I became a parent at nineteen to a beautiful little girl who came into my life at the perfect time. Before having my daughter, I came from a troubled childhood of poverty, substance abuse and a lack of parental guidance, this had followed me into my early adult life. Mental health struggles had defined much of my life, leaving me feeling stuck in a rut for years. My family isn't one to pursue higher education and though I did rather well in high school, I had no plans to peruse college for myself. After graduating high school and entering the world, looking to make a career I discovered rather quickly that a stable career is rather hard to obtain without higher education in some form. This put me into a slump of doing odd jobs around the farm we rented to make income. After some time of struggling with depression, we were shocked to find out we were expecting a child. Though this situation did not seem ideal at the time, I was finally given a reason to commit to a better life. I used every experience from my childhood to be a better parent to my daughter. She will be two in August and though I enjoy being a stay-at-home parent to her, it was time to consider our long-term goals. I wanted to provide something I lacked in my own life, stability. When I think of stability, money is the first thing that comes to mind, providing for my daughters needs adequately, a nice home with a yard to play in, less stress on her father and I's relationship. However more than that, I want to start a new chapter in my family's history. When coming from a broken home or fractured childhood, it becomes easy to repeat the cycle you were shown. My goals are much larger, setting a stellar example for my daughter that she can be a strong woman, peruse higher education, make a career she loves and overcome any struggles she may have to face in her own life while still being an exceptional and loving mother. Returning to school with a toddler is not an easy feat but I have chosen this path to better my family's future, to inspire my child and to prove to myself that your past does not need to define your future.

In my 21 years I have learned and lived through many trails, troubles and lessons. A significant lesson for me came when I was 19 years old. After suffering from mental health issues for most my life I learned I was pregnant. While this came as a shock, I knew immediately this was a blessing and I was needed in this world to love, nurture and teach this child. I had suffered with anorexia for about 6 years and was not taking care of myself or my mental wellbeing. At 19 with no plans for my future I made the difficult decision to make a needed change. Knowing I now had the very important responsibility of a dependent life, I sought out a therapist I had used for many years prior. Terie, a now dear person in my life got me into programs to support my disordered eating, poor health and impacted mental state. I have gained the lesson of knowing your own self-worth and to better oneself to the benefit of them and their loved ones. It inspired me to go back to school, further my education for the chance to give myself and my child a better life. I believe everyone deserves to know the gift of self-worth, self-love and the love of a child. Though the lesson of making myself necessary to this world was a hard lesson to learn I can honestly say this lesson saved my life and brought another beautiful life into this world alongside it. I hope to bring others a sense of worth and to inspire others through all things in life.