The most prominent experience that shaped my beliefs, relationships, and career aspirations resulted from the divorce of my parents and their tumultuous relationship. As a result of all the arguments, fights, and turmoil, I changed from a high-achieving student to a student who constantly found himself suspended from school. Outbursts of anger so intense that I would end up crying were common. Often, the fact that I was crying only made me angrier. Eventually, I was taken to see a therapist and it was such a wonderful experience! I still struggled throughout school, but the outbursts of anger were less frequent and I was able to overcome my situation. During high school, when faced with the dreaded thought of what to do with my life, I decided to put myself in a position to help kids who were struggling as I was. This led me to pursue a career in Psychology. My first job in the field was working with adults diagnosed with Bipolar, Schizophrenia, or Major Depression Disorder. My goal was to assist them with everyday activities (making and attending appointments, managing money, self-care, etc). This further cemented my belief that everyone is valuable, and that people should not be judged by what is seen on the exterior. I’ll never forget spending time at the house of one of my clients, who was dealing with paranoid schizophrenia, as he explained to me how streaming video was going to be the preferred medium of the future while DVDs were still king! I had never heard this or had anyone say this to me and I was somewhat skeptical, but he was right on the money. Eventually, I found myself working as a School Psychologist in the state of Alaska, traveling all over the state to work with students struggling to find success in school for a variety of reasons. For numerous reasons, students in Alaska have some of the worst mental health outcomes in the entire US. Being on the front lines of this battle for the past 8 years has presented many challenges, but also have been a great blessing due to the many relationships that have been developed during this time. The accomplishment that I’m most proud of over that time is creating and developing a “life academy” for low-income high students. Students who live in villages in rural Alaska are flown into Anchorage to spend a week with me and other members of my team. During this time, we provide life skills training to help them with their transition from living in a village to living in a large city. More than 50% of these students end up dropping out of college and returning to their village. Mental health plays a prominent role in this unfortunate outcome. Along with many other skills, one of the major pieces of the academy is providing teen Mental Health First Aid training to the students. Getting to train students and increase their awareness of warning signs and how to get help for mental health challenges is awesome! They also appreciate learning how to recognize signs and intervene with peers as well. Now, I’m back in school, at the University of Alaska Anchorage, training to become a Commercial Pilot and Certified Flight Instructor. My purpose is to use this training to continue to serve the villages in rural Alaska. Many who live in our villages don’t have easy access to vital resources and depend on pilots to bring them their food and medications, or transport them to appointments. It'd be great to help more children get into aviation and train them so they can serve their communities through this field as well. As someone who already works closely with Alaska Native youth, it’d also give me greater access to deliver Mental Health First Aid training to more teens. I firmly believe that this training will provide me with even more tools in our fight to help our children build up the resiliency that will enable them to overcome whatever obstacles present in their lives, just as I was blessed to be able to do. This belief led me to become a founding board member for a nonprofit organization whose purpose will be to provide hope and humanitarian assistance in rural Alaska. I’m not sure that I’m in the position that I’m in today without my own experience facing mental health challenges and the efforts of those who cared enough to teach me how to overcome them. Thank you for reading and allowing me to share my journey!

I’m in a pilot training program at the University of Alaska Anchorage seeking, ultimately, to obtain my Commercial Pilot and Certified Flight Instructor certification. Currently, I have 21 hours toward my Private Pilot certificate. Eventually, my goal is to also acquire multiengine, tailwheel, and seaplane ratings. Academically, I desire to learn as much as I possibly can about how to safely control my aircraft at all times. When passengers get on board my aircraft, they'll be putting their lives in my hands and I want to ensure that I'm learning everything I can to honor that trust. I also want to maintain a 4.0 GPA throughout my program. If I'm going to do something, I want to strive to do it the best I can! Professionally, my purpose is to use this training to serve the villages in rural Alaska. Aviation is vital to our state as many communities cannot be accessed by any other means. Many who live in our villages don’t have easy access to vital resources. They depend on pilots to bring them their food, and medications or transport them to medical appointments. Hospitals depend on them to fly out medical professionals to visit patients. The shortage of pilots that we're experiencing right now has a direct impact on equal access to basic needs for many people. Being a pilot in Alaska would allow me to help people in ways I’ve only dreamt of at this point. I’ve spoken with social service workers tasked with getting food delivered to those in need in various villages and they’ve shared with me how great it would be if they had someone willing to fly and deliver the food to families within the village. To help address these needs, I became a founding board member for a nonprofit organization whose purpose will be to provide humanitarian assistance in rural Alaska. It’d also be great to help more children get into aviation and train them so they can serve their communities through this field as well. As someone who already works closely with Alaska Native youth, it’d also give me greater access to deliver Mental Health First Aid training to more teens. I would be able to accomplish these things (and more!) once I complete my training. Becoming a professional pilot would mean that I would be in a greater position to help those around me in need. There’s nothing that would bring me greater joy than to utilize these skills for this purpose. When I dream about flying, that’s what I envision. Thank you very much for your consideration!

Each one, reach one. One of the most powerful forces on the planet is a tsunami – a long wave of water. It’s unreal how a compound like water, which is so vital and healing for life, can also be so destructive. Human beings are similar in this way. We have the capacity to do so much good, yet we can be massively harmful to those around us. The type of impact I hope to leave on the world would be like a tsunami. If that sounds counterintuitive, let me explain. Tsunamis are usually the result of an earthquake below or near the ocean floor. This is something that happens when and where no one is looking. Its impact spreads far and wide in all directions and, was it not for our technology, would be undetected until impact is imminent. I live in Alaska and have frequent interaction with Alaska Native youth – a historically marginalized population living in a historically marginalized state. Through my interactions with these children and teens, I hope to cause a disruption that would lead to cycles of addiction, abuse, and hopelessness being destroyed. I plan to do this by earning my degree in professional piloting so that I can work with a local organization dedicated to a similar outcome. By continuing to visit the villages in my state, continuing to listen to, encourage, and walk with these youth on their journey through life, I’ll be in a position to cause a massive impact in this world…even if the biggest impact is felt somewhere else down the line.

Looking back, I can’t think of a time when I felt more isolated – physically and emotionally – in my entire life. How does a person find themselves in a position like this on Christmas?? It all started earlier in the year while visiting my family during summer break from school. My grandparents were living at home with us because they could no longer take care of themselves. I got a job working with my mom’s fiancée painting houses alongside inmates on a work-release program. I helped take care of my grandparents. When needed, I even helped with wedding preparation. It was a hectic time. One day, I received a phone call from my family informing me they were planning to stop my mother’s wedding unless I said otherwise (no pressure, right?). I was given this “authority” since I lived with them. Although I felt similar feelings, I was able to successfully talk my family out of their plans. I never told my mother or her fiancée about it. They didn’t need the added stress. Soon after the wedding, things began to unravel at home. My mother’s husband began to change in his dealings with me and it became apparent that he was trying to get me out of the house. Even my co-workers noticed it. This culminated with him telling my mother that I purposely sabotaged a painting job and needed to find a new place to stay. My mother did what she thought was best at the time and asked me to leave. After everything I had done, I was devastated. First fired, then kicked out. Then, my car broke down during the 8-hour drive back to school and was finished. The following semester was rough. I had no contact with my family. I eventually got into working 3 jobs to support myself. This left me with very little motivation for my studies. Even worse, I didn’t tell my instructors about my situation until I was about to fail. Thankfully, the response I got was “Why didn’t you say something?” I barely passed by being allowed to perform makeup work. Now, it’s Christmas break and I was doing my best to hide my feelings. I had nowhere to go. Everyone in the boys’ dorm was leaving – including the dean and his family. I tried to make the best of it and offered to “take care of the dorm” while everyone was gone. What choice did I have? I spent over 2 weeks – including Christmas – in a large dormitory…alone. No vehicle, no public transportation options, and social media was in its infancy along with streaming videos. I couldn’t help thinking, “How did I end up here?” Surprisingly, I was able to use the time alone to heal. Going forward, I began to work hard at overcoming – not lamenting – my situation. The dean was impressed and gave me more opportunities for work. This allowed me to have a better workload for classes. I forgave my mother and began speaking to her again without the expectation of an apology. My grades improved so much that I made the dean’s list the following year. Most importantly, I learned how to overcome, even when you feel you’ve been dealt the worse possible hand through no fault of your own. Overcoming this situation taught me how to overcome other trials and become the man I am today. A man seeking to earn his Professional Piloting degree so that I can better serve the Alaskan communities and villages around me to help those looking to overcome their own challenging circumstances.

My favorite tips and resources to help clear my mind and refocus originate from personal experience with my own mental crises. Being mentally strong equals being physically strong. No matter where we fall on the spectrum of mental health, we all need help. However, learning how to persevere and overcome is one of the greatest feelings! One of my favorite tips has to do with taking the focus off yourself. By taking some time to help someone else, you actually help yourself in a very powerful way. Research has demonstrated that striving to help others can help alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression. As a bonus, you get to play a part in making the world around you a better place…no matter how small the gesture. Of course, there needs to be a healthy balance. Another tip would be to check your diet! Going back almost 100 years ago, magnesium became the first medically acknowledged substance to be used as an intervention for depression. It’s also been demonstrated that low levels of magnesium can increase anxiety. The levels of this vital mineral in the standard American diet have decreased by 40% over the last 100 years! Additionally, certain types of anxiety and stress – like test anxiety – increase the amount of magnesium your body releases. As much as possible, given an individual’s ability and financial situation, ensuring that you get enough of this mineral is vital. As an example, sunflower seeds are a great source of this and are readily available in many places. Third, practicing an attitude of gratitude is a great barrier to becoming overwhelmed with stress and anxiety. One way to practice this is to think of someone who has been nice to you recently but hadn’t been thanked properly and write them a letter expressing your gratitude. If possible, deliver the letter to them. Another great way to practice this is to spend time writing 5 things you’re grateful for every week. By doing this, you’ll not only find out there’s a lot to be thankful for, but you’ll also be actively changing your mindset. If you are writing down things you’re grateful for or writing thank-you letters to others, you’ll become more sensitive to these events in your life and break out of negative thought patterns that can add to your stress and anxiety levels. Lastly, making time to spend with God 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 during your day will pay off tremendously as it progresses. Many times, when I’ve had a stressful day or week, and I reflect on what went wrong, this is where the problem originated. Having a set time when you awake – no matter if it’s 5 minutes or an hour – to engage in prayer and giving all your burdens to God brings a relief no words can describe. Making these activities a staple in your stress management toolbox will help you successfully combat even the greatest onset of stress and anxiety.