I sit in a room with an undergraduate student and confirm she is ready to start our session before pressing the record button. I lean back in the chair and ask, "So, this space is completely for you. Is there anything you would like to start with or is there something that occurred recently that is on your mind?" From there, feelings poured out, concepts were introduced, and growth was accomplished. That was me as a first-year graduate student in my Clinical Professional Counseling Master's program, doing mock therapy for the first time ever with an undergraduate student, fulfilling the role as a helpee and me as the helper. Growing up I did not know much about mental health but progressively through my undergraduate career, I was it fruition in not just myself but also my friends and peers around me. One moment you could be on cloud nine, and the next, struggling to make it to class or even out of your bed and wanting to shut the world out. When I would be asked what populations I would be interested in working with, I would say emerging adults or marginalized communities, because I knew how hard it is to find accessible care, especially mental health services and at an affordable cost. Coming from a marginalized background, I am familiar with the stigma surrounding mental health and how it is something that does not really exist. I would love to change that conceptualization and work to make it accessible. It is important for me as a woman of color, that I represent these communities in a way where someone who looks like me won't have to search on end in fear that a non-person of color as their therapist might not relate or understand what issues they may be facing. It can be hard sitting in a room where someone on the other side does not look like you and for me, that held me back from wanting to pursue this field. There should be more representation in a field where mental health for marginalized communities can be a lot higher to many diversity factors like socioeconomic class, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. Now, as a second-year graduate student with so much information under her belt, I am hoping to make a marking working to grow as a clinician-in-training to make mental health services more accessible and not just to those who have the proper resources but also educate and inform marginalized communities that it is okay to ask for help and seek it out.

As a first generation college student, growing up in an urban house with a father who moved to the United States from a small island in the Caribbean when he was just eight years old and a mother from Brooklyn, New York, you learn to deal with your problems head on and independently. When questioning myself, I wondered if solely relying on myself or my friends and family was enough to justify my thoughts or actions. If you asked me about mental health in high school, I would have told you it was a fib or a hoax. Like most households that consist of people of color, therapy is nonexistent and if brought up, shut down with the conversation transitioning to some monologue about God will fix it and all you need to do is pray and your prayers, your worries and your stress will be taken care of by Himself. College was the step into the real world that praying doesn’t work for everyone. Lower income neighborhoods and minority groups do not seek out assistance with mental health as they assume they cannot afford the treatment or just simply do not have access to it, and I want to strive to change that. The reason I am passionate about pursuing a career in therapy is simply because I never was given the opportunity to seek out those proper resources or even aware until I reached higher education. Mental health should be something all individuals seek out, not just for bad days or conflicts but also just be able to talk to someone who is not your mother, best friend, or sibling. Someone who will be open to listening and giving positive criticism without having the thought in the back of your head that you are being judged. My goal is to create a space where anyone and everyone can be comfortable with therapy and no longer being afraid to seek out help if they need it. No one should be in fear, shameful or guilty for asking. Therapy and mental health should not be something prioritized only for the wealthy or the upper class. It should be accessible to everyone, no matter their identity, race, economic or financial status. The world is not perfect and neither is anyone and I hope that one day, everyone can simply understand that and that the path that I am soon to begin will help me achieve that and make a change for the better.