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Sabreea Solomon

595

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Bio

My name is Sabreea Solomon and I am currently 17 years old. I recently graduated from Newton High School and Newton College and Career Academy's STEM Institute in Covington, GA. Attending a four-year university has always been something that I've known I wanted to do, even from a relatively young age. I know that I would be able to bring many things to the table as a university student, and I would use the many opportunities presented to me to create the best version of myself and bond with others. I will be attending Mercer University in the fall of this year, where I can pursue a Bachelor's, and eventually a Master's, degree in psychology. With those degrees, I plan to find a career as a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapist in the future. This is my dream career because I find joy in helping other people, especially in ways that they're unable to do on their own. By working in this field, I would have the chance to help others with their personal lives and give them the chance to grow in their own way. I consider myself a very passionate, hardworking, and kind person. I work to reach the goals that I set for myself and I'm willing to make changes along the way. That's why I believe that I would be a great fit for this career, and I'm going to do anything that I need to in order to achieve this goal of mine.

Education

Newton High School

High School
2020 - 2024

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Master's degree program

  • Majors of interest:

    • Psychology, General
  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      Mental Health Care

    • Dream career goals:

    • Front of House Employee

      Poppin' Stop
      2024 – Present10 months
    • Employee

      Your Pie Pizza
      2023 – 20241 year
    • Sandwich Artist

      Subway
      2022 – 20231 year

    Public services

    • Volunteering

      Newton County Drug Free Community Coalition (Youth Action Team) — Advocate for the Newton County Drug Free Community Coalition
      2021 – 2023
    Cat Zingano Overcoming Loss Scholarship
    In September of 2018, I lost my grandfather to pancreatic cancer. This was my first and only experience with loss of any kind. With this came various emotions and changes that I never saw myself dealing with. At the time, I was 12 (going on 13) years old and had just started the seventh grade. My grandfather had always been a big part of my life, seeing as he lived with me, my parents, and my younger sister. He fell ill in late July of that year and seemed to get better for a relatively short time. By mid-August, it was confirmed that he had stage four pancreatic cancer. He underwent a couple of chemotherapy sessions but eventually stopped for reasons of his own. At that point, the cancer was irreversible and we all knew that it was only going to be a matter of time. He passed away in mid-September. With me being only 12 at the time, I had no idea how to go about processing the grief, and many of the emotions that I was feeling were foreign to me. It was incredibly overwhelming, not just for me, but for my entire family. I had never seen my family so emotionally overwhelmed and vulnerable – especially my parents. Needless to say, experiencing such grief and loss at a relatively young age has had a long-lasting effect on me and my life. After the loss of my grandfather, I started to value life much more. That experience made me realize that life can end at any given moment. I watched my grandfather go from being almost perfectly healthy to being incredibly sick with his health declining rapidly. That made me realize just how quickly things can change in someone’s life – including mine. People had always explained to me the concept of life being short and tomorrow not being promised, but it wasn’t until this experience that I truly grasped that concept. I began to focus more on how valuable my life is, as well as those around me. After my grandfather’s passing, I felt extreme guilt for not spending enough time with him. At the time, I was entering my teen years and gradually started isolating myself from my family and spending more time alone. To this day, I think that is one of my biggest regrets. There were so many opportunities that I could have taken to spend time with him, and I chose not to. By the time I realized my mistake, it was too late and he was already gone. After that, I started spending more time with the people I love and care about. I realized the hard way that tomorrow is never promised, the world is rapidly changing, and it’s extremely important to spend time with my loved ones. The effects of this loss weren’t immediately present in my life. Over time, I began to notice shifts in my mindset, goals, and overall way of living. I found myself more motivated when it came to my success. I knew that my grandfather would have wanted me to strive for the best for myself, so I kept that in mind moving forward. I was already set on reaching my goals, but with this new mindset, I was even more determined to succeed. I also decided to start living my life to the fullest. That way, I could reach my goals, develop healthy habits, and have fun while doing it all. I wanted to make sure that, moving forward, I took advantage of opportunities, spent time with those around me, and enjoyed myself and my life as much as possible. I made it a goal to start living my life in a way that would leave me feeling content and fulfilled rather than disappointed and guilty for taking things for granted. Some ways I have pursued that goal include various forms of self-expression, finding new ways to focus on my happiness, and learning about who I am, what I believe in/stand for, and the woman I want to become. This experience also impacted my career goals. It contributed to my decision to pursue a career in therapy. I want to help people in various ways, one of those ways being handling grief. I want to be the person that I needed back in 2018 when I felt lost, devastated, and confused while dealing with my first family loss. My goal as a therapist is to help others who are in similar situations – even ones not related to grief and loss. This experience is what started opening my eyes to just how important mental health can be and what it’s like to deal with overwhelming and foreign emotions. I want to fight to achieve better circumstances and understanding for people dealing with loss.
    Netflix and Scholarships!
    My favorite Netflix show has got to be Heartstopper. The show follows the lives of two teenage boys, Nick and Charlie. Throughout the show, these two are navigating the confusing and stressful experiences that come with being LGBTQ+. Their friend group is also heavily involved in the boys’ character development. Heartstopper is romance-based but also counts as a coming-of-age show. There are currently two seasons available to watch on Netflix, with a third season coming in October of this year. In season one, we are introduced to the characters in a British school setting. Charlie Spring, in year 9, ends up seated with Nick Nelson, in year 10. Charlie is known to be gay, as he was outed and a victim of homophobic bullying during year 8. Nick, a popular jock, is most definitely straight. Charlie gradually ends up falling for Nick, clinging onto the tiny bit of hope that, maybe, Nick really isn’t straight. However, Charlie’s friends are actively trying to convince him that he is simply being delusional and that he has absolutely no chance with Nick. However, Nick begins experiencing some foreign and unusual feelings for Charlie. At first, he is very clearly confused and trying to figure out why he feels differently about Charlie than his other friends. As the show progresses, Nick begins to start questioning his sexuality and distancing himself from his, very homophobic, friend group. In the third episode of season one, Nick and Charlie end up sharing a kiss at a party. They then decide to move forward and start working towards a relationship. However, since Nick doesn’t know his sexuality yet and isn’t out, they decide to keep things between them a secret. Throughout the rest of the season, Nick learns about his sexuality, sees his friends’ true colors, and gets to know things about Charlie that he never knew prior to them going out. Charlie, on the other hand, deals with some complicated emotions surrounding their relationship due to personal mental health struggles and having recently escaped a toxic relationship. In season two, Nick and Charlie are officially a couple and are working their way towards coming out and openly being themselves. Given the fact that Charlie had already been outed before, his sexuality was no secret. Nick, however, was still believed to be straight by everyone except Charlie’s friends and Charlie himself. Both of the boys found themselves stressed and/or struggling in some way when it came to making their relationship public. Some of their friends begin forming and exploring their sexualities and relationships as well. A vast majority of this season takes place in Paris, France, where Nick, Charlie, their friends, and classmates are on an educational field trip. Here, Nick and Charlie encounter some obstacles that put them at risk of being outed as a couple while also growing more comfortable with one another. On a negative note, Nick starts noticing some of Charlie’s mental health struggles as well. At the end of the season, they have a rather vulnerable and open conversation about Charlie’s past and current struggles, causing them to grow even closer as a couple. I would recommend watching Heartstopper because it is a great source of LGBTQ+ representation. Various sexualities and identities are present in the show. Both common and uncommon queer experiences are highlighted and discussed in Heartstopper, which is very comforting for LGBTQ+ people who might feel that they can’t relate to heterosexual romance shows. Many valuable messages are portrayed through Heartstopper, and the show is overall very cute, happy, romantic, and funny. I would definitely recommend watching this series.
    Connie Konatsotis Scholarship
    My name is Sabreea Solomon and I am currently 17 years old (18 in October). I love baking, listening to music, and dancing. Those are my top three hobbies. I also enjoy reading, singing (even though I am not very good at it), watching shows and movies, and spending time with family and friends. I also enjoy hands-on, crafty activities and am currently in the process of finding one that I think I will enjoy and grow passionate about. The people around me would most likely describe me as reserved, laid-back, quiet, and trustworthy. I am a relatively relaxed person most of the time as well as an introvert. I am almost always willing to try new things and meet new people, though. I recently graduated from Newton High School and Newton College and Career Academy’s STEM Institute. Over the past four years, I completed two pathways – Biotechnology and Healthcare. At the end of my junior year, I received the NOCTI Biotechnology Certification. I took various AP courses over time and was involved with school extracurriculars. I was in charge of three organizations – K-pop Club (Korean Pop Music Club), Clear Minds (a mental health-based organization), and Crochet for a Cause (a crochet and community service-based organization). I participated in other organizations, such as HOSA, the Associate Board of Directors (my school’s student ambassador program), FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America), and the Youth Action Team (Newton County Drug-Free Community Coalition). These extracurriculars involved either community service/volunteer work or leadership opportunities. I will be attending Mercer University in the fall and majoring in psychology. I plan to pursue a Bachelor’s degree and then a Master’s. I have yet to decide on a minor, but I would like to minor in a subject that could open up other career opportunities related to psychology. I aim to pursue a career as a cognitive-behavioral therapist specializing in adolescents and adults. I hope to bring positive change to the world through my career. Even if the change isn’t significant, I hope that I can be a small light in society somehow. Mental health is incredibly important to every individual and those around them. If we as a community are happier and taking the right steps to live our best lives, I think there would be more good in the world. I plan on pursuing a career in cognitive-behavioral therapy, a field that focuses on communicating with clients to help them understand their ways of thinking, link that to their behavior, and decide what actions need to be taken moving forward that will improve their quality of life. With this career, I feel that I can help make the world a better place, little by little. If one person can understand the importance of mental health, they can apply that to their life while also teaching others about it. Mental health issues are heavily stigmatized in today’s society, and I hope that I can contribute to proper education and treatment growing more common. I want to make at least a small dent in the quality of my community and those around me. STEAM has always interested me. I have always found myself interested in science especially. This is part of the reason that I decided to major in psychology, it is a social science. Since psychology is not simply the study of the human mind, I will get the chance to learn a decent amount of biology as well. I feel that STEAM has always challenged me academically, giving me the skills I need to be successful.
    Sewing Seeds: Lena B. Davis Memorial Scholarship
    My name is Sabreea Solomon and I am currently 17 years old. I recently graduated from Newton High School and Newton College and Career Academy’s STEM Institute. I will be attending Mercer University in the fall and majoring in psychology. I plan to pursue a Bachelor’s degree and then move on to pursue a Master’s. I have yet to decide on a minor, but I know I would like to minor in a subject that could open up various career opportunities related to psychology. I aim to pursue a career as a cognitive-behavioral therapist specializing in adolescents and adults. I hope to bring positive change to the world through my career. Even if the change isn’t necessarily significant, I hope that I can be a small light in society somehow. I believe that mental health is incredibly important to every individual and those around them. If we as a community are happier and taking the right steps to live our best lives, I think there would be more good in the world. As stated earlier, I plan on pursuing a career in cognitive-behavioral therapy, a field that focuses on communicating with clients to help them understand their ways of thinking, link that to their behavior, and decide what actions need to be taken moving forward that will improve their overall quality of life. With this career, I feel that I can help make the world a better place, little by little. If one person can understand the importance of mental health and wellbeing, they can apply that to their life while also teaching others about it. Mental health issues are heavily stigmatized in today’s society, and I hope that I can contribute to proper education and treatment growing more common. While I am aware that I won’t singlehandedly be able to solve the world’s rapidly growing mental health crisis, I hope that I can make at least a small dent in the quality of my own community and those around me. I also hope to make a positive impact on the LGBTQ+ community specifically. Mental health is such a prominent and overlooked issue in the community, and I want to contribute to solving that problem. Using my education, I hope to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community in two ways. Firstly, I want to be someone who makes LGBTQ+ individuals and allies feel safe and understood through my therapy services. I also want to communicate with those with homophobic mindsets in the hopes that they will grow to see things from a different perspective and be more open-minded. Secondly, I want to bring light to the mental health issues that are prominent in the LGBTQ+ community. So many queer individuals feel unseen, unheard, alienated, and so many other feelings that destroy their mental health and wellbeing. I would like to participate in campaigns, movements, and community events that promote mental health among LGBTQ+ individuals – especially the youth. Overall, I hope to impact the future of mental health by contributing to educating the community. The more educated the community is about the severity of mental health struggles, the easier it might be to lessen the stigma around them. I hope that I will be able to help others strengthen their mental health in some way, setting them up to take what they have learned from me and apply it to their lives and help other people.
    VNutrition & Wellness’ Annual LGBTQ+ Vitality Scholarship
    My name is Sabreea Solomon and I am currently 17 years old. I recently graduated from Newton High School and Newton College and Career Academy’s STEM Institute. I will be attending Mercer University in the fall and majoring in psychology. I plan to pursue a Bachelor’s degree and then move on to pursue a Master’s. I have yet to decide on a minor, but I know I would like to minor in a subject that could open up various career opportunities related to psychology. I aim to pursue a career as a cognitive-behavioral therapist specializing in adolescents and adults. I hope to bring positive change to the world through my career. Even if the change isn’t necessarily significant, I hope that I can be a small light in society somehow. I believe that mental health is incredibly important to every individual and those around them. If we as a community are happier and taking the right steps to live our best lives, I think there would be more good in the world. As stated earlier, I plan on pursuing a career in cognitive-behavioral therapy, a field that focuses on communicating with clients to help them understand their ways of thinking, link that to their behavior, and decide what actions need to be taken moving forward that will improve their overall quality of life. With this career, I feel that I can help make the world a better place, little by little. If one person can understand the importance of mental health and wellbeing, they can apply that to their life while also teaching others about it. Mental health issues are heavily stigmatized in today’s society, and I hope that I can contribute to proper education and treatment growing more common. While I am aware that I won’t singlehandedly be able to solve the world’s rapidly growing mental health crisis, I hope that I can make at least a small dent in the quality of my own community and those around me. I also hope to make a positive impact on the LGBTQ+ community specifically. Mental health is such a prominent and overlooked issue in the community, and I want to contribute to solving that problem. Using my education, I hope to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community in two ways. Firstly, I want to be someone who makes LGBTQ+ individuals and allies feel safe and understood through my therapy services. I also want to communicate with those with homophobic mindsets in the hopes that they will grow to see things from a different perspective and be more open-minded. Secondly, I want to bring light to the mental health issues that are prominent in the LGBTQ+ community. So many queer individuals feel unseen, unheard, alienated, and so many other feelings that destroy their mental health and wellbeing. I would like to participate in campaigns, movements, and community events that promote mental health among LGBTQ+ individuals – especially the youth.
    Rainbow Futures Scholarship
    I have had an extremely complicated experience as an LGBTQ+ individual. I realized that I was queer in early 2021 and started identifying as bisexual moving forward. At the time, I was a freshman in high school and relatively naive. I was old enough to know that I was LGBTQ+, just not old enough to know how to process it. I didn’t understand just how damaging and hurtful homophobia can be or any of the mental struggles that come with being queer. I was under the impression that homophobia wasn’t that prominent in society, so I came out to my parents after only a few weeks of being bisexual. I figured that they would be accepting, but they were the opposite. My parents have never been abusive, and I will forever be grateful for that. They were homophobic, but not in the way that would’ve compelled them to disown me or treat me differently. They just expressed their disgust and disappointment verbally. For the first few months after I came out, a lot of gaslighting occurred and they tried convincing me that it was just a phase. We gradually stopped talking about it and I put myself back in the closet. After almost two years, I realized that I was a lesbian. Now, my parents know that I am queer, but believe that I do like men. I’ve gotten quite used to the homophobia in my household. I have struggled mentally in so many ways, from being in denial about my sexuality to feeling disgusted with myself for being the way that I am. I haven’t overcome any of this yet, but I hope to once I am at college and able to freely express myself, build my confidence in my sexuality, and be out of the closet for good. I will be attending Mercer University in the fall and majoring in psychology. I plan to pursue a Bachelor’s degree and then move on to pursue a Master’s. I have yet to decide on a minor, but I would like to minor in a subject that could open up various career opportunities related to psychology. I aim to pursue a career as a cognitive-behavioral therapist specializing in adolescents and adults. Using my education, I hope to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community in two ways. Firstly, I want to be someone who makes LGBTQ+ individuals and allies feel safe and understood through my therapy services. I also want to communicate with those with homophobic mindsets in the hopes that they will grow to see things from a different perspective and be more open-minded. Secondly, I want to bring light to the mental health issues that are prominent in the LGBTQ+ community. So many queer individuals feel unseen, unheard, alienated, and so many other feelings that destroy their mental health and wellbeing. I would like to participate in campaigns, movements, and community events that promote mental health among LGBTQ+ individuals – especially the youth. Receiving this scholarship would take a large amount of stress off of me and my family so we don’t have to worry about what I can and can’t afford, making it easier for me to focus on my education. I prioritize my academics and would use the money in ways that contribute to my success. I want to further my knowledge about a subject that I love so I can pursue a career that allows me to help other people in my community. The money would go towards college payments (tuition, textbooks, housing, etc.) and any other purchases that would make my learning experience comfortable, enjoyable, and efficient.
    A Man Helping Women Helping Women Scholarship
    My name is Sabreea Solomon and I am currently 17 years old (18 in October). I have quite a few activities that I enjoy doing in my free time. I love baking, listening to music, and dancing. Those are my top three hobbies. I also enjoy reading, singing (even though I am not very good at it), watching shows and movies, and spending time with family and friends. I also enjoy hands-on, crafty activities and am currently in the process of finding one that I think I will enjoy and grow passionate about. The people around me would most likely describe me as reserved, laid-back, quiet, and trustworthy. I am a relatively relaxed person most of the time as well as an introvert. I am almost always willing to try new things and meet new people, though. As far as academics, I recently graduated from Newton High School and Newton College and Career Academy’s STEM Institute. Over the past four years, I completed two pathways – Biotechnology and Healthcare. At the end of my junior year, I received the NOCTI Biotechnology Certification. I took various AP courses over the years and was relatively involved with school extracurriculars. I was in charge of three clubs/organizations – K-pop Club (Korean Pop Music Club), Clear Minds (a mental health-based organization), and Crochet for a Cause (a crochet and community service-based organization). I participated in other clubs/organizations, such as HOSA, the Associate Board of Directors (my school’s student ambassador program), FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America), and the Youth Action Team (Newton County Drug-Free Community Coalition). All of these extracurriculars involved either community service/volunteer work or leadership opportunities. I consider myself to have been very involved throughout high school. I will be attending Mercer University in the fall and majoring in psychology. I plan to pursue a Bachelor’s degree and then move on to pursue a Master’s. I have yet to decide on a minor, but I know I would like to minor in a subject that could open up various career opportunities related to psychology. I aim to pursue a career as a cognitive-behavioral therapist specializing in adolescents and adults. I hope to bring positive change to the world through my career. Even if the change isn’t necessarily significant, I hope that I can be a small light in society somehow. I believe that mental health is incredibly important to every individual and those around them. If we as a community are happier and taking the right steps to live our best lives, I think there would be more good in the world. As stated earlier, I plan on pursuing a career in cognitive-behavioral therapy, a field that focuses on communicating with clients to help them understand their ways of thinking, link that to their behavior, and decide what actions need to be taken moving forward that will improve their overall quality of life. With this career, I feel that I can help make the world a better place, little by little. If one person can understand the importance of mental health and wellbeing, they can apply that to their life while also teaching others about it. Mental health issues are heavily stigmatized in today’s society, and I hope that I can contribute to proper education and treatment growing more common. While I am aware that I won’t singlehandedly be able to solve the world’s rapidly growing mental health crisis, I hope that I can make at least a small dent in the quality of my own community and those around me.
    Ethel Hayes Destigmatization of Mental Health Scholarship
    After experiencing mental health issues of my own, my view on many aspects of my life has changed. Over the past four years, I have struggled in various ways due to different stressors that were present in my life at the time. When it comes to the goals that I set for myself, I now have a tendency to think a little bit more. Usually, I would set a goal for myself and feel the need to accomplish it – otherwise, I would feel guilty and consider myself a failure. This led to me feeling the need to accomplish goals no matter what, regardless of how draining or inconvenient they might be. This mindset was incredibly damaging to me and my mental health. After seeing just how exhausting this way of thinking was, I changed my view on what it means to accomplish goals. Now, rather than feeling the need to punish myself for not accomplishing something or not doing as well as I wanted to, I take what I learned from the experience and apply it to future situations. As far as the relationships that I have with other people, I have found myself to be more understanding. I have struggled with certain aspects of certain relationships, and those experiences taught me many things. I had already considered myself a very understanding person who is easy to communicate with. However, after enduring hardships related to platonic, family, and romantic relationships that affected me mentally, I have found myself to be much more kind than before. I now truly understand the importance of feeling seen, included, and heard now that I have experienced feeling the opposite. I feel that, with each mental health struggle that I overcome, I become more aware of the world and the people around me. I find it easier to view things from other people’s perspectives and I am quicker to call out unfair or disrespectful behavior. The issues that I notice more often now are the same ones that caused me to struggle mentally, and I pay more attention in an attempt to prevent others from struggling in the same ways that I did.
    Kashi’s Journey Scholarship
    I've struggled mentally from time to time throughout all of high school. My freshman year started in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic (the 2020-2021 school year). I had just entered my teen years and didn't understand many of the emotions I was feeling and had a difficult time adjusting to life with the pandemic. I've always been the kind of person who prefers consistency, so the constant changes that occurred throughout 2020 and 2021 affected me greatly. I also started discovering who I was as a person towards the end of my freshman year, and I made a discovery that had a long-lasting effect on my mental and emotional health. I became very isolated and developed a minor addiction to my phone (specifically the Twitter app), which further worsened my mental health. I didn't have any coping mechanisms in place at the time, and I had no idea where to start. I sort of just hoped that the issues would go away on their own, but of course, I was very wrong about that. Moving into my sophomore year (2021-2022 school year), I was no longer addicted to my phone, but I continued to struggle with figuring out who I was as a person, except now I had issues related to my self-worth and academic success. On many occasions, I found myself stressed trying to maintain my grades while also dealing with new, foreign emotions that came from other personal issues. At this point in time, I had figured out that the best way to solve my problems was to face them head-on and choose coping strategies and solutions that would help me. I chose to join different school clubs and organizations that I was interested in and take part in other activities that I enjoyed. One thing that I’ve always found relaxing is listening to music, so I did a lot of that to cope with stress. I tried spending more time with the people that I cared about and started setting goals for myself to work toward. My junior year (2022-2023 school year) was probably the most mentally exhausting for me. I struggled the most during that time. Some of the personal issues that I had been dealing with throughout my sophomore year continued into my junior year. There were also some new problems that I had to deal with, such as experiencing my first relationship and breakup. I experienced many strong emotions that I didn’t know how to deal with. At the same time, I was struggling academically due to the difficulty of my classes that year. To cope, I used the same strategies that I used in my sophomore year. This time though, I made sure to make it a point to work towards becoming my favorite version of myself and healing. And finally, we get to my senior year (2023-2024 school year). Honestly, my biggest struggle this year was finding the motivation to stay on top of things academically. Of course, I came across other obstacles from time to time, but I used the same coping mechanisms and worked towards my goals as best as possible. As of right now, I'm doing very well mentally, even though that wasn’t always the case. Moving forward, I will be attending Mercer University in the fall and majoring in psychology. I aim to earn a Bachelor’s degree and then move on to earn a Master’s. I will then pursue a career as a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapist. I am still working on forming more goals for my college years, but this is what I want to do so far.
    Book Lovers Scholarship
    If I could have everyone in the world read one book of my choice, I would choose The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. Out of all the books I've read, this one is my favorite by far. The storyline was quite unique and had my attention immediately. The author's style of writing was rather complex and detailed at times, but I was able to follow along with ease. The amount of detail and descriptions in this book made it very enjoyable to read and visualize the story along the way. I also feel like there are many aspects of the book that can make someone start thinking about their own life and avoid taking things for granted. For context, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is about a woman who makes a deal with a demon in the 1600s to be granted freedom from the life she didn't want to live. In exchange for her freedom, she was forced to give up her mortality and the ability to be remembered by other people. The book takes place over many years and follows the woman as she learns how to live in a world where she doesn't age and where no one can remember who she is. After reading this book, I started thinking about how important it really is to be remembered and acknowledged by other people, something I had never thought about. There are so many little things in life that we overlook and take for granted on a daily basis, and we don't even realize it. I feel like this book emphasizes that in a great way. Overall, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is an amazing read and many factors play into that. I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for something interesting, timeless, detailed, and well-written.
    Ryan Yebba Memorial Mental Health Scholarship
    In the past few years, I have advocated for social change regarding bullying and harassment in K-12 through an organization known as the Youth Action Team. One of this organization's goals was to educate the youth about the serious issue of suicide and teach them about suicide prevention. I am highly interested in pursuing a career in mental health because, over the years, I have had many times where my mental health has been challenged. I am very lucky to have a support system that I've been able to talk to when things get difficult, but not everyone has that. I want to be that person to whoever might need it. I want to create a safe space for all individuals and help them better their mental health and improve their lives so that they can live as happily as possible. I believe that, regardless of what a person has been through or is currently struggling with, there is always some way that they can be helped, even if that is something as simple as having someone to sit in silence with just to feel a sense of comfort. If I can be that person to someone who needs it, that's how I'll know that I've succeeded and achieved one of my main goals while also helping somebody else. Besides that, I find the subject of psychology extremely interesting. The human mind is so complex and there's so much to understand about it. However, I enjoy the social aspect of the mind, rather than the physical aspects that a neurologist might study. Everyone is different in some way, and it all comes back to their mind, the psychology behind their thought processes, and how their mind functions. that makes this a unique field of study because there's no guarantee that anything will remain constant, and there's always room for discoveries and experiences. I plan to work one-on-one with organizations, schools, and families to make sure that as many people as possible are aware of the severity of the effects of bullying and other important topics such as how to recognize someone being bullied, how to help them, and what further action to take. Better education about the seriousness of bullying needs to be implemented so that children/adolescents are deterred from taking part in bullying. I would also make sure that the youth are educated about what to do if they ever find themself and/or one of their peers a victim of bullying. While it can be helpful to educate people about these topics, however, there are still changes that would need to be made to make sure that those who have struggled or are currently struggling due to bullying have accessible and effective treatment options. I would make sure that school counselors are fully educated and trained to be able to handle bullying situations and properly treat children as they need it. If possible, services will be free or as low-priced as they can so that they're easily accessible to children and their families. These treatment options would assess bullying victims to find out how exactly the bullying affected them mentally before moving further to develop treatments. I don't believe that this would fix every bullying issue out there, but I do think that it could be a great start to bettering the K-12 environment.