When you’re in high school college seems glamorous. You get to be away from your parents, you get to be in a new environment, and new people. All of this is true but stress is something that is not advertised. College is a transformative time but there are a lot of hardships and road bumps. I say that as the first year. There is a lot of responsibility that isn’t talked about. We are adults now and as such, we are treated like adults and it can be frustrating. One memory that I have from this year was locking myself out of my dorm, leaving my university Onecard locked inside. The thing about Onecards is that you use them for everything, just as it says in the name. I couldn’t get into my dormitory, I couldn’t buy food, I couldn’t take the shuttle, do laundry, or do anything else that is essential to my well-being on campus. I felt that my entire life was ruined. What made it worse was that I was an early move-in meaning there was practically no one on campus so I had to figure this out for myself. I had my mentor help find the office I needed and I was able to get a temporary card so I could get my card in my room. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of my problem but in the end, I handled it. I was frustrated, to say the least, but after a while, I realized that I solved my own, real adult problem and that filled me with joy. I realized that I could handle things on my own and smile in times that are difficult. The question asks about what excites me about college and in all honestly, it's being able to find things about myself I didn’t believe I was capable of. In my mind, I reflect on overcoming challenges. For my body, I ground myself. I go outside and sit in the sun. I dance to relieve myself of stressful events like locking myself out of my room with a very valuable card. I learned that transferring energy to something else helps maintain the stability of the body. I learn to let go and find something to look forward to the next day. For my soul, I remember why I decided to go to college in the first place, to find myself. To take things day by day. To slow down. My education is first and foremost but it's not everything. For my entire high school career all I focused on was education. I don’t want that to be my entire identity. So I find something that excites me and surrounds me with people that make me feel fulfilled, supported, and cared for. In the next few years of my undergraduate collegiate career, I look forward to many academic and professional opportunities that will help build a foundation for what I set out to do for my profession. In addition, I hope to build relationships, discover new passions or surface new ones, and find peace in even the most challenging situations.

From a young age, I knew that I wanted to seek out a profession that helps people to prosper. I grew interested in my passion for Psychology when I was about thirteen. I was surrounded by individuals whether it be my friends or my family who were experiencing psychological distress. I couldn’t help but start researching what they were going through and wanted to study how I could contribute to making them feel comfortable with who they were. I would start learning about symptoms and how they contributed to disorders ranging from anxiety to bipolar Disorder. As I grew more and more eager in finding out these mental disabilities formed and how they affected people, eventually, I too started to experience some of those things for myself. My interest in the field of helping others also became a field that would help me understand myself. When I was younger, I used to believe that when you experience an illness for yourself, you could no longer be in a position to do that career anymore. Unfortunately, that may be true for some individuals but it's not always true. Over time, through guidance and my struggle with mental illness, I learned that the best way to get through to people is to be able to relate to them on some level. That’s where my confidence grew to be even better in the field and to remain resilient because mental illness is real and there need to be more people out there to help treat it. As a Black woman, part of the Black Community in the U.S., what we are told about handling our feelings and dismissing what isn’t physical is detrimental. If anything I learned that Black people are the ones that need Psychological doctors the most. There are generational trauma, oppression, discrimination, poverty, and so many other stressors that scientifically contribute to a shorter lifespan. Black people need that support to navigate a world that has never supported them but also to combat that internalization that we don’t deserve happiness and wellness. With my degree, I plan to redefine what it means to be both mentally and physically. As resilient as black people are, it doesn’t change the fact there is a lot of pressure that we have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. Understanding the neurocognitive science behind psychological distress and how it connects back to socialism I will be able to find solutions that may have been overlooked for centuries. I am just now coming to terms with that not being okay isn’t a weakness and there is a scientific explanation to resolve that internal conflict. I believe the human brain is the most powerful organ in the body. Understanding how it works from how neurotransmitters can affect our cognitive and behavioral process to what societal practices like obedience do to our perception. Psychological Science has allowed for revolutionary discoveries in what contributes to the well-being of individuals and what is needed to function on a day-to-day basis. I want to further those discoveries by focusing on minority and underserved communities.

From a young age, I knew that I wanted to seek out a profession that helps people to prosper. I grew interested in my passion for Psychology when I was about thirteen. I was surrounded by individuals whether it be my friends or my family who were experiencing psychological distress. I couldn’t help but start researching what it was that they were going through and wanted to study how I could contribute to making them feel comfortable in who they were. I would start learning about symptoms and how they contributed to disorders ranging from anxiety to bipolar Disorder. As I grew more and more eager in finding out these mental disabilities formed and how they affected people, eventually, I too started to experience some of those things for myself. My interest in the field to help others also became a field that would help me understand myself. When I was younger, I used to believe that when you experience an illness for yourself, you could no longer be in a position to do that career anymore. Unfortunately, that may be the case for some individuals but its not always true. I didn’nt know that though, I th Over time though, through guidance and my struggle with mental illness, I learned that the best way to get through to people is to be able to relate to them on some level. That’s where my confidence grew to be even better in the field and to remain resilient because mental illness is real and there need to be more people out there to help treat it. As a Black woman, part of the Black Community in the U.S., what we are told about how to handle our feelings and to dismiss what isn’t physical is detrimental. If anything I learned that Black people are the ones that need Psychological doctors the most. There are generational trauma, oppression, discrimination, poverty, and so many other stressors that scientifically contribute to a shorter lifespan. Black people need that support to navigate a world that has never supported them but also to combat that internalization that we don’t deserve happiness and wellness. With my degree, I plan to redefine what it means to be both mentally and physically. As resilient as black people are, it doesn’t change the fact there is a lot of pressure that we have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. I am just now coming to terms with that not being okay isn’t a weakness and there is a scientific explanation to resolve that internal conflict. I believe that the human brain is the most powerful organ in the body. Understanding how it works from how neurotransmitters can affect our cognitive and behavioral process to what societal practices like obedience do to our perception. Psychological Science has allowed fo revolutionary discoveries in what contributes to the well-being of individuals and what is needed to function on a day-to-day basis. I want to further those discoveries by focusing on minority and underserved communities.

I grew interested in my passion for Psychology when I was about thirteen. I was surrounded by individuals whether it be my friends or my family who were experiencing psychological distress. I couldn’t help but start researching what it was that they were going through and wanted to study how I could contribute to making them feel better. I would start learning about symptoms and how they contributed to disorders ranging from anxiety to bipolar Disorder. As I grew more and more eager in finding out these mental disabilities formed and how they affected people, eventually, I too started to experience some of those things for myself. My interest in the field to help others also became a field that would help me understand myself. When I was younger, I used to believe that when you experience an illness for yourself, you could no longer be in a position to do that career anymore. Over time though, through guidance and my struggle with mental illness, I learned that the best way to get through to people is to be able to relate to them on some level. That’s where my confidence grew to be even better in the field and to remain resilient because mental illness is real and there need to be more people out there to help treat it. As a black woman, part of the Black Community in the U.S., what we are told about how to handle our feelings and to dismiss what isn’t physical is detrimental. If anything I learned that Black people are the ones that need Psychological doctors the most. There are generational trauma, oppression, discrimination, poverty, and so many other stressors that scientifically contribute to a shorter lifespan. Black people need that support to navigate a world that has never supported them but also to combat that internalization that we don’t deserve happiness and wellness. With my degree, I plan to redefine what it means to be both mentally and physically. As resilient as black people are, it doesn’t change the fact there is a lot of pressure that we have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. I am just now coming to terms with that not being okay isn’t a weakness and there is a scientific explanation to resolve that internal conflict. I believe that the human brain is the most powerful organ in the body. Understanding how it works from how neurotransmitters can affect our cognitive and behavioral process to what societal practices like obedience do to our perception. Psychological Science has allowed for revolutionary discoveries in what contributes to the well-being of individuals and what is needed to function on a day-to-day basis. I want to further those discoveries by focusing on minority and underserved communities.

I grew interested in my passion for Psychology when I was about thirteen. I was surrounded by individuals whether it be my friends or my family who were experiencing psychological distress. I couldn’t help but start researching what it was that they were going through and wanted to study how I could contribute to making them feel better. I would start learning about symptoms and how they contributed to disorders ranging from anxiety to bipolar Disorder. As I grew more and more eager in finding out these mental disabilities formed and how they affected people, eventually, I too started to experience some of those things for myself. My interest in the field to help others also became a field that would help me understand myself. When I was younger, I used to believe that when you experience an illness for yourself, you could no longer be in a position to do that career anymore. Over time though, through guidance and my struggle with mental illness, I learned that the best way to get through to people is to be able to relate to them on some level. That’s where my confidence grew to be even better in the field and to remain resilient because mental illness is real and there need to be more people out there to help treat it. As a black woman, part of the Black Community in the U.S., what we are told about how to handle our feelings and to dismiss what isn’t physical is detrimental. If anything I learned that Black people are the ones that need Psychological doctors the most. There are generational trauma, oppression, discrimination, poverty, and so many other stressors that scientifically contribute to a shorter lifespan. Black people need that support to navigate a world that has never supported them but also to combat that internalization that we don’t deserve happiness and wellness. With my degree, I plan to redefine what it means to be both mentally and physically. As resilient as black people are, it doesn’t change the fact there is a lot of pressure that we have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. I am just now coming to terms with that not being okay isn’t a weakness and there is a scientific explanation to resolve that internal conflict. I believe that the human brain is the most powerful organ in the body. Understanding how it works from how neurotransmitters can affect our cognitive and behavioral process to what societal practices like obedience do to our perception. Psychological Science has allowed for revolutionary discoveries in what contributes to the well-being of individuals and what is needed to function on a day-to-day basis. I want to further those discoveries by focusing on minority and underserved communities.

I grew interested in my passion for Psychology when I was about thirteen. I was surrounded by individuals whether it be my friends or my family who were experiencing psychological distress. I couldn’t help but start researching what it was that they were going through and wanted to study how I could contribute to making them feel better. I would start learning about symptoms and how they contributed to disorders ranging from anxiety to bipolar Disorder. As I grew more and more eager in finding out these mental disabilities formed and how they affected people, eventually, I too started to experience some of those things for myself. My interest in the field to help others also became a field that would help me understand myself. When I was younger, I used to believe that when you experience an illness for yourself, you could no longer be in a position to do that career anymore. Over time though, through guidance and my struggle with mental illness, I learned that the best way to get through to people is to be able to relate to them on some level. That’s where my confidence grew to be even better in the field and to remain resilient because mental illness is real and there need to be more people out there to help treat it. As a black woman, part of the Black Community in the U.S., what we are told about how to handle our feelings and to dismiss what isn’t physical is detrimental. If anything I learned that Black people are the ones that need Psychological doctors the most. There are generational trauma, oppression, discrimination, poverty, and so many other stressors that scientifically contribute to a shorter lifespan. Black people need that support to navigate a world that has never supported them but also to combat that internalization that we don’t deserve happiness and wellness. With my degree, I plan to redefine what it means to be both mentally and physically. As resilient as black people are, it doesn’t change the fact there is a lot of pressure that we have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. I am just now coming to terms with that not being okay isn’t a weakness and there is a scientific explanation to resolve that internal conflict. I believe that the human brain is the most powerful organ in the body. Understanding how it works from how neurotransmitters can affect our cognitive and behavioral process to what societal practices like obedience do to our perception. Psychological Science has allowed for revolutionary discoveries in what contributes to the well-being of individuals and what is needed to function on a day-to-day basis. I want to further those discoveries by focusing on minority and underserved communities.

I grew interested in my passion for Psychology when I was about thirteen. I was surrounded by individuals whether it be my friends or my family who were experiencing psychological distress. I couldn’t help but start researching what it was that they were going through and wanted to study how I could contribute to making them feel better. I would start learning about symptoms and how they contributed to disorders ranging from anxiety to bipolar Disorder. As I grew more and more eager in finding out these mental disabilities formed and how they affected people, eventually, I too started to experience some of those things for myself. My interest in the field to help others also became a field that would help me understand myself. When I was younger, I used to believe that when you experience an illness for yourself, you could no longer be in a position to do that career anymore. Over time though, through guidance and my struggle with mental illness, I learned that the best way to get through to people is to be able to relate to them on some level. That’s where my confidence grew to be even better in the field and to remain resilient because mental illness is real and there need to be more people out there to help treat it. As a black woman, part of the Black Community in the U.S., what we are told about how to handle our feelings and to dismiss what isn’t physical is detrimental. If anything I learned that Black people are the ones that need psychological doctors the most. There are generational trauma, oppression, discrimination, poverty, and so many other stressors that scientifically contribute to a shorter lifespan. Black people need that support to navigate a world that has never supported them but also to combat that internalization that we don’t deserve happiness and wellness. With my degree, I plan to redefine what it means to be both mentally and physically. As resilient as black people are, it doesn’t change the fact there is a lot of pressure that we have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. I am just now coming to terms with that not being okay isn’t a weakness and there is a scientific explanation to resolve that internal conflict. I believe that the human brain is the most powerful organ in the body. Understanding how it works from how neurotransmitters can affect our cognitive and behavioral process to what societal practices like obedience do to our perception. Psychological Science has allowed for revolutionary discoveries in what contributes to the well-being of individuals and what is needed to function on a day-to-day basis. I want to further those discoveries by focusing on minority and underserved communities.

In a short amount of time, a lot was changing during my senior year of high school. I was pursuing my honors courses while also applying to universities, employment, and other opportunities. To be really honest, it was extremely difficult, and I eventually felt like I was giving up. I saw a therapist for the first time in the second semester of my senior year. The reality is that I've wanted to go to therapy for a while, but I've always been frightened to because I thought there might be something affecting me that was much greater than simply stress. Since I first started high school, I would occasionally experience these feelings of despondency that seemed to stretch on indefinitely. To the outside world, I appeared okay; I was typically perceived as quiet and sensitive. It's true that I am those things, but it was more than that. I tried to reassure myself that everything would be okay and that I would soon be able to return to my regular activities after this state passed. For a brief while, that was true, but eventually, that hopelessness always found its way back to me. Since my sophomore year of high school, I heavily suspected that I could have depression. It is possible that I could have developed it beforehand, but I was too young and uninformed about what was happening. I did a lot of reading on symptoms and how individuals felt during their struggle with mental illness before doing the depression assessment, which revealed that I did indeed have the condition. I wasn't particularly shocked by it; I was just unprepared for what it would possibly entail for me. Long-term use of antidepressants, having families witness my traumas, and, ironically, people being inclined to inquire about how I'm doing are all things I fear. A unit on mental problems and how they develop in adolescence was covered in one of my dual-enrollment courses in child development. I was able to manage it for the most part, but when it came to the writing assignment about mental illnesses—mine being depression, I couldn't keep my composure. When I read through the symptoms while completing the study, I simply kept checking the boxes and bursting into tears. I had to request an extension since that one task was so mentally taxing for me because I saw myself in the research. Being a college student, I occasionally feel like my problems are becoming worse. Every few days, I find myself crying. I've been unable to maintain a healthy connection with my partner, concentrate in class, get out of bed to perform simple activities, be productive, or enjoy anything I found pleasurable. It has been difficult to adjust to being an adult while dealing with my depression now that I am aware of it. My episodes can become so intense that I experience tension in my chest and headaches. Currently, I'm attempting to find a way to communicate to my parents that my situation may require further medical care. I'm also trying to figure out how I'll manage to have a fulfilling life, maintain my relationships, maintain substantial grades, and so on. I decided I wanted to study psychology so I could better comprehend what I go through and the struggles that millions of other people face. I want to be able to take these experiences and apply them to help people like me so they don’t have to live a life of suffering but of flourishment.

One of my motivations for going into the field of psychology is the lack of representation and acknowledgment of the mental well-being of black and brown students. Whether it’s the absence of knowledge or the standards upheld by the community, there is an overall lack of support for the minds of disadvantaged individuals. While I study psychology, I want to take on research opportunities and internships to pursue my goals of uplifting communities of color. As someone who struggles with mental health, I believe it is critical for me to have a lens that understands both the feeling of mental strain and the feeling of being relieved of that strain. For the longest time, I thought there was something irregular with having anxiety or depression because mental health wasn't really a topic of debate in my younger years. I believe that many young BIPOC can resonate with mindset as well The stereotype that "black people don't go to therapy," or statements from people we trust that "it's all in your head," or "speak to God and it'll go away," are all manifestations of stigmatized mental behavior. It wasn't until I began to change the conversation–when I was about twelve years old–that I realized mental health was, in fact, a real struggle and that there were many distressed teenagers on the verge of severely harming themselves because they lacked the resources to help them cope with their negative emotions. What I want to accomplish in the near future is what I started when I was in middle school. BIPOC need to look at mental health from a different lens so they can see that what goes on in their mind reflects back on their physical attributes and actions. The mental and physical parts of the body coexist and are codependent on each other and once people start to understand that then the conversation will start to change. There is also the economic penalty that is held with BIPOC and their ability to pay for the tools necessary to nourish their minds. I want to make access to mental health resources as available as possible so I will work to build a system that satisfies the needs of underrepresented groups to where they don’t need to struggle more than they already do to help themselves. It starts with the perspective and ends with the action that is will ignite as progress through my college journey and professional career as a black woman in psychology.

Have you ever read "The Tortoise and the Hare"? A story of a conceited hare who bet that because of how slowly the tortoise moved, he could beat him in a race. The hare lost to the tortoise because he was so exhausted that he fell asleep as the tortoise crossed the finish line. When people move too quickly, they are blind-sighted by the destination and don't know the directions they need to get there. People who are impatient go into things blind. People who cannot see, often stumble. I’ve learned that through my leadership in my Korean pop club, Bantan Sonyeondan Army Association. I was eager about starting my own club, but my enthusiasm clouded my judgment and rationality. I didn’t spend enough time mapping out meetings to have organized content ready to present. My spontaneous actions are what caused my club to fall under the radar. Rather than being disappointed and frustrated like the hare, I thought about what techniques had failed and observed what other club leaders were doing to have successful meetings. All club sessions in semester two will be organized around established lesson plans and goals I intend to achieve each time we meet. Patience allows our minds to rest in motion instead of racing in different directions. When we least expect it, we are rewarded for our actions. At times, it may be difficult when it feels like you’re in this endless cycle of nothingness. This was true for me when I took honors classes throughout my high school journey. There were plenty of times I could’ve given up, but because I perceived I am a 4.34 student which has attracted several colleges, universities, and other academic opportunities. Patience is the preparation we need to reap the benefits of our successes.