I'd like to start with some info about me and my life in Vermont. Mountains are ablaze in a sea of red-orange foliage during the autumn months of Vermont. When I’m not practicing with my school volleyball team, I’m hiking with my family to enjoy the crisp harvest air. The first snowfall marks the beginning of my busiest season. Weekends of snowboarding are smashed between nightly practices and weekly out-of-state tournaments with my club volleyball team. Holidays are enjoyed at a jumble of mismatched tables and chairs with my large Italian family. Loud conversations fill the air as we devour warm sauces, fresh meats, and heavy carbs. It is for all these reasons, that I love winter. As the spring crocuses begin to sprout through melting snow, I’m up to my typical antics: designing for my non-profit Sad/Happy, working on my portfolio, and completing copious amounts of homework. After school, I coach middle school volleyball while club season stretches into the late months of spring. Once my season ends, I replace volleyball practice with working as an after-school counselor. Summer is the season of family gatherings. The aromas of shrimp fried rice and spring rolls (hand-made by my Thai grandmother) fill the air as I play volleyball with my cousins. During the week I’m working full-time as a camp counselor, and on weekends I compete in outdoor volleyball tournaments with my friends. And with all this beuaty and opportunity in Vermont, it’s been heartbreaking witnessing as high school has slowly deteriorated the mental health of my surrounding teammates, friends, and fellow artists. As though being a student wasn’t difficult enough, the global pandemic rubbed salt in our wounds, raising suicide rates and heightening the growing mental health crisis. States such as my own were not equipped to handle this epidemic; therapists in Vermont are so limited that there is a six-to-eight-month waiting list to speak with someone. Sad/Happy is an artistic non-profit I created to raise funds for young adult mental health awareness. On my website (sadhappyproject.org) I sell apparel printed with different phrases and graphics that I have designed. Using my knowledge of graphic design, I built and designed the entire e-commerce website. All of the profits from Sad/Happy are donated to the JED Foundation, a charity that works with high schools and colleges to provide mental health resources to young adults. During my college career, I look forward to obtaining an advanced degree in Psychology, where I will make a difference in this world by aiding the mental health crisis.