Have you ever thought about giving up? Been so hopeless that you did not believe that you had a future? This is something that I have always struggled with. When I was told that I got into my dream college a year ago I was ecstatic, but I also felt stuck inside myself. I did not know how to express to others that I felt hopeless. It was as if the day that I would be sent off would never come. I looked into my future and saw nothing. The months leading up to move in week I was numb. Every step that I had to take for college felt unbearable. I truly felt as if the day was going to come, and I would simply not exist anymore. I had no clue what I was going to do in my life. Everyone that I knew that was going to college had plans and a career lined up. I was the only one that I knew that was unsure of what I wanted to do. I learned something about myself in the months following. I learned that I hate being disapointed and disapointing others. I learned that the numb feeling was my anxiety slowly eating away at me. I thought that I was going to fail at college and everyone that I knew would hate me for my failure. This is where I had the biggest growth of my life. I got help from some friends that I made at college. I learned that I am not the only one that struggled with seeing my future. Instead of pushing away my stress and fears, I have learned to face them. I am going to make mistakes and fail, and that is okay. It is also okay for me to be unsure of what I want to do with my future. Now, I can see who I want to be. I have now declared my majors! I will major in both Sociology and Speech Langauge and Hearing Sciences. Both of these majors will help me stand out when I go to graduate school for speech pathology or audiology, I am still undecided on my future career, but I have now found a path that makes me excited and happy. I still feel hopeless sometimes, but I am also the happiest that I have ever been. I havesurrounded myself with people that care about me and my growth. I cannot wait to see what 2023 has in store for me!

As a current college student that comes from a low-income family, I know the difficulties of managing my own finances. Growing up, both of my parents were terrible at making sure that we could live day by day. They would often blow our money at the casino and drinks. I saw what not managing the little money that we made did to our family. Later, my parents ended up splitting up because of financial disagreements. I knew that when I got old enough to manage my own finances, I never wanted to struggle like they did. It is so important to manage your finances as a student! Large bills and fees occur on the monthly, and you have to make sure that you are able to pay them. If you do not pay these bills on time, no more college for you. Surprise expenses will happen, even for the best planners. Maybe you need new pens, books, extra money for the printer. It is also important to manage your expenses because you will want to hang out with friends, and that costs money. I personally find it easier to manage my expenses with three cards. I have two debit cards, and one credit building card. My credit building card gets used when I need to fill up my gas bi-weekly. This help me grow credit while not having too much risk. I will need that credit later on when I have to get loans on my own. I have two debit cards. One is for everyday needs, such as the pens, books, and printer money. The other card is purely for my bills from school. When I get paid, the money gets transfered into my spending account. That account will notify me that I have been paid. I then calculate about how much I think that I need for all of my accounts. For the credit building account I usually need fifty dollars for the month for gas. For extra expenses I usually need fifty dollars a week, and whatever is left goes into my college account. I do it this way so that my college account continues to harbor more money than I need for that months bill. If I put in all of the extra money that I know I do not need to survive that week, then that account just continues to grow, just incase I have a bad month. This could change if I know that I have an extra cost for my personal life. I also always keep an eye on my college account, just to make sure that it is growing compared to falling behind, and that is the only reason that it works for me. It is not the most rigorous way of managing finances, but the three accounts work for me! I do plan on learning how to manage my finances better.

When I was little I was once labeled as "gifted." I went to special classes, and I was supposed to be taking English and Science classes two years ahead of my grade. I know what it is like to be labeled as gifted and then fall down the latter because of teasing and stress. When you are gifted, you are expected to be perfect all the time, and sometimes that stress taxes you until you are riddled with anxiety and depression and you lose that gift. I want to become a speech pathologist. I want to help the kid that is gifted and cannot express their gift because of a disability. People with autism often have a hard time expressing themselves with their words. Sometimes they have a language disorder that prevents them from showing off their amazing ideas. Those kids deserve to show the world their minds. They deserve to be able to tell their parents what their needs are. It is statistically proven that kids with a high IQ often have a lower EQ. Having a low EQ means that someone struggles with social communication. The number one reason that kids commit suicide is because they feel as if they have a lack of genuine connections with people. One of the main categories that speech pathologists help with is social communication. Being able to socially communicate helps children make friends, have greater connections with teachers, and better relationships with family.