Faith is what keeps me running. I do not think a day goes by when I do not trust and rely on my faith. Growing up, I grew up in a low-income community with my younger brother, older sister, and single mother, in which gang violence was very common. My mother made minimum wage, which was eight dollars an hour, and would bring us with her to her job at a laundromat to make sure we did not find our way into gang life. I was never allowed outside and would be very jealous of all the girls who were able to go ride their bikes together, meet up with friends at the mall, and hang out in the back of the apartments on the electrical box. Now that I am older, I am amazed and ever so thankful for the amazing God I believe in for providing for my family and I. My mother did not drive, made around 100 dollars a week, and somehow managed to always pay rent on time, the electricity bill on time, and I never experienced a hungry day while under her roof. While doing all that, my mother managed to never leave our side and prioritized family time. I have zero understanding on how we were able to make it with such little money and a family of four but now I know it was God. He placed us in the right place during the right times, sent us amazing people who would check in on us and help when needed, and kept us safe and healthy. Now being 24 years old and making my own income which is a lot more than what my mother made, I am struggling to even provide for myself and my dog which makes my life growing up even more unexplainable. I look back and all I see is wonderful people, opportunities, perseverance, and lots of family love which I can only explain with my faith. Nowadays, I pray and wake up every morning with a grateful heart. When stressed, I thank God for providing me with the ability to have a roof over my head, be able to work, the beautiful skies that fill my heart with hope, and my wonderful small family. I never take a breath or an ability for granted. I learned to not take people for granted and to always fill others with love and generosity, even if they have not been kind to me. Without faith, I would have been a high school drop out and my brother would most likely have been a part of gang activities by now; if not dead like most of my childhood friends. Without faith, my mother would have give up on her children and would have been in an outstanding amount of debt. I now know that unexplainable things can occur when faith lives in one's heart.

Mental health is something that is non-existent in my mother's culture and I had never heard of it until I fell into a deep depression starting around middle-school. Growing up I have dealt with low-income, gang populated communities, abuse, and having to take on a mother's role for my brother in order for my single mother to be able to provide for us. During middle school I had no will to exist and have very small recollections of my years. I was admitted to an inpatient program and my mother was then willing to complete family therapy with me which was helpful as she became aware of mental health issues and we were able to solve conflicts within the home. Since then, the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and psychotic symptoms have impacted my academic performance and personal life in areas such as motivation, family relationships, finances, housing, and grades. Motivation is a thing that has been difficult for me to create as I feel a deep emptiness within me and am exhausted almost every day. I fall asleep in many places sometimes it being in the library, I have nodded off while driving which has been scary, and I can sleep for hours a day. I have been able to thankfully get health insurance through my workplace and am actively working on this symptom with my psychiatrist. This lack of motivation has affected my motivation in my workplace and school as it makes it difficult to remember information and also adds to having a difficulty focusing for long periods of times. Family relationships are something I strongly value but have also been affected by my mental health issues. Due to my past trauma, it became difficult for me to live in the building I had lived in since I was born; therefore, at age 19 I was able to move in with my sister due to her having an extra bedroom. During this time, my mental health seemed to be doing better but after a while my sister would get upset with me due to my anxious feelings around uncleaned areas, would call me lazy due to my constant fatigue, and would be offended by my tendencies to isolate myself. This then lead to her kicking me out of her home November of 2023 which was a terrible time for me. My sister and I have not had the same relationship since then. Finances and housing has been an area that I have always struggled with considering I grew up in a low income family with a single mother. Since the day I turned 16, I have worked as many hours as I can in order to provide for myself and also for my family. After graduating high school, I started going to college full time while still working full time due to my needs to afford a car, gas, food, hygiene products, and other essentials. I am thankful for the resiliency and hard work my mother has taught me since I was able to easily maintain my grades up while also working full time. After I moved in with my sister, I had to also pay her rent which limited my income even more. After getting kicked out of my sister's home I went into a deep depression again for three months. I had to find an apartment of my own which was almost impossible and luckily found a studio apartment within my budget. Day to day expenses ever since have been a main stressor of mine as I now have utilities, rent, school, and a car to payoff.