I have overcame the loss of my job in 2020 when coronavirus first came to the United States. I also was struggling to continue my education while dealing with this unemployment. Luckily, I then found a job later in the year of 2020 that allowed me to experience leadership roles and have a first hand experience with a managerial role. I believe that without the experience that I gained from that job, I would not have understanding and sympathy for other retail businesses and the things that have to endure during the pandemic. I also believe that I would not have the patience with others around me if I would have not lost my previous job. Also during the time when the pandemic was seen as a huge threat, I was spending time in the house more and helping my younger sister with her virtual classes. This required time and patience from the both of us, which was hard for me because patience is something that I desperately needed to learn especially with my career choice. I learned to be patient and to listen to my sister's troubles and frustrations with her schoolwork. When she had trouble with her computer, I was the one to repair it because my parents were working because luckily, they were essential workers. My dad is a truck driver and my mother is a healthcare worker which required them to work long hours, therefore, I was the one to babysit and ensure that my younger sister was content with virtual schooling and make sure that was entertained. I was greatly proud of myself during this transition because over time I learned about being adaptive and flexible with the changes of our daily routine during the first few months of quarantine. I believe that without this experience, I would not have the skills that I have today, thus brings the idea that I would not have the characteristics of a good counselor. My field of study is clinical mental health counseling. I am striving to become a licensed family counselor and I gained this passion because I desire to be a problem solver for families similar to mine. Growing up, my family had various problems with money and infidelity. Therefore, I wanted to attend family counseling however, growing up in a minority household, therapy and counseling is seen as shameful and a loss of independence. Therefore, I want to be the person that I and my family needed growing up by becoming a family counselor. Some changes that I am looking to accomplish both in my field and for myself is to become an advocate for mental health and change the stigma of therapy. I am aware that many minorities and people of color believe that mental health and therapy is something that is unnecessary. They also believe that if you receive therapy, you are unable to care for yourself because you pursued outside help from an unknown person. However, I can see the thought process that therapy can be perceived as a weakness, but I believe that it is important to seek help from outside sources than family members. I am striving to bring awareness within my community that therapy is important and vital for wellness. To start, I would bring the idea of therapy to my church, this can bring awareness to a small amount of people and then work my way to broader environments like community service jobs, hospitals, and schools. I presume that with awareness, therapy and the stigma of therapy would help bring the stereotypes and myths to the light, and change the overall outlook. More people would potentially have healthier minds, traumas will be healed, and generational curses would be broken.

Mental health is a type of wellness that I strongly believe that all individuals of any gender, any race, any ethnicity, any income, and any profession should be eligible of having. I always knew that mental health in the black community as well as any minorities was something shunned away from and seen as a disgraceful crutch, which I strive to change that perception to make a difference in the world. My experience with mental health is something that I have grown quite fond of developing into young adulthood. I have a friend that once struggled with mental health, all throughout his life he was encountered with countless loss of loved ones, numerous disappointments with his education and discouragement of his future goals. I asked him to get some therapy in his senior year of undergraduate school, after receiving therapy, our relationship grew stronger. I noticed that his passion to make a difference in him as well as his household family grew astronomically in front of my eyes. I witnessed an incredible change in him and his motivational drive to give younger generations advice to receive therapy. Immediately when I noticed that I could help my friend, I knew it was possible to make a positive impact within my community as well as other communities. One practical solution for helping more people who struggle with mental health is to offer a listening ear and a safe space from those who care and refer them to different resources that would offer affordable counseling services. Another solution that could help is to offer love and understanding because they may not feel heard by those they trust. I believe that these little steps could point in the right direction for those struggling with mental health.

My long term professional goal is to earn a doctorate degree in clinical mental health counseling and become a licensed family therapist. I desire to become a family therapist because I have a family of hoarders who do not desire mental health therapy and growing up in that environment I knew that it was not a good environment for any child. I wanted to attend family counseling to bring the household together and resolve past trauma and issues, however my family was reluctant to provide it for me as well as them. I did not understand the reason for the opposition of counseling when I was younger, yet, now that I am an adult, I understand that there is a negative stereotype towards mental health and therapy coming from minorities. I understand why my family members avoid therapy because of the fear of judgment and the yearning desire to appear "independent" and "normal". I come from a poor community where a lot of individuals are on governmental assistance and I believe that has an impact on people that feel they need counseling is just another form of disability. However, I desperately want to change the stigma that therapy is completely normal and that it is a good thing to take part in even when things in your life are going smoothly. I am currently supporting my community by volunteering at my local soup kitchen and clothing donation drives nearly once a week and I emphasize the importance of mental health. I emphasize that there are professional people that want to help those in need. I also give the patrons information on where to get help and who to contact for the help needed. My idea to impact social change within therapy is to establish a support group within my community that all citizens can engage in and make it a safe space for everyone. I also want to give people that are still reluctant of counseling, stories of people that received therapy and follow-ups. I believe that once the unwilling people hear the stories and see that therapy is healthy and trustworthy, the social change will begin and remain for all generations.

I enjoy treating other people with empathy. I was an assistant manager at Dollar Tree and we were under staffed and the store desperately needed a night time cleaner. A woman from Alabama applied for the job and I helped her through the application process because she had special needs and she was deeply interested in the job. I noticed one day that she was behaving in a peculiar way, it looked as if she had not bathed for a while and she had a lot of things inside her car, it looked as if she was living in it. I got up the courage to ask her if she had a place to stay and she replied no. I had great empathy for her and I gave her some resources such as phone numbers and addresses to our Social Security offices in our community to provide some assistance for her. I knew that if I did not help her and if I did not have the passion, I would be held accountable in a way for my morality and good heartedness. I knew it was in both of our interest to provide some guidance and love to her because she was in a new location with no family, no friends, no home, and no income. I knew that she was a good person and that she deserved this act of kindness from a stranger by her eagerness to help customers at the store and her work ethic. Therefore, I knew that treating others with empathy gave myself a sense of good-heartedness, generosity, and eagerness to help even more people.

I enjoy treating other people with empathy. I was an assistant manager at Dollar Tree and we were under staffed and the store desperately needed a night time cleaner. A woman from Alabama applied for the job and I helped her through the application process because she had special needs and she was deeply interested in the job. I noticed one day that she was behaving in a peculiar way, it looked as if she had not bathed for a while and she had a lot of things inside her car, it looked as if she was living in it. I got up the courage to ask her if she had a place to stay and she replied no. I had great empathy for her and I gave her some resources such as phone numbers and addresses to our Social Security offices in our community to provide some assistance for her. I knew that if I did not help her and if I did not have the passion, I would be held accountable in a way for my morality and good heartedness. I knew it was in both of our interest to provide some guidance and love to her because she was in a new location with no family, no friends, no home, and no income. I knew that she was a good person and that she deserved this act of kindness from a stranger by her eagerness to help customers at the store and her work ethic. Therefore, I knew that treating others with empathy gave myself a sense of good-heartedness, generosity, and eagerness to help even more people.

In the dreadful year of 2020, the nationwide quarantine was quite an adjustment. Many people in the United States were encouraged to stay home in order to stay safe from the deadly virus known as Coronavirus. I was in my junior year of undergraduate school and it was time for our annual spring break. Once spring break begun, it never ended. We were asked not to return to our normal mask less in-person classes and continue our studies online. My fun job at my local skating rink was forced to close doors and I was unemployed for at least 5 months. I also was helping my younger sister with her online public school classes and encouraging her that everything was going to get better soon. During the pandemic, this time has taught me to be grateful for the little things. For example, during the lockdown, it was a time where we all were forced to be around each other more and to grow stronger bonds in our relationships. I knew that during this time, without work and school it was going to be hard however I had my household family to be around. We coped during the gruesome time by making meals together and doing outdoor activities which involved more bonding time which was quite enjoyable. I know that I am one of the lucky few people in the country that had a loving family and that I could say that even though my job was not an essential one, I had the chanced to persevere with my loving family.

I am Tyra Jerald and I am a 21 year old biracial woman. I recently graduated undergraduate college with a bachelor's degree in Psychology. I enjoy volunteering at local soup kitchen and homeless shelters. I also enjoy volunteering at summer camps during my summer vacation and making lesson plans for the counselors. I worked as an assistant manager at a retail business for a year and a half which gave me leadership and human resource skills, and I also worked as a skate associate for over five years which involves me planning and organizing parties for customers. Another organization I worked for was a summer camp at my college which involved me being a college mentor for high school students pursuing a STEM career. My plan with this degree is to be accepted into a master's program of Clinical Mental Health in Counseling at a historically black institution. After receiving this degree, I plan to become a family therapist in order to help families with various problems and adequate and accessible therapy for low income families and minorities. I say minorities and low income people because I understand that these groups are underrepresented and are skeptical when it comes to therapy or any type of healthcare because of discrimination and poor prior experiences. I feel that everyone could benefit from therapy however minorities should be a priority because of therapy is seen as a weakness or inessential. I desire to be the change of the stigma of therapy for all minority groups. I grew up with a strong belief and value in family because I always believed that without family or having a special person supporting one's hopes and dreams, one can become discouraged and rather unmotivated to persevere. I also am a firm believer that having a supportive family and growing up within a family can play a role in one's social development and wellbeing because it essentially teaches the upbringing of what relationships can look like. I also believe that having a close family that shares every thing can provide a great sense of emotional support, financial upkeep and overall the biopsychosocial health advantages. If one does not have family support or has continuous family problems, the cost of growing up in that environment is filled with trauma, low self esteem, difficulty in trusting and creating new beneficial relationships and many other disadvantages. This is something that I want to prevent in the future with my clients because the kids are our future and we as the next generation do not want the generation after us to have childhood trauma. I plan to make a positive impact on the world through my college career by providing therapy and give guidance to families in my community. I also want to make a positive impact by creating more job internships and job shadowing opportunities for students graduating undergraduate college, awaiting graduate programs' decisions because that is a thing that I am struggling with right now as a fresh college graduate. With these plans, I believe that with the help of others and my determination I am positive that these plans will become a lifechanging business.