When I was 13 years old, my parents divorced. Now, this might not seem too bad because it is very common in this day and age, but I didn't handle it as well as some might think. With all of the yelling and fighting going on, my mental health plummeted. In July of 2020, I was diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and an eating disorder. I didn't do anything or go anywhere; it was prime COVID time, so I couldn't hang out with any of my friends, and my brother was always working, so I had nowhere to go to escape the wrath of my parents. My father was addicted to his pain pills when he broke his back years prior and also had a drinking problem that left him always picking fights. My mom was also always stressed out and eventually asked my father to leave because it was affecting my mental health, and he agreed. After my father left, my mom and I got an apartment together, and my dad's drinking got worse. He would drunkenly call my mother and me and harass us, saying how bad of a person my mom was and that she didn't deserve me living with her. My mom then had to get another job as a waitress on top of her teaching job to be able to afford our apartment and all of the living costs for us, including my anxiety and depression medicines. Now that my mom was working two jobs, I was home alone a lot, and that gave me a lot of time to think, which is very dangerous for people with mental problems. I started to harm myself, and the medicine was not working.  A couple of months down the road, both of my parents were in relationships again, and I was starting to feel a little better. Then my physical health went downhill. I was getting rashes all over my body; my heart rate would get really high, and I even had a couple of seizures. It was very scary. I had been an athlete my whole life, and now that I couldn't play sports or lift weights because I never knew when it would happen again, it really sucked. In June of 2022, I moved to Florida to live with my grandparents and get away from the hardships back home in Pennsylvania. Here in Florida, I started going to a new doctor. When I moved, I had 500 medical pages that transferred, and he said that was the most that he had ever seen. Turns out, the reason I was having seizures was because I was heavily overmedicated.  Living in Florida, my anxiety and depression have mostly gone away, and my eating disorder has gotten a lot better. I have learned that I am a lot stronger than the mental problems that I have had in the past and that I can overcome anything that is thrown my way.

I started attending Pensacola Catholic High School in 2022, as I was going into my junior year of high school. I started attending this school after moving to Florida from a small town in Hughesville, Pennsylvania. I moved to get better schooling, and I had heard that since I am a hardworking student and get good grades, I could go to college and receive really big discounts with the Bright Futures Program. When I was five years old, I was very convinced that I was going to be a marine biologist when I got older, and what better place to do that than right by the beach? I grew up in a Christian household and went to church every week starting when I was a baby, so Catholic school seemed like the best school for me. After I started to attend Catholic school, I learned a lot of things that I never knew. Growing up, I was Baptist, and once I moved to Florida, I became Presbyterian. Even though I am not Catholic, being in that religion class taught me a lot of things and helped my faith grow in God. After about a year of living here, I realized that Marine Biology was not for me. I wanted to help people and do everything that I could to spread God’s word, and what other way of doing that than saving people's lives and praying for everyone? My stepmom is a nurse, and she loves her job. She and I are a lot alike, and both take pride in our faith in God and loving people. A couple of months ago, I was in a side-by-side crash. I was riding around with one of my friends when he took a turn a little too tight, and we landed on my side. I immediately went unconscious and did not wake up until I was thrown from the vehicle. When I saw that the roof of the side-by-side was on my friend’s back, I knew that it was my responsibility to get it off of him and save him because nobody else was around. I grabbed the top of the side-by-side and started praying that I could get it off of him because if I didn’t, it could have crushed him or stopped him from breathing. So, I lifted it over my head using the power of Jesus, adrenaline, and lifting weights off of him. At that moment, I knew that God had given me this gift and that he wanted me to help everyone that I possibly could. I can remain calm in intense situations and pray whenever I feel as though I cannot do it. God gave me confidence, and that accident was what made me realize that he put me on this earth to fulfill his mission: to heal others and spread his word.

I have always loved helping others from babies to older people. When I was younger I was always patching up my friends and siblings' cuts and scrapes because it never grossed me out and making them feel better made me happy. I know a lot of nurses and doctors, including my stepmom, who is a traveling nurse. She and I have a lot in common; we both have ADHD and work very well under pressure, which allows us to thrive in serious situations. I can stay calm when others are in trouble or injured and I am normally the first one to start helping. A couple of months ago, I was in a side-by-side crash. I have been riding ATVs and motor vehicles since my second birthday when I got a four-wheeler and ever since I have loved it. I was riding a dirt bike with my cousins and their friends when my cousin’s friend asked if I wanted to go for a side-by-side ride. I did not think anything of it because, after 15 years of riding, I have never gotten into a crash or gotten anything worse than a branch to the forehead that got stuck to my helmet, so I thought we would be fine. He offered to drive and I was okay with it since I had been doing jumps on my cousin’s dirtbike and four-wheeler all morning and was getting a little tired. First, we did some jumps on it and everything was going great. I had mentioned to him that I usually never wear a helmet when I ride side-by-side but I was glad that I had this time because on the jumps, the top of my helmet would hit the roof. We decided that since the jumps were getting a little busy and more people were coming, we would go to the big area and do some donuts. As we took the first turn, the back tire hit a rock and we flipped. The side-by-side landed on my side of it and immediately I went unconscious. We rolled two more times and the next thing I knew, I was outside of it and the only thought in my head was to help my friend get out because the top was resting on his back and he was knocked out. I unbuckled my helmet, threw it to the side, grabbed the top of the vehicle and lifted it over my head. I don't know how I did it, probably a mix of adrenaline, lifting weights, and the power of God that got it up. Normally, it takes four grown men to lift it that high but I knew that if I did not get it off of his back that instant and get him out there was a chance he wouldn’t live. After getting him out, I grabbed the first aid kit out of my car to clean and patch up all our cuts. He only had a couple and his back was hurting him. I had a concussion and some nasty bruises all over but we both made it out alive with no major injuries. Ever since that day, I knew that it was my life mission to help other people and keep them safe to the best of my ability.

I have always loved helping others from babies to older people. When I was younger I was always patching up my friends and siblings' cuts and scrapes because it never grossed me out and making them feel better made me happy. I know a lot of nurses and doctors, including my stepmom, who is a traveling nurse. She and I have a lot in common; we both have ADHD and work very well under pressure, which allows us to thrive in serious situations. I can stay calm when others are in trouble or injured and am normally the first to start helping. A couple of months ago, I was in a side-by-side crash. I have been riding ATVs and motor vehicles since my second birthday when I got a four-wheeler and ever since I have loved it. I was riding a dirt bike with my cousins and their friends when my cousin’s friend asked if I wanted to go for a side-by-side ride. I did not think anything of it because, after 15 years of riding, I have never gotten into a crash or gotten anything worse than a branch to the forehead that got stuck to my helmet, so I thought we would be fine. He offered to drive and I was okay with it since I had been doing jumps on my cousin’s dirtbike and four-wheeler all morning and was getting tired. First, we did some jumps on it and everything was going great. I had mentioned to him that I usually never wear a helmet when I ride side-by-side but I was glad that I had this time because on the jumps, the top of my helmet would hit the roof. We decided that since the jumps were getting a little busy and more people were coming, we would go to the big area and do some donuts. As we took the first turn, the back tire hit a rock and we flipped. The side-by-side landed on my side of it and immediately I went unconscious. We rolled two more times and the next thing I knew, I was outside of it and the only thought in my head was to help my friend get out because the top was resting on his back and he was knocked out. I unbuckled my helmet, threw it to the side, grabbed the top of the vehicle, and lifted it over my head. I don't know how I did it, probably a mix of adrenaline, lifting weights, and the power of God that got it up. Normally, it takes four grown men to lift it that high but I knew that if I did not get it off of his back that instant and get him out there was a chance he wouldn’t live. After getting him out, I grabbed the first aid kit out of my car to clean and patch up all our cuts. He only had a couple and his back was hurting him. I had a concussion and some nasty bruises all over but we both made it out alive with no major injuries. Ever since that day, I knew my life mission was to help others and keep them safe to the best of my ability.