Tough times for someone can be a bad day at work, or a major loss; a lower grade than expected or a stressful, overloaded work week. What's important is that we don't judge other's hardships based on what we have gone through before and understand that everyone deals with difficult situations differently. One of the ways that I stay optimistic through tough times is by reminding myself about the most important parts of my life. For me, right now that is my fiance and our daughter. When a customer is rude to me at work I think of my daughters smile and remind myself that I am working to make sure she is getting food in her belly. When I have what seems like an infinite amount of school work one day I pause and do something with my fiance and our daughter and remind myself that these assignments are not the most important thing in life. When my fiance lost his grandfather this past summer I supported him through his loss and made sure mine and my daughters love for him was shown during every step of his loss. Finding those things that are most important to you in life and using them as motivation to get through the tough times is one of the easiest ways to stay optimistic; don't let your mind be clouded by those negative experiences, instead find those positive things in life and remind yourself of them everyday.

Being a mom has always been a dream of mine. So when I found out that I was pregnant in June, 2020 I was elated! One of the biggest obstacles I have had to work around with this new journey is how to finish school. I have been working towards my bachelors degree in Hospitality Management since January 2020 and between COVID-19 and my pregnancy I found myself in a bit of a jam trying to finish. Finally, after a year of part time schooling and a semester off when I gave birth I am back in full swing and am slated to graduate with my degree in December 2022. I am so passionate about the hospitality industry and can not wait to use my degree to get into the field. Currently, I am looking to get into event management and aim to open my own event business in the future. An event business would support my family is so many ways; my fiance and I hope to someday own a large enough estate that we can operate the business while raising our children together on that single property. The idea of having an operation that functions cohesively with our family structure is something that is so important to me. I want both my fiance and myself to be around for all of those big moments in our children's lives; I truly hate the idea of one of us missing out on something because we are stuck at work out of the house full time. Getting this degree to understand the ins and outs of the hospitality industry and using my previous work experience with major corporations such as Disney and Landry's will help me turn this dream business into reality. I personally believe that, in everyone's life, family should be the top priority and your job should be something that caters to that. It is also important that you have a job that you love and look forward to going to every single day. A scholarship like this one would help me finish school and give me the opportunities needed to be with my family and create a business that I am very passionate about.

Advocate. I think one of the biggest issue with the mental health crisis is that people are afraid to speak up. We are afraid to speak our truth because of the judgment we see put on others who have spoken out. I struggle with depression and anxiety and as a new mom these illnesses have become much more prevalent in my every day life. Aside from a few close friends and family members, I don't discuss these issues with people because I see how they talk about people with "fake depression" or "over diagnosed" illnesses. We need to start advocating and making it a social normalcy to talk about mental health issues. A lot of people have a vision of what someone should look like when they struggle with mental health and that needs to change. Mental health is not something you can physically see and not all people with the same illness will struggle with the same things- or show their struggles in the same fashion. Opening they eyes of those around us to truly understand what it means to be affected by mental health illnesses is the first step in helping more people who are struggling. If we can make the world a safer space to speak out about our problems, more people will seek the help they need from friends, family and medical professionals.