Growing up my mom was an alcoholic and my dad was addicted to meth. He was not present in my life, but the issues with my mom caused me to have to grow up and take care of my younger siblings at a young age. From watching my siblings while mom went out for one hour, to watching them overnight and into the next day because mom wasn’t capable, I knew that my mom was severely depressed and she wanted an escape from life. I tried to help her in every way I could, but being in middle school it was so hard. Watching my mom go through these struggles became harder for me as I got to high school. When I was a freshman my mom got sober and I went into a deep depression and started doing anything to get a distraction. I self-harmed for a while before I was strong enough to ask for help. I got help and I got better. I was doing so good but I still struggled a lot and when I was getting older life just got harder. In my junior year of high school, my father made an appearance and everything was perfect for once in my life. But then he started using it again. My heart was broken and I kept sliding into a dark place. I got diagnosed with depression and anxiety. It is still a large struggle in my life and I am still learning how to navigate life with these struggles. Having these mental disorders can be very hard and very tiring. Deciding what I wanted to do with my life was very hard for me, but I plan on working in social work. In this field, I can help children and adults in many different situations. I want to help people, and I don't want to see anyone struggle as much as my family has. I want to spread love and joy through sobriety in as many people's lives as I can! I also want people to know that it is okay to ask for help, it's scary and hard. But it can change your life for the better and I want to do everything in my power to help anyone and everyone that I can. Going through the struggles that I did very much impacted the career choice that I made and even though it was a very hard time for many years I am grateful for the experience God has given me and the lessons I have learned. My life has caused me to be a loving and helpful person and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Growing up my mom was an alcoholic and my dad was addicted to meth. He was not present in my life, but the issues with my mom caused me to have to grow up and take care of my younger siblings at a young age. From watching my siblings while mom went out for one hour, to watching them overnight and into the next day because mom wasn’t capable, I knew that my mom was severely depressed and she wanted an escape from life. I tried to help her in every way I could, but being in middle school it was so hard. Watching my mom go through these struggles became harder for me as I got to highschool. When I was a freshman my mom got sober and I went into a deep depression and started doing anything to get a distraction. I self harmed for a while before I was strong enough to ask for help. I got help and I got better. I was doing so good but I still struggled a lot and when I was getting older life just got harder. My junior year of highschool my father made an appearance and everything was perfect for once in my life. But then he started using again. My heart was broken and I kept sliding into a dark place. I got diagnosed with depression and anxiety. It is still a large struggle in my life and I am still learning how to navigate life with these struggles. Having these mental disorders can be very hard and very tiring. Deciding what I wanted to do with my life was very hard for me, but I plan on working in drug court programs in criminal justice. I want to help people, and I don't want to see anyone struggle as much as my family has. I want to spread love and joy through sobriety in as many people's lives as I can! I also want people to know that it is okay to ask for help, it's scary and hard. But it can change your life for the better and I want to do everything in my power to help anyone and everyone that I can. Going through the struggles that I did very much impacted the career choice that I made and even though it was a very hard time for many years I am grateful for the experience God has given me and the lessons I have learned. My life has caused me to be a loving and helpful person and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Growing up my mom was an alcoholic and my dad was addicted to meth. He was not present in my life, but the issues with my mom caused me to have to grow up and take care of my younger siblings at a young age. From watching my siblings while mom went out for one hour, to watching them overnight and into the next day because mom wasn’t capable, I knew that my mom was severely depressed and she wanted an escape from life. I tried to help her in every way I could, but being in middle school it was so hard. Watching my mom go through these struggles became harder for me as I got to highschool. When I was a freshman my mom got sober and I went into a deep depression and started doing anything to get a distraction. I self harmed for a while before I was strong enough to ask for help. I got help and I got better. I was doing so good but I still struggled a lot and when I was getting older life just got harder. My junior year of highschool my father made an appearance and everything was perfect for once in my life. But then he started using again. My heart was broken and I kept sliding into a dark place. I got diagnosed with depression and anxiety. It is still a large struggle in my life and I am still learning how to navigate life with these struggles. Having these mental disorders can be very hard and very tiring. Deciding what I wanted to do with my life was very hard for me, but I plan on working in rehab and treatment. I want to help people, and I don't want to see anyone struggle as much as my family has. I have my mind set of being an addiction treatment pharmacist. I want to spread love and joy through sobriety in as many people's lives as I can! I also want people to know that it is okay to ask for help, it's scary and hard. But it can change your life for the better and I want to do everything in my power to help anyone and everyone that I can. Going through the struggles that I did very much impacted the career choice that I made and even though it was a very hard time for many years I am grateful for the experience God has given me and the lessons I have learned. My life has caused me to be a loving and helpful person and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

A healthy lifestyle can promote better mindsets and attitudes throughout life! I think having a routine and making healthy choices for your body can be very important in mental and physical health. I always try to have my personal health and others in mind when making any decisions in life. I never want to give myself or others limitations, always striving for my best is very important in my life. Being healthy is very good for my mental health, personally it's things such as brushing my hair and eating three meals. I try to go to the gym but it is important to know your limits of how much you can take on at one time to remain in a healthy mindset in life. I always encourage people to use “I can” statements because they are so healthy for your mental health. Reminding yourself that you're the only human and humans make mistakes is also important in life because you never want to make yourself feel bad for normal things, that isn’t healthy.

Growing up my mom was an alcoholic and my dad was addicted to meth. He was not present in my life, but the issues with my mom caused me to have to grow up and take care of my younger siblings at a young age. From watching my siblings while mom went out for one hour, to watching them overnight and into the next day because mom wasn’t capable, I knew that my mom was severely depressed and she wanted an escape from life. I tried to help her in every way I could, but being in middle school it was so hard. Watching my mom go through these struggles became harder for me as I got to highschool. When I was a freshman my mom got sober and I went into a deep depression and started doing anything to get a distraction. I self harmed for a while before I was strong enough to ask for help. I got help and I got better. I was doing so good but I still struggled a lot and when I was getting older life just got harder. My junior year of highschool my father made an appearance and everything was perfect for once in my life. But then he started using again. My heart was broken and I kept sliding into a dark place. I got diagnosed with depression and anxiety. It is still a large struggle in my life and I am still learning how to navigate life with these struggles. Having these mental disorders can be very hard and very tiring. Deciding what I wanted to do with my life was very hard for me, but I plan on working in rehab and treatment. I want to help people, and I don't want to see anyone struggle as much as my family has. I have my mind set of being an addiction treatment pharmacist. I want to spread love and joy through sobriety in as many people's lives as I can! I also want people to know that it is okay to ask for help, it's scary and hard. But it can change your life for the better and I want to do everything in my power to help anyone and everyone that I can. Going through the struggles that I did very much impacted the career choice that I made and even though it was a very hard time for many years I am grateful for the experience God has given me and the lessons I have learned. My life has caused me to be a loving and helpful person and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Think about it, your seven years old and you don't know how to process feelings. Now normally you would think thats normal because you are only seven years old. But I was forced to grow up much earlier than most people. I didn't have the most pleasant childhood. But yet I persevered. I learned a lot about myself early on in life. I found that managing my feelings and being vocal about my issues and feeling is very important. To this day I still try to always be vocal about any problems or issues that I have because it is important to be able to let myself know whats going on as well as other around me. When others can see what I am feeling or struggling with it makes it easier for me to mange the problems I have at that time and then I do not feel as alone in my struggle. This has become very valuable to me as I get older, everyday I use this skill to help others and to help myself. I have four younger siblings and I try to teach them to use their words to describe what's going on so that they can get the help they need. If I didn't learn this for myself I would still struggle with lots of things. I use this skill to show others how they can help themselves in times of need and I think it is a very valuable skill that I have in my life.