Therapist Impact Fund: NextGen Scholarship Sergio Jordan Jr. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of North Florida My experience is undoubtedly an experience to common in my community where onism is shared amongst us African Americans. An experience that tests those of color, a word I choose to use because this fight started generations before mine. A struggle to survive that gives us no time to think or feel bad for ourselves. We can trust few with our weakness and would not dare burden each other with our mental obstacles. The stigma of mental health in the Black community runs deep embedded into generational trauma. My story starts no different. A young man with issues that would not think to voice those issues to such a strong Black family who obviously struggles more than me every day. I had problems for longer than I knew and only in my reflection do I notice the depression I went through. As I grew and life began to unfold my issues surfaced faster than I could push them away and in 2019 I decided to make an attempt on my own life in which I was unsuccessful. I reflected on my life for years after until I decided to pursue a doctorate to become a psychiatrist. I made this decision mostly to understand myself, my mind, and what led me to become who I became. I also really enjoy giving others advice and guiding them away from the potholes I seem to be attracted to. I hope to one day who can help people not only through there issue but also more importantly avoid their issues because so many are less fortunate than me no matter which road they decided to take. I also aspire to end the stigma around mental health creating an environment where every single person acknowledges their vice or what holds them back mentally from reaching their full potential. The Black community refuses decade after decade to address their issues passing down weakness disguised as strength a tool that has help us survive for generations. Our resilience has been displayed for so long and as life goes on our mortality continues to reveal itself burdening souls not a part of the battle we seemingly won. In today’s Mental HealthCare I see too much about mental illness. We over stigmatize mental health issues to mental illness and psychotic breakdowns. Would it be responsible to wait to a man has a heart attack to treat his heart disease. Would be acceptable to watch a man partake in all the things that leads to heart disease with out providing him with the knowledge to prevent the development of the disease. We should do more to spread awareness of the threats to our mental health without demonizing things, blaming people, or satisfying for genetic redeposition. We must provide more preventative measures than we do to save more lives before than know they need saving. When many people do realize they need saving they feel it is to late anyway. Teletherapy is extremely beneficial with pandemics and other social challenges the benefits have shown to be unbelievably valuable. It provides the opportunity for those who have social obstacles or fear to get help they deserve. It overcomes issues like pandemics and natural disasters as well as financial/transportation issues that could prevent help from being sought out. Many people use their social fears and obstacles as an excuse, while there are people simple incapable of overcoming their phobias at that moment. Diversity could flourish with greater accessibility without judgement from their community.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Byte into STEM Scholarship 05/03/2025 I am a young Black man from Jacksonville, Florida. Despite growing up in the sunshine state my upbringing was filled with a plethora of rainy days due to my rough environment. I grew up in a single-parent household with a beautiful mother who showed me firsthand true grit and perseverance and how it can be rewarded if you sacrifice. Although I had this strong role model perseverance is easier to admire than to have yourself. By my senior year of high school through all the sports I played and extracurricular activities I participated in I was depressed and did not even realize it yet. In retrospect my lack of desire and pessimistic attitude was an obvious sign. Threw my first years of college I attempted to brush off my mental hindrances until they swiftly caught up with me all at once. In times of weakness struggling with bills and school the scorn of perseverance caught my gaze and in December of 2019 I attempted to end my journey. My story had more pages. I began my physical and mental recovery. The latter taking the longest setting me on a journey of reflection. Through my reflection a dream was born like a rose sprouting from the concrete restraints of my circumstances. My purpose was to become a psychiatrist. At last perseverance showed me her beauty. The thirst for the knowledge surrounding the way the human mind worked consumed me. I found myself analyzing myself and all my interactions constantly. I began trying to subtly help those around me think more about themselves and the way they think to open the door for improvement. I now have a new discovered desire that consumes all the rest, to help myself and others like me who may be suffering from mental illnesses or any mental hindrances on their life that they may or may not even notice. I see my education as a foundation. A foundation for a monolithic tower of free thinking and innovative solutions. I am pursuing a bachelor’s in psychology followed by a medical degree straight into my residency to become a psychiatrist. I stride to become so familiar with the curriculum it free’s my mind from remembering simple diagnosis’s. A freedom that then allows me to think more abstractly about current issues and discover fresh solutions never thought of before. I see my education as knowledge that is the power to liberate my mind from the shackles of previous understanding. I strive to then liberate others from their mental prisons. As a psychiatrist I hope to set in motion events that will have a lasting impact on the world. I plan to destigmatize mental illness. So many of us are too afraid to seek help assuming we are admitting we are lesser people or that we are “crazy.” In actuality none of us are perfect and we all suffer from a mental hindrance in one form or another. Some of us are just better at masking this pain and making up so much ground many think we were not hindered at all. As a psychiatrist I also desire to give back. I want to not only help those who do not have the means to help themselves, but also help those who have faced the same roadblocks and challenges as myself. I plan to do this by starting my very own scholarship foundation. One that helps young scholars going through mental illnesses or who have conquered mental illness. As well as many more who think they are defeated.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Barnaby-Murphy Scholarship 04/30/2025 I am a young Black man from Jacksonville, Florida. I come from a single parent household, and I have lived in predominately Black low-income rough neighborhoods my entire life. My mother had me young, she got pregnant at 16 so she missed out on a plethora of opportunities and weathered many financial burdens. She is my motivation to show the world her intelligence through me. I am a psychology major with a 3.27 grade point average. My entire life I let my environment show me what I did not want out of life. I attempted to be different with everything I did. Even though I made these conscious changes my mind and body were sub-consciously adapting to my environment the entire time. By my senior year of high school, I was depressed, and I didn’t even know it. Hindsight is always 20/20. I developed a pessimistic mind that thought everything would always go wrong, over doing the saying I was taught “prepare for the worst.” My pessimistic mind was accompanied by a lack of desire developing this “I don’t care” attitude. While this went on my failed football dreams and narrowly missed future in wrestling became overshadowed by my most monolithic goal of becoming a college graduate. My final surviving dream was a broad one. I just desired to finish college. Bear with me the experience that changed my life turned out to be a longer experience than I thought in retrospect. Hindsight is 20/20. I left my hometown in hopes to enhance my college experience since I missed out on any scholarships to any universities. I was stuck in community college surprisingly making the best of it. Despite my good attitude the bills weighed heavily on my pockets forcing me to stagger side to side. I began making tough decisions on prioritizing the bills over falling completely on the right side of my face. I noticed myself doing appeal after appeal after appeal. The light at the end of the tunnel began to fade. I was unsure if I was walking in circles before I felt myself merge into the lanes of the rat races so many of us spend our entire lives in. I decided to move back to my hometown. My trip to enhance my college experience left me with a broken sense of reality. My concept of life and what it was supposed to be was destroyed. As I began picking up the piece in my hometown, they were unrecognizable. I lost hope. In December 2019, I attempted to end my journey for good. Turns out my story had more pages. This event brought awareness to my mental health. This event that seemed to be a few moments long turned out to be a process over a span of many years without my knowledge. As I recovered psychically, I began to recover mentally. The latter took much longer. I began breaking down my life over and over and over again hoping to find one solution. In the end I found many. This event was the birth of a new aspiration to dive deeper into mental health issues. It was like a rose sprouting from the concrete restraints of my circumstances. I now strive to liberate my mind from the shackles of my previous understanding. I started craving the knowledge that would help me understand the human mind. I want to help not only myself, but people like me free themselves from their mental prisons. My new dream is to be a psychiatrist.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Mark Green Memorial Scholarship 04/29/2025 First and foremost, I would like to say thank you to the Green Family for making these opportunities possible for me and those like me. Salute to Mr. Mark Anthony Green for his service god bless his soul. I am unsure if I am the best candidate for this honor, sadly there are just too many underrepresented and underprivileged young scholars. With that being said I do believe I am a suitable candidate. I myself know perseverance, commitment, dedication, and resilience. Maybe not as well as Mr. Green but hopefully one day I can say that. I am a young African American student from Jacksonville, Florida. I grew up in a single parent household in low-income neighborhoods. Many of those years were spent with grandparents due to our financial hardships. My mother was the first person to introduce me to perseverance by standing up again and again no matter how far down she fell. She instilled resilience in me by first showing me how easy it is to fail and only after my failure the rewards of perseverance. Due to financial burdens and lack of opportunities she was unable to pursue a higher education. So, through me I will show the world not only her beauty but her intelligence and talent as well. My dedication and commitment to earning a higher education was tested once before. I was dealing with mental illnesses that I did not yet understand. In my first run in with college I had to work and pay bills while trying to go to school full time. As time went on, I lost the glimmer in my eyes which to me was hope depicted as light shinning from the end of the tunnel reflecting from my gaze. I attempted to end my short journey in December of 2019, but my story was not at its end. I displayed perseverance and resilience by picking myself up by my bootstraps and earning my new grade point average of 3.27. This new dedication is thanks to a new sprouted dream to become a psychiatrist like a rose from the concrete constraints of my circumstances. I now know how it feels to lose hope, but I also know how it feels to have perseverance and the rewards it brings. I want to help all those going through tough times feel the breath of fresh air known as perseverance. I will dedicate my future to find solutions for those with mental illnesses and or just those who have lost hope. I see it as liberating minds from the shackles of previous understanding freeing them from their mental prisons. A helping hand through tough times could surprisingly save countless lives. I pray for the strength of the Green family so I can some day help those as you do. To start my own scholarship foundation for young scholars who have faced or are currently facing any of the challenges or roadblocks I myself have face would be like a dream come true and a breath of fresh air. We earn the honor of perseverance and resilience. Sadly, so many of us have never even been introduced to her beauty. We only see her wrath and her scorn. To walk through those flames with another would be an honor. I never knew Mr. Green but I am sure he was a role model to all of those who never seen the beauty of resilience. I hope to one day be a role model as well and introduce the next generation to her beauty.

Describing my self is a bit of a roller coaster. I am quiet and may be described as timid. I have been very soft-spoken sense before I can remember but my mind is filled with endless thoughts and ideas. I mostly keep to myself, but I have had many friends and acquaintances throughout my time on this lovely blue ball known as earth. I can be a bit contradictive because I am also strong and rough as well. I played many sports like football, soccer, track and field, and my favorite wrestling. I also grew up in predominantly Black low-income neighborhoods all over Jacksonville, Florida, a rough city in general. Not only that I am a huge anime fan, If I could use all my free time for the remainder of my life watching anime, I would be happy. I may have failed to mention I am a 26-year-old African American man from a single-parent household who is a psychology major with dreams of becoming a psychiatrist. One of my goals to make a lasting impression on this world is to help those with mental illnesses as well as those with mental hindrances who may not even be aware of what is holding them back. Whether it is through therapy or state-of-the-art medicine I stride to develop new innovative ways to attack these issues. Ways no one has thought of before. I see it as liberating minds from the shackles of their previous understandings and freeing them from their mental prisons. I plan to use my education as only a foundation so I can think abstractly to find novel solutions building a monolithic tower of freethinking for fresh solutions. Another scheme of mine is to use what I previously stated about my contradictions to my advantage to become a positive role model for the world. For those who feel stuck in a box of stereotypes and assumptions. In the African American community amongst others we frown upon healing our mental trauma and in a way are also afraid of being different. Most of our role models seem strong without wavering. Also, “one way and not another” leaving most of us feeling either lesser of a person or pretending nothing is wrong with us at all hindering our growth. I plan to be living proof of the existence of anomalies. A weak yet strong man, a “ghetto nerd,” a “sensitive jock,” a psychiatrist with his own mental illnesses. In the end I would love to be more like you all and make a positive impact by giving back as those who sacrificed for me. Building my own non-profit scholarship foundation for those who faced the same roadblocks as myself would feel amazing. To grant a second chance to young athletes whose bodies have not yet fully developed allowing them another shot at earning that sports scholarship as a walk-on. Scholarships for young scholars with current mental illnesses or mental illnesses they have already conquered. Also, young scholars who are not even aware of their mental hindrances yet through a state-of-the-art test that I will personally create. Last and never least, scholarships for young minority scholars from low-income neighborhoods. Currently, I try my best to combat the social issue of the stigmatization surrounding mental illness. Mostly through word of mouth to whoever I encounter. I try to combat harmful overgeneralizations like “crazy” which can be extremely dismissive. I also attempt to illuminate the fact that most of us carry mental hindrances in one way or another whether we know it or not. I spread the word as much as possible.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Glady’s Ruth Legacy “Service” Memorial Scholarship 04/25/2025 In a new world where identity is valued more than ever before I question my own constantly. I feel different in so many ways it almost seems like a contradiction at times. I often doubt my own identity in general and I often wonder if the world doubts their perspective of me as well. As a 26-year-old African American man I witnessed and heard of the world changing in so many ways its hard to describe how I see the world and how the world sees me. I grew up in predominately Black low-income neighborhoods throughout Jacksonville, Florida where things are rough, and children are outspoken. I was always quite and stayed to myself. This was no escape from confrontation as I remained in the mix as much as any other child growing up. My timid nature never stopped me from playing all the sports I loved. Although a contradiction, I still managed to be soft yet rough at the same time. I grew up watching anime a popular Japanese cartoon genre not only rare in the Black community but in all American communities. Now a days it is extremely popular but my experience with this hobby was not a pleasant one growing up. Even with this unpopular interest the stain of a rough African American background scared away a plethora of potential friendships with peers who have similar interest. I often found myself looking like a soar thumb with any group of people. My “Standoffish” nature grew. I made great grades in school. Never the best but grades you could be proud of. These grades put me in good standing with peers of similar success. The reoccurring theme of contradiction lies in my rough background accompanied by my involvement in sports year-round from football to soccer to wrestling to track and field that gave me a mixed set of friends. This mix set was not always the best for me. I got in trouble for things I did and did not do. Although a contradiction, I was smart and dumb at the same time. I often sought out deep conversations with peers who were uninterested in wordy topics. While those interested in going deeper sought to climb to the surface through me. I had layers and many distinct aspects to myself but with no home I stayed with everyone. From the outside it may seem exciting but deep down I felt lonely and different. Life became confusing leaving me too much time to soak in my thoughts. This soaking I believe lead to my mental hindrances or mental illnesses. I became depressed like an outcast to my peers or even known as a “popular loner.” Through this pain I sought out a new dream of becoming a psychiatrist, like a rose sprouting from the concrete restraints of my circumstances. Although a contradiction, I have mental illnesses with dreams of becoming a psychiatrist who heals mental illnesses, at the same time. I feel if anyone is watching they may get confused. They may doubt their perspective of me. I am so many different things and they all contradict one another. Despite these contradictions I have found meaning in the suffering giving me a purpose in life. I hope to leverage my uniqueness to show my “peeping tom” that despite your current situation or how the world sees you or even how you see yourself, you can choose to be who ever you want to be. Make the choice. Prove your circumstances wrong because with the existence of me anomalies exist.

My entire life I let my environment show me what I did not want out of life. I attempted to be different with everything I did. Even though I made these conscious changes my mind and body were sub-consciously adapting to my environment the entire time. By my senior year of high school, I was depressed, and I didn’t even know it. I developed a pessimistic mind that thought everything would always go wrong. My pessimistic mind was accompanied by a lack of desire developing this “I don’t care” attitude. My final surviving dream was to finish college. I left my hometown in hopes to enhance my college experience, despite being stuck in community college. My good attitude only got me so far, the bills weighed heavily on my pockets forcing me to stagger sideways like a beam scale. I began making tough decisions on prioritizing the bills over my dreams and happiness. I noticed myself doing appeal after appeal. The light at the end of the tunnel began to fade. I was unsure if I was walking in circles before I felt myself merge into the lanes of the rat races so many of us spend our entire lives in. I decided to move back to my hometown. My trip to enhance my college experience left me with a broken sense of reality. My concept of life and what it was supposed to be was destroyed. As I began picking up the piece in my hometown, they were unrecognizable. I lost hope. In December 2019, I attempted to end my journey for good. Turns out my story had more pages. This event brought awareness to my mental health. This event that seemed to be a few moments long turned out to be a process over a span of many years without my knowledge. As I recovered psychically, I began to recover mentally. The latter took much longer. I began breaking down my life repeatedly hoping to find a solution. This event was the birth of a new aspiration to dive deeper into mental health issues. It was like a rose sprouting from the concrete restraints of my circumstances. I now strive to liberate my mind from the shackles of my previous understanding. I started craving the knowledge that would help me understand the human mind. I want to help not only myself, but people like me free themselves from their mental prisons. My new dream is to be a psychiatrist. My goal is not only to build something capable of helping the vast population of the world but to connect with them on a personal level. My interest is not confined to therapy but to create a solution to mental health issues of all types. Whether through state-of-the-art medicine or newly discovered insight that requires no chemicals to restore and or improve mental stability in a way that has never been thought of. The issues of mental health whether an immediate concern or a subtle hindrance on one’s life deserves a solution. So, every human being can reach their full potential with their only life. I would also love to start my own scholarship foundation to help young scholars who have experienced any of my personal roadblocks in their journey. Including but not limited to young scholars with underdeveloped bodies giving them a second chance to earn their own athletic scholarships, young scholars with mental illness like me or who have conquered mental illness, young scholars who aren’t even aware of their own mental hindrances through a state-of-the-art test that can help individuals understand their own hindrances better, etc.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Let Your Light Shine Scholarship 04/24/2025 Legacy “the long-lasting impact of particular events, actions, etc. that took place in the past, or of a person’s life” (Start Page). I long to set in motion a series of events that change lives for the better from then to the end of time. I strive to use my education to liberate my mind of previous understanding. This liberation I will use to think abstractly about the issues of the world but more specifically the issues within mental health. My ambition is fueled by the desire to find not only better solutions to mental health issues but the best resolution to all mental health issues. My dream of becoming a psychiatrist is a road not for the faint of heart because of the requirements of an associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, and doctoral degree along with a residency program to hone your skills and knowledge. I desire to go above and beyond and only use these degrees as a foundation for a monolithic tower of my free thinking that will one day be known as my legacy. My road will be one of perseverance. Arduous work will go unnoticed and attempts to succeed will fail. Through hard work and dedication, I will create a new path known as perseverance. This path will lead to knowledge that can be used to provide a service that will not only help lives but save them. I am a Black man coming from a low-income, single parent household where my mother displayed perseverance daily to make things that seemed impossible happen time and time again. I will use these experiences to create a legacy that showcases the potential of my family who had limited opportunities to showcase their own talents and intelligence their selves. I envision my legacy as a rose sprouting from the concrete constraints known as my circumstances. I plan to create my very own practice after I become a license psychiatrist. My goal is not only to build something capable of helping the vast population of the world but to connect with them on a personal level. My interest is not confined to therapy but to create a solution to mental health issues of all types. Whether through state-of-the-art medicine or newly discovered insight that requires no chemicals to restore and or improve mental stability in a way that has never been thought of. The issues of mental health whether an immediate concern or a subtle hindrance on one’s life deserves a solution. So, every human being can reach their full potential with their only life. I may be inclined to start my own pharmaceutical company to preserve integrity due to the doubts of integrity in the current pharmaceutical world. Not only that but non-profit companies to help those who like me have a challenging time affording health care and the help they deserve. I would also love to start my own scholarship foundation to help young scholars who have experienced any of my personal roadblocks in their journey. Including but not limited to young scholars with underdeveloped bodies giving them a second chance to earn their own athletic scholarships, young scholars with mental illness like me or who have conquered mental illness, young scholars who aren’t even aware of their own mental hindrances through a state-of-the-art test that can help individuals understand their own hindrances better, etc. My light shines from the depths of despair where only perseverance survives. My light shines on all those who experience tough times like me. My light shines where people go to be forgotten.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Sewing Seeds: Lena B Davis Memorial 04/23/2025 Traumatic events plague most minority students’ lives. The sheer number of major events and experiences that the average human being would call “life changing” could become just another day to a minority student. Our resilience is underrated and is shown through our ability to adapt. This adaptation displaying our resilience can negatively impact out ability to change our selves for the better. We become hardwired to survive which hinders our ability to create a better life for ourselves. My entire life I let my environment show me what I did not want out of life. I attempted to be different with everything I did. Even though I made these conscious changes my mind and body were sub-consciously adapting to my environment the entire time. By my senior year of high school, I was depressed, and I didn’t even know it. Hindsight is always 20/20. I developed a pessimistic mind that thought everything would always go wrong, over doing the saying I was taught “prepare for the worst.” My pessimistic mind was accompanied by a lack of desire developing this “I don’t care” attitude. While this went on my failed football dreams and narrowly missed future in wrestling became overshadowed by my most monolithic goal of becoming a college graduate. My final surviving dream was a broad one. I just desired to finish college. Bear with me the experience that changed my life turned out to be a longer experience than I thought in retrospect. Hindsight is 20/20. I left my hometown in hopes to enhance my college experience since I missed out on any scholarships to any universities. I was stuck in community college surprisingly making the best of it. Despite my good attitude the bills weighed heavily on my pockets forcing me to stagger side to side. I began making tough decisions on prioritizing the bills over falling completely on the right side of my face. I noticed myself doing appeal after appeal after appeal. The light at the end of the tunnel began to fade. I was unsure if I was walking in circles before I felt myself merge into the lanes of the rat races so many of us spend our entire lives in. I decided to move back to my hometown. My trip to enhance my college experience left me with a broken sense of reality. My concept of life and what it was supposed to be was destroyed. As I began picking up the piece in my hometown, they were unrecognizable. I lost hope. In December 2019, I attempted to end my journey for good. Turns out my story had more pages. This event brought awareness to my mental health. This event that seemed to be a few moments long turned out to be a process over a span of many years without my knowledge. As I recovered psychically, I began to recover mentally. The latter took much longer. I began breaking down my life over and over and over again hoping to find one solution. In the end I found many. This event was the birth of a new aspiration to dive deeper into mental health issues. It was like a rose sprouting from the concrete restraints of my circumstances. I now strive to liberate my mind from the shackles of my previous understanding. I started craving the knowledge that would help me understand the human mind. I want to help not only myself, but people like me free themselves from their mental prisons. My new dream is to be a psychiatrist.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Trudgers Fund 04/05/2025 Growing up those who really knew me would argue with the president of the United States tooth and nail if they told them that one day I would become an addict. I always been the quiet type who hid his problems from the world, and I was successful for a long time. Once I first entered college, life hit me like a freight train, tearing my concept of the world and how it should be apart, for maybe the second or third time in my life. It does not get easier reinventing your idea of the world. I fell into a financial struggle that weighed down my grades, my social life, and mental well-being. I tried moving back to my hometown to rekindle my old flame, but it was to no avail. The light of hope got dimmer and in December of 2019 I attempted suicide. The lord had other plans because I survived yet I was still confused of my purpose and my path. Not only that, but I also lost interest due to the concept of what I perceived the world to be being ripped apart time and time again. After I recovered, I slowly fell into an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. I fell quite hard, and on several occasions, I actually hit the ground. I just could not stand to be sober, and it got to the point where I was drinking from sunup to sundown. This deadly habit went on for years until lady luck decided she was done slapping me, I was due for a knuckle sandwich, one I may have earned.   This knuckle sandwich consists of hard drugs, the ones hard enough for me to be ashamed to mention. It started with an “I don’t care attitude,” mix in a little wrong place, a little wrong time, and a lot of all these road’s lead to Rome anyway. I dabbled around for months with my first thoughts being “I don’t really like it that much.” That thought quickly turned into “I think I like this too much,” followed by “I should probably stop” straight into a constant repeat of “just this last time.” One more time. One more time. One very last time I am serious this time. Before I got serious it got serious landing me on a five-night stay at the hospital. I felt terrible, and I was almost scared to death. I knew I needed to turn my life around and a death scare was a great excuse. I got home began working out and changed my diet. I wish I could say happily ever after but after I completely recovered a small thought crept up from the back of my brain whispering, “a little of this couldn’t hurt.” I soon realize I was not completely recovered and ended up back in the hospital. After that I tried alcohol again and the hospital I returned to once more. So, a death scare followed by God repeatedly reminding me that I am better off completely sober brought me to a 3.27 grade point average and a brand-new dream. I stumbled across a beautiful Idea birth from the constraints of my circumstances like a rose in the concrete. I would now become a psychiatrist. I fell in love with the research of the human mind and how it worked, constantly practicing reading people in real life. I know now to well the issues of mental health and I am striding to construct the most effective solution yet. Through my education I will liberate my mind and yours.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Harry & Mary Sheaffer Scholarship 04/03/2025 Firstly, the need for an empathetic and understanding global community is vast. With the world changing rapidly the need for adaption by everyone is often unnoticed. While creating a better world and future we must be open and willing to help each other adapt every step of the way. Change is not easy, and it starts on an individual level. Everyone has a duty to help their neighbor and as a sane adult each person has a duty to be empathetic to every individual for the creation of a healthier community. I have always been a quiet and observant person. When people lack understanding I am usually the person that notices everything necessary to defend those in need of a defense. I have never been considered normal. I have had the luxury of being a “jack of all trades” so growing up I fit in all the different social groups. Maybe it had more to do with my quiet nature than my many talents, but it helped me understand everyone’s point of view even if they were oppositions. Everyone’s story deserves consideration, and I know first-hand the facts of a diverse group of people’s stories that qualify them for understanding and empathy.   I have gone through mental health issues that have almost ended my life. I can say before my experience I was not educated on the subject, but I have developed through experience empathy and understanding for those going through mental health crisis or crisis that can easily go unnoticed. A plethora of the time most people mask their true feeling and view it as strong until their unable to carry those burdens anymore. Understanding and empathy is not always easy to have from the outside, but everyone goes through something that another may deem strange, weak, or even so normal empathy is not required. We all must show humility and be aware of our own ignorance to effectively build an empathetic and understanding global community. I am an African American from a single parent low-income household. To say that I am familiar with being misunderstood and discriminated against is an understatement. I know first-hand the need for an empathetic and understanding global community. I feel my perspective along with all minorities, low-income households, single parents, and any non-traditional or underrepresented group is valuable and a skill of its on. I am a current psychology major and future psychiatrist. I plan to use the knowledge granted to me by a higher education to liberate my mind from the shackles of previous understanding. I am in the process of understanding the human mind and several ways to deal with the human mind to encourage positive outcomes. I have plans to extend my academic journey to medical school where I will learn and practice to make and find effective solution to people in need. From there to become a psychiatrist I will have a 4-year residency requirement. This residency will give me real-life experience with patients going through a number of real-world crisis as well as possible mental health illnesses.   One of my biggest goals in the field psychology is to destigmatize mental health. I am currently attempting to become so familiar with the psychology curriculum that my mind is not trapped in remembering simple diagnoses but free to attack more abstract ideas and topics. I wish to illuminate all mental hindrances whether they are known or unknown and find effective solutions to all those issues. I Strive to acquire every skill and talent that stands between me and that goal.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Dr. Christine Lawther First in the Scholarship 04/01/2025 My African American parents come from low-income households faced with extreme poverty their entire upbringing. They were raised in a home with their parents and their grandparents due to their financial situation. Their parents struggled working two sometimes three jobs just to get by due to low wages. My mother got pregnant with me at 16-years old and had me at 17-years old but still stayed focus enough to graduate high school. Due to me being born and financial burdens she was unable to continue her education even though she was highly intelligent and skilled. She put her dreams aside to raise me by herself in a single-parent household. She displayed to me firsthand true grit, dedication, and perseverance. My beautiful mother’s trials and tribulations motivated me to show the world how smart she was through myself. I plan to pick up where she left off and accomplish her dreams in her place. Making her proud and displaying her genetic makeup at its full potential is of the upmost importance to me. I strive to finish college for my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents to illustrate the intelligence, skills, and work ethic of our entire family. A plethora of opportunities were missed due to circumstances, but I plan to allow no excuse to stand between me and my goal. Being the first in the family to obtain a college degree means so much more than just that. It is a sense of freedom. It feels like my mind is being liberated from the shackles of my previous understanding. I can now bring my specific perspective to contemporary issues and do my part to create solutions for the world of tomorrow. I feel like a rose sprouting from the concrete like constraints of my circumstances. I am in the process of achieving what to me would be one of the biggest accomplishments of my life. In college I am pursuing a bachelor's degree in psychology. I want to eventually transfer to the behavioral neuroscience program. From there I would love to graduate with a 3.67 grade point average or higher. I currently am sitting at a 3.27 grade point average. This accompanied by a great MCAT score, extracurricular activities, research, and internship experience can significantly improve my chances of getting accepted into medical school. Not only that but in college I am pursuing knowledge itself. I hope to nurture my mind in a way that prepares me to bring my full potential to my career. I strive to not just know the information but be so familiar with it that I can then free my mind to think of more abstract ideas. I am pursuing mental liberation, solutions to world and mental health issues, a healthy social life, and an overall college experience I can be proud of for the rest of my life. Ultimately, my long-term goals are to be a great father. I am aspiring to be a psychiatrist. I strive to destigmatize mental health as well as provide more effective solutions to mental health issues. I want to illuminate and bring solutions to mental hindrances most people do not even know they have. I strive to one day start my own scholarship foundation for young scholars with mental illnesses or those who have conquered mental illnesses, minority students, students coming from low-income households, and even students with athletic dreams who’s body hasn’t fully developed giving them time to grow and another chance to earn an athletic scholarship.

Sergio Jordan Jr. First-Gen Futures Scholarship 04/01/2025 My pursuit of higher education began as a race to outrun poverty. Growing up in a low-income single parent household presented daily challenges, I dream of making outdated. On many occasions me and my mother were forced to stay with my grandparents and even my great grandparents. Although I always got what I needed I never knew when and from where. This created a longing for stability that I sought in higher education. This led me to become a business major. To my knowledge a business degree is useful anywhere and if I am lucky, I can become a successful entrepreneur. As time went on financial hardships and a changing environment negatively impacted me. It took a toll on my grades as well as my mental health. I became depressed and filled with anxiety uncovering pass trauma and developing new trauma. I eventually was forced to move back home and seek the help I needed. Even in these hard and seemingly unbreakable circumstances a rose sprouted from the concrete. A new passion for mental health and the human mind was born and I changed my major to psychology. With this new illuminated path my motivation to pursue higher education has been modified. I now strive to bring a new perspective to psychology and mental health to play my part in the betterment of the entire world’s mental well-being. I strive to create new and more effective solution to mental illness as well as help as many people as I can along the way. I also want to uplift my family financially as well as mentally. Not only that but I have my first child on the way, which has given me a newfound motivation to seek as much knowledge as possible to pass on. I desire to guide my child in hopes he knows more than enough to navigate the world as gracefully as possible. My parents had me at a noticeably young age. This forced my mother to put aside her dreams of higher education. My mother and entire family are strong as well as highly intelligent individuals and I feel it does not always reflect their standard of living or credentials. I strive to show the full potential of my family through my own accomplishments. As a first-generation student I have done a plethora of research to find the best methods to aid me in my journey. I prepare myself by ensuring I consume the proper nutrition to help me focus, feel amazing, and fuel my mind and body. I get at least 7-9 hours of sleep each night to give me the rest and focus I need to attack each day. I have constructed useful study habits adapted to my own needs by creating a quiet vibrant environment to study as well as ensuring my study hours triple my credit hours taken each week. I also took honors classes in high school to prime myself for the rigorous college level courses. More importantly, as a first-generation student I was prepared by making sacrifices and having perseverance throughout my upbringing. My beautiful mother showed me the power of perseverance and the rewards granted upon you when you keep fighting through demanding situations. When you do not know what the outcome may be or how you will fair in the end my mother’s display of courage and unwavering determination planted in me the seed of courage, hard work, and dedication. These qualities instilled in me by a single mother are the most important preparation of which I could ever dream.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Fuerza de V.N.C.E. Scholarship 03/31/2025 Early on in my post high school academic journey, a business degree made the most sense to me. I could become an entrepreneur and make tons of cash. A simple plan and even if that fails a business degree is useful almost everywhere. As I continued though the struggles of life weighed heavily on my shoulders. Bills piled, stress from a changing environment and changing responsibilities began, and my grades suffered. I was in school off and on, struggling to maintain a decent life and be a dedicated college student. Before long, these struggles and new stress began to negatively impact my mental health. I suffered from depression and anxiety amongst other developing conditions. My life and future began to unravel as I knew it. I ended up moving back home and attempting to get help as I continued to struggle. As time passed and my nadir approached my never-ending pessimistic thoughts sprouted a flower. I have to award a plethora of credit to those who help me learn proper coping skills as well as the idea to think positively. The flower of an idea was to learn about myself the way I think, the way the human mind works, and how to help and make solutions for me and people like me or worse. I changed my major to psychology and my grade point average went from 1.62 to my current but climbing grade point average 3.27. My interest in school skyrocketed and my ideas to help myself and others followed. I see it as my mind being liberated from the shackles of my previous understandings of the mind. I see now so many ways I can help people. A plethora of individuals are hindered by their mental well-being and don’t even know it. I hope my understanding and knowledge of the mind continues to evolve. With psychology being my major and my sights set on medical school I look forward to helping the mentally ill. With myself going through mental health issues my passion for this subject is at an all-time high. I hope to use my personal perspective to illuminate new innovative ways to attack a plethora of issues. I also wish to destigmatize mental health and illuminate a plethora of mental hindrances that people don’t even know they have. Not only that but I look forward to one day starting my own scholarship foundation. I will include scholarship for young scholars who either are battling mental illness or conquered it. I will also include scholarships for minority students as well as students coming from low-income households. Drawing from my own experiences, I naturally will not only include the above opportunities but also scholarships for young athletes who’s bodies aren’t fully developed allowing them another chance to chase their dreams and another shot to earn an athletic scholarship.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Jim Maxwell Memorial Scholarship 03/29/2025 Faith is a pillar in my life. One that is not only as real as the air that I breathe but just as invisible. When all the other pillars are destroyed the pillar of faith stands tall, never wavering. On many occasions, times get hard something most people understand and have come a custom to. Some situations that are too difficult for me and you must be left to the one above. We cannot think our way out of every situation, many of which go far beyond our understanding. When those situations occur, we tend to stress, panic, and even turn to wrongdoing. Those times are what faith is all about. A humbling time that proves the Lord is real. I grew up in a single parent household where things were not always promised but the lord always made a way. Everything absolutely did not go our way, but we made it through. Perseverance rewarded our sacrifices with more than we lost and more than we imagined years ago. I am pursuing a doctorate to become a psychiatrist, and the courage, faith and perseverance has given me over the years has motivated me to have such high hopes. Through faith I tackle my biggest challenge this far to achieve my most monolithic accomplishment this far. My journey to a degree has been filled with challenges and misfortune. I have been forced to take several breaks and submit several SAP appeals to continue my education. Now I have a 3.27 G.P.A. on the verge of getting my first degree, on a road to many, walking on faith alone. First my major was business an interest of mine. I thought I could have a huge return with minimal risk because a business degree is useful anywhere. I never imagined taking a road as long as a doctorate because of the issue I had early on in my academic journey. As I weather the storms of financial hardships, major life changes, and mental illness I developed a new interest one I decided to take a leap of faith towards. An interest in mental health and the human mind itself. My interest in psychology and philosophy was always there but I never considered taking up a career in those subjects with no sight of any return worth my efforts. I seen it as a pipe dream and I surely never thought myself capable of becoming a doctor. Perseverance has walked me through the power of faith and displayed its powers firsthand. My journey through mental illness has motivated me to take up a pipe dream of mine and faith is walking me through it. God is first in my life now as he always should have been. I sometimes struggle with the meaning of keeping him first, but I am sure my effort is enough. Faith keeps me afloat and will guide me to my dreams of becoming a successful psychiatrist.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Phoenix Opportunity Award 03/29/2025 My African American parents come from low-income households faced with extreme poverty their entire upbringing. They were raised in a home with their parents and their grandparents due to their financial situation. Their parents struggled working two sometimes three jobs just to get by due to low wages. My mother got pregnant with me at 16-years old and had me at 17-years old but still stayed focus enough to graduate high school. Due to me being born and financial burden she was unable to continue her education even though she was highly intelligent and skilled. She put her dreams aside to raise me by herself in a single-parent household. She displayed to me firsthand true grit, dedication, and perseverance. My beautiful mother’s trials and tribulations motivated me to show the world how smart she was through myself. I plan to pick up where she left off and accomplish her dreams in her place. Making her proud and displaying her genetic makeup at its full potential is of the upmost importance to me. I strive to finish college for my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents to illustrate the intelligence, skills, and work ethic of our entire family. A plethora of opportunities were missed due to circumstances, but I plan to allow no excuse to stand between me and my goal. My mother’s perseverance in life showed me that hard work and sacrifices pay off. With that in mind I chose to get a doctorate in psychology to become a psychiatrist. My mother’s hard work and dedication despite her lack of opportunity strip me of any doubt in my ability to finish medical school. The Black household has faced generational trauma over decades of misfortune, abuse, and racism. This trauma hinders the Black community in a plethora of ways hindering beautiful minds like my mother. I plan to research psychology from my own perspective to create effective remedies for families like mine. I want to use my research of psychology to liberate my mind from previous understanding. I motivated to end the wasted potential of people like me and my family.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Kumar Family Scholarship 03/29/2025 My name is Sergio Jordan Jr. an African American man from the sunshine state. I was born and raised in a single-parent low-income household in Jacksonville, Florida. I have many interests uplifting not only my psychical health but also my mental well-being. I write poetry in my free time to help my creativity as well as vent mental stress. I am a future University of Florida club wrestler. I volunteer at my former local high school wrestling team. I also volunteer at a local Jewish center to help them prepare for the school year with my grandmother. I am a psychology major currently finishing my last term at Florida State College at Jacksonville before transferring to the University of North Florida this fall. I am transferring to University of North Florida’s bachelor’s in science psychology program. After graduating my plans are to then go to Medical School, a requirement for a psychiatrist followed by four years of residency. I have a long road ahead, but I am currently focused with a 3.27 grade point average. Currently I am a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success as well as Kappa Beta Delta International Honor Society. I have averaged a 4.0 over the last three terms being on the presidents list each term. These accomplishments mean a lot to me because of the dark place I recently surfaced from. I struggled with anxiety and depression amongst other mental health issues. At my previous college I was staying on my own with financial hardships, difficult life changes, and a deteriorating mental state. My grades reflected such times with a 1.62 grade point average forcing me to complete several SAP appeals as well as taking several breaks to work more hours to pay bills and keep my apartment. My mind was in a pessimistic place unable to see my goals or a clear path to them. Since then, my path has been illuminated. I got help and found a new passion for mental health and the way the human mind works. I took a leap of faith in a new academic area and my perseverance has been rewarded. This scholarship will give me more financial room to focus on school. My degree is my main priority, and proper funding will free not only my time but my mind of other obstacles. I have developed excellent coping skills to clear a foggy mind, but financial burdens are still an issue for me. I ensure any help given will be used for necessities to ensure my current and future academic success. I am currently expecting a child this September so all help is extremely appreciated and will be put to great use. The more I can put all my focus on school the sooner I can graduate and earn the credentials necessary to properly provide for myself and my family. Not only that but the sooner I complete school the sooner I can provide my own unique perspective to mental issues and help more people. I thank the Kumar Family for being a helping hand to all scholars and future assets to our rapidly developing world.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Eva Mae Jackson Scholarship of Education 03/28/2025 Faith is a pillar in my life. One that is not only as real as the air that I breathe but just as invisible. When all the other pillars are destroyed the pillar of faith stands tall, never wavering. On many occasions, times get hard something most people understand and have come a custom to. Some situations that are too difficult for me and you must be left to the one above. We cannot think our way out of every situation, many of which go far beyond our understanding. When those situations occur, we tend to stress, panic, and even turn to wrongdoing. Those times are what faith is all about. A humbling time that proves the Lord is real. I grew up in a single parent household where things were not always promised but the lord always made a way. Everything absolutely did not go our way, but we made it through. Perseverance rewarded our sacrifices with more than we lost and more than we imagined years ago. I am pursuing a doctorate to become a psychiatrist, and the courage, faith and perseverance has given me over the years has motivated me to have such high hopes. Through faith I tackle my biggest challenge this far to achieve my most monolithic accomplishment this far. My journey to a degree has been filled with challenges and misfortune. I have been forced to take several breaks and submit several SAP appeals to continue my education. Now I have a 3.27 G.P.A. on the verge of getting my first degree, on a road to many, walking on faith alone. First my major was business an interest of mine. I thought I could have a huge return with minimal risk because a business degree is useful anywhere. I never imagined taking a road as long as a doctorate because of the issue I had early on in my academic journey. As I weather the storms of financial hardships, major life changes, and mental illness I developed a new interest one I decided to take a leap of faith towards. An interest in mental health and the human mind itself. My interest in psychology and philosophy was always there but I never considered taking up a career in those subjects with no sight of any return worth my efforts. I seen it as a pipe dream and I surely never thought myself capable of becoming a doctor. Perseverance has walked me through the power of faith and displayed its powers firsthand. My journey through mental illness has motivated me to take up a pipe dream of mine and faith is walking me through it. God is first in my life now as he always should have been. I sometimes struggle with the meaning of keeping him first, but I am sure my effort is enough. Faith keeps me afloat and will guide me to my dreams of becoming a successful psychiatrist.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Hines Scholarship 03/28/2025 To me college is freedom, an opportunity for me to choose my own destiny. I can choose in which area I want to excel in and put myself in a position to have a career in that field. Not being constrained to fight for the few decent jobs in my area, now I can choose my desired career, become educated in the required fields, and go to any area in which a person of my credentials is needed. This freedom makes me feel free. In any other situation I would feel strangled by my circumstances. There is a saying “If you love what you do You never work a day in your life.” I long to never work again. Growing up I was so interested in a plethora of different subjects. So many that I would nag to my parents with a barrage of questions. College is an opportunity for me to satisfy the curious child deep in me. In a way going to college was accomplishing one of my dreams. Now that I can dive deep into any topic I choose, it makes me feel like the world is truly my oyster. I can finally take control of my life that seemingly has been controlled by others almost entirely. Knowledge is power. The power to choose, change, and build. With proper knowledge I can transform me and my family’s life for the better. Guide my children. Also do my part in creating a better world for us all. College is like a cell and knowledge is the atom in which we have built everything we know and love including ourselves.   To me college is the future itself. A melting pot of ideas from fresh and old minds coming together from all perspectives and backgrounds. A place where innovative ideas are born, and outdated information is buried. A place where many of the great minds in the world come together to compare ideas, network, and unintentionally build a new world by accomplishing their own dreams. I hope to be part of this creation of the future by honing my mind and skills and using them for the betterment of myself and others. I strive to get a bachelor's degree in psychology. Afterwards continue my education in Med school in hopes of becoming a psychiatrist. With this knowledge and credentials, I will research ways and contribute my thoughts to make mental illness a thing of the past. I will use college and its resources to help liberate my mind from the shackles of previous understanding. I hope to contribute my special perspective with this new liberation and work with my peers to make a better tomorrow for anyone suffering or hindered in anyway by mental illness or mental obstacles. Along the way I will do everything in my power to help as many people as possible. Whether it be proper medication or counseling I wish to serve the people. I am looking forward to using college to lift me over any obstacles between me and those goals. To me college is freedom, power, and the future.

My name is Sergio Jordan Jr. and I am a 26-year old African American student from Jacksonville Florida. I was blessed enough to know 3 of my great grandmothers growing and have lived with each one of them at one point or another. Two of my great grandmothers have passed away and in the last years of my great grandmother Sophie Hamm's life she suffered from Alzheimer's disease. She stayed to her self and was never really a problem for anyone. All she did was spread love everyday all the way to the end. As the disease progressed all of the family kind of did their part to help out when possible. From all the people she helped it should go without saying she deserved not to need for anything in her later years. Although it was never really a huge financial burden especially for me being I am one of the younger members of the family there was definitely a huge emotional impact across the family. Even though it was hard she was always her happy care free self to the end. Over the years the symptoms started to show making conversation more difficult. I am a great grandchild so with the roster being so deep it did not make things easier. I tried to show my face more often but I moved away on several occasions. This distance made holding on to that relationship more difficult. When ever I was in town and my mother told me she needed help with anything I would try to help bring food or supplies. When her house flooded from a hurricane me and a family friend helped install new carpet. When ever I could i showed my face to keep that relationship. My parents had me young so she spent a lot of time helping take care of me. I stayed at her house and we watched different television shows together all day long. She used to hide soda's from everyone just for me and have all types of food, snacks, and my favorite banana pudding. She was a large part of my childhood and I could come to her for anything. She made sure I always got something from her every birthday and holiday. With her having many grand children and great grand children this was no easy feat. I used to visit her almost daily growing up and gather all of 26 years of memories with her. To watch those memories fade is not easy. To live such a long live and lose so many important memories is not something I would wish upon my worst enemy. No one deserves to have their memories stripped away from them. Especially the people who lived such a good life helping others and spreading love and happiness to who ever they could. I can say the Lord blessed her happy care free personality to the end. The emotional impact this disease has had on my family and I is heart breaking. The relationship we all cherished with her slowly faded away. Some were stronger than others towards the end. My great grandmother passed away March 09, 2025. She lived a long meaningful life and spread love the entire way. Her memories may have faded but she will forever live on in ours.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Marie J. Lamerique Scholarship for Aspiring Scholars 03/26/2025 Perseverance! Growing up in a single parent household was not easy. Although I was provided for sacrifices were made. Mostly by my mother of course but I spent years adjusting to the differences between my household and households with both parents. Sometimes I did not get everything I wanted but I got more than I needed. I learned the value of a dollar and the many sacrifices made to survive. As a kid I had fun playing and being a kid in general and what I did not have did not bother me as much but as I got older, I started comparing myself to others and noticing the stress of my mother. This was unsettling but my mother always managed to get the things that made me happy. As I grew even older things just got better and better. My mother got a higher paying job, and we began to close the gap between me and a plethora of my peers. We even were able to live in a house before I graduated high school. The leveling up of my life making sacrifices and reaping the benefits taught me perseverance. Understanding the benefits of perseverance has encouraged me to change the degree I seek from a business associate’s in science degree to a doctorate degree to become a psychiatrist. The 2-year completion time turned into an extra 6-years of school plus 4-years of residency. My road so far in school has been off and on struggling to pay bills and take classes. My financial situation has been troubled. Adding more years seemed impossible but growing up has taught me sacrifices pay off and the long road is always the better road. Now that I am older even though I suffered from certain mental roadblocks I get nostalgia in everyday life. This nostalgia excites me when I am faced with challenging predicaments. Now I value a challenge because growing up in a single-parent household has given me more of a tenacious nature. Knowledge of the sense of achievement after an arduous task has made me take pride in all my work. This knowledge came from watching my strong Black mother attack the world relentlessly to survive in a harsh ever-changing environment. Everything I saw growing up has motivated me in my journey to build a life for myself. My ambition was gained from watching my mother achieve the impossible repeatedly. When everything was going bad, and I thought things would not go right, she showed me firsthand how to make things happen. She illustrated courage and perseverance repeatedly leaving me with little excuse not to chase my dreams ceaselessly. This perseverance gave me the courage to chase my dreams of becoming a psychiatrist. The tall intimidating stature of Med school could only stagger me for so long before I made up my mind to do what needs to be done to get into Med school and graduate. The sheer perseverance of a single parent has molded me into a superhero with goals, values, and ambitions reflecting one. The courage and determination I have received from my mother is unmatched. I am profoundly grateful for all my experiences, and I thank God and my mother for my introduction to perseverance.

Sergio Jordan Jr. WCEJ Thorton Foundation Low-Income Scholarship 03/15/2025 Many achievements have alluded me on my road to success. Failed attempts to reach my goals have strengthened my resolve in ways I am just starting to understand. This is only the beginning of my journey to success, and I strive to conquer my old self every day. In this early stage I am beginning to see the success masked by failure. Some of which I hold close like my attempts to be State Champion at 160 pounds in wrestling but coming up short due to injury, but on my way, I became Conference Champion, District runner up, took third place in regionals, and a state qualifier. Achievements masked by failure are sometimes hard to see but up until this point in my life I believe an achievement masked by failure is my greatest achievement to date. This achievement, which I deem the greatest, is my journey from darkness back on the right track. I did not get the wrestling scholarship I dreamed of and decided to go to a community college away from home. While doing this I struggled to pay for an apartment off campus and go to school full time. This lack of focus caused my grades to suffer. I ended up doing a plethora of SAP appeals and taking three semesters off. It became difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel and I became discouraged falling into a deep depression. My G.P.A fell to an all-time low of 1.625. My depression landed me into a distasteful place in my life and I ended up moving back home. After receiving help, I still struggled for some time until my path became clear again. I changed my major from business to psychology and hope returned. I raised my Cumulative G.P.A to 3.27 with a G.P.A of 3.68 at my new school. I have joined several honor societies and leadership communities since. I can now again see the light at the end of the tunnel. My journey from darkness seemed inescapable but is now my greatest achievement to date. This achievement taught me the importance of perseverance. Life is a marathon not a race. A plethora of times hope is just around the corner, you must keep pressing forward. Not only that but failure is your greatest teacher. Success is born from failure, and failure can mask so much of your success and achievements. I now know my love for the way the human mind works. I also have a newborn passion to help those suffering from mental hurdles and dilemmas. I learned I am stronger and more capable than I previously thought. I learn with hard work, dedication, focus, and faith I can achieve anything. In the future I strive to earn my B.S. in psychology. I hope to graduate with at least a 3.67 cumulative G.P.A. I then hope to get into and graduate Med school, after which my ultimate goal is to become a psychiatrist. As a psychiatrist I strive to help as many people as possible. I want to one day be able to address mental issues before they become an issue. I also wish to destigmatize mental illness and make it as normal as any doctor visit addressing and fixing as many issues as possible. Large as well as small issues. Some issues that people think are not life threatening or hurting anyone or themselves can still be a huge hindrance on their life. I strive to eradicate as many of these issues as possible. I one day want to also start my own scholarship foundation to help high school and undergraduates with mental illnesses or even with dreams that seem to be extinguished. I will create a future where young scholars can escape the darkness I once escaped.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Micheal Pride, Jr/ProjectEX Memorial Scholarship 03/11/2025 I am not currently engaged in any humanitarian acts of service but this last football season I worked in the kitchen of the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium (an NFL pro football team) where every week my coworkers and I personally packed up leftover food for the homeless each week. We packed a variety of high-quality food from stuffed chicken and ribs to seafood platters and steak. All the dishes we made were made from scratch orchestrated by a veteran chef with a southern African American background. I also worked summers with my grandmother volunteering at a Jewish Center to prepare for the up-and-coming school year. We worked 8 hour shifts the entire summer to properly prepare for the school year. Right now, I am in school full time and do not have the time to engage in many activities me and a friend of mine have discussed preparing and distributing food to the homeless when we are both free. My future academic goal is to first graduate with a B.S. in psychology and then go on to graduate Med school to become a psychiatrist. I am driven to destigmatize mental health and help provide a more mentally stable community. There is a plethora of unnoticed and highly treatable mental hindrances. I believe with dedicated research we can stabilize a plethora of communities that seem lost. Many individuals end up homeless from unknown or unforeseen mental illnesses. These individuals and others, including incarcerated individuals or anyone suffering can be helped. There is not only a need to help those suffering but prevent many from suffering by catching early signs or preventing causes. I believe through my education and future research we can began to connect the unknown dots regarding mental illness. There is too much not yet known and even less solutions regarding mental illness. I am dedicated to joining the search for answers. I will be using my education to help the people of the past, who lack proper help, as well as managing the problems ahead. Mental illness is ridiculously hard to discuss. A huge part of that is people only see it as an illness a lot of the time. The mental well-being of a large number of this country’s communities are not the best. It may be for many varied reasons, but I plan to research different tactics to address issues before they begin. A way to find causes of mental illness unrelated to genetics like diet, stress, trauma, and other circumstances that can be properly addressed and prevent developing issues. Destigmatizing mental health can be achieved using my education by networking with like-minded individuals. Students with different majors can collaborate on various projects to achieve their goal. Diverse backgrounds, majors, clubs, and communities will ensure many perspectives, ideas, and resources will be utilized. Networking possibilities are endless in undergraduate as well as graduate school combined. Once school is over and my career is rolling helping people as a psychiatrist will not be my only achievement. With a successful career I strive to earn enough money to start my own scholarship foundation. A foundation that gives back to a wide variety of young students. Students from a minority background like me, students with dreams of sports but underdeveloped bodies, students from low-income households, and students struggling with mental illnesses of all kinds no matter how small along as they are resolute.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Good Vibes Only Scholarship 03/09/2025 I believe Mental Illness and the stigma around it is a huge social issue that does not get the attention as well as action it deserves sometimes. My dream is to become a psychiatrist. I plan to spread awareness and tips to destigmatize this social issue. I also plan to do my part to help manage and eliminate as much of this issue as possible. I am in the process of completing my B.S in psychology before Med school and I plan to be as attentive to detail and creative as possible to bring never seen before innovation to this issue. I believe in this issue the small details in the mentally ill as well as those who seem just fine will be key to new breakthroughs. Understanding ourselves deeper than before even when we seem perfectly normally will uproot some effective solutions. BIPOC Individuals and communities mask their mental health so well it often goes unrecognized or is translated as something else, maybe a threat or maybe even happiness. The generational trauma we have endured for so many years has not only fused with our culture but has hindered our growth. Even though we do so well that just shows how much better we can be. I too am an African American man, and I suffer from depression and anxiety. For many years you couldn’t tell me anything was wrong with me, but a plethora of dormant feelings and emotions came to the surface. Since then, I began noticing signs and characteristics in a plethora of people from my background with unaddressed issues. People with normal lives being weighed down by issues that they deserve to have resolved. I believe mental health is a fearful term. An issue that people fear, or hate being associated with. People may think that others will call them crazy or avoid them all together. They might feel beneath others. They might even show too much sympathy or a lack of empathy towards others with mental health issues. I think it’s a problem that mental health is associated with this bad stigma, and it prevents us from growing as a community. I want to learn more about myself and the way I think as well as learn about others and the way they think to better understand us as a whole. We could better ourselves in so many ways if we take the time to analyze ourselves or allow ourselves to be analyzed for our benefit. I feel all the communities around the world have a plethora to learn and we should become more open to learning it beyond major issues all the way down to small issues that we see as nothing or issues that don’t seem to hold us back or hurt us or others in any way. I feel ignoring small issues like this hinders growth. I feel there is way more room to grow in the mental health department and we all need an open mind to help it grow. I would agree that we have already come so far as far as our mental health goes, but we could go so much further in half the time if we open our minds and let down our guards. To summarize I feel that there are not only major but small issues especially that could hinder our growth as a people, and we shouldn’t be afraid of diving deeper as a community and being more open-minded and less defensive.

Sergio Jordan Jr. West Family Scholarship 03/08/2025 I believe Mental Illness and the stigma around it is a huge social issue that does not get the attention as well as action it deserves sometimes. My dream is to become a psychiatrist. I plan to spread awareness and tips to destigmatize this social issue. I also plan to do my part to help manage and eliminate as much of this issue as possible. I am in the process of completing my B.S in psychology before Med school and I plan to be as attentive to detail and creative as possible to bring never seen before innovation to this issue. I believe in this issue the small details in the mentally ill as well as those who seem just fine will be key to new breakthroughs. Understanding ourselves deeper than before even when we seem perfectly normally will uproot some effective solutions. I believe mental health is a fearful term. An issue that people fear, or hate being associated with. People may think that others will call them crazy or avoid them all together. They might feel beneath others. They might even show too much sympathy or a lack of empathy towards others with mental health issues. I think it’s a problem that mental health is associated with this bad stigma, and it prevents us from growing as a community. I want to learn more about myself and the way I think as well as learn about others and the way they think to better understand us as a whole. We could better ourselves in so many ways if we take the time to analyze ourselves or allow ourselves to be analyzed for our benefit. I feel all the communities around the world have a plethora to learn and we should become more open to learning it beyond major issues all the way down to small issues that we see as nothing or issues that don’t seem to hold us back or hurt us or others in any way. I feel ignoring small issues like this hinders growth. I feel there is way more room to grow in the mental health department and we all need an open mind to help it grow. I would agree that we have already come so far as far as our mental health goes, but we could go so much further in half the time if we open our minds and let down our guards. To summarize I feel that there are not only major but small issues especially that could hinder our growth as a people, and we shouldn’t be afraid of diving deeper as a community and being more open-minded and less defensive. Even today without a proper education I do what I can to better understand myself, how I think, why I choose to think certain things, and what lead to these particular actions being normal for me. I watch those around me not judgmental but with curiosity. I believe that I can learn from almost anyone. I try to console friends and family in need, if possible, by being understanding by putting myself in their shoes and making as much sense as I can of it. I believe with devotion one day we can all understand each other as much as we understand ourselves if me and others can properly connect the dots.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Coach “Frank” Anthony Ciccone Wrestling Scholarship 3/05/2025 I am from Jacksonville Fl and if you know wrestling, you know Florida is way behind the curve. My father wrestled and over the years I played as many sports as I could so in my freshman year I decided to join the wrestling team. Luckily, I joined with some friends of mine unknowingly so in the beginning we leaned on each other. My first ever match I realized the hard way I didn’t even know what tie up was. My head was snapped down aggressively, I sprung up leaving myself undefended for a double leg. By then I realized he was a seasoned veteran. He ran a power half and covered my face with his singlet I couldn't breathe and tried to assist him with pinning myself just to get him off me. Shameful as it sounds hold that experience close and will never forget it. That year I ended up losing more matches than I won, and I went 0-2 in districts. My coach told a close friend of mine that I wouldn’t make it. It hurt my feelings, and I couldn’t wait to start football again. The next year I didn’t hesitate to join the team. For some reason I missed it. The coach abandoned us altogether and the brother of my teammate, a friend of mine was an alumnus and came back to coach. When he first came back, he said I’m taking at least 6 to state. Then I never even imagined the state tournament. Qualifying for state was like the holy grail. Most of the older guys told us they only cared about the conference tournament, and I never even imagined doing well there. That season I worked harder than ever but mentally I still see myself as not good enough. I had a mental roadblock thinking guys deserved it more than me. They wrestled longer than me, I wasn’t natural. Time and time again I just went out there listening to the coach and wrestled. My sophomore year I went to regionals. I lost my second match and wrestled all the way back to one match away from the state and I choked. He low singled me over and over and over. A move done by the great Dan Gable. I did the same thing over again. It seemed like the light was just too bright for me. My senior year I told myself no more I deserve it this year this is my year. I went to a conference and won. The best 160 pounder in Jacksonville, Fl. Next week I got hurt pulled my growing. I didn’t know what I would do. I kept work and kept working and by the grace of God I fought through my injury and made it to the state tournament! I never thought I’d prove my coach wrong. Through the head gear at made all noise impossible to reach your ears I just listened to my new coach and. I overcame my mental hurdle and in my coaches’ words "do not think just wrestle."

Sergio Jordan Jr. Dr. Micheal Paglia Scholarship 03/05/2025 Hope! For a long time, that’s all I had. Much praise to my parents and entire family for masking me from the reality of life. It surely took me by surprise. My parents, although great providers, are only high school graduates and didn't have the credit to spare to co-sign any loans let alone "college money". So, community college it was. Still, I had Hope! I decided to leave my hometown of Jacksonville Fl, to pursue the closes thing to a traditional college experience as possible. Maybe away from home in a new environment will give me the same feeling I longed for all these years. Not living on-campus and sharing a two bedroom apartment with a high school friend seemed close enough. That was until the bills started rolling in. Going to school full time and working full time isn't easy. In fact, it didn't last long, I found myself taking every other semester off to earn a little extra money. I also found myself completing SAP Appeals pretty often. The dream was getting bleak. Hope! Hope gave me another Idea sprung from a young naive mind mixed with a little hope. Maybe I will move back to my hometown, and I won’t have to pay for every meal that surely helps. Truthfully it seemed like the bills weren't any smaller. I tried to keep this smile, work out more often this almost delusion that it was a close as I was going to get so be grateful. The light was getting very dim by then though. What was supposed to take 4 years started looking like 8. These bills seemed to be getting bigger, and I started brainstorming on a way out a quick fix. In December of 2019 I got tired it seem from the outside my journey had just begun but it side it felt like a life time. It felt like I had forever to go on top of that and nothing was going to get better. I attempted I end my journey early. Luckily it wasn't at its in. I moved back home with my mother and tried to start from scratch path was cloudy and for years I walked in the dark. One day I decided to learn more about my mind and why I thought the way I thought and felt the way I felt. I became dead set on becoming a psychiatrist. The road is longer than before but the light at the end of the tunnel never seemed more visible. I never imagined pursuing a doctorate but here I am. Hope has returned! I am a 26-year-old and still living with my mother. Instead of having no dreams now I'm set on pursuing my doctorate. I now have a 3.27 Cumulative G.P.A. I've made the presidents list several times. I have had a 3.68 G.P.A since transferring. I will keep hope! I believe mental health is a fearful term. An issue that people fear, or hate being associated with. People may think that others will call them crazy or avoid them all together. They might feel beneath others. They might even show too much sympathy or a lack of empathy towards others with mental health issues. I think it’s a problem that mental health is associated with this bad stigma, and it prevents us from growing as a community. I want to learn more about myself and the way I think as well as learn about others and the way they think to better understand us as a whole.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Andrea Warden Scholarship for Tenacity and Timeless Grace 03/05/2025 Hope! For a long time, that’s all I had. Being a non-traditional student surely wasn't on purpose. In fact, being a traditional student is all I ever dreamed of growing up. Much praise to my parents and entire family for masking me from the reality of life. It surely took me by surprise. I am a high school athlete with dreams of performing at the D1 level. Aspirations shared by my peers; God surely seen no shortage of prayers to be what we all longed to be. My favorite sport wrestling is a very limited access program though. A state champion is the only one's lucky enough to be blessed with a scholarship. My senior year I was hurt still mustard the strength from experience to reach the state tournament but finished 0-2. My parents, although great providers, didn't have the credit to spare to co-sign any loans let alone "college money". So, community college it was. Still, I had Hope! I decided to leave my hometown of Jacksonville Fl, to pursue the closes thing to a traditional college experience as possible. Maybe away from home in a new environment will give me the same feeling I longed for all these years. Not living on-campus and sharing a two bedroom apartment with a high school friend seemed close enough. That was until the bills started rolling in. Going to school full time and working full time isn't easy. In fact, it didn't last long, I found myself taking every other semester off to earn a little extra money. I also found myself completing SAP Appeals pretty often. The dream was getting bleak. Hope! Hope gave me another Idea sprung from a young naive mind mixed with a little hope. Maybe I will move back to my hometown, and I won’t have to pay for every meal that surely helps. Truthfully it seemed like the bills weren't any smaller. I tried to keep this smile, work out more often this almost delusion that it was a close as I was going to get so be grateful. The light was getting very dim by then though. What was supposed to take 4 years started looking like 8. These bills seemed to be getting bigger, and I started brainstorming on a way out a quick fix. In December of 2019 I got tired it seem from the outside my journey had just begun but it side it felt like a life time. It felt like I had forever to go on top of that and nothing was going to get better. I attempted I end my journey early. Luckily it wasn't at its in. I moved back home with my mother and tried to start from scratch path was cloudy and for years I walked in the dark. One day I decided to learn more about my mind and why I thought the way I thought and felt the way I felt. I became dead set on becoming a psychiatrist. The road is longer than before but the light at the end of the tunnel never seemed more visible. I never imagined pursuing a doctorate but here I am. Hope has returned! I am a 26-year-old and still living with my mother. Instead of having no dreams now I'm set on pursuing my doctorate. I now have a 3.27 Cumulative G.P.A. I've made the presidents list several times. I have had a 3.68 G.P.A since transferring. I will keep hope!

I am an African American student with parents whose highest level of education is a high school education. I strive to receive a higher level of education, a doctorate if God willing. I was unable to go to a traditional college for financial reasons. I’ve had to take a break from college on several educations to take care of financial needs. I feel my need for this scholarship could help dedicate more time to my education. It will also give me the opportunity to invest in financial tools like computers, books, and extra classes. I also hope to minimize my loan requirements to keep my debt to a minimum. I am currently in between part time seasonal work and looking for more. I have plans to become a psychiatrist. I am currently in my last year at FSCJ to obtain my A.A. I am in the process of transferring to UNF for their B.S in Psychology program. I now have a Cumulative G.P.A of 3.27 but I plan to get higher to at least 3.8 by my graduation. Adversity has gotten better for me over the years, but financial obstacles and health hurdles still crowd my path. I am determined and more dedicated than ever before with my cumulative G.P.A for my current college rising to 3.68. Also I am a part of NSLS as well as Kappa Beta Delta International honor society. I myself suffer from depression and anxiety so I am extremely passionate about becoming a psychiatrist. I would love to help others through their journey, ease their pain, and clear their thoughts. I am extremely excited to learn about the human mind as well as learn about my own mind. I know the road ahead is long and harsh, but it wouldn’t be worth it if it wasn’t. I believe mental health is a fearful term. An issue that people fear, or hate being associated with. People may think that others will call them crazy or avoid them all together. They might feel beneath others. They might even show too much sympathy or a lack of empathy towards others with mental health issues. I think it’s a problem that mental health is associated with this bad stigma, and it prevents us from growing as a community. I want to learn more about myself and the way I think as well as learn about others and the way they think to better understand us as a whole. We could better ourselves in so many ways if we take the time to analyze ourselves or allow ourselves to be analyzed for our benefit. I feel all the communities around the world have a plethora to learn and we should become more open to learning it beyond major issues all the way down to small issues that we see as nothing or issues that don’t seem to hold us back or hurt us or others in any way. I feel ignoring small issues like this hinders growth. I feel there is way more room to grow in the mental health department and we all need an open mind to help it grow. I would agree that we have already come so far as far as our mental health goes, but we could go so much further in half the time if we open our minds and let down our guards. To summarize I feel that there are not only major but small issues especially that could hinder our growth as a people, and we shouldn’t be afraid of diving deeper as a community and being more open-minded and less defensive.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Scholarship 03/04/2025 I myself suffer from anxiety and depression so I try to be open and honest with friends and family. I try to be easy to talk to when my friends and family are going through things as well as understanding. Although I wish not to go into great detail about the situation out of respect for friends and family, I’ve had many open discussions to make them feel more comfortable with everything they’re going through. Mental health is a fearful term. An issue that people fear, or hate being associated with. People may think that others will call them crazy or avoid them all together. They might feel beneath others. They might even show too much sympathy or a lack of empathy towards others with mental health issues. I think it is a problem that mental health is associated with this bad stigma, and it prevents us from growing as a community. I want to learn more about myself and the way I think as well as learn about others and the way they think to better understand us as a whole. We could better ourselves in so many ways if we take the time to analyze ourselves or allow ourselves to be analyzed for our benefit. I feel all the communities around the world have a plethora to learn and we should become more open to learning it beyond major issues all the way down to small issues that we see as nothing or issues that don’t seem to hold us back or hurt us or others in any way. I feel ignoring small issues like this hinders growth. I feel there is way more room to grow in the mental health department and we all need an open mind to help it grow. I would agree that we have already come so far as far as mental health goes, but we could go so much further in half the time if we open our minds and let down our guards. My dream is to one day be a psychiatrist. I hope to help people with all mental health conditions. I also strive to eliminate the stigma around mental health altogether. One day I hope to make it as normal as having a different personality than someone else but taken as seriously as anyone would to better themselves and others.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Elijah's Helping Hand Scholarship 03/04/2025 I myself suffer from anxiety and depression so I try to be open and honest with friends and family. I try to be easy to talk to when my friends and family are going through things as well as understanding. Although I wish not to go into great detail about the situation out of respect for friends and family, I’ve had many open discussions to make them feel more comfortable with everything they’re going through. I never realized growing up that this was even possible. As I got older, I showed different red flags I never thought to acknowledge. I became aware of what I was going through later as I started to have thoughts of suicide. I didn’t get any help until after I attempted it. I would usually brush most of these things off as best as I could. I now know the weight many people carry who may or may not even realize it. It is too hard for people to admit it to themselves and others. It also sometimes is too hard to realize you are going through it at all in the first place. Mental health is a fearful term. An issue that people fear, or hate being associated with. People may think that others will call them crazy or avoid them all together. They might feel beneath others. They might even show too much sympathy or a lack of empathy towards others with mental health issues. I think it is a problem that mental health is associated with this bad stigma, and it prevents us from growing as a community. I want to learn more about myself and the way I think as well as learn about others and the way they think to better understand us as a whole. We could better ourselves in so many ways if we take the time to analyze ourselves or allow ourselves to be analyzed for our benefit. I feel all the communities around the world have a plethora to learn and we should become more open to learning it beyond major issues all the way down to small issues that we see as nothing or issues that don’t seem to hold us back or hurt us or others in any way. I feel ignoring small issues like this hinders growth. I feel there is way more room to grow in the mental health department and we all need an open mind to help it grow. I would agree that we have already come so far as far as mental health goes, but we could go so much further in half the time if we open our minds and let down our guards. . To summarize I feel that there are not only major but small issues especially that could hinder our growth as a people, and we shouldn’t be afraid of diving deeper as a community and being more open-minded and less defensive. My dream is to one day be a psychiatrist. I hope to help people with all mental health conditions. I also strive to eliminate the stigma around mental health altogether. One day I hope to make it as normal as having a different personality than someone else but taken as seriously as anyone would to better themselves and others.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Mikey Taylor Memorial Scholarship 03/04/2025 I myself suffer from anxiety and depression so I try to be open and honest with friends and family. I try to be easy to talk to when my friends and family are going through things as well as understanding. Although I wish not to go into great detail about the situation out of respect for friends and family, I’ve had many open discussions to make them feel more comfortable with everything they’re going through. I never realized growing up that this was even possible. As I got older, I showed different red flags I never thought to acknowledge. I became aware of what I was going through later as I started to have thoughts of suicide. I didn’t get any help until after I attempted it. I would usually brush most of these things off as best as I could. I now know the weight many people carry who may or may not even realize it. It is too hard for people to admit it to themselves and others. It also sometimes is too hard to realize you are going through it at all in the first place. Mental health is a fearful term. An issue that people fear, or hate being associated with. People may think that others will call them crazy or avoid them all together. They might feel beneath others. They might even show too much sympathy or a lack of empathy towards others with mental health issues. I think it is a problem that mental health is associated with this bad stigma, and it prevents us from growing as a community. I want to learn more about myself and the way I think as well as learn about others and the way they think to better understand us as a whole. We could better ourselves in so many ways if we take the time to analyze ourselves or allow ourselves to be analyzed for our benefit. I feel all the communities around the world have a plethora to learn and we should become more open to learning it beyond major issues all the way down to small issues that we see as nothing or issues that don’t seem to hold us back or hurt us or others in any way. I feel ignoring small issues like this hinders growth. I feel there is way more room to grow in the mental health department and we all need an open mind to help it grow. I would agree that we have already come so far as far as mental health goes, but we could go so much further in half the time if we open our minds and let down our guards. . To summarize I feel that there are not only major but small issues especially that could hinder our growth as a people, and we shouldn’t be afraid of diving deeper as a community and being more open-minded and less defensive. My dream is to one day be a psychiatrist. I hope to help people with all mental health conditions. I also strive to eliminate the stigma around mental health altogether. One day I hope to make it as normal as having a different personality than someone else but taken as seriously as anyone would to better themselves and others.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Learner Mental Health Empowerment for Health Students Scholarship 03/04/2025 I myself suffer from anxiety and depression so I try to be open and honest with friends and family. I try to be easy to talk to when my friends and family are going through things as well as understanding. Although I wish not to go into great detail about the situation out of respect for friends and family, I’ve had many open discussions to make them feel more comfortable with everything they’re going through. I never realized growing up that this was even possible. As I got older, I showed different red flags I never thought to acknowledge. I became aware of what I was going through later as I started to have thoughts of suicide. I didn’t get any help until after I attempted it. I would usually brush most of these things off as best as I could. I now know the weight many people carry who may or may not even realize it. It is too hard for people to admit it to themselves and others. It also sometimes is too hard to realize you are going through it at all in the first place. Mental health is a fearful term. An issue that people fear, or hate being associated with. People may think that others will call them crazy or avoid them all together. They might feel beneath others. They might even show too much sympathy or a lack of empathy towards others with mental health issues. I think it is a problem that mental health is associated with this bad stigma, and it prevents us from growing as a community. I want to learn more about myself and the way I think as well as learn about others and the way they think to better understand us as a whole. We could better ourselves in so many ways if we take the time to analyze ourselves or allow ourselves to be analyzed for our benefit. I feel all the communities around the world have a plethora to learn and we should become more open to learning it beyond major issues all the way down to small issues that we see as nothing or issues that don’t seem to hold us back or hurt us or others in any way. I feel ignoring small issues like this hinders growth. I feel there is way more room to grow in the mental health department and we all need an open mind to help it grow. I would agree that we have already come so far as far as mental health goes, but we could go so much further in half the time if we open our minds and let down our guards. . To summarize I feel that there are not only major but small issues especially that could hinder our growth as a people, and we shouldn’t be afraid of diving deeper as a community and being more open-minded and less defensive. My dream is to one day be a psychiatrist. I hope to help people with all mental health conditions. I also strive to eliminate the stigma around mental health altogether. One day I hope to make it as normal as having a different personality than someone else but taken as seriously as anyone would to better themselves and others.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Daniel V. Marrano Scholarship Support Mental Health 03/04/2025 I myself suffer from anxiety and depression so I try to be open and honest with friends and family. I try to be easy to talk to when my friends and family are going through things as well as understanding. Although I wish not to go into great detail about the situation out of respect for friends and family, I’ve had many open discussions to make them feel more comfortable with everything they’re going through. I never realized growing up that this was even possible. As I got older, I showed different red flags I never thought to acknowledge. I became aware of what I was going through later as I started to have thoughts of suicide. I didn’t get any help until after I attempted it. I would usually brush most of these things off as best as I could. I now know the weight many people carry who may or may not even realize it. It is too hard for people to admit it to themselves and others. It also sometimes is too hard to realize you are going through it at all in the first place. Mental health is a fearful term. An issue that people fear, or hate being associated with. People may think that others will call them crazy or avoid them all together. They might feel beneath others. They might even show too much sympathy or a lack of empathy towards others with mental health issues. I think it is a problem that mental health is associated with this bad stigma, and it prevents us from growing as a community. I want to learn more about myself and the way I think as well as learn about others and the way they think to better understand us as a whole. We could better ourselves in so many ways if we take the time to analyze ourselves or allow ourselves to be analyzed for our benefit. I feel all the communities around the world have a plethora to learn and we should become more open to learning it beyond major issues all the way down to small issues that we see as nothing or issues that don’t seem to hold us back or hurt us or others in any way. I feel ignoring small issues like this hinders growth. I feel there is way more room to grow in the mental health department and we all need an open mind to help it grow. I would agree that we have already come so far as far as mental health goes, but we could go so much further in half the time if we open our minds and let down our guards. . To summarize I feel that there are not only major but small issues especially that could hinder our growth as a people, and we shouldn’t be afraid of diving deeper as a community and being more open-minded and less defensive. My dream is to one day be a psychiatrist. I hope to help people with all mental health conditions. I also strive to eliminate the stigma around mental health altogether. One day I hope to make it as normal as having a different personality than someone else but taken as seriously as anyone would to better themselves and others.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Elevate Mental Health Awareness Scholarship 03/04/2025 I myself suffer from anxiety and depression so I try to be open and honest with friends and family. I try to be easy to talk to when my friends and family are going through things as well as understanding. Although I wish not to go into great detail about the situation out of respect for friends and family, I’ve had many open discussions to make them feel more comfortable with everything they’re going through. I never realized growing up that this was even possible. As I got older, I showed different red flags I never thought to acknowledge. I became aware of what I was going through later as I started to have thoughts of suicide. I didn’t get any help until after I attempted it. I would usually brush most of these things off as best as I could. I now know the weight many people carry who may or may not even realize it. It is too hard for people to admit it to themselves and others. It also sometimes is too hard to realize you are going through it at all in the first place. Mental health is a fearful term. An issue that people fear, or hate being associated with. People may think that others will call them crazy or avoid them all together. They might feel beneath others. They might even show too much sympathy or a lack of empathy towards others with mental health issues. I think it is a problem that mental health is associated with this bad stigma, and it prevents us from growing as a community. I want to learn more about myself and the way I think as well as learn about others and the way they think to better understand us as a whole. We could better ourselves in so many ways if we take the time to analyze ourselves or allow ourselves to be analyzed for our benefit. I feel all the communities around the world have a plethora to learn and we should become more open to learning it beyond major issues all the way down to small issues that we see as nothing or issues that don’t seem to hold us back or hurt us or others in any way. I feel ignoring small issues like this hinders growth. I feel there is way more room to grow in the mental health department and we all need an open mind to help it grow. I would agree that we have already come so far as far as mental health goes, but we could go so much further in half the time if we open our minds and let down our guards. . To summarize I feel that there are not only major but small issues especially that could hinder our growth as a people, and we shouldn’t be afraid of diving deeper as a community and being more open-minded and less defensive. My dream is to one day be a psychiatrist. I hope to help people with all mental health conditions. I also strive to eliminate the stigma around mental health altogether. One day I hope to make it as normal as having a different personality than someone else but taken as seriously as anyone would to better themselves and others.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Ethel Hayes Destigmatization of Mental Health Scholarship 03/04/2025 I myself suffer from anxiety and depression so I try to be open and honest with friends and family. I try to be easy to talk to when my friends and family are going through things as well as understanding. Although I wish not to go into great detail about the situation out of respect for friends and family, I’ve had many open discussions to make them feel more comfortable with everything they’re going through. I never realized growing up that this was even possible. As I got older, I showed different red flags I never thought to acknowledge. I became aware of what I was going through later as I started to have thoughts of suicide. I didn’t get any help until after I attempted it. I would usually brush most of these things off as best as I could. I now know the weight many people carry who may or may not even realize it. It is too hard for people to admit it to themselves and others. It also sometimes is too hard to realize you are going through it at all in the first place. Mental health is a fearful term. An issue that people fear, or hate being associated with. People may think that others will call them crazy or avoid them all together. They might feel beneath others. They might even show too much sympathy or a lack of empathy towards others with mental health issues. I think it is a problem that mental health is associated with this bad stigma, and it prevents us from growing as a community. I want to learn more about myself and the way I think as well as learn about others and the way they think to better understand us as a whole. We could better ourselves in so many ways if we take the time to analyze ourselves or allow ourselves to be analyzed for our benefit. I feel all the communities around the world have a plethora to learn and we should become more open to learning it beyond major issues all the way down to small issues that we see as nothing or issues that don’t seem to hold us back or hurt us or others in any way. I feel ignoring small issues like this hinders growth. I feel there is way more room to grow in the mental health department and we all need an open mind to help it grow. I would agree that we have already come so far as far as mental health goes, but we could go so much further in half the time if we open our minds and let down our guards. . To summarize I feel that there are not only major but small issues especially that could hinder our growth as a people, and we shouldn’t be afraid of diving deeper as a community and being more open-minded and less defensive. My dream is to one day be a psychiatrist. I hope to help people with all mental health conditions. I also strive to eliminate the stigma around mental health altogether. One day I hope to make it as normal as having a different personality than someone else but taken as seriously as anyone would to better themselves and others.

Sergio Jordan Jr. Elizabeth Schalk Memorial Scholarship 03/04/2025 I myself suffer from anxiety and depression so I try to be open and honest with friends and family. I try to be easy to talk to when my friends and family are going through things as well as understanding. Although I wish not to go into great detail about the situation out of respect for friends and family, I’ve had many open discussions to make them feel more comfortable with everything they’re going through. I never realized growing up that this was even possible. As I got older, I showed different red flags I never thought to acknowledge. I became aware of what I was going through later as I started to have thoughts of suicide. I didn’t get any help until after I attempted it. I would usually brush most of these things off as best as I could. I now know the weight many people carry who may or may not even realize it. It is too hard for people to admit it to themselves and others. It also sometimes is too hard to realize you are going through it at all in the first place. Mental health is a fearful term. An issue that people fear, or hate being associated with. People may think that others will call them crazy or avoid them all together. They might feel beneath others. They might even show too much sympathy or a lack of empathy towards others with mental health issues. I think it is a problem that mental health is associated with this bad stigma, and it prevents us from growing as a community. I want to learn more about myself and the way I think as well as learn about others and the way they think to better understand us as a whole. We could better ourselves in so many ways if we take the time to analyze ourselves or allow ourselves to be analyzed for our benefit. I feel all the communities around the world have a plethora to learn and we should become more open to learning it beyond major issues all the way down to small issues that we see as nothing or issues that don’t seem to hold us back or hurt us or others in any way. I feel ignoring small issues like this hinders growth. I feel there is way more room to grow in the mental health department and we all need an open mind to help it grow. I would agree that we have already come so far as far as mental health goes, but we could go so much further in half the time if we open our minds and let down our guards. . To summarize I feel that there are not only major but small issues especially that could hinder our growth as a people, and we shouldn’t be afraid of diving deeper as a community and being more open-minded and less defensive. My dream is to one day be a psychiatrist. I hope to help people with all mental health conditions. I also strive to eliminate the stigma around mental health altogether. One day I hope to make it as normal as having a different personality than someone else but taken as seriously as anyone would to better themselves and others.