mental health, gauge where my mental health stands at any given time, and to have the courage to reach out for support when I know I need it. Whenever I notice daily chores or school assignments start to become harder to complete or I notice myself isolating and overthinking interactions, I know my mental health is plummeting. I reach out to my therapist, who I am so beyond privileged to have access to, to set up a time to talk about how I have been feeling. I also reach out to my closest friends, and find a time to talk to them about what I am going through. I also like to take walks in nature, and try to disconnect from technology whenever I can. Sometimes, when I am not feeling well and I do not want to talk about my emotions but I know I am struggling, I will express that to friends simply, and just ask to spend time with them-- to bake cookies together or watch a movie. Even if I don't talk about what I am experiencing, having company always makes me feel better. In addition to speaking to my therapist and friends, I also like to journal my thoughts. I make step-by-step plans to do things I have been anxious about, or write notes assuring myself not to be anxious or feel depressed. My life experiences with mental health have inspired me to pursue a career in the psychological field. I am currently a psychology major, and plan on pursing a doctorate in psychology after. My goal is to make an impact by providing mental health resources for young people, especially those who are marginalized and have historically lacked mental health resources like women, queer people, and people of color. I hope to help young people break generational cycles of trauma and to give them the tools they need to creating meaningful impacts in their own communities.