I care for my grandfather and my great grandparents. My grandfather is blind so I assist him with his daily activities of living. My great grandfather is 93 and has metastatic lung cancer so I also assist him with daily activities of living. My great grandmother is 89 and I assist her with cooking meals for her and my great grandfather. I also take her to buy groceries or to pick up medications from the military commissary since it is an hour away and she is not able to drive herself. Being a caregiver has impacted my personal goals, journey and identity in many ways. I have a profound sense of compassion for people that has only been heightened by watching those that used to care for me become people that needed me to care for them. In watching the decline of people I love I have also witnessed the mental impact it has on them. In seeing the need for mental health services not only for the elderly or sick but anyone, I have chosen psychology as my career path. Mental Health is an area that has an immense need but often goes unaddressed. There are long waits or inaccessibility to mental health professionals and that needs to change, so I want to be a part of the change. Caring for people is a huge part of my identity. I want to provide compassion, understanding and support to people that would otherwise go without. In caring for those that I love, my journey has led me to want to positively impact the lives of others and I feel my greatest opportunity to do that is through obtaining my degree in psychology and then attending medical school to become a psychiatrist.

My medical conditions have affected my daily life by keeping me away from school for sometimes days at a time when I am hospitalized. I began having seizures in June of 2021. I have had to try out multiple medications in an attempt to find the one that will actually assist in limiting my seizures. I have had to learn how to navigate life completely different from what I was used to. I know longer have the same learning style I once had, I can't easily move through my day to day activities as I once did and I have to study differently than I once did. Sports were always my guaranteed ticket in to college but that too has been taken away on some level as seizures have impacted my daily life and limits the amount of time I can work out in a gym. I have not allowed this setback to define me because I have a goal and I intend to meet that goal. I have set up plans with my counselors and teachers to aid in my success as a student athlete. Though in my medical struggles, I did find myself depressed and anxious in a way I have never experienced. I had to learn to get out of my own head through meditation and reading. I hope on my goal to become a psychiatrist I can assist others that are facing life changing events by teaching coping mechanisms and providing an outlet to people that would otherwise not have someone to listen to them.

My medical conditions have affected my daily life by keeping me away from school for sometimes days at a time when I am hospitalized. I began having seizures in June of 2021. I have had to try out multiple medications in an attempt to find the one that will actually assist in limiting my seizures. I have had to learn how to navigate life completely different from what I was used to. I know longer have the same learning style I once had, I can't easily move through my day to day activities as I once did and I have to study differently than I once did. Sports were always my guaranteed ticket in to college but that too has been taken away on some level as seizures have impacted my daily life and limits the amount of time I can work out in a gym. I have not allowed this setback to define me because I have a goal and I intend to meet that goal. I have set up plans with my counselors and teachers to aid in my success as a student athlete. Though in my medical struggles, I did find myself depressed and anxious in a way I have never experienced. I had to learn to get out of my own head through meditation and reading. I hope on my goal to become a psychiatrist I can assist others that are facing life changing events by teaching coping mechanisms and providing an outlet to people that would otherwise not have someone to listen to them.

My medical conditions have affected my daily life by keeping me away from school for sometimes days at a time when I am hospitalized. I began having seizures in June of 2021. I have had to try out multiple medications in an attempt to find the one that will actually assist in limiting my seizures. I have had to learn how to navigate life completely different from what I was used to. I know longer have the same learning style I once had, I can't easily move through my day to day activities as I once did and I have to study differently than I once did. Sports were always my guaranteed ticket in to college but that too has been taken away on some level as seizures have impacted my daily life and limits the amount of time I can work out in a gym. I have not allowed this setback to define me because I have a goal and I intend to meet that goal. I have set up plans with my counselors and teachers to aid in my success as a student athlete. Though in my medical struggles, I did find myself depressed and anxious in a way I have never experienced. I had to learn to get out of my own head through meditation and reading. I hope on my goal to become a psychiatrist I can assist others that are facing life changing events by teaching coping mechanisms and providing an outlet to people that would otherwise not have someone to listen to them.

I use my strengths, time and talents to give back to the Black Community by volunteering for a Federally Qualified Health Center in Hays County, Texas that has worked diligently to increase vaccines rates for minority communities. Due to the unique impact the covid-19 pandemic has had on black people, I decided to volunteer to assist with efforts in vaccines against COVID. Due to the impact COVID has had on so many lives, I have decided to study Psychology when I enter college in August in 2023. I have witnessed first hand the impact this pandemic has had on the mental health and well being of so many. Being a black student, I have noticed some of our needs fall through the cracks and that has resulted in a hit to the mental well being of so many of my peers. I want to make a positive impact in black communities and while physical health is often addressed, mental health is all too often overlooked. I have always known that I want to help people and I feel I can make the greatest impact by focusing on the mental health of my community.

My medical conditions have affected my daily life by keeping me away from school for sometimes days at a time when I am hospitalized. I began having seizures in June of 2021. I have had to try out multiple medications in an attempt to find the one that will actually assist in limiting my seizures. I have had to learn how to navigate life completely different from what I was used to. I know longer have the same learning style I once had, I can't easily move through my day to day activities as I once did and I have to study differently than I once did. Sports were always my guaranteed ticket in to college but that too has been taken away on some level as seizures have impacted my daily life and limits the amount of time I can work out in a gym. I have not allowed this setback to define me because I have a goal and I intend to meet that goal. I have set up plans with my counselors and teachers to aid in my success as a student athlete. Though in my medical struggles, I did find myself depressed and anxious in a way I have never experienced. I had to learn to get out of my own head through meditation and reading. I hope on my goal to become a psychiatrist I can assist others that are facing life changing events by teaching coping mechanisms and providing an outlet to people that would otherwise not have someone to listen to them.