My mental illnesses may have changed my life, but I won’t let them ruin it. I have been diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety and am in the process of being diagnosed with 2 another disorders. My mental illnesses began to affect me around middle school. I never failed a class, and succeeded well in some, but I struggled to pay attention in class or for homework. This continued until I began ADHD medication in my sophomore year of high school. Despite helping me stay on task, I would barely eat and was constantly exhausted as a side effect, and my hands and feet were always falling asleep. I did not feel like myself and I grew very depressed. When the medication seemed to stop helping, I returned to my psychiatrist, who diagnosed me with an anxiety disorder. At the time it was seen as moderately high anxiety. I continued to struggle in some classes, not because I was confused, but because of a chronic overwhelmed feeling. My junior year, I was given accommodations. I suddenly began to improve significantly in all the ways I once struggled in, including with my anxiety, motivation, and ability to focus. School began to feel easy. Unfortunately, this did not last. I began to have issues with a higher-up worker at my school, and she started triggering panic attacks in me frequently. My anxiety began increasing leading to a specific incident. I had a 6-hour mental breakdown during one of my finals, and life hasn’t been the same since. I remember taking my first test after. I was confident in the test and casually walked into the classroom. As I began writing my name, I grew nauseous, and my body began to uncontrollably shake. The work suddenly became unreadable to me, my handwriting messy and hard to read. The next thing I knew, I was crying and having a panic attack and was unable to continue the test. I had a panic attack in a test before I could even finish writing my own name. I began to struggle with daily panic attacks. When the school year ended, I began having panic attacks in my sleep, and the mention 2of returning to school caused panic attacks. For my senior year, I made my year as easy as possible in hopes of recovering. This, however, only prevented my panic attacks from happening by not facing my triggers, my anxiety was still high, and it was difficult to function at all. I began experiencing bullying by a close friend of 4 years, and a teacher, which only added to the harm I was already experiencing. Nevertheless, I survived high school with a 3.0, despite how much I was suffering. I took a gap semester before enrolling at community college to gain some credits for college in difficult classes. I also began therapy. I sadly didn’t pass one class after having a panic attack during every test. I did manage to pass my second and I’m currently in my second quarter of community college. Failure was hard, but it’s also proof to me that I tried and continue even after failure and with therapy and treatment I will only continue to get better. I am now transferring to WSU to study zoology. My love for animals began at one and has since been my life’s dream to work with animals. I understand that my major can be very difficult, but I will not allow my mental illnesses to be the thing that takes away my life’s dream. I am determined to pursue my passions with all I have.

When I was 1 year old my family brought in a little black Labrador puppy for my family, named Chloe. She was the same size as me and I loved her from the start, I believe that's when my love of animals truly began and never stopped or slowed. As a preschooler, my teachers would always rave to my parents about me knowing animal facts they did not even know. Facts, that I learned through watching children's shows like "Wild Kratts," but also through animal planet documentaries I would watch eagerly as I could not yet read. Once I was reading, I couldn't keep my hands off animal books. Animal care books, behavior, anatomy, diet, and any other animal related book I could get my hand on. Animals inspired a love of reading in me, that gave me a high reading comprehension. Most of my childhood memories revolve around animals, and others remember me the same. As I grew older I experienced bullying for my fixation on animals, to this day I am still remembered by some as "the weird girl who was always talking about cats" from when I was 8 and got my first ever kitten and read every cat guide book I could get my hands on for years. The bullying othered me from the kids my age which left me feeling lonely around them, which only made me feel more at home and in my element when with animals instead. Learning about animals could only get me so far, as I got older my compassion for animals formed. My compassion for animals developed, when I visited family in Mexico. My mother is an immigrant to the US, born and raised in Mexico. During one of my many visits as a small child I saw a stray pitbull with knife wounds and scabbing injuries. My family all stood away from it and avoided it, but I, at my little age only a little taller than the dog, tried to give it a treat I had been eating and asked my family to take it to the “doctor”. They did not, and to this day I think of that dog, hoping it lived a good life. I realized then not everyone will help animals, not even dogs or cats, but I could be someone who never turned one down. After many years, the bullying by students and even by some teachers led to mental health issues that haunted me for many years. After years of dealing with my mental health alone, I finally received medical help when my condition became so bad I could not function. Despite this hardship, my love of animals has always been a part of me. I rescued a pregnant stray cat from Mexico and brought her home and she is now a beloved family member. I have done over 50 hours of community service at the humane society of Pierce County and Tacoma and even made my senior project dedicated to the humane society. Now that I am ready for college, I refuse to allow my disability to stop me from perusing the things I love most. I truly want to study zoology or animal sciences; despite the unique challenges I face. Even if I must work harder than the people around me to get the same results, it will all be worth it to be able to work, learn, and grow with these animals I have spent my whole life in awe of. My dream is animal sanctuary work or rehabilitation, but I'm open to what animal-related opportunities I may receive.