My daughter was diagnosed with severe depression at the age of eleven. My son has recently been diagnosed with ADHD. We try to spend a lot of time with sports and outside to keep them busy and mentally healthy. I have noticed that the more involved we are as parents with our children the more they succeed. They have to feel supported, love, and nurtured in order to grow and be able to handle the hard mental struggles we face durning these times. Now more than ever children need their parents to be involved. With threats from school bullying to online social media accounts we have to monitor who we allowed to influence our children and have impacts on them. Since I stepped away from my career and took on a roll that allows me to be at home more with my children I have seen a huge difference. I plan to use my studies to be able to continue my professional growth but also stay connected with my children as I switch careers.

My first experience with mental illness is when my best friend in middle school tried to commit suicide when his girlfriend broke up with him. This hurt me so bad because I could not understand why he would let one person ruin his life. He had so many friends and family members that cared about him, but he was going to take himself away from all that love for one person that didn't value him. His mom made him move back to Georgia with his dad and I did not get to see him for three years. When he left, I cried for two weeks straight and talked to his mom every day. Fast forward three years, I am now a freshman in High school, I remember walking two class on the second story. I hear a bunch of commotion look down and lo and behold it was Andy. I could not believe my eyes! My best friend was finally back. We spent almost every day together. I was always at his house, or he was at mine. I would never imagine that this would all come to an end in a short two years when he attempted suicide again. This time there was no coming back. I will never forget receiving that phone call from his mom while I was at work and falling to my knees in pain because I love him so much and so did others, but our love was not enough to save him. I did not get to tell my best friend goodbye, and it still hurts today. We did not get to graduate together or go to college together; we did not even get to experience prom together. I will always look back and wonder how things would be today if my best friend was still here. I believed back then we were soul mates. When he died, I felt like a piece of me died as well. After his death I left high school and went straight to college. I received my GED with honors, then after a short break decided to achieve my associate in criminal justice. I had a daughter and a marriage that ended very bad. To escape my ex-husband and his family, my daughter and I moved to Hilton Head, South Carolina. Through our journey, I met my now husband of seven years and my daughter finally has someone she can count on to call dad. Life was great for us when we moved down until my daughter turned twelve. I started noticing the depression I saw in Andy. Caleigh had also been struggling with anxiety since her dad and I had divorced. Over the years I saw it becoming worse for her. Once Caleigh started middle school, I got her a professional therapist. I knew she needed help I was not able to give her, after all I couldn't save Andy. Every depressive episode she had every battle she fought I would stay up all night or sleep with her if she would let me because I was afraid if I feel asleep my daughter would be gone like Andy. Last January my nightmare began, I got a call from her therapist that I needed to come straight home from work, get Caleigh, and take her to the emergency room. When we arrived, I was told her therapist had already called and Caleigh was being admitted into a children's mental hospital, but they could not get transport until the next morning. We were stuck in a room about the size of a closet and that was the last night I would get to spend with my daughter before they took her away from me for nine days without me being able to see and talk to her. That week was the longest week of my life, but to have her safe and be able to pick her up to come home was well worth the wait. Through Caleigh’s struggle with depression and fighting to keep her alive because I refuse to lose her like I lost Andy, I have learned that I too battle with depression and even more anxiety. There have been nights I have hid in a dark closet wanting to take the pain and hurt away. Wanting to remove myself from this earth so I didn't have to fight the pain and hurt anymore. However, every time I remember my pain and hurt is from losing my best friend from the same thing and I refuse to hurt the ones I love and leave them in that agony. I refuse to let my daughter battle depression alone. I show her every day the stronger you are and the more focused you become on positives and people that love you, you can fight and beat depression and anxiety. I have re-enrolled to college at SNHU, to finish my bachelor’s and show her that with determination you can achieve your hopes and dreams. I am strong and a fighter because I refuse to let depression and anxiety take away anyone else, I love!

I have over ten years experience in orthodontist assistant. I love the dental field and if I had the chance to go back to school for dentistry I would not hesitate. Being an orthodontist was always a goal of mine. However, that is not path I was able to take in life, so I served as an orthodontist assist for over ten years. Unfortunately, being a orthodontist assistant is not enough to cover our finances so I was forced to go back into food and beverage until I can finish my masters degree. While assisting I went to Great Lakes dental technologies in Tonawanda, New York, and learned how to make all orthodontic appliances. This still did not pay enough to cover our finance where we could live comfortably. My second choice was to become a Veterinarian. I love animals, French Bulldogs and English Bulldogs are my favorite. I want to eventually open my own bulldog rescue. I have a Frenchie that was born with a heart defect and had to have heart surgery at a very young 6 months old. This was terrifying for my family and or breeder was very nasty. She would not give us any of our money back to go towards his six thousand dollar surgery and suggested we just let him pass and get a pup from her next litter. This infuriated me and brought me rescues for the Frenchie breed to my attention. These poor babies are dumped by nasty humans everyday due to their medical issues. People want to breed them and make money off of them but do not want to do the right thing and take care of their poorly breed dogs when needed. It's a sickness that is growing everyday especially in places like Los Angeles and Miami Florida. I have to do my part and help save these sick innocent babies brought into this cruel world then left to die alone. With me being a mom of two and working full-time, my schedule does not allow me to go back to school for a healthcare or medical degree. My husband and I both have to work full-time to provide for our children. Also, the closest dental school, medical school, and vet schools are two to three hours from where we live. This makes it very difficult at my age and current stage in life to go to school for any of my healthcare and medicine field choices. With this all being said, I have decided to get my business and finance degree, this way I can become a CFO, or business manager for a dental office or veterinary hospital, or children's hospital. I believe being able to still be in any of these settings in either a CFO or managment position will give me accomplishment I'm looking and searching for. I also believe it will allow me to open my rescue that I am very passionate about.

Success to me looks like having your finances in order and a passive income for your family and children. Success is not living paycheck to pay check trying to get by and worrying every time someone has to go to the doctor if you can afford the bill or not. I have learned in order to build generational wealth and get ahead in this life, that I needed to go back to school and further my education so I have the funds and means to do so. I do not want my children and their children to live paycheck to paycheck. I want to leave them a legacy and financial stability. This opportunity will help me achieve my goal by helping me pay for my masters in business and finance. I have always wanted to go back to school and get my masters. However, since I had my daughter at nineteen, I was never able to do so. It was all I could do at that time in my life to raise my daughter by myself and finish my associates degree in criminal justice. Since then I have met the man of my dreams, we now have a family of four, and I finally have the support to go back to school and finish my dream/goals. I also feel it is very important for my children to see me finish my college education so they know if mom can do it while working and taking care of them, they can also do anything. This opportunity will also allow me to enroll full-time instead of part-time so I can finish my degree faster and start my new career. My goals after establishing financial freedom for my family, is to start a French bulldog rescue. My daughter was diagnosed with severe depression Jan 2022. After being hospitalized for it, her therapist suggested we get her an emotional support animal. After a lot of research, we decided on a French bulldog. At just four months old he was diagnosed with pulmonic stenosis and had to have heart surgery at just six months old. Through this whole process we learned about all the poor French dogs that are being poorly bred due to them being a popular trend right now. These sweet babies have won our hearts and saving them is now our mission. Our success would be measured by every soul we would be able to rescue and save. These sweet animals do not deserve what is happening to them and the cruel people that just toss them out when they are no longer a money source for them are just pure sicking. In conclusion, my goal and success will be measured by me being able to finally finish my degree, get my dream job, provided financial freedom for my family, start my rescue, and leave a legacy behind for my children. I want them to grow up knowing how hard their mom worked to make sure they have something when I am no longer here and that my love was endless.

I love math because unlike other subjects we were forced to learn throughout school, Math is something we literally have to use everyday in our lives. We use it to manage our family's budgets, pay bills, figure out gratuity at a restaurant, determine how much money we need for a full tank of gas, double check our pay checks and make sure our pay is correct. Many people do not take the time to do some of these simple task. However if it wasn't for my love of math and numbers I would have gone without the correct pay amount on my checks many times which is a very costly mistake. It is very important to understand math and use it. Next I believe math is super important to prepare your family for financial stability and growth. Without understanding math it is very difficult to set your family up for financial growth. You have to know how to save money, grow your money and multiply your assets. If you do not understand math you will not be able to fully succeed. It is also very important to teach your children how important math is at a young age so they are better prepared for their future as they grow.

I believe it is important for businesses to implement sustainable practices to protect our environment. Living in Hilton Head, South Carolina (SC), and working at a beach bar we are very protective of our sea turtles. We have a sea turtle patrol that cleans and checks our beaches nightly to ensure no trash or anything harmful is left out, so our turtles can safely nest. All restaurants use biodegradable straws, and our restaurant also uses biodegradable bowls. Very business on the water has a "turtle talk" to discuss the importance of keeping our beaches clean and why our sea turtles come back every year to nest. It is our duty to keep their homes safe so they can continue to lay their eggs every year. It is also our duty to ensure lights are out so their babies make it safely back into the ocean once they all hatch. With this being said I believe something all business can do wether in the city or on the coast: is clean and recycle water on site: "Water reuse (also commonly known as water recycling or water reclamation) reclaims water from a variety of sources then treats and reuses it for beneficial purposes such as agriculture and irrigation, potable water supplies, groundwater replenishment, industrial processes, and environmental restoration. Water reuse can provide alternatives to existing water supplies and be used to enhance water security, sustainability, and resilience." (Untied States Environmental protection agency 2023).The company I work for also uses reclaimed water on our golf courses throughout our resort. Secondly, the use of alternatives to harsh chemicals (like Norwex products that our safe for our environment) or dispose of them in a more environmentally sustainable way. Norwex products are made from plants and natural enzymes that are safe for our environment. Their mircofiber is embedded with mircosilver is an antibacterial agent that clean itself within twenty-four hours, these cloths collect and remove 99.9% of all bacteria. Norwex forces us to move to a mechanical clean instead of a chemical clean reducing the large amounts of harmful chemicals many Americans use everyday. Lastly, develop a relationship with a repair shop to increase the lifespan of the products. The company I work for and most companies on our island have their own mechanic, to repair and fix machinery as needed. They also recycle all metal and parts from old machinery that can no longer be used.