1. I am in crippling debt and I have only been in school for one year. Please help. 2. I will be going to school to get my doctorate degree so that I will be able to land a job that will bring in a good amount of money so I can live the life that I want. Once I am rich, which I am estimating may take about 2-3 years after graduation, I will become a stay at home mom with a fabulous husband who sips wine on her wrap around porch, and owns 3 very well-taken-care-of dogs. 3. For my 11th birthday party, my parents put together a mock Wipe-Out course in our backyard for me and my friends to complete. There were the classic obstacle courses including the punching wall and the big red balls (which in this case were just exercise balls spray-painted red for added effect). With great strength and perseverance, and a little bit of frustrated crying, I was able to overcome the Wipe-Out obstacle.

It was easy for me to stand strong in my faith growing up. I had not been exposed to much, and everyone I was surrounded by were Christians who had the same beliefs as me. The topic of abortion was never a debate, not really. We all agreed that it was wrong. It was not until I became an adult and left the Christian bubble in which I was raised that I was able to see how truly corrupt our society is, in regards to being pro-life. I could not believe abortion was so prominent, and that people had no problem killing a child. They acted as if the process was so simple: terminate the pregnancy, end of story. No other consequences. In fact, I had a roommate that went around having unprotected sex with many men under the premise that she could simply have an abortion if needed. It was something she had done before and could do again. The worst part: she is not the only person who utilizes this flawed logic. Being an adult and living on my own, especially on a college campus full of many young adults, has shown me the disgusting lack of empathy towards unborn lives, and the cruelty people show in regards to being pro-life. In addition to seeing the lack of protection towards those who are unborn, moving to a bigger city has also brought the amount of poverty in the world to my attention. The streets where I live now are filled with people who cannot find homes and who have no support system. I have spoken to many of them, and their situations range from being illiterate to struggling with addiction. After seeing this, I realized that being pro-life does not simply mean protecting the rights of unborn babies, rather protecting every life. I have always considered myself to be pro-life, not just for those who are not yet born, but also for the homeless and the elderly. I have always given money to the homeless, and I frequently play my cello for elderly people in nursing homes, simply to provide them with a little more joy in their lives. I used to participate in 40 Days For Life back in high school, and I still frequently pray that the world will see how wrong abortion is, and that minds will be changed. However, experiencing all of this from a new perspective has taught me that none of that is enough. I recently became friends with a homeless man that lives very close to my school campus. I visit him and bring him food, new clothes, and hygiene products. I have started sitting with elderly people, learning about their childhood and bringing them company. I still consistently pray to end abortion, and I have started to argue with those who believe abortion is okay. That is what it means to be pro life: to protect those who have no home, bring joy to those who are lonely, and defend those who have not been born yet. Especially when others will not.

For several years, my favorite book was about a girl with severe anxiety and OCD, who went through many rituals to avoid catching the notorious colon bacterial infection, C. Diff. In Turtles All The Way Down, written by the famous young adult author John Green, I was able to see myself in the main character, and I no longer felt alone as someone who also suffers from health-related anxiety and OCD. In fact, seeing OCD both from an outsider’s perspective and associated with a main character helped me come to terms with my own mental health. I started to improve. Since I saw how the character in the book was affected by her concern for her mental health, I went to therapy and slowly but surely, I started to worry less about myself, finding that I was finally able to focus on activities that I genuinely enjoy, such as practicing my cello and playing softball with friends. This stability continued, until I myself contracted C. Diff. The 2021-2022 school year was my freshman year of college. I had spent my senior year of high school going to therapy, working hard to get my anxiety and OCD under control to the point where I could function on my own and enjoy my adult life. I was finally at a point where I was comfortable going off to college, leaving my parents and my siblings, and excited to make new friends. But before I even started school, the first low point of my year hit. The summer before I left for Trinity University in San Antonio, I was diagnosed with Mono-induced Hepatitis. It was required for me to go to the hospital every few days to get my blood drawn so that my enzymes could be properly monitored. For someone who constantly dealt with health-related anxiety and was finally working through it, this was not ideal. After two very long months, I finally recovered. I was able to go off to college and start a new chapter of my life just in time. Once I was beginning college, I thought to myself, “Whatever happens, I will be okay! I’m only 18 and I survived having hepatitis!” Oh boy, was I wrong. My immune system was weakened from having both Mono and Hepatitis, and I began to get sick a lot more frequently. I caught Covid-19 in January 2022, then, during spring break of my freshman year, I had intense abdominal pain and once again ended up in the hospital getting treated for what they thought was appendicitis. Eventually, the doctors agreed that it was not in fact appendicitis, and sent me home only with some pain medication to take the edge off. About a month later, I was diagnosed with C. Diff. But at that point, it was too late. The bacteria had been in my colon for months and eventually colonized, making it very difficult to get rid of. It is still in me right now. Throughout my entire first year of college, I was anxious and stressed about getting sick again. I began to develop more OCD rituals to get rid of germs, which included washing my hands in near boiling water. I carried a thermometer on me at all times to monitor my temperature, and bought a pulse oximeter because I was convinced my lungs were going to give out any minute. If I didn't have at least one of those on me at all times, I began to panic. I was so afraid of getting sick and ending up in the hospital again, or worse. My grades suffered, and everywhere I went, I was terrified of catching something. I could not live in my own room comfortably, as my roommate was very dirty and brought an unvetted stray cat she had found in the gutter to live with us. While I could not see it at the time, being forced to face my anxiety in this way helped me to understand that I am stronger than my mental health issues. I survived everything that life threw at me my freshman year, and I am sure I can survive whatever hardships life has in store. My hardships have helped me to understand that the world is not ideal. The world is cruel, and will do anything to test you. Those tests may affect your mental health, cause a strain in your relationships, or alter your goals and plans. However, if I have learned anything from this, it is that hardships can only make you stronger. While I lost some relationships, I also gained very precious ones. The people closest and most important to me are those who stayed by my side as I struggled. My goals have changed, but honestly, I would not have it any other way. I would be lying if I said my anxiety has gotten better after coming to each of these realizations. I still carry around my thermometer and pulse oximeter, and I still stress when I have a minor symptom. However, I now understand that these are out of my control, and my mental health does not define who I am. While it certainly is not enjoyable, my mental health no longer brings me suffering because I have realized that it is normal to have uncertainties and anxiety. I am stronger because of everything I have been through, and my mental health has shaped me into who I am today.