Was it Schizoaffective Disorder? Possibly. However, I was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder with psychotic features. The doctors predicted I would eventually commit suicide. I was determined to not allow myself to get that bad. The psychologist told me it was more than likely stress-induced. One doctor stood out to me. A family friend, Doctor Basheer Ahmed. He talked to me once and immediately knew it was all due to my depression. I talked to Doctor Basheer a few months after it had all begun. My mother and father trusted him the most since they've been friends since they came to the States and Doctor Basheer had over 60 years of experience in psychiatry. Although he was well into retirement, he immediately had my mother bring me over for a simple evaluation. After two sessions, he was certain that I had major depression alongside intense stress that induced my hallucinations. Although he was certain and had so much history working in the field, he still asked me to seek a second opinion, so that is what I did. When I was originally diagnosed with MDD at the age of 14, I thought nothing of it. It seemed right. I was constantly sad and hallucinating, but the hallucinations did not make sense to me. The psychologist who tested me did not have a clear answer for me either. I began to become more and more unsure if I was ever going to get an answer. I did at the age of 17. In March of 2023, I was admitted into an outpatient program. The main physician who worked there evaluated me upon my arrival. She concluded that Doctor Basheer was correct. I simply had depression with intense stress that created my hallucinations. It was the closure that I had hoped for and I couldn't have been more grateful. The physician immediately took me off of my antipsychotics and gave me an alternative antidepressant. Since then, I have been at a peak of stability. I feel the old me resurfacing. Ever since my old self resurfaced, I got back in touch with my religion. My old friendships have been rebuilt. Most of all, my career choice is set in stone. I want to help people like me. I want to be as good as Doctor Basheer was the day he concluded what was happening to me. Doctor Basheer was an amazing doctor, and when he retired, he still made the effort to help me in my time of need. I want to have that good of a connection with a patient that even when I no longer practice my profession, I set aside everything to help them. It was one main person who helped me through my journey. I cannot be more thankful to know Doctor Basheer. He watched me grow up from my first steps to my graduation. He is the reason I have faith in the mental health work field. Most of all, he is the reason I want to help people because he helped me. Thank you, Mr. Basheer.

Once I began my mental health journey, my entire perspective of life changed. "Why me?" I constantly asked myself. My religious beliefs had altered. My relationships began to slope downward. My career aspirations were nonexistent. How did these aspects change due to my mental health? Qur'an 2:286: "Allah tasketh not a soul beyond its scope." In today's language, this translates to, "Allah does not burden a soul more than it can bear." This is a quote from The Holy Qur'an. This specific statement, I used to doubt. If Allah loved me, why would He put me through so much struggle? Soon enough, I gained my answer. As I read more of The Holy Qur'an, I learned that when Allah misses his creation, he puts them to a test. Hadith #1308 from al-Jami al-Saghir: "When Allah loves one of His slaves, He tests him to hear his supplication." Allah did not put me through my issues because He is against me, but because he loves me so much to where he misses me and wishes for me to conversate with him through prayer. I found peace in the specific ayah and hadith. "I can't handle you and your issues." That's pretty much how a handful of my relationships ended. I was left alone so many times with my thoughts. Could no one handle me? With each time I heard that sentence, my self-esteem was shattered more and more. I began to isolate myself more and more to protect those around me from my negativity. I soon learned that it was me against me. It was my thoughts versus how I decided to retaliate. Through therapy, I learned to fight back. Positive affirmations. As cheesy as they sounded, they slowly made their way into my mindset. I couldn't be more thankful for my therapist. She taught me how to be my own warrior and that I am not a burden to others. With her help, I made new friends who genuinely care for me and do not view me as a burden. Ever since my mental health journey began, I knew I wanted to help people who experience things that I do. Hallucinations, paranoia, delusions, anxiety, depression, and disassociation are all things that have defined my diagnosis. My chosen career path is forensic psychology. I have always been fascinated by the justice system. Since my sudden interest in psychology, I found this major to be a perfect mixture. I would not only receive answers for myself, but I would also bring people like me to justice. The stigma that surrounds mental health has the justice system view all people who struggle mentally to be future criminals. This is so far from the truth. I have to be the one to be the change and voice. My mental health has brought me so many discoveries. As much as I dislike my struggles and wish they did not exist, I cannot act as if I would possibly be who I am today without them. I am a devoted Muslim, a caring and trustworthy friend, and most of all, the voice for people like me.

Volleyball could not have entered my life at a better time than it did. I was insecure, had trust issues, had no faith in anyone, and had major anger that was built up inside of me. Once volleyball became a part of my life, I did an entire 180. Before volleyball, I had many internal issues. With time, I learned to be more comfortable and outspoken with my teammates. I learned that we were all rookies at the sport, so we needed all the advice and guidance that we could get. With time, the insecurities became confidence through hard work and noticeable progress. The trust issues took a while longer to overcome. As I progressed, my teammates did as well. We were all noticeably getting better at the sport. As we learned to communicate, hustle, and aim, my trust issues lifted. When I say I had faith in no one, I was including myself. I felt as if I wasn't good enough. I felt as if we as a team were failing, but when we won our second game, it all changed. I was so proud of myself and my team. We communicated, hustled, and aimed responsibly. The faith that I thought I no longer had popped up once again after that game. With each pass, set, hit, block, and serve I felt a great amount of stress and anger to be lifted off of my shoulders. Volleyball had become my stress reliever, and I could not be any more grateful. When I first began volleyball, I didn't expect myself to become disciplined. I grew more patient, energized, compassionate, knowledgeable, and courageous. These traits that I have acquired through volleyball will most definitely have an impact on my career as a forensic psychologist. I will need to be patient in the process of assisting my patients. Every single day I will need the energy to put myself in my patients' shoes to see which path works best in their journey to a better life. I do not know my patient's reasonings behind what they did, so it will be up to me to treat them with compassion until I make a judgment. Without knowledge of what I am doing, how will I be of any assistance to others? It was my duty to learn the sport like the back of my hand. I am making it my duty to learn all the aspects of forensic psychology. Much like volleyball, you need courage to dive into the unknown of each individual game. Being a forensic psychologist, I will need the courage to face the realities of some of my patients. My life went from 0 to 180, all because of volleyball. I never would have expected volleyball to have such an impact on my career path, yet it did more spectacularly and shockingly than I could have imagined. Without volleyball, I would be lost now. I cannot be more grateful and appreciative of volleyball than I am. From an outside hitter to an aspiring forensic psychologist.

Imagine being a 5-year-old child walking into school just to be referred to as a "monkey" all day long. That was me. You see, when I was a baby, I did not sleep properly. The way I slept caused the cartilage of my ears to reshape. Thus, I developed abnormal congeniality in both my ears. Being so young, my little mind could not comprehend why I was getting picked on. I was like every other student, wasn't I? In reality, I was. To the other students, I was an easy target. Due to the bullying, I grew heavily insecure about my ears. I begged my parents day and night to help me to fix my ears. As my parents, they just wanted their little girl to feel more secure. However, every doctor I was taken to had told me that with time the cartilage in my ears would reshape themselves. Sadly, that did not happen. Fast forward to my sophomore year of high school, COVID restrictions had finally been lifted and I headed back to school. During the period of Zoom classes, I did not experience any sort of bullying. Little did I know it would all restart when I walked through the school doors. I begged my parents to help me get a change. That's when we made the appointment. Post-surgery I woke up to the doctor and nurses telling me that I made the right choice because the structure of my ears would have eventually caused me to go deaf. Along with that, they told me that I looked more like my mother. During my healing process, I thought a lot. Why was I bullied? Why was I picked on all my life? Was I really that different or was I just an easy target? This sparked a sense of curiosity in me. If I continued with my desired major, forensic psychology, I would be able to tap into a bully's mind and see why I was picked on growing up. This way, I would benefit myself and others. I would finally get an understanding of why I was the target. With my studies, I would also be able to assist kids who do get bullied to stand up against their bullies. I'm not only looking to get an understanding for myself. I'm hoping to get information to help other kids and even adults to get an understanding as to why they may be considered a target towards the bullies in the world.

Imagine you walk towards the Triglav Mountains of Slovenia. Towards the bottom, there is a beautiful and huge white Victorian house. It is 2 stories. From the outside, all you can see is the outdoor pool in the back, near a gazebo. On the second floor, you see an outdoor balcony, along with there being a covered patio with fairy lights and smoke-grey furniture. You can also very obviously see that the Victorian house has a turret room in the front. You walk inside to be greeted by 2 dogs. A male Husky named Kilx and a female Australian Shepherd named Mellow. You see the walls to be a light grey color. The furniture is black. A beautiful black spiral staircase wraps itself along the turret room. At the top of the stairs, a curved indoor balcony welcomes itself. That's not all for the downstairs, so let's not get ahead of ourselves. As we pass the living and dining rooms, we see a beautiful stone fireplace. Don't stop, keep walking. In the hallways, we find multiple doors. Spread out, but still definitely many. One door leads to a personal indoor coffee shop. Another door leads to an indoor shooting range. For the dogs, we have an indoor dog park. The dogs can get pretty rowdy, so they should have their own space. Lastly, at the very end of the hallway, we have a professional indoor volleyball court. It's a must when you are obsessed! I get it, you're shocked. I promise it gets even better. We head upstairs to find more doors. Behind one door we find a library. Similar to the one from Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," except that this one is a single story, but still full of all types of books. The other doors are Winx Club-themed bedrooms. There are 6 girls in the club, so there are 6 bedrooms designed as their bedrooms from the show! The only added feature to the bedrooms is a bay window! I suppose this isn't a cliché Barbie Dream House, but this is how I would envision mine. At the bottom of the Triglav Mountains in Slovenia. A white Victorian house. With many outrageous features that best fit me.

There are too many books in the world. We need one book that is so spectacular that everyone can reread it and never get bored. Luckily for me, I know just the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. The book is about an Indigenous boy named Junior who was born into a poor reservation. For him to make a better life for himself, he chooses to go to an all-white school that is 30 miles away from his reservation. The book tells the true sad lives of many Indigenous children. The book is so captivating and sentimental. The imagery is so lively that we envision ourselves to be Junior, the little Indigenous boy. The book makes you rethink and count your blessings. It also teaches us that we must be the ones to carve our paths toward success. If I could, I would read the book for the first time again. Alas, I have already read the book about six times. It doesn't get easier to read. I still get emotional at certain points. Such as when Junior loses his best friend, Rowdy and when Junior gets ambushed by three men in their thirties. The book overall reteaches us what our mothers constantly repeated to us as kids. Just that this book has much more imagery and emotion added to it. As stated before, I have read the book six times. I will continue to read it six more. I love how raw and truthful the book is. The world heavily mistreats the Indigenous communities, and we must be inspired to be the ones to make some sort of change. This book would be a fantastic foundation.

Leadership has 14 known traits and 1 unknown trait. Personally, my leadership comes from 2 known and 1 unknown; those being decisiveness, enthusiasm, and love. Decisiveness is defined as the quality of being able to make difficult decisions quickly and knowledgeably. I've always found myself being able to make decisions even when being rushed. It may not always come out successful in the end, yet I can be able to break down a situation in the heated moments. Although it may not go as planned the first time around, I always have a second opportunity to correct my mistakes in a new decisive manner that turns out much better. With decisiveness, I have learned that even though I may not always be correct the first time around, there will always be a chance to redeem myself from my prior mistakes. This is how a leader should think, "there is always another awaiting opportunity." On the other hand, enthusiasm is quite the opposite of decisiveness. Enthusiasm is defined as the display of genuine excitement and happiness towards something. If you want your followers to be excited over something, you as a leader must show them how excited you are. Whenever I work with underclassmen, I always make sure to have a smile on my face and sound as prideful as can be to provide proof that I am here to make things fun for them to engage in. Without enthusiasm, there would be no adventures, no bonds created, and no memories worth remembering. Your hard work would be dull. A good leader must know, "to excite and lead others, you must show them that there is joy in the small efforts you put in." Many people may wonder, "What does love have to do with leadership?" The simple answer is that with no strive or motivation, you're setting yourself up for failure. You need to have some sort of desire for what you are doing. I did not believe this until I heard many military veterans express that without love for their platoons, they would not have worked so hard in battle. This is when I started adding passion to my leadership style. If I am going to do something I am going to ensure that it is something I would love to remember. Not everyone will love what you love, but that does not mean you cannot add their desires to the group's work. Get your followers excited! A leader should always remember, "Without love, there is no strive, however, with striving the outcome is always much more efficient than you expect." My leadership comes from decisiveness, enthusiasm, and love. I have always been a strong decision-maker, even when I must correct mistakes afterward. I strive to connect with my followers to inspire them to strive for better versions of themselves. I work to make my followers have a passion for what they are working on; I refuse to have to work on something they have no interest in. We are all different, yet I do find my leadership to be unique.

I aspire to become a forensic psychologist. My love for true crime and the human brain has led me to want to pursue forensic psychology. I am passionate about forensic psychology because many people do not consider the fine line between mental health and criminality. I would love to be the person to expose the truth of differences to the justice system. Believe it or not, my therapist was my inspiration to research forensic psychology. She has worked with both criminals and people in need of mental health treatment. When she discussed with my the similarities and differences, I picked up an interest. Since she was treating me for a commonly misunderstood disorder that people criminalize, she encouraged my interest. We discussed common careers that could potentially meet my interest's needs. Eventually, I fell in love with forensic psychology. Seeking higher education in forensic psychology is an automatic must. You must obtain a doctoral degree to begin practicing. Higher education is a relatively crucial factor in me obtaining my dream of becoming a forensic psychologist. Once I do obtain my doctoral degree in forensic psychology, I plan to practice diagnosing known criminals and newer criminals. With my degree in forensic psychology, a world of opportunities opens up for me. However, my main focus will always be to make the difference known. As I stated before, many people do not know the fine line between mental health and criminality. It is my goal to make it known and to work with real criminals, not just those who struggle with mental health issues. In my community, many people are well aware that I am a proud Muslim. Many do not accept that I am a Muslim, and some are proud of me for being proud of myself. My friends are far from judgmental and love to learn more about those around them, so when they come to me to learn about Islam, I am overjoyed. Many people associate Islam with terrorism, which is not the reality. I teach my friends how peaceful and fulfilling Islam truly is. I like to believe that one friend at a time, I am breaking the stigma that surrounds my beloved religion. I like to believe that I am giving back to my community by spreading the words of Allah SWT. One person at a time, that is. Being a Muslim is a fulfilling feeling. I feel as if I am on the right track. Being a follower of Islam means the world to me. It means that I am a servant of Allah SWT. It means that He chose me for this Dunya. It means that everything I come face to face with is due to Allah SWT. I cannot be more grateful knowing that Allah SWT loved me enough to entrust me with the challenges that I have faced. It means a great deal that He trusts me enough to follow my dreams of becoming a forensic psychologist to break more stigmas and expose differences to the justice system. He placed me here for a reason, and I intend to make Him proud. If you asked me if I had this mindset a few years ago, I would tell you the truth, no. I had no idea I would be aspiring to become a forensic psychologist. I was not on my Deen as much as I am now. I have grown immensely. I have my goals. I have the path that Allah SWT has provided me. I will make Him proud, and I do my best as a forensic psychologist. I will make a difference.

Men and women were both created equally by God, so I believe. Therefore, we should all have the same rights and opportunities. Sadly, not everyone seems to believe so. I suppose this is why we have feminist movements today. However, many do not seem to realize that feminism dates back to the Rashidun Caliphate. Feminism is an important factor in our lives today because it seems that our world is going backwards. My feminist inspiration would be deeply saddened. Khawla Bint Al-Azwar was a soldier in service of the Rashidun Caliphate. Her role was to protect the Prophet Muhammed SAW in times of battle. She is such an inspiration due to the fact of her strength. It was incredible! She single-handedly fought and killed anyone who dared try to harm the Prophet Muhammed SAW. This was a major milestone in feminism at the time. It was proof that women could be just as courageous as men. Khawla Bint Al-Azwar is the reason I am who I am today. She made me realize that women could do anything, even make men fear us. When everyone around her told her that she shouldn't try to protect a man, she proved them all wrong. Every man who dared harm the Prophet felt her wrath. Every man feared her, even named her "The Greatest Female Warrior in History." It was such a milestone that women could even fight wars back in that time, mainly because women were viewed to be housewives. Khawla Bint Al-Azwar was a warrior, a feminist, and a life changer. Like Khawla Bint Al-Azwar, I've become a miniature warrior. I fight battles, not like hers, but I have crossed battles of my own. I've stood my ground when no one else believed in me. That's why I started a debate in my classes. The majority of the boys in my classes have expressed how women do not deserve their education, how we are too dependent, and how we should be stay-at-home mothers. This is when I sparked a debate. If they have come from a woman, if they have been raised by a woman, if they were taught everything they know by a woman, how in the world could they say and think all of that? When none of the boys could think of a single answer, they went quiet. The entire classroom fell silent. That was the first moment I felt empowered. I know a classroom debate isn't much, but I'm hoping to start a feminist club for every girl and boy in my school who feels as if we are equal. I just need to find a sponsor for my club. Khawla Bint Al-Azwar is a hero in my eyes, and my whole religion. We are thankful for all she has done. I am thankful for what she has done. She has altered my mindset to know my true potential. I am a soldier in my battles. I am a soldier with my own stories. I am a feminist because of Khawla Bint Al-Azwar. I am making a difference one step at a time at my school.

In my family, neither medical nor mental issues are a stranger. Medical issues such as cancer, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and so much more are no longer surprises in my family. Mental issues such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress, addiction, and schizophrenia are far from surprises in my family. Although I was well aware that these factors played huge roles in my ancestry, nothing could have prepared me for one of these factors to take the life of my now-late grandmother. My grandmother was a strong soul. She always stood up for herself. She always displayed a bright smile. She never lost at anything, an argument, a fight, absolutely nothing. The day I found out she developed liver cancer due to her alcoholism, my world shattered before me. She never displayed any signs of addiction. I never even knew that she drank. When my mother interfered with my grandmother's addiction, she slowly began to get better. That was until her cancer spread from her liver to her diaphragm. From there, we knew she could only get worse. December 1, 2022, was her first loss in a fight. The cancer had taken my grandmother away from me. From the moment I received the call, I knew I had to make changes in my life. I needed to get my priorities straight before I spiraled out of control. As I states before, mental issues are no stranger in my life, so had I not found something to distract myself with, I would not be as stable as I would be right now. To get my priorities straight, I began to drown myself in research and work. I wanted to map out my college pathways to not get lost on the roads. My reason to keep moving forward is simply to find justice for people like my grandmother. I want to work in the mental health field. I want to help others fight their addictions to prevent them from becoming another version of my grandmother. My patient's fights will become my fights, I suppose you can call them our fights. The passing of my grandmother was deeply saddening. However, with her passing, I found another purpose for myself. I want to help other people fight their demons and battles. That is my purpose. It is quite upsetting how it took me to lose my grandmother to find out, but I suppose we all find out in surprising ways. I hope I make my grandmother proud by making my patients fights, my fights as well.

Throughout my life, I have heard many great songs; with even greater messages. From every single song I have listened to, my favorite song stood out the most. "Airplanes' by B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams speaks out a great message. As a child, I did not catch on to the outstanding message from this song. The song itself mentions lines such as: "And back then I was rappin' for the hell of it" and "But nowadays we rappin' to stay relevant." These two lines compare the past versus the then present. How, before, people were rapping for fun and jokes, and how at the then present, you had to be a rapper to be noticed in the world. Hence the portions, "rappin' for the hell of it" and "we rappin' to stay relevant." This song taught me to not hold onto nostalgia. It taught me to live in the now because the past is the past. This song may not have been written for that purpose, but it is how I interpreted the message of the song. As a kid, I loved this song, and to this day, I still love this song. Not only due to the message I received from the song, but the reminders it brings me. Due to this song, I will continue to focus on the present and future, but also hold onto my memories of the past for guidance.

My daily lifestyle is always on the go. I'm consistently busy and overwhelmed, yet somehow I manage to give back to my community when possible. With this information, I must say, I am very enthusiastic with the outcomes that I have witnessed. As of now, I can only offer my community small acts of services. These service are done through my school programs and clubs majority of the time. I've volunteered at Mission Arlington, Toys 4 Tots, and one at a Walmart COVID Clinic! Each time I've volunteered at these events, I've done it for the sake of the kids. Both of the times that I have volunteered at Mission Arlington, I would help the leaders prepare for holidays. Those holidays were Easter 2022 and Thanksgiving 2022. During the Easter season, I was assigned to package candy into Easter eggs for the kids who are less fortunate. During the current Thanksgiving season, I was assigned to help distribute canned goods into designated boxes. As both of the events went on, the kids we were preparing for had shown up! Each and every kid had a bright smile and twinkle in their eyes! I just wish the kids at the Walmart COVID Clinic had the same expressions. All the children at the clinic were terrified to tears. No kid enjoys receiving vaccinations. Due to this, I was brought to the event to comfort the kids and distracted them as they were given their vaccine. From tears, to the look of shock on their faces. It's such a warming feeling to know you're the reason a child's mood boosted. I love volunteering for the sake of children, but I value my education as well. My education will always be my top priority. Due to my decision of putting my education before my volunteerism, it looks as if I will continue to volunteer through various school programs and clubs. With all the future. volunteer opportunities that I know await me, I can only hope to continue to work for the bettering of a child's life. I do realize my acts of volunteerism are small, but as time goes by, my acts of volunteerism will progress. I do hope that I can work more towards bettering a child's life. I hope that I can become the reason that someone has a smile on their face. To do this, I will have to volunteer as I further my education. Not only to better a child's life, but a community of children's lives.

This past year has been a complete rollercoaster. I've lost a lot, but I also learned a lot from what I have lost. One of the main things I have learned was the art of acceptance. The art of acceptance did not come overnight for me. My inspiration to learn the art was a movie called "Words on Bathroom Walls." In the movie, as soon as the main character had accepted his issues as a part of his life, everything around him slowly became easier. I do realize that my issues would not resolve as quick as a movie character's, however, I was desperate for my issues to become a normal part of my life. In order to perceive my permanent issues as my new normal, I consulted my therapist. She was more than happy to help me learn how to accept my issues as a part of me and as a part of my life. As I learned to accept the flaws that surrounded my life, I began to notice changes within myself. Changes bigger than myself. I began to care less about my issues. I began to notice my issues. lessen as I began to care less and less; not completely disappear, but my issues did slowly decrease as time went on. Another change that I noticed was that I slowly became more content with myself in my own body. I began to love myself. I knew I was discovering my issues as my new normal. One last change I noticed that I wold love to mention is acceptance itself. Neither one of the first two changes would have been possible without me learning the art of acceptance in therapy. With these changes, of course, a couple of things did not change. The main factor that did not change at all was my attitude towards my issues. I mean, how could it? Just because I have accepted my issues, does not mean I do not still have a strong hatred towards them. My issues will forever be a part of me due to the fact that they are permanent. With all that has happened to me throughout my journey of acceptance, I have learned quite a bit. I have learned how to patient when making progress. To add to patience, I also learned how to notice small progresses and milestones. Whenever I did figure out the art go acceptance, everything became significantly easier for me. I began to realize my flaws were here to stick around, so I might as well accept me for me. Learning acceptance was no walk in the park. However, my inspiration led me to work towards learning the art of acceptance, along with my therapy sessions. A lot of me changed, and a great amount stayed the same. As I changed, I learned a lot. But I am glad I learned and accomplished what I have. I owe it all to the movie "Words on Bathroom Walls" for being my inspiration towards this accomplishment of mine.

One day, I would absolutely love to be known as Doctor Sarah Duraković. More importantly, I would love to be known for my work of diagnosing criminals and bringing victims and their families to justice. What I am trying saying is that my dream career is to become a forensic psychologist. Many criminals nowadays are bashed off and let off the hook due to their mental issues. I do believe that mental health can play a huge factor in a person's behavior, however, I am a firm believer that your actions do have consequences. Mental health issues or not, it is your responsibility to hold yourself accountable and apologize for whatever it is you have done. With the criminals being left off with hook due to their mental health problems, none of the victims nor their families are brought to justice. They are left in the dark to suffer with whatever it is that person has done to them and their families. It's cruel if we do not consider them in the equation of the criminal's sentencing. As far as what positive impact I would love to leave, it is that I want people with issues like me to understand that we do not get special treatment. Our actions do have consequences. We should still be held accountable for what we have done. Especially when there are two parts to every case in law, those who committed the crime, and those who have to suffer the lifelong effects. Justice deserves to be shown on both ends of the crime cases. Leaving one end without justice is failure of the system. With me hoping to become a part of the system in the future, I refuse to allow justice to fail. To conclude everything that I have stated, one day I would like to be Doctor Sarah Duraković. My objective in life is to maintain justice for every case I encounter. My greatest desire is to help others. However, my definition of helping others is significantly different than how others perceive helping others. My perception of helping others is connecting with their mentality and correcting their behavior. My perception of helping others is bringing justice to victims who did not deserve the trauma that they have endured. As a soon to be doctor, I only want to guide lost souls to become content within themselves. Speaking from experience, it truly is a different type of peace to be content within yourself. It is my objective to guide people to that state within themselves.

I wish for people to stop perceiving mental illness as craziness. As someone who suffers from auditory and visual hallucinations, I am speaking from experience. When I first began to experience such hallucinations, everyone who surrounded me believed that I had gone mad, insane, even gained a second personality. To conclude that statement, I, in fact, was none of those factors that people believed. Those of us who suffer with mental health issues already face so much discrimination. Not only must we suffer the chemical imbalances that are beyond our control, but we must also face the ignorance of others. If the ignorance of the people I was surrounded by was replaced with intelligence and research, maybe I wouldn't have gotten as bad as I did mentally. However, to begin small changes in my community, I advocate for mental health. When I say that I am an advocate for mental health, I consistently speak about the causes, the effects, and the treatments of each disorder. In order for the ignorant to understand, I must educate them. To continue advocating for mental health, I am doing my best to fight for a mental health club in my high school. With this, students can freely express themselves and their issues within a judgment free zone. I do understand that I am not doing much for my cause at the moment, but I am building up. I am doing my best to recruit others to join me and my cause. As I recruit more people by my side, I will hopefully craft a safer environment and atmosphere for those who struggle mentally. I was once a lost soul, and I do not wish that on anybody. I want to help, and I will continue to do my best.

She was the reason I ever considered joining. She was the reason I became so determined. She was the reason I fell in love with my uniform. Her name is Cadet Kelly Collin from Cadet Kelly. This movie took a much bigger toll on my life than I had expected. It was truly an inspirational film. A girl whose parents divorced to a girl whose mother remarries to a military man. Kelly Collin soon became Cadet Kelly Collin, but not by choice. Her leadership, discipline, intelligence, mental strength, and physical strength were all put to the test. To conclude what of hers was challenged, her entire character was challenged beyond her limits. I wanted to be just like Kelly. I wanted to become a cadet. More specifically, I wanted to join the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps, or more commonly known as JROTC, program once I started high school. The film was very influential. It made me want to push myself above and beyond my own limits. It had me grow a sense of respect for the military. As I grew up watching Cadet Kelly, I would sit and question every little thing she would do in her JROTC program. Little did I know, I would grow up to struggle with the things she loved about JROTC. For example, she learned how to do drill rather quickly in the film, while I would struggle with drill to this day. I find myself to love JROTC regardless of what I can and cannot do within the program. Cadet Kelly is a film that grew dear to my heart. The film shows the good and the bad of the program. The film made the JROTC program look inspiring and influential to its students, and boy was the film spot on. If it wasn't for this outstanding film, I would not be in my school's JROTC program. I would not be challenging my mental and physical strength. I would not be who I am today. I would not be Cadet Lance Corporal Sarah Durakovic. This is why I love this film. This is why Kelly Collin is my favorite Disney character.

Neither of my parents were able to obtain higher education in the United States. As majority of us know, you can get nowhere in the United States with no educational degree. As I matured, I noticed how much my parents truly struggled to provide for my siblings and me. This is only one of the reasons I believe obtaining higher education is so important to me. My dream is to become a forensic psychologist for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I cannot begin working within the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the absence of a doctoral degree. I refuse to surrender my dreams of diagnosing various criminals. It is my biggest dream. Surrendering this dream is like suddenly losing faith in your favorite sports team! That is a level of pain that I can only imagine. An imagination that will stay an imagination. Mostly because I will ensure that I obtain my higher education. Along with my biggest dream being to diagnose and assist various criminals, another dream of mine is to do the opposite of what my parents have done. I want to become someone important. Someone well known. Someone who helps others. In order to achieve my goal, I will need to obtain my doctoral degree in forensic psychology. Obtaining higher education means a world of doors open up for you. With my type of higher education, I would be able to do so much more than I would actually bargain for. I could become a forensic psychologist within the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I could open up my very own practice and assist a variety of people who are struggling. I would have all these different opportunities awaiting me just with a doctoral degree in forensic psychology. I truly believe that I have a lot of potential inside of me and my brain. I am an intelligent young lady who has the world waiting for me. I cannot let myself slack off or take breaks. I want to work hard. I want to become one of the greatest. I want to keep myself from wasting my potential. My idea as of now is to go straight to my bachelor's degree program for forensic psychology straight out of high school. I do not have time to waste. Gaining higher education means a lot to me. I have a wide variety of expectations on myself. In order for me to succeed past my expectations, I really need to work my hardest. Especially with obtaining all of my higher educational degrees.

Psycho Something I get called a lot Something I believe I am not Something that I don’t know whether to believe Something that my mind tends to deceive While I, as a person slowly start to agree As I just try to be me But I cannot Because I hear this a lot That I am nothing But psycho A word far from new However, far from cute A word that can only bring trouble A word that only brings me struggle A word that can only bring hatred A word that is, oh, so sacred To people, like me But we are not As we are simply just forgot Because we are so different Than something seen as normal I am simply doing my best Be to seemed as the rest Because I know I my own Definition of normal So say what you must Because your words are worth as much as dust Because I am far From psycho

My parents came to the United States with nothing. None of their credits from Bosnia and Herzegovina or Slovenia were counted in the United States. They could not redo college all over again due to having children, so they built their own names here. Due to them not continuing their educations, I am a first generation student. With that being said, my parents always had big plans for my future. They had everything planned out for me before I was even born. I was always encouraged to continue my education and never let my grades decline. My parents continuously brought this subject up throughout my life. It become an obsessive habit of theirs. I began to hate on the subject altogether. However, I knew that my parents were right. Throughout my life, I watched them struggle in the United States without an American diploma. I knew that me and my siblings had to be the change. For our parents. In the United States, if you do not have an education, you are looked down on; you can't really get anywhere. Here in the United States of America, you are nothing without an education. Ever since I was little, my cousins would drop out of college in a domino effect like fashion. Every time one of them dropped out, my parents would immediately tell my siblings and I to not follow that line of work. They began to struggle after dropping out. Some worked as plumbers, and some worked for cable companies such as Spectrum. They were pretty much looked down on from the whole family. I never understood why, until I saw them come home while I was visiting. They looked dead tired. They would nearly pass out from being in the Texas heat all day long. As I grew older, I quickly began to realize that my parents just wanted the best for me and my siblings. After all, they could not make a name for themselves, so we have to do it for them. Being a first generation student means a lot to me. I am getting the opportunity that my parents did not have when they came to the United States of America. My dad, a refugee, did not get to go to school. He had his mother and siblings to care for. My mom, an immigrant, had half of her school finished but was forced to attend high school in the United States. During high school, she fell pregnant twice. They could not make a name for themselves in this country. However, I do. They support me 100% in continuing my education. I grew up watching everyone around me struggle in life. My parents refuse to let me fall into that pattern. Being a first generation student, I can avoid that pattern. I plan to make my parents proud. I plan to have them smile when people ask what I do for a living. I do not want to follow my parents' paths. I want to be remembered as someone, and that's what I plan to do. Do my best as a first generation student.

My mental health has been quite the adventure; especially with the variety of mental health issues I was diagnosed with. All the ups and downs have definitely influenced my beliefs, relationships, and my career path choice. All I wanted to be was a good Muslim girl. However, when the people I was surrounded by began to believe that my mental health went south due to Shaytaan, I could only turn away from my religion, Islam. I felt like everything and everyone around me was crashing down. I guess this ties into my relationships. A good chunk of my relationships began to wither. I became more depressed than I already was. Everyone who I thought I could trust began to turn away from me. I was officially alone. My mental state was already shattered. Imagine how much worse it became. I was officially alone. It was no longer my anxiety lying to me. At that point, I knew I needed to make new friends and choose my family. For a very long period of time, I did not know how to approach new people in order to make new friends. I needed to dip my toes in the water. I eventually made some new friends. Although I didn't tell them about my mental health issues, they seemed to genuinely love me for my personality. I knew I couldn't lie to them forever, but I didn't know how to tell them I struggle and that I sometimes need help. So I did what I always somehow to. I blurted it out. I told them. They looked at me in shock. Although they looked at me they way they did, they immediately expressed how my issues do not equal my personality. I like to think now that my friends leaving me was a good thing, because if they hadn't I wouldn't know the people I am friends with now. Another good thing that came from my new friends was that I began to get in touch with my religion again. They brought me closer than ever to my Iman. I will forever be grateful for what they have done for me. They expressed that my issues were not Shaytaan. That my issues were far from a punishment from Allah. That's when I decided to get in touch with the Qur'an. I read it and fell in love all over again. While I believe that my mental health issues did lead me to the better side of my relationships and beliefs, I don't think that they had an impact on my career path choices. I believe that they way people treated me led me to my dream career. I was treated like a criminal. They wanted me locked up away to not harm anyone. I suppose that is what had led me to forensic psychology. I wanted people like me to finally feel understood and safe. With that, I also what to make it known worldwide that mental illness is not an excuse to do whatever. Yes, sometimes we do not have control over ourselves, however we should still own up to our actions and apologize. My mental health issues have definitely shaped a lot about me. They turned me into who I am today. They have led me to new people and viewpoints, and I cannot be prouder of myself. If you were to tell me what has happened and what I have decided to become in my future, I would laugh in your face. Now, I am certain that I am who I am meant to be. I can actually thank my mental health issues for who I have become.

Mental illness brings a dangerous addiction, self harm. An addiction I fell victim to because I no longer had any idea what I was living for. I guess you could say I lost control over my mental state. It took me three years to stop getting urges to self harm. Those three years were absolute hell for me. However, I had an amazing therapist who worked with me. She never once got mad at me whenever I relapsed or failed to resist the urges. We began with distinguishing what my triggers were that made me want to self harm. From there, we discussed ways to replace self harm. We began with placing ice on my wrist. This helped me get the same sensation that I would get from the self harm. This way was much safer and less likely to leave scars. When that no longer helped, we switched to flicking a soft hair tie on my wrist. I would get a similar feeling to when you would flick a rubber band onto your skin, but this way was much safer for you. Sadly, this did not turn out to be something that helped me. Since the hair tie method did not last long, I needed to find a new method that would help, and fast. My therapist suggested taking ice cold showers. Not on my hair of course, but just rinse myself in the coldest setting of water. This way did help for a while. However, it was not very long lasting. At that point, my therapist was running out of ideas. She suggested I get sent to inpatient. Of course, I was against the idea. I needed to find a way to cope on my own. A way that would work for me. I began to discover things that made me forget about my issues. I began to try things that once made me happy. I began with writing. It's something I loved since I was seven years old. It helped me ignite my creative side and cloud my mind from the urges. When I realized this was helping, I wanted to try out more things I used to love. That's when I rediscovered volleyball. I loved it when I was young, but I was not the best. However, I saw it as a last hope before I got sent away to inpatient. I began to play until I passed out from tiredness. The more I played, the better I got. The better I got, the more I got used to playing in harsh conditions. It was an amazing way to destress myself and cloud my mind. This was it. Volleyball was my savior. Overcoming my self harming addiction was a rocky road. I absolutely hated the coping methods I was told to test. However, once I discovered my own, I noticed changes in myself. I truly believe that sports and writing are the two things that will get me through my struggles in life.

My best back to school tip is make as many memories as you can. Yes, school is for learning, but school is also for making memories. As you make those memories, you will make friends, when you make friends, you'll create lifelong bonds. Making memories while you're in school can set you up for life. Don't ever think that you need to focus on school to succeed. You need a balance of fun and focus. And what's better fun than making memories with people who you love and care about? Instagram: shxnkzalot Tip: Make as many memories as you can!

I was always taught to put other before myself. It's even my school's motto, "Others Before Self." So, you can pretty much assume I've been taught this for a really long time. I've done it so much to where I now fell in love with helping others before even thinking of myself. It has always been that I want to help them grow, not me. One time while I was grounded from my phone, I had an insanely bad gut feeling that my best friend needed me. My mom was in possession of my phone at the time. She would not let me near it whatsoever. While my mom wasn't around, I took my phone back. I turned it back on and called my best friend. I'm so glad I did. She was on edge. So much was going on with her. I don't want to imagine what could have possibly happen if I didn't call her when I did. I risked getting in trouble with my mom to call my best friend. I actually did get in trouble afterwards once I was caught on the phone, but it was worth it. My best friend is now much better and thriving. Last week, the volleyball coaches at my school hosted a pre-season practice to help us students know what to expect at tryouts and know what the coaches want to see. When we broke into partners to warm up, a small group of girls approached the coaches and informed them that they have never even touched a volleyball. I didn't have a partner, so I did what I felt was best. I approached them and offered to be in a group with them. None of the other returning players wanted to help them out, so I thought why not help them? They might appreciate the help after all. Turns out they didn't really appreciate it, but I didn't stop trying to help them. I love helping people. I don't care if I have known them forever or if I have just met them. If I have the opportunity to teach someone something new I will take it. If I have the opportunity to help someone find a reason to live, I will gladly take the chance at helping them. Not everything is about me. Sometimes we just need to think of other before ourselves, even if the person doesn't appreciate it afterwards. You still took the time to be selfless.

I love helping others. My community is surrounded by people of all ages, jobs, ethnicities, religions, and sexual orientations. I've had more than enough opportunities to help varieties of people with various tasks. I must say, no matter what I was asked to do, I always had fun doing the tasks. I want to begin with the time I asked my mom if I could work with her at the Walmart COVID Clinic. At first, she told me that they did not allow minors to work alongside them. That was before they knew that two of their best people would call in sick. Hours passed and my mom called me asking if I still wanted to help out. Of course I said yes. She came to pick me up and I spent the whole day passing out the paperwork and cleaning the clipboards and pens. I also had some children come up to me begging me to not let them get the COVID vaccine. Of course, it was their parent's decision. The best I could do was offer them to hold my hand as tight as they possibly could. I was much more involved with my JROTC program's Iron Cadet Challenge. I wasn't competing in the challenge, but I was asked to go around making sure no one was cheating or writing down a greater number than what the cadet had done. This was a challenge for me because I'm used to minding my own business. This made me pay close attention to everyone around me. I was holding all the leaders accountable to holding their challengers accountable. I must say, I hated what I had to do, but I loved stepping out of my comfort zone. This was more recent; volleyball practice. Three of the girls who showed up have admitted that they've never even touched a volleyball before. The coaches then asked all returning players who would be willing to teach the girls at least the basics. Since no one answered, I decided why not help them. If I were in their shoes I'd want someone to help me. I worked with them on their approaches, their hand positioning when passing and setting, and how to preserve the power of a hit. I'd be lying if I said it was easy. A couple of times the coaches would come and help me work with them one on one because my way of explaining just wasn't working out. Even though I couldn't teach them everything on my own, I took the chance of teaching those beginners what I could. I'm aware that not all of these show leadership, but the fact that I took initiative when my social anxiety begged me not to made me feel like I was a leader. I didn't think I would be the reason kids felt safe getting a shot. I didn't think I would be having to hold my peers accountable to not cheat to success. I absolutely didn't think that I would be teaching fresh beginners how to play volleyball. Many people may not think these are acts of leadership, but I do.

Animals are my serotonin. That's one of the biggest reasons why I love them so much. Due to my love for animals, I am extremely passionate about animal advocacy. Especially when it comes to animal cruelty and humans destroying their habitats. Those two issues were my peak to advocating for animals. Growing up, I thought animal testing meant that they actually dolled up the animals to see how to products looked on them. Oh how young and dumb I was. I would have never guessed that they meant that they injected the chemicals used in those products into the poor defenseless creatures. It shattered my heart to know what was actually going on. Especially when my friends showed me for the first time a video on how it goes down. I will never forget the screams, shaking, and crying I saw from the animals. What have the animals done to humans to deserve that? Absolutely nothing! These creatures simply try to live their lives freely. They don't deserve to be turned into science's test dummies. In fact, I believe animals and humans deserve to live in harmony. It's such a shame how most animals now live in fear of humans because of the abuse that they've been through. Animals will not think twice to come and help us when we need help. When animals see that we are sad they come and sit with us until we feel better. Animals are fluffy, soft, and overall adorable creatures that I just love. I grew up around squirrels, armadillos, dogs, cats, coyotes, opossums, bunnies, snakes, birds, and lizards. Seeing those variety of animals every day helped me to grow a connection with animals and their habitats. It truly breaks me to see how we as human repay them. Believe it or not, I grew up in the suburbs. Somewhere where coyotes and armadillos probably shouldn't have been. Humans are destroying the Earth. The Earth belonged to the animals first, so who are we to take it from them? The Earth is dying and that is causing our animals to die off as well. I will never forget when I was in my sophomore year environmental science class. We were discussing the different biomes and invasive species in them. My teacher, who is in his 50s, told us that 50% of the known animals that were around when he was a kid are now extinct. It's insane how we have managed to destroy the planet that we were meant to share with the animals. First, humans took their homes away. Then, humans used them as test dummies. We destroyed the animals before they could even learn to love us. Even if animals may not love me back the way I love them, I will forever fight for them. We cannot speak their language, so we must fight alongside them!

I don't know a whole lot about the environment, or climate change. However, I do know that one of the things that's harming our climate is air pollution. Due to air pollution being one of the contributions to climate change, I decided to take action. I began by asking my neighbors and family friends if they would let me garden at their homes. This meant bushes, flowers, trees, vegetables, and more. If they said yes, I would get to work. Plants, trees especially, are the token to purifying our air. Trees take in the carbon dioxide and release oxygen for us humans. Planting new ones helps refresh the air we breathe. Before I planted the new plants, flowers, trees, and bushes, I would replace the soil. Adding fresh and new soil helps the environment because the soil targets the carbon dioxide that's in the air and fights it. The more I replanted and renewed soils, I felt the air get fresher. It may sound like an exaggeration, but I truly felt as if the air was slowly changing. I know the air is only a small factor of climate change, but even the small projects leave big impacts.

As many may know, Roe v Wade was overturned on June 24, 2022 in The United States of America. This affects not only access to abortion, but so much more. Ever since the decision to overturn Roe v Wade, our country has gone downhill. Many women have already taken the initiative of protesting outside The Supreme Court, their state's supreme courts, and outside their state's governor's offices. I was deeply saddened that I could not take part in these peaceful protests, so I did the next best thing. I began reaching out to people through my social media. I posted how the overturn of Roe v Wade affected me, how it affected much more than just abortion. I posted every new update about The Supreme Court. I just didn't find it fair. I began talking on social media and in person about how the separation of church and state needed to be enforced now more than ever. You could find me talking only about politics for a good while. As of now, I still actively talk about how the overturn affects the people of The United States. I am still enraged, which is why I refuse to stop talking about the overturn of Roe v Wade. This decision opened up a whole new debate. I am proud to say that I've been able to touch the hearts of many people who have been affected by the decision.

The drawing that has no name. Found in an old asylum, but created by a paranoid schizophrenic. That is my favorite drawing. The drawing is sketched out and shaded into a body that has two heads, each facing the opposite side of the other. The head facing the left has its mouth opened, as it stretches its boney arm around to the other face's head, pulling it off like a carpet. The head facing the right has its mouth opened and its tongue sticking out, as it stretches its boney arm around the conjoined neck, looking as if it is strangling itself. The drawing is captured like no other. It captures the horrific truth surrounding hallucinations. As a person who experiences hallucinations, I couldn't help but feel connected to the drawing. The brilliant mastermind behind the drawing must have known that describing what we see isn't enough. They must have realized that there is no better why of expressing our struggles rather than drawing it out. This unnamed drawing is my favorite piece of art. Not only because I can connect with the drawing, but because I know how awful it must have been to be the one who draws the portrait. The person who drew the portrait must have went through many different emotions as he created the drawing. I sympathize for the person who created the drawing. That is why the photo from the old asylum is my favorite.

I suffer from periods of psychosis. This includes auditory and visual hallucinations, delusions, flat affect, and psychotic breaks. Staying optimistic was far from being in my agenda. Well, that was until I learned that I was the only one who could change my mindset. Once I found ways to become optimistic, I noticed changes. Throughout my periods of psychosis, there was not much I could do. Therefore, I needed to make changes when I wasn't suffering from psychosis. I began with saying positive things towards myself. The more I said cheesy things to myself, I slowly began to believe it. When I began to believe these things, I decided that I needed to change my mindset on suffering with psychosis altogether. I wrote myself sticky notes with possibilities on why I could be experiencing these things. Such as it being a challenge that Allah wants me to endure, I'm meant to face these obstacles to become my true self, and that these experiences will help me help others who suffer with the same obstacles. The more optimistic I was, the better I got mentally. Staying optimistic taught me that there will always be a light at the end of the dark tunnel. I learned that I always need to believe in myself. Once I began to think and speak positively, my outlook on life changed of the better. That is the main reason I believe staying optimistic in your life will be better for you.

"Just save your money and you'll do fine," is all I've heard when I asked about how to maintain finances. Even though I do believe that saving can be beneficial, no one taught me what I learned at school. My leadership teacher once said, "do not put all of your money savings. You need to have money to spend, because if you don't, how do you expect to buy yourself things?" Ever since my leadership told us this, I realized that putting all your money into savings wasn't the only good method of managing your money. This was the most helpful piece of financial advice that I ever received. This made me critically think, "how was I supposed to spend the money that my bank probably won't let me access? Once it's in a savings account, I won't have access to it." As much as I didn't believe it at first, there was no evidence for me not to believe it. As we went father and farther into the lesson, we began to do virtual understandings. I did the opposite of what my teacher had said. I placed all my money into savings. I couldn't buy anything at all. Not even a simple shirt. I wished I had listened. From there, that's when my critical thinking began. Without spending money, I couldn't buy anything. I knew from then that I needed to have a healthy balance between my spending and saving money. This piece of financial advice stuck with me, and I will continue to tell others about this.

All of the elderly people in my community are relatively lonely. All of their kids have their own lives. All of their grandkids are addicted to their phones. They have no one to talk to about their lives, about what is it that they love. That's where I come into play with the elderly in my community. I sit and talk with them. About anything and everything, mostly whatever they wish to talk to me about. They want to hear about other's lives. They want to tell people stories of what they have experienced. Sadly, no one wants to listen. I cook with the elderly in my community. I live in a very diverse community where the elderly have many different old recipes from their times and countries. Safe to say I've learned many delicious recipes over the years. Elderly people just want company. We have no idea how much longer we have with them, so I like to make every second count while I'm with them. Whenever I am with my grandmother, I leave my phone in my bedroom and I watch TV with her, I cook with her, I go on walks with her and talk. She urges me to go be a teenager, but I'd much rather hear her voice and hug her while I still can. I learned this from my grandmother in Slovenia. I see her once every 4 years, so when I do see her, I make it count. I love listening to childhood stories od hers and cooking old Slovenian dishes with her. I learned to appreciate the elderly because of my grandmother. I don't see her often and it's heartbreaking. That's why I spend so much time with the elderly people in my community. I don't know how much longer they have.

I'm not as brave as I let people believe. I try to act fearless, but in reality I'm absolutely terrified. However, I'm now trying my best to be better. You see, I suffer from Major Depressive Disorder with psychotic features. Due to my psychotic features, specifically my hallucinations, I've become both more fearful. I hated being around people. Simply because I couldn't distinguish reality from my hallucinations. That's when I broke. I didn't want to constantly live in fear and sadness. I knew I needed help. I asked for therapy and was put on a waiting list. I began therapy about a year later and got a professional diagnosis. I had actually began to get the help I knew I needed. As I worked on myself with my therapist, my hallucinations just weren't going anywhere. Where I went, they followed. I had to be brave and ask for the next step, medication. After about 2 months, I saw improvements. My hallucinations became less, but not my much, but it was definitely something. They became less and less aggressive. They talked to me a bit less. My definition of bravery isn't going out of my way and doing something risky. My definition of bravery in my life was to ask for help. Now, I am much better. Now, I am helping others with similar diagnoses. My bravery didn't just help me, but it is now helping me to help others like me. I believe my brave acts help me to now live boldly as I help others just like me.

Many believe that saving your money is the most important lesson. How to save, when to save, and how much to save is all a part of what many believe is essential. However, I disagree. Saving is essential, yes, but the money you spend is just as important as the money you save. My leadership teacher once said, "you cannot put all your money into savings. You need money to spend. If you put everything you worked for into savings, you will never get your basic needs." Ever since my teacher told us that, I got a new perspective on managing my money. Organizing how much you save versus how much you spend is very essential once you have your own money. Think of it this way, how can you spend money that you hardly have access to? This lesson made me rethink how I wanted to save all of my money. There is nothing wrong with saving money, it's just how you save it. The key to financial success is to weigh out your money.

The best thing about mentoring others is watching them grow after so many outbursts of wanting to give up. From all of the emotional outbursts they go through, to feeling accomplished as they see themselves improve. One of the biggest things about mentoring others is wondering what impact you are leaving on the person who you are mentoring. The impact I hope to leave to my mentees is to live by never giving up. Just like how I refuse to give up on them, I hope they never give up on themselves. I never want them to feel like they can't do something. I want my mentees to know that they don't know what they are capable of until they try the tasks that they worry about. My mentees knowing that they should never give up is my number one impact that I hope to leave. Being a mentor leaves many impacts, but watching your mentees grow their confidence and refusing to give up on themselves, truly is a prize of its own.

I used to hide myself away from the rest of the world. I used to be ashamed of my auditory and visual hallucinations. My brain used my hallucinations as an opportunity to mock my past traumatic events. I truly believed I was crazy for something that was out of my control. About 2 years after I started hallucinating, I started therapy. I learned a lot more than I thought I would. For example, my therapist expressed how my hallucinations were only reenacting my past trauma in order to finally process those events. Another example would be when my therapist taught me that those who admit they have problems learn to live as normal as people who do not have my problems. I wasn't crazy. I shouldn't have been ashamed. I am simply different, but I am also normal. I am my version of normal. Sadly, my hallucinations will not be going anywhere, but that's ok. I am in my healing process, and I've learned to just embrace my problems because they will be with me for the rest of my life. Now, I help others like me. I help them understand that they are as normal as normal can be. I help them understand that they should not be ashamed of what is out of their control. I thank my therapist for helping me open my mind to see that I am simply in my own healing process.

The first time I shot an air rifle, I shot the wall. I completely missed the target, which was insanely embarrassing. I deeply considered never showing my face at the range again, but I ended up showing up twice a week from that moment forward. I missed nearly every shot for the next two months. A part of me wanted to quit shooting altogether, but another part of me was screaming for me to be patient with myself. I forced myself to slow down, practice BRASS (breathe, relax, aim, sight, squeeze), and slowly pulling on the trigger when I was able to hold a good sight picture. I'm glad that I didn't give up on myself. I slowly started to hit the targets. Hitting the targets eventually became my first bullseye. I gotten my first bullseye in February 2022; I started shooting October 2021, so you can see there was a bit of a time stretch with my progress. In those 5 months I was able to motivate myself to keep shooting. After many misses and insecure moments, I finally began to reach my goals. From being the girl who shot the wall, to being the girl with many achievements. In December of 2021, we had a competition within the Civilian Marksman Program. I placed 1,343 out of around 4,000 kids! In May 2022 I earned my Junior Marksman Badge! At the end of the school year, I counted 11 bullseyes that I earned. I was beyond happy. It's now safe to say that I've made it.

I've never been afraid to get my hands dirty. In fact, I was always found in my grandmother's vegetable and flower gardens. Being a child, I was terrified of certain insects, but I never let my fears stop me from appreciating the beauty and peace that is nature. Most importantly, I was always consistent with appreciating nature. Nature is peace. That's why I prefer to spend as much time as I can outside. That be in my backyard, my driveway, or at a park, or maybe even a hiking trail. Making a hot cup of tea at night and opening up a book at sunset can't be beat. Sitting and enjoying the nature is one of the best ways to appreciate nature. Giving back to nature is one of the main ways I try to appreciate the great outdoors. Planting all types of seeds, giving flowers new soil, and mixing plant growth minerals into the new soil are just a few ways I try to give back to nature. Renewing the parts of nature that I have access to warms my heart. I do realize that there's more I could do, and I am trying to do more. As for now, the best I can do is enjoy and renew the nature closest to me.

Throughout the years I've been in therapy, I've practiced many different types of coping skills. Many have failed me, but a group a skills have helped pull me up. There's nothing more I'd love than to share what's helped me, in hopes it helps others! Not only share what's helped me, but also share how they have helped me. One of the first skills to help me was words of encouragement towards myself. Every morning when I woke up, I would go to the bathroom mirror and say, "I am beautiful, I am strong, I am me for me." Right before bed, I would repeat those phrases out loud. Everyday, twice a day, I would tell myself this until I began to believe what I was telling myself. The words we tell ourselves are crucial because we as humans believe what we are told, so why not tell ourselves positive things that we want to hear, that we want to believe? Many people write out their feelings into a journal. That did not work for me, so I tried the opposite alternative. I would record my voice as I expressed how I felt and why I felt the way I felt. This technique helped me realize that my feelings were valid. Now, I sometimes unlock my My Eyes Only on Snapchat, (where I keep my voice recordings) and I just listen to how far I've come. Hearing my past helps me to keep fighting and get farther. A more common coping skill that helped me is listening to music. Listening to sad music that you relate to helps you to realize that you are not alone in your battles. Music has a power to express what we sometimes struggle with putting into words. As we listen to the words, our brains process the true meaning to help us overcome our situations. That's why I love music so much, it helps you without you even realizing it. Before you disagree with me, please hear me out. Hot showers are good for when you want to get clean, but cold showers help to clear your head. Once you get into a cold shower, your body resets. that includes your mindset. All the negative thoughts kind of disappear once you hit the cold water. The cold water forces your body to shift onto the focus of warming you. This helps distract you from whatever negative thoughts clouded your mind. From there, your mind can self-process what it was that you were thinking. My personal favorite, sleep. There's no better feeling than crying out all of your worries then sleeping for a good night. The feeling of waking up well rested and brand new cannot be beaten. As you sleep, your brain processes everything that's happened that day. This helps you to feel fresh the next time you wake up. I can assure you that practicing these 5 coping methods will help improve your mental state, or at least some of these methods will help you. Of course, these methods may not help everyone, but they've helped me more times than I can count. I hope that the methods that have helped me reach out to others to help them!

Out of all the books I've read, (and I've read a lot) my favorite book is Then She Was Gone. It's an amazing novel that will constantly leave you with questions and will put your detective skills to test. Just as many people have said, this truly is one of the best thriller books I have ever read. I absolutely loved the mystery that was wrapped around Ellie's disappearance. Cliffhanger after cliffhanger that left me wanting to read more. The entire writing style of the novel was outstanding. Especially how every detail plays a major role. Such as when Laurel and Floyd had first met. I immediately felt as if their first meet went too smoothly, as if it was planned. I was actually right! Well, I was definitely on the right track! With that said, that is proof that my skills were tested as I read the novel. I loved the challenge that I was put up to. I love how the novel was far from cliché. The emotions were so raw, so real, so perfect. The style in which it was written was extremely unique. The is no word or words that can describe Then She Was Gone. It is that special and unique to where extraordinary just doesn't describe it, and I love how much the novel had me thinking and questioning everything that went on. The novel was perfect. From the mystery, to the emotions, to the writing style. Then She Was Gone is a once in a lifetime read. I absolutely loved reading the novel. If you haven't read Then She Was Gone, you're missing out.

Ever since my sophomore year began, I decided to do lots of new things. Things such as finally making the volleyball team and joining JROTC. Now since it's the end of my sophomore year, I can officially say that I've accomplished both of those goals. Now, my goals are to expand myself in both of these activities. When my coach selected me for her team, I was ecstatic. Little did I know, my coach wanted me to play the position I was least experienced in, outside hitter. At the time, I was absolutely awful at being a hitter, but now I would say that I'm improving. Since I decided to practice my hitting skills, I made it a goal of mine to learn each position to the best of my abilities. This would work for both me and my coaches. They would get a player who could rotate as all positions, and I would excel in my volleyball skills. Another one of my goals is long-term. As you may know, we are taught the different leadership styles, traits, and principles. We are also taught how to be active leaders. With being taught all about leadership, I now have a burning desire to obtain a leadership role within the program. Of course, I'll need to work long and hard to prove myself worthy of such a role. I'll need to actively participate in air rifle, drill, and raider teams to make my way up the ladder. I am currently a lance corporal. In order to obtain a leadership role, I'll need to rank up to a lieutenant. I'm aware I have a long road ahead of me, but I'm confident that I will accomplish my goals. My love for volleyball and JROTC are my motivation. I will accomplish my goals.

There are many problems around the world at this time, but one problem stands out. As many may know, Roe v. Wade is the main protection of women's rights in the United States of America. Not only is it a protection of women's rights, but it also protects the healthcare for women. Now, The Supreme Court is considering to overturn Roe v. Wade. The main reason The Supreme Court wants to overturn Roe v. Wade is to make abortion illegal. The justices see abortion as murder. Personally, I believe that abortion is far from murder and that abortion should be accessible for all women. After all, it's their body so it should be their choice. Ever since the announcement of Roe v. Wade possibly overturning, the U.S. has come together but also tore apart. The different opinions towards Roe v. Wade have brought various groups together, but not everyone agrees with one another. I stand with the pro-choice women. Roe v. Wade protects so much more than just abortion. It protects the right to birth control, safe sex practices, and abortion. In order to protect Roe v. Wade, we the people in the United States of America need to gather together and protest for our rights. If protests don't work, we will move to rallies. If rallies don't work, we will move to social media. Surely, someone with power with stand with us and make noise in order to protect our rights. Overturning Roe v. Wade would do more harm than good. Not only would millions lose their rights, but the countries that follow in the U.S.'s footsteps will believe that taking away women's rights is a power move, which is inhumane. Hopefully, we make enough noise to where we reach The Supreme Court in time before the last decision.

Growing up, I was always taught to sugarcoat things. I was told that being nice about the wrongs of others would help me gain respect and also preserve their feelings. However, I found being nice towards others when they were wrong to be difficult, surprisingly. I always had this unexplainable urge to tell the truth as it was. I didn't know this at the time, but i'm just a straightforward and blunt person. Being straightforward and blunt can be both good and bad, depending on the situation at hand. I do realize that I can easily hurt someone's feelings with this, but sometimes when you know the person needs a reality check, you need to be loyal and tell them the truth. Sometimes your friends will appreciate your honesty. I find being blunt to be a valuable trait of mine because I find being honest to be a more beneficial than beating around the bush or sugarcoating it. The honesty the first time just proves how much I value my peers to be knowledgeable. The truth may hurt at times, but it'll sting for a bit then the person will move on. I know many people see bluntness as a bad trait, but I see it as a strength.

Many people choose to bottle up their issues because of the stigma that surrounds mental health. We need people who have previously worked on their mental state to stand up and tall with our movement to end the stigma. Once we stand tall with acknowledgement towards our issues, we can all use our ways to cope to help others. A practical way to help others who are struggling is to prove to them that they are not alone. We need to prove to them that they are not defined by their problems. Once they realize and accept these flaws of theirs, then they can turn everything they suffered with into a strength of theirs. Now, you may be thinking, "how will they reach out to gain these strengths out of their problems?" The solution already exists. Everyone nowadays has some form of social media. I believe we need more mental health accounts across all social media platforms. With these accounts, we can create group chats where people can express themselves without being judged. We can also pair people up with similar mental health concerns to share their methods of coping. With these pairings, the people can talk to someone who actually understands their pain. I truly believe that if we simply target those who need the help, we can find out more and more ways to help people to overcome what they face. These people need to feel safe within their communities. the safety and security will help them to feel lighter from the weight that they have carried for who knows how long. The more people we help, the more people they will help. Then, our world will not only understand mental health, but also be willing to help as many people as we possibly can.

Every person has their own sense of creativity. Some draw, some craft, some cook, some bake, and some may even garden. I for one, write stories to add creativity into my life. For years, I've loved writing. Ideas popped up like a fresh bag of popcorn. The large variety of ideas made me feel creative. All the steps, all the constructing, all the critical thinking, all the planning, all the designing; all of these factors help to not only create a great story, but also help to keep creativity in my life. The beauty of writing is that there are no limits. I can write as much as I want, as complex as I want, as tragic as I want, as meaningful as I want, and so much more. For example, I've written thriller stories, mystery stories, fantasy stories, and romance stories. Through my stories, I've been able to express my imagination. All of my wild thoughts transferred from my mind to a paper. Now, I take the extra step of publishing my stories for other people to enjoy! Writing my stories is a challenge, a creative challenge. The challenges of writing are what make writing enjoyable for me. The challenges of writing are what make me feel creative. Through my creativity, I've been able to entertain my readers. I highly doubt that I will ever give up on writing because I have proved to myself that I am creative in my own way. I love writing with a passion. My stories are what make me creative. Writing my not be for everyone, but writing is for me.

My bucket list was nonexistent until the end of my 8th grade year. The JROTC program of the high school that I now attend came to my middle school to persuade us to join the program. I for one, was persuaded. The cadets that came to my school demonstrated their way of doing things. From their workouts, to their drill movements, to their shooting. From the moment they demonstrated what they do, I was inspired. All I wanted to do was learn how to shoot, earn myself a bullseye, improve my strength, and most important of all, join the JROTC program. Sadly, I had to wait until my sophomore year of high school to begin working on my bucket list. On the third day of the school year, I had gotten my schedule changed to ensure that I would be in JROTC. About three months after joining, I became a part of the rifle team. I was ecstatic to learn how to shoot! February 2nd. That's the day I got my first bullseye. Since then, I've worked harder. Now, I have a total of 5 bullseyes! 2 in the kneeling position and 3 in the prone position. As for my strength, it is still a work in progress, but I can now successfully do proper push ups and run longer distances! I've worked long and hard to get where I am today within the program. I will continue to work hard to enhance my new skills. I will work for bullseyes on all targets. I will work on strengthening my body. I refuse to let the things that were once on my bucket list to be lost and forgotten. The things on my bucket list will become what I am known for.

My happy place is my bed. I can relax and be comfortable on my bed. It's the main place where I can unwind and practice self-care. When I say I can practice self-care on my bed, I mean that I can just focus on myself and my well being. I can write my feelings out. I can write my stories and let the creativity flow from my mind to my paper. Well, at least before writer's block hits. I can lay back and watch TV in the comfort of my blankets and stuffed animals. I can bury my face into my pillows and let my emotions spill out without judgment. I can sit on my bed and read as many books as I please. I can lay back and sleep until my body wakes me up, signaling that I am rested. As I practice various ways to care for my well being, I feel myself become lighter. I learned how to manage stress in easier and healthier manners. In the process, I learned a bit about myself, such as my love for writing stories! I learned how to keep myself content and calm. I became more aware of my triggers and coping skills that work for me. Now, I make sure to include self-care in my daily life schedule. Without self-care, I would have lost control over myself a long time ago. Self-care is crucial for all of us to maintain our well beings, physically and mentally. I believe if self-care could help me, it can help you too.

I won't lie, being patient can really suck. It can be hard. Nonetheless, patience is a skill that all of us should master at some point. Patience is important to me because I believe that we cannot rush greatness. Patience is like a test. A test to see how determined you are for whatever it is that you are waiting for. To see how long you are willing to wait for. Your achievements will not come overnight. You'll need to suffer the sleepless nights, the tears, the outbursts, and the anxiety before you can say you made it patiently to your goal. Patience is not always sitting down calmly waiting for the storm to pass. Sometimes, patience is becoming the storm itself. The importance of patience to me is not the sense of content that it brings most people. The importance of patience to me is the variety of emotions that patience actually puts a person through. If patience has taught me anything, it is that you should always keep your why in mind, even when you want to give up.

I always refused to live a boring life. I've always been adventurous, chaotic, and protective. I never thought about how I could include these traits into my future. That was until a few years ago. I want to begin a new legacy. One where I'm not a doctor. One where I don't want to work the average 9 to 5 everyday. One where I exceed my parents' expectations. I want to take risks. I want to solve the impossible. I want to protect others. I want to live my day to day life with a purpose. I want to love what I do. My goal in life is to save lives. Throughout these past few years, a lot has changed in my life. Everything that has happened to me shaped my mind into joining the FBI. Ever since I was labeled as crazy, I decided to work with people that are misunderstood, just like me. Ever since I was perceived as someone who I am not, I decided that I wanted to work with people whom I was labeled as. I want to understand the "crazy" mindset. I want to find out why I was labeled as crazy. Of course, there are more reasons as to why I am eager to join the FBI; such as my mental health, my past experiences, my desires, my skills, my talents, and my dreams. My mental health taught me that I need to be patient and consider all options. My past experiences have taught me to not forget, but to also learn and move on. My desires have taught me to never give up. My skills have taught me to focus on getting better for myself and no one else. My talents have taught me to be humble. My dreams have taught me to to follow the doors that are presented in front of me. Each factor that has impacted my eagerness to join the FBI has taught me something valuable that I would need in the field. As I work to protect others, I want to leave an impact. I want to inspire others to not be afraid of to take on challenges that are in front of them. I want to be the reason people feel safe. I want to be the reason justice is served to the right people. Crime rates constantly rise, and I want to help reduce the rates. I plan to use all the factors that I stated before to serve the United States of America. The FBI has been my dream for what seems like forever. My whole life I've had experiences that led me to wanting to join the FBI in order to serve and protect. I don't expect to be remembered, but I do expect to leave an impact. A legacy. I'll do whatever it takes to achieve my goal. Not only for myself, but for safety of others.

I like to think that my love for volleyball is hereditary. Volleyball has been a huge part of my family for the past 30 years. My mom played for 10 years in Slovenia before she moved to the USA. It wasn't only my mom who played volleyball. My older cousin from my dad's side plays volleyball as well! Sometimes I think I should begin a different sport, but no other sport compares to volleyball. No other sport makes me feel the way volleyball does. When I'm playing volleyball, I feel free, confident, crucial, a part of something, disciplined, and alive. With every successful serve, bump, and pass, the liberating feeling inside of me makes my love for volleyball grow. I love how we all learn as a team. One of us misses, we all suffer the pain of running on the court. One of us succeeds, the rest of the team congratulates you. We all work together and grow together. Playing volleyball brings me a sense of comfort that nothing else in the world can possibly bring. From the first moment I tried volleyball, I knew that volleyball was made for me. I began to play by myself against a wall. When I found out I made my school's junior varsity volleyball team, I was ecstatic! I wouldn't have to play alone anymore! I absolutely love playing with my teammates! I love how we all connect as we play. I love how we support each other. I love the encouragement we all provide for one another. I love the bonds I was able to create through the sport. I don't think I'll ever quit volleyball. It's become such an important part of my life. All of the bonds, confidence, freedom, happiness, and excitement that volleyball brings me is irreplaceable. My love for volleyball began when I was 10 years old, and it will continue until the day I die. No one, and I mean no one, will or can take volleyball away from me.

The moment I found out I have Major Depressive Disorder with psychotic features, my life changed. I knew my family and friends would view me differently. I was right. My family walked on eggshells when around me. My friends stopped talking to me. They expressed that they believed I was possessed and I simply needed an exorcism. It wasn't only my friends who felt that way. My family spent months trying to persuade me to get an exorcism. I did get an exorcism, but nothing changed. From that moment on, I vowed to myself to de-stigmatize and to de-demonize mental health. When my family began to believe I was better, I worked harder to learn what was going on to cause my mental illness. I learned a lot. Not only was my illness hereditary, but it could also be cause by childhood trauma. I also learned that mental health issues weren't uncommon in my family. My grandmother actually suffers from Bipolar Depression. No one in my family dared to talk about it, though. Our mental health problems have similar characteristics. This gave me my first idea. If I could convince my parents that I was still the person I was before my diagnosis, maybe they would stop walking on eggshells around me. Immediately, I got to work. My plan was to find more people like me and to introduce them to my parents. The people I met were normal people. We all just had a side to us that we didn't want anyone to know about. New people would meet us and would say, "such lovely children." We are good people. It's just that society taught us, its citizens, that people with mental issues are less than the people who were seen as "normal." We finally revealed to my parents that my new friends were just like me. As I expected, my parents were shocked, but I was determined. I wanted my parents to understand that my new friends have not changed and that my new friends are still the same people from five minutes before we revealed that they're the same as me. It did take a lot of work, but after showing research and older studies proving our issues do not change our personalities, my parents became a bit more open minded about our issues. I was beyond happy. If I was able to change the minds of my strict Muslim parents, I can change many more. Since then, I've vowed to help end the stigma that surrounds mental health. I want to work with people like me. My original plan was to become a clinical child psychologist and to work with kids who suffer from mental illnesses. Now, my plan has changed. I want to work with the FBI and help criminals understand that they simply need help, but they also need to take accountability for what they've done. I refuse to let any more people experience what I have. I am going to work hard to make sure I join the FBI to make our world a more understanding place.