At the age of eight, my mother went to prison for drug use. My mother was the person I was closest to in my life and my best friend, so not seeing or speaking with her for years took a toll on my mental health. I started to think about whether I was good enough. I had a difficult time sleeping through the nights and often woke up from nightmares about losing my mother or ending up alone. I had a hard time eating and started thinking maybe I needed to lose weight or change how I looked. No matter what happened I always thought I needed to change somehow, and if I didn't, my mother may never come back. At 11, I started thinking about suicide. After trying to change myself didn't work, I thought that maybe if I wasn't here anymore it would make her happier, it would make everyone happier. Thoughts came rushing in one after another. You shouldn't be here anymore. You're not good enough. You don't deserve to live. This was all I thought about for two years. Family and friends started to notice. I had friends and their parents contacting my parents about how unstable I seemed. They told my parents that they worried at any moment I could end my life. My parents decided to sit down and talk with me about what was going on. I tried everything in my power to convince them I was fine because I didn't want to seem like I was a burden. They made the decision to get me a therapist to discuss my feelings with. I was in therapy for about 2 years and for a while, I never discussed how I truly felt. I disguised all of it, so everyone would think I was okay and leave me alone, but it never worked. Then I started high school and I met my digital photography teacher, Mr. Villalobos. I was new to the area so I had no friends at this school. He always noticed I was on the quieter side, didn't talk to anyone, and didn't seem to have any motivation in his class. He decided to sit down with me and ask me what was going on and how he could help me feel more motivated and comfortable in his class. This conversation ended with me walking away convincing myself that he believed nothing was wrong and would forget about it the next day, but he never did. He persistently asked how he could help and told me to open up about what was going on. Eventually, he told me a story about his experiences in high school and some of the mental health issues he dealt with. It made me feel like someone actually understood, so I opened up to him about all my thoughts and feelings I had been having and how things were going with my parents and counselor. He told me I should listen to my counselor and what she had to say, so I gave it a shot. I followed her instructions to start doing daily affirmations and communicating with others about what was going on in my life. At first, I thought it was stupid until I started to feel happier. I continue these strategies every day of my life. With the help of my teacher, I found a passion for teaching and hope to help others with similar issues in the future. Mental health has made a big impact in my life but has overall made me who I am today.

When I was in 6th grade, my grandmother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. She was the person I got closest with after my mother was arrested. I spent night after night talking to her about life, my thoughts, my feelings, and everything in between. She stuck by my side no matter what I had to say. She was my absolute best friend, so it can be assumed that after finding out she had cancer, I fell apart. Taking in a loss like that had a serious impact on my mental health and how I performed in my daily life. I started falling behind in my classes and not doing the best on my tests. I lost all motivation for anything until my teacher came to me and talked to me about when she lost her sister to cancer. It truly helped the way I was feeling and helped me realize the impact that one conversation can have on a student. The thought of losing my best friend crushed me. The first thing I remember doing was running out of the room crying. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do at this point. We stayed with her at the hospital for a few days before we came home so I could go to school. Going to school somehow seemed worse than actually finding out. I was supposed to just go to school, learn, go about my day, and just pretend like my grandmother wasn't dying in a hospital bed. My teacher began to notice how I seemed off and asked me to stay for a second to talk to her, while everyone else went to recess. She asked me what had been going on and I told her what happened with my grandma. She gave her condolences and began to tell me about her sister and when she passed away from cancer. Her sister had chosen to go through chemo and both their parents had passed so she was her sister's primary caregiver. The burden she explained she felt after losing her felt very similar to mine. It helped to talk to her about everything that was going on with my grandma and after she passed I know I felt more than comfortable talking to her about my feelings. I found myself talking to her during every recess and as I got older I began to understand how important and impactful it actually was to have someone there for me. After thinking back to all the incredible things she'd done for me, it made me realize how much I wanted to be able to do the same thing. I found an incredible passion in working with kids and it helped to know that I could help them the same way she helped me. I hope to share my story with future students who may be experiencing a similar thing, in hopes of helping them work through their feelings. I hope to help students feel comfortable, safe, and content with me, so I can be there for them if and when they need me.

At the age of 8, I began to experience loads of depression and anxiety. My mother had just been arrested for drug use and I was beginning to realize that this would be the last time I would see her. I was really close with her beforehand so not seeing or speaking with her caused a lot of things in my life to change. It started out small with thoughts going through my brain of whether I was good enough or not. I started feeling sad a lot more often and didn't feel as motivated to do anything. When I was about eleven I started having thoughts of suicide and I felt like the longer she was away the less important I became to the world. Friends and family started noticing these things and I ended up starting therapy. For a long time, I faked my happiness to get out of therapy, pretending nothing was wrong. Things didn't start lightening up until my junior year of high school when I met Mrs. Wurmlinger. Mrs. Wurmlinger was my child development teacher and she was the only teacher to ever notice the things going on in my life. She made an effort to talk with me about the way I seemed during her class and how I was always tired and looked as if I was rapidly losing weight. After telling her about the thoughts I had been having and how I felt that I could not do anything I wanted to anymore, she asked me about the dreams, passions, and goals I had. I told her that for a while I had considered being a teacher, but I wasn't sure if I was ever able to do it. She sat me down and explained to me that by working on myself and my mental health, I could achieve anything I set my mind to. Mrs. Wurmlinger helped me realize that if I put in the effort to become a teacher and succeed, then I could help out students who may be struggling with the same issues that I am. I used this as a wake-up call in my life and started to straighten up and work towards my goals. During therapy sessions, I started being honest about how I had been feeling and the thoughts I had. My therapist gave me different ideas and techniques I could use to help better my mental health, beginning with daily affirmations to spreading awareness about suicide and sharing my story. Over time, my days started feeling a little bit better and my dreams started seeming more and more achievable. After I bettered myself, I wanted to make sure I noticed all the little things about people around me and started checking up on my friends and family members. I worked and continue to work towards becoming a teacher. There are so many dark sides to mental health that people understand such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, lack of sleep, anger, suicidal thoughts, addiction, etc., but there are also many bright sides to mental health. Once people see past the low points in life, they can finally shine by doing things like daily affirmations about themself, building relationships with people, and/or beginning to see things positively or having a purpose. My struggle with mental health was just one story, I hope to continue working towards my goal to I can hear and help out others with their stories.

From a very young age, I began to have an interest in teaching and educating others. I always saw it as a way of helping others build up their lives and motivating them to pursue what someone as a teacher has been preparing a student to do. I believe I have a strong drive to educate others and a passion and love for the students as well. I love and care for others deeply and always try my best to help others around me find the best plan for themselves. I have already gotten involved in the teaching areas of things by taking classes provided by my high school. I also struggled with serious anxiety, depression, insomnia, anorexia, and bipolar disorder, beginning when I was 8 after my mother went to prison for drug use. I lost a very strong bond with my mother and to this day have not been able to rebuild it. I began to lose interest in my education and I didn't have the energy or motivation to keep going until about my junior year of high school. I started taking a child development class to move toward my goal of becoming a teacher. My teacher for this class began to notice my lack of energy, my constant exhaustion from not sleeping, and my weight loss from not eating. She sat down and talked to me about it and helped me see that I would be losing out on so many opportunities in life. She proved to me that I could utilize the experiences I went through to help my students in the future move through hard times in their lives. This is what sparked me to work on bettering myself and my mental health, so I could pursue my dream of teaching. I began to get involved in more activities and clubs that could get me the experience of working with kids. I worked in classrooms and in an on-campus preschool and throughout my experience I began to realize that no matter the age group I worked with I loved each and every student and I loved working with them. Being with the students has truly shown me that anything is possible no matter what obstacles get in the way. I truly believe that I can utilize my experiences to not only connect but inspire my students to continue to work toward achieving their dreams, the same way my teacher did with me. I hope to be the light in my student's lives that educates them and shows them there are so many opportunities just waiting at the door, all that is left to do is open it.

Growing up I always put my education before anything else, from the first day of preschool to now as I am a senior in high school. I have always wanted to have the best education possible so I can not only build my knowledge, but the knowledge of others. It's been a long-lasting dream of mine to become a teacher and help other students grow and prepare for their lives. Education is the foundation of how a person develops their intelligence as they grow. I believe it is one of the most crucial and important parts of life. As someone who wants to pursue a career in education, I see it as something a person can use to not only flourish but to discover their dreams, talents, and abilities. Education means opportunity, creativity, and growth. Education should allow students to find themselves and their true calling. It should provide students with a variety of opportunities to build their careers or the paths they choose to take. Helping students build their creativity can also help them build their personality as well as their future. Education should be the key component to a student choosing their path in life. Motivating students to follow their dreams and fulfill their goals is the role education portrays. I tend to set goals for myself that I can see myself achieving in the short, mid, and long term. In the short term, I have a plan to graduate high school with a full set and ready-to-go plan for college. My goal is to live out the college life to it's fullest and enjoy it while it lasts. As a mid-term goal, I plan to settle down, find a job doing what I love, and begin to start a family once I am financially ready and have found the person I want to start my life with. I have a dream of buying a house in La Conner, Washington, and living there with my family. I hope to be educating my students, motivating and influencing them to find their passions and follow their dreams. I want to be able to help others achieve their goals as well. For my long-term goal, I hope to finish off my career by retiring. Hopefully, throughout my career, I will be able to help students build up their lives and help them find their calling in life. I hope to be an asset to each and every one of them, so they are able to succeed in what they love. Education is something that I have always seen myself following through with as a career and inspiring students the way my teachers inspired me. As I watched how each one of my educators performed and encouraged their students to follow their passions, I was able to find mine. My goals in life are to become a teacher and build up the education of each one of my students. Education is the most important aspect of life, it builds and helps us achieve the dreams that each one of us creates in our minds.

When I was about 8 years old, my mother went to prison for drug abuse. After she left, I failed to fulfill a relationship with her. This brought me into a deep depression. I constantly had thoughts of what I did wrong and why I wasn't good enough. As the days continued to go by, I slowly fell into my thoughts and even felt thoughts of suicide. I started losing weight from not eating and losing friends because I was pushing everyone away. I started to believe I wasn't good enough for anyone and if I pushed everyone away, then it would be easier for them when I was gone. I started taking pills and ignoring my family. Mental health is so crucial in a person's life that if it's not properly taken care of, it may take a serious toll on a person's life. Mental health has a huge impact on people's performance, lifestyle, and emotions. A low mental health can lead someone to feel loads of depression, anxiety, and/or suicide. It can take a toll on our thoughts and change the way we feel or act. It can lead people to lash out at loved ones or do things they wouldn't normally do. Mental health can affect your daily life, relationships, eating habits, physical health, etc. It can build someone up and just as easily tear someone down. Mental health can also create a sense of joy and happiness in a person's life. With the right maintenance and motivation, a person can feel uplifted and worthwhile. With better and healthier mental health, one may feel more motivated to do things that make them happy and make them appreciate the important things in their life. It can improve someone's well-being, including good sleeping and eating habits, healthy relationships, and a positive school/work ethic. Having all of these components in your everyday routine can help bring up one's mental health, creating an overall healthier and more content lifestyle. Over time, I have learned how to create this lifestyle and how to feel better and happier with myself each day. A few things that I do to improve my mental wellness are taking walks, taking time to myself when needed, and spending time with family and friends when I start to feel alone. I also took some time to talk to a therapist who helped me find ways to feel more appreciated and worthy. I learned words of affirmation that I tell myself each day. I also find spending time with the people I love most in this world helps me feel a lot happier with my life and makes me realize all the amazing things I could miss out on if I was no longer here. I believe it is beyond important to recognize what mental health is and see it because mental health can not only pull people into the darkness but also help those people see the light even in the darkest of places in life.