If you asked me four years ago why mental health is important, I wouldn’t be able to give you an answer. It’s hard to admit, but I just wasn’t educated. When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I started noticing that I just kept having bad days and even little things started to upset me. I felt like I was slowly unraveling and disconnecting from the world around me. I was overwhelmed and not feeling like myself. I noticed my anxiety started to amp up and I was worrying about everything. As depression took over, I drifted away from myself, and I struggled to function normally. Every day, I would go to school and work hard to make up for my lack of commitment to anything else. I couldn’t connect with people and focused on getting through the day. While my grades didn’t suffer, my social life did. I hid my emotions and no one knew what I was dealing with. I occasionally had what my therapist called “mild panic attacks” and I distinctly remember feeling like my heart was about to explode before I took my driver’s test. I panicked so much, everyone started staring at me. This continued for three years. My mother is the one who forced me to seek help after much resistance from me. After going to therapy and multiple doctors’ appointment, I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I began taking medication and now my whole world has changed. Ending the stigma around medicine is important because more people would be able to get help with medication. I’ll never be completely cured, but I a weight that I’ve been carrying for three years has finally been lifted. I can’t say I’m glad this happened, but I’m learning a lot from it. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. I remember the first day my medicine started working and I didn’t feel the depression hit me when I woke up. I went through the day smiling. Nothing exciting happened, it was very routine, but inside it felt different. I was so happy to finally feel free because I forgot what that felt like. My progress isn’t without struggles. Even with the progress I’ve made, my mental health isn’t perfect and maybe never will be. I try to remind myself every day that as long as I'm taking steps to take care of myself that's all that matters. On a daily basis, I take breaks and listen to music to help my mental health. I also try to have a day to relax each week and I still attend therapy sessions. I've learned those little things are what help me maintain my mental wellness the most, but it makes a big impact.

I have received many helpful financial tips, but the one that has stood out to me the most is to start taking care of your money when you are young. I started saving when I was very young, and I had a savings account before I started middle school. This instilled in me a skill of managing my money wisely and never spending more than I had. When I look back on how much I have saved, it makes me appreciate that I didn’t spend the money on something I wouldn’t use. As a kid, I would spend money on toys that I would outgrow in a few months and never use again. I started saving half of my birthday money and spending the other half. It’s okay to spend money on something you want and treat yourself occasionally, but it’s important to not go overboard. This is so beneficial and looking back on every time I decided to save money instead of spending it, I realize that it was worth it. While taking a business class this year, I realized even more how important it can be to start young. I plan on starting a retirement fund in college and while it might sound too soon, I learned that it’s never too early to start planning for your future. The earlier you start investing, to more you can potentially earn in returns. This can ensure financial security later in life and will cause less stress than if you wait until later in your life to start saving.

The piece of art that inspires me the most is a painting by Taylor Swift. This painting depicts a horizon with cloudy blue sky. To me, this picture represents clarity and clear skies ahead. It might not be the brightest or most stunning sky in the world, but it’s still beautiful. It’s captioned with the words “I’m doing better than I ever was” and it inspires me to envision growth ahead. A previous panting of hers shows a similar skyline, but instead with a darker ominous sky. This new painting feels like a continuation, a sense of growth and renewal. It shows that even when there are dark skies currently, they will not last. I'm drawn to it because I feel a sense of relatability. For someone like me who has endured a dark past, it gives me hope that a clear sky will appear. We sometimes cannot see the light ahead, but this inspires me to see that it will come with time and patience.

“If you educate a man, you educate an individual. but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.” -Brigham Young. I'm passionate about recieving my education because my chosen career field is lacking in women and I want to be part creating a shift in the industry. My career goal is to work in the music industry with talented musicans. This industry is notoriously male dominated, with Rolling Stone reporting that in 2019, only 14.4% of songwriters were female and just 5% of producers. Obtaining my education in the coming years is going to allow me to break into this industry that so often favors men over women. I want to become the best that I can be by working hard in college, thus allowing me to prove to those I'm surrounded by in my career that women are just as qualified. If I'm lucky enough to be in a position of power, I want to make sure I hire a largely female staff to create more positions for women to thrive in this industry. I believe that these dreams require many factors, but I think that education is the largest one. I chose Belmont University as my college because of it's amazing music programs. These quality classes, I believe, will prepare me for me career in a way that will set me apart. I don't take my education lightly, and I already plan on participating in as many internship opportunites as I can. I know that many people don't have the resources that my college offers, so I want to make sure I don't take it for granted by passing up any opportunities that come my way. I believe that my education will set me up for my life and be my ultimate foundation for the future. Every decision I make towards my education with have an impact, whether that be positive or negative. This is exactly why I think education is important and sound be taken seriously. The impact is for more tremendous than some people realize and taking charge of your education is one of the best things you can do. I took as many advanced classes as I could in high school, and I didn't regret that choice for a minute. Those classes have taught me so much and prepared me for my next step. Each challenge that I've had in my education has only made me stronger.

The song that inspires me the most is “Look at Her Now” by Selena Gomez. It’s a pop song that when most people listen to it, they might not understand why it would be an inspiring song. It’s an upbeat song that you could dance to, but yet I found the lyrics to be powerful. The song starts by talking about a darker time in her life where she was in a bad relationship. She wasn’t where she needed to be, but the song depicts how she experienced personal growth and got to a place in her life where she was happy after making the choice to leave that relationship. She learned from her experiences and shared it through this song. The lyrics include: “of course she was sad, but now she's glad she dodged a bullet. Took a few years to soak up the tears but look at her now.” Even though at the time it was hard for her to leave that relationship, looking back she sees that she made the right decision. The words “look at her now” shows how she has grown since then. This song inspires me because it shows me that even terrible experiences in our lives can have a positive impact and we can learn from it.

The piece of art that inspires me the most is a painting by Taylor Swift. This painting depicts a horizon with cloudy blue sky. To me, this picture represents clarity and clear skies ahead. It might not be the brightest or most stunning sky in the world, but it’s still beautiful. It’s captioned with the words “I’m doing better than I ever was” and it inspires me to envision growth ahead. A previous panting of hers shows a similar skyline, but instead with a darker ominous sky. This feels like a continuation, a sense of growth and renewal. It shows that even when there are dark skies currently, they will not last. For someone like me who has endured a dark past, it gives me hope that a clear sky will appear. We sometimes cannot see the light ahead, but this inspires me to see that it will come with time and patience.

I hope to leave an impact on the world through music. Music has been a constant in my life that has shaped me into who I am today. I’ve always been surrounded by music and I have felt such a connection to it. The music I feel most drawn to always tells a story – either melodically or lyrically – and I really want to be a part of sharing even more stories. When I listen to music, I am so happy that I momentarily forget all the things that make life so stressful. As I’ve gone to concerts, it makes me happy to know that every person at the concert is all connected, because no matter how different we may be, the love of music brings us together. I know that music has had a big impact on me, so I want to help others get their music out in the world so it can have the same impact on others. My goals start by graduating college and receiving my bachelor’s degree in music business. I also want to have completed an internship and have studied in Los Angeles or New York City for a semester. I plan to live in the most musical city of all, Nashville TN, and begin my career in the music industry. As I work my way up in my career, I hope to get one of the leading positions in the industry before eventually opening my own company. Part of my goal with this company is to play a role in helping others through music. At this company we will manage artists, as well as partnering with charities to ensure that our clients are able to use their platforms to help others. I hope to be able to give back to mental health charities and encourage others to campaign for the de-stigmatization of mental health. In many ways my dreams are simple, but in my life I want to achieve so much. I’m sure my dreams will grow even bigger as I go through life, but one thing that will always be the same is my passion for music. My motivation comes from the journey I’ve taken over the past three years. When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I started noticing that I just kept having bad days and I felt like I was slowly disconnecting from the world around me. Every day, I would go to school and work hard to make up for my lack of commitment to anything else. Last year, I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I began going to therapy and taking medication. I’ll never be completely cured, but a weight that I’ve been carrying for three years has finally been lifted. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. I’m far from where I want to be, but I’m trying give myself credit for what I’ve done so far. My problems made me realize the importance of determination. It makes it even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals.

Generosity to me means helping out others when you see a need. Recently, my 92-year-old grandmother has been living with my family, so I have been trying to help my mom take care of her as much as possible. Whether that’s helping her down the stairs, making dinner, helping her pick out pajamas, or making her bed, I try to help in any way I can. I help her out of the shower and listen outside the door to make sure she doesn’t fall or need me to help with anything. Every night when she is going to bed, I walk up the stairs with her and make sure she has everything she needs. One of the biggest things we have to do is organize her medications. She has about two dozen medications she takes daily, so we sit down and cut her pills into the correct doses and arrange them. Doing these things also takes stress off my mother knowing she has less to worry about and take care of. I used to think I could only make an impact if I did these enormous tasks, but I realized that’s not at all true. Doing things as small as bringing my grandmother a bottle of water is still helpful. Doing little things daily seem to get passed by so often because many people don’t realize the importance they serve.

When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I started noticing that I just kept having bad days and even little things started to upset me. I felt like I was slowly unravelling and disconnecting from the world around me. I drifted away from myself, and I struggled to function normally. Every day, I would go to school and work hard to make up for my lack of commitment to anything else. I couldn’t connect with people and focused on getting through the day. After three years, I felt hopeless. I had gotten used to the feeling of depression and accepted it as something I would have my whole life. After finally deciding to seek help, I began going to therapy, which is where I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I was prescribed medication and have seen a big difference in my life. I’ll never be completely cured, but a weight that I’ve been carrying for three years has finally been lifted. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. Though this is the hardest thing I’ve ever dealt with, I always tried my best to persist. There were many times I felt hopeless, but ultimately, I kept going. Therapy didn’t work immediately, but my mom insisted that I persist and to not give up on it yet. Luckily, I listened to her! Even now that I’m much better than I was before, I have to persist every single day. I must have persistence in my life constantly because I still have bad days. There are so many times I’ve wanted to just give up. It’s a constant struggle but I have to remember to keep going because I know it will get better.

When I think of nature, three things come to mind: wildlife, peace, and art. I consider myself lucky because where I live, I see wildlife every day. I have deer, turkeys, racoons, coyotes, and plenty of other animals in my yard on a daily basis. I’m a huge animal lover, so seeing these animals as I drive to school every day makes me smile. I didn’t realize how rare it is until friends of mine came over and were fascinated about seeing a deer so close to them. I realize it’s not something to take for granted. Nature can be so peaceful if you go enjoy it the right way. My favorite spots to go are ones that are quiet except for a few birds chirping or animals running around. This calms me down because I can relax and all of my stress temporarily goes away. My personal favorite place to enjoy nature is in Cade Coves, located in a national park near Gatlinburg TN. I have so many great memories there and some of my earliest childhood memories are where I got to see the cabins built in the park. My family and I visit there every few years and it seems like a different world than the fast-paced, technology driven society we live in today, but that is why I love it so much. I believe nature is art, because anything beautiful is art to me. It amazes me to think about how beautiful God’s creation can be. Even the smallest leaf can have the most detailed design and colors. It isn’t lost on me how beautiful the simplicity of being in nature can be.

Creativity is part of my daily life in many ways. It changes all the time, but I’m constantly working on something creative. I always want to incorporate new ideas into my life. Currently that means decorating a pair of shoes I bought and trying to decide what I want to paint on my wall. Sometimes its drawing or painting, other times it’s something crafty. Even gifts I give have some form of creativity, I usually design and make individual gifts for my friends and family around the holidays. I’m constantly finding inspiration online to find new projects to try. I always try to find something unique to create because I love the feeling of making something myself. It feels artificial going to the store to buy things that I can easily make myself. Many of my decorations in my room are DIY projects that I’ve made myself, and it’s saved lots of money of the years. My mom taught me to be creative and learn to create things from my own ideas.

Therapy can be such a helpful tool for dealing with mental health problems, but it can be unattainable for many people. This is due to numerous reasons including accessibility and insurance coverage, but possibly the most prominent is the affordability, or lack of, for most people, especially adolescents. Therapy has been a very important tool for my personal mental health journey, but many people don’t have the resources that I have access to. It’s unfortunate because there are so many people that could be improving their quality of life if they were able to go to therapy. Going to therapy helped me cope with my problems and learn skills to manage my symptoms, which have been helpful in improving my everyday life. There needs to be therapy clinics set up with affordability as their main goal. Qualified and experienced professionals can offer their services for a discounted price, instead of the normal hourly rate of hundreds of dollars. Quality healthcare shouldn’t cost more. Mental health is just as important as physical health, so making these services widely available would greatly improve the lives of many people dealing with mental health problems. Getting affordable appointments is the start, but helping people get there is just as important. Some people can’t afford to get pay for gas or pay the fees that go with hiring ride services. Ride services should offer free rides to and from therapy sessions for people who don’t have means of transportation to get there. These two solutions go hand-in-hand in helping getting thousands of people who struggle with mental health access to therapy.

I have received many helpful financial tips, but the one that has stood out to me the most is to start taking care of your money when you are young. I started saving when I was very young, and I had a savings account before I started middle school. This instilled in me a skill of managing my money wisely and never spending more than I had. When I look back on how much I have saved, it makes me appreciate that I didn’t spend the money on something I wouldn’t use. As a kid, I would spend money on toys that I would outgrow in a few months and never use again. I started saving half of my birthday money and spending the other half. It’s okay to spend money on something you want and treat yourself occasionally, but it’s important to not go overboard. This is so beneficial and looking back on every time I decided to save money instead of spending it, I realize that it was worth it. While taking a business class this year, I realized even more how important it can be to start young. I plan on starting a retirement fund in college and while it might sound too soon, I learned that it’s never too early to start planning for your future. The earlier you start investing, to more you can potentially earn in returns. This can ensure financial security later in life and will cause less stress than if you wait until later in your life to start saving.

If I could change education in one way, I would make it tailored to each student’s individual needs. That may seem extremely difficult in a class setting, but it can be as simple as having teachers teach in ways that each group of students learns best. One class can be for people who learn best by listening to a teacher lecture, and one for people who prefer a more visual learning experience. It can be the same curriculum but taught different ways. I think this would be very beneficial because each student would have the opportunity to maximize their knowledge by learning the best way for them. It can be so frustrating to be in a class where you don’t learn much by the teaching methods. Personally, I’ve always found that in class where the teacher was more visual, with videos or pictures, I would remember the material more than classes where we were just expected to read from a textbook. I always had to spend hours studying in hopes to remember the material when the teacher only lectured about the subject and expected us to remember it. This could work for some people, but everyone learns differently, and it didn’t work for me. I have heard many of my friends complaining that they struggled in these classes too. I believe that schools should offer students options on which type of learning they want and be placed in classes based on their specific academic needs. If these types of lessons could be implemented, I think it would help students tremendously. The learning techniques would be personal, instead of being grouped into a class with basic, standard learning plans. This allows students to gain as much knowledge possible without the stress of trying to re-learn everything being taught to them in class. They would understand what they’re being taught better, and I believe the grades would improve.

The most inspiring book I’ve read is also my current favorite: This Will All Be Over Soon by Cecily Strong. I didn’t expect that a book that talks so much about grieving could be so inspirational. This book stuck out to me in so many ways and piqued my interest the moment I heard about it. This book connected with me within the first chapter I read. It’s difficult for me to connect with others because many of my peers haven’t experienced the same things I have. The book centers around her experience dealing with loss of a loved one and her grief, as well as dealing with her anxiety during the pandemic. She talks about some of the same things I’ve recently dealt with. When she spoke about trying to understand her grief, I understood exactly how she felt because I’ve recently had to deal with the first big loss in my life. I’ve also had anxiety for years and the way she explained her experience with the pandemic comforted me knowing that I wasn’t the only one feeling that way. I feel like she understood how I felt and through her writing, I saw a lot of myself in her. Writing is so powerful, and this book really made me understand how much one book can impact someone so much. It was inspiring to me because I saw someone go through the same things I had, which I never had before. I keep feeling like I’ll never be able to overcome my problems but seeing her come out on the other side gave me hope that I can too. I realized that however difficult these problems may be, it can always get better. That revelation gave me the strength to keep going, and I needed to hear it.

I hope to leave an impact on the world through music. Music has been a constant in my life that has shaped me into who I am today. I’ve taken piano lessons for almost 10 years now and as a whole music is just something I wouldn’t be complete without. The music I feel most drawn to always tells a story – either melodically or lyrically – and I really want to be a part of sharing even more stories. When I listen to music, I am so happy that I momentarily forget all the things that make life so stressful. As I’ve gone to concerts, it makes me happy to know that every person at the concert are all connected, because no matter how different we may be, the love of music brings us together. I know that music has had a big impact on me, so I want to help others get their music out in the world so it can have the same impact on others. I’ve had a rough journey with mental health and last year I was diagnosed with clinical depression. My problems make it even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals. I’m far from where I want to be with my mental health, but I’m trying give myself credit for what I’ve done so far. It’s a constant battle, but I want to help others learn to get help for their mental health problems to help improve their quality of life. I want my mental health journey to serve a greater purpose. In my career I hope to get a job in the music industry before eventually opening my own company. My goal with this company is not to be the standard management company others have seen, but to play a role in helping others through music. At this company we will partner with charities to ensure that our clients are able to use their platforms to help others. I hope to be able to give back to mental health charities and encourage others to campaign for the de-stigmatization of mental health. My favorite book I’ve read is This Will All Be Over Soon by Cecily Strong. I didn’t expect that a book that talks so much about grieving could be so inspirational. This book connected with me within the first chapter I read. The book centers around her experience dealing with loss of a loved one and her grief, as well as dealing with her anxiety during the pandemic. When she spoke about trying to understand her grief, I understood exactly how she felt because I’ve recently had to deal with the first big loss in my life. I’ve also had anxiety for years and the way she explained her experience with the pandemic comforted me knowing that I wasn’t the only one feeling that way. I feel like she understood how I felt and through her writing, I saw a lot of myself in her. Writing is powerful, and this book really made me understand how much one book can impact someone so much. It was inspiring to me because I saw someone go through the same things I had, which I never had before. I keep feeling like I’ll never be able to overcome my problems but seeing her come out on the other side gave me hope that I can too. I realized that however difficult these problems may be, it can always get better. That revelation gave me the strength to keep going, and I needed to hear it.

Staying true to myself has actually been a challenge that I’ve dealt with for a large part of my life. Having a different upbringing than many of my peers, I found it difficult to make connections at an early age. I felt that I was so different than everyone around me, but I didn’t want it to hinder my experiences in life. I was raised by my amazing parents who took great care of me, but being an only child and only being surrounded by adults for most of my childhood, I ended up growing up quickly. My parents raised me on classic movies, shows, and music, so all of the entertainment I loved was different than kids around me. That seems like a small difference, but as a child trying to make friends I didn’t know how I find common interests with the people around me. I eventually learned to find more unique ways to connect with people, but as I started to grow up, people would tease me for being an old soul. Even now, though I have friends who are much more accepting that we don’t have all the same interests and hobbies, I still don’t connect with my generation as easily as others. The few times I’ve tried to do things to fit in, it’s only showed me that it’s not who I am. All of this has taught me that it’s not a bad thing to have unique interests and be different than people around you. It might bring some difficulties, but trying to change yourself to fit in is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

My journey with mental illness began during my freshman year of high school. I felt like I was slowly unravelling and disconnecting from the world around me. I struggled to function normally. I couldn’t connect with people and focused on getting through the day. I hid my emotions, and no one knew what I was dealing with. After three years of this, I felt hopeless. I thought I was too far gone to get help and that I would never be able to get better. I thought I could fix it by myself, without anyone else knowing. I had gotten used to the feeling of depression and accepted it as something I would have my whole life. Without my mother pushing me to get help, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I knew something needed to change, and she was the one to push me to make that change. After going to therapy and doctors’ appointments, I was diagnosed with clinical depression. I began taking medication and I feel like my whole world has changed. My problems made me realize the importance of determination. It makes it even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. I’m still learning who I am every day, but now I feel like I’m better equipped to face challenges that come my way. I’m digging myself out of a dark hole I’ve been in for so long. I’m far from where I want to be with my mental health, but I’m trying give myself credit for what I’ve done so far. I’ll never be cured, but a weight that I’ve been carrying for years has finally been lifted.

If I had the power to influence many people, I would use my influence to help end the stigma around mental health, especially around treatment. In my own journey with mental health, I have realized just how many people view medicine as a bad thing when treating mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. Ending the stigma around medicine is important to me because more people would be able to improve their quality of life with medication. It’s supposed to be a tool to help improve our lives, not something that should be looked down upon. I want to inform people about the fact surrounding these treatments so they are able to fully understand why medication can be a great option for many people. It’s estimated that more than half of people with mental illness don't receive help for their disorders, largely based on this stigma. The stigma around getting treatment for mental health disorders is also a major reason for suicide. “Pill shaming” is a common notion in society where people who take mental health medication are labeled as “crazy.” We don't see this kind of stigma around antibiotics, blood pressure medication, or painkillers, yet false claims about mental health medicine are continuing to spread. The false claims around medication range from the implication that they’re just not trying hard enough to overcome their condition to the recommendation that all they need is a certain diet. The idea that people who take medication are too weak to manage their problems is a notion that I want to fight to get rid of. I want to help end that stigma so that no one will ever refuse medicine because they feel shamed for it.

When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I started noticing that I just kept having bad days. I felt like I was slowly unravelling and disconnecting from the world around me. I drifted away from myself, and I struggled to function normally. Every day, I would go to school and work hard to make up for my lack of commitment to anything else. I couldn’t connect with people and focused on getting through the day. I hid my emotions and no one knew what I was dealing with. After three years of this, I felt hopeless. I thought I was too far gone to get help and that I would never be able to get better. I thought I could fix it by myself, without anyone else knowing. I had gotten used to the feeling of depression and accepted it as something I would have my whole life. Without my mother pushing me to get help, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I was so tired of not being available for the people that care about me, and I knew something needed to change, so she was the one to push me to make that change. After going to therapy and multiple doctors’ appointment, I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I began taking medication and I feel like my whole world has changed. I’m still learning who I am every day, but now I feel like I’m better equipped to face challenges that come my way. I’m starting to get my life back and I’m digging myself out of a dark hole I’ve been in for so long. I’m far from where I want to be with my mental health, but I’m trying give myself credit for what I’ve done so far. I’ll never be completely cured, but a weight that I’ve been carrying for three years has finally been lifted. My problems made me realize the importance of determination. It makes it even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. Even if it’s just to help a friend dealing with the same issues in the future, I want my journey to do something good, big or small. Ending the stigma around medicine is important to me because more people would be able to get help with medication. It made me realize just how many people view medicine as a bad thing. It’s supposed to be a tool to help improve our lives, not something that should be looked down upon. I want to help end that stigma so that no one will ever refuse medicine because they feel shamed for it. This experience this makes me want to do so much in my life to make up for the time I lost while I was struggling. In my career I hope to get a job in the music industry before eventually opening my own company. My goal with this company is not to be the standard management company others have seen, but to play a role in helping others through music. At this company we will partner with charities to ensure that our clients are able to use their platforms to help others. I hope to be able to give back to mental health charities and encourage others to campaign for the de-stigmatization of mental health. I have had a long journey with mental health, but I want it to serve a greater purpose.

I think my optimism comes from my hope that things will get better. I've lived with the mentality that in bad days, the next day will be different. As someone who struggles with depression, many days can feel endless and full of anxiety. Its hard to feel optimistic during days where nothing seems to be going right. As I’ve learned to deal with these feelings, my coping method to put optimistic thoughts in my head has been believing that tomorrow is a new day. It reminds me that tomorrow is a fresh start and gives you a chance to spend your day better than the last. It has taught me to not let bad days overwhelm you, but to find the optimism in the situation. This simple reminder helps take my mind off my current struggle and focus on the better days to come. Simple reminders like this are my personal way of staying optimistic in my everyday life. Optimism comes in many forms, but it doesn’t have to be difficult to have dashes of optimism in your daily life.

Recently, my 93-year-old grandmother has been living with my family, so I have been trying to help my mom take care of her as much as possible. Whether that’s helping her down the stairs, making dinner, helping her pick out pajamas, or making her bed, I try to help in any way I can. I help her out of the shower and listen outside the door to make sure she doesn’t fall or need me to help with anything. Every night when she is going to bed, I walk up the stairs with her and make sure she has everything she needs. One of the biggest things we have to do is organize her medications. She has about two dozen medications she takes daily, so we sit down and cut her pills into the correct doses and arrange them. Doing these things also takes stress off my mother knowing she has less to worry about and take care of. I’m committed to being selfless because I know how impactful it can be. I used to think I could only make an impact if I did these enormous tasks, but I realized that’s not at all true. Doing things as small as bringing my grandmother a bottle of water is still helpful. Doing little things daily seem to get passed by so often because many people don’t realize the importance they serve. I’m starting to do other things now in my daily life that may seem insignificant, but I know that they serve a purpose to help someone in some way.

I don’t necessarily consider myself a brave person, but bravery comes in different forms. Even though I might not be brave in the traditional sense, I express my bravery in other ways. Bravery to me means stepping out of your comfort zone. It doesn’t necessarily mean doing something huge like skydiving, but doing things you normally wouldn’t do. I try to do this every day in little ways. With my mental health struggles, I have found it hard to do normal, everyday things. I’m in my journey to getting better, and I want to do things every day that normally I struggle to do. That to me means talking to someone I normally wouldn’t talk to or speaking up in class. These things may not be brave to some people, but to me nothing feels braver than taking these steps. Bravery comes in many different forms, but mine means taking steps to be the person I want to be.

I live with gratitude by realizing every sacrifice that’s been made to get me where I am today. That includes so many people: my family, friends, teachers, and me. I’m so lucky that I’ve got to have so many great opportunities in my life because of people who’ve helped me get there. My biggest support system has been my parents. They’ve sacrificed so much for me to go to a quality high school by saving money to afford my education. My parents have pushed back their retirement for years in order to earn enough money to keep me in a private school. There have been many times that I’ve seen other people around me getting to do things that my family can’t afford, but I have to step back and realize how fortunate I am to be able to go to a private school. Every day I push myself to not be envious, but instead be grateful. Having gratitude in my life makes me more content. I try to have simple reminders that I am so lucky to be where I am and to not take it for granted. Every time I get to do something new, I realize how amazing it that I get to do it. Happiness stems from being joyful about what you have and not what you don’t. Gratitude is one of the necessary qualities to live a fulfilling life.

My goals stretch far into the future but start from college: I graduate college and earn my bachelor’s degree in music business. I live in the most musical city of all, Nashville TN, and begin my career in the music industry. As I work my way up in my career, I work hard to get one of the leading positions in the industry before eventually opening my own company. Part of my goal with this company is not to be the standard management company others have seen, but to play a role in helping others through music. At this company we will manage artists, as well as partnering with charities to ensure that our clients are able to use their platforms to help others. Through this, I am able to help others share their music with the world, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. In many ways my dreams are simple, but in my life I want to achieve so much. I’m sure my dreams will grow even bigger as I go through life, but one thing that will always be the same is my passion for music.

I believe the meaning of life includes making meaningful connections. This means anyone you meet can have some type of significance in your life. Whether big or small, each connection you make can impact your daily life. These connections can help lead you on the path your supposed to be on. Or it can be the opposite; when someone tries to steer you the wrong way, you learn lessons from the way you respond. You can tell a lot about a person by the closest connections they have and the people they form bonds with. I try to make meaningful connections by listening to everyone I meet. This means hearing the experiences and opinions of others because through this, I can learn from others. Each connection has the possibility to change my view on an idea or make me form new opinions that alter the way I make decisions every day.

My goals stretch far into the future but start from college: I graduate college and earn my bachelor’s degree in music business. I live in the most musical city of all, Nashville TN, and begin my career in the music industry. As I work my way up in my career, I work hard to get one of the leading positions in the industry before eventually opening my own company. Part of my goal with this company is not to be the standard management company others have seen, but to play a role in helping others through music. At this company we will manage artists, as well as partnering with charities to ensure that our clients are able to use their platforms to help others. Through this, I am able to help others share their music with the world, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. In addition, I am able to travel and attend award shows with my clients, which fulfill so many dreams of mine. In many ways my dreams are simple, but in my life I want to achieve so much. I’m sure my dreams will grow even bigger as I go through life, but one thing that will always be the same is my passion for music. I plan on achieving these through working hard and studying. Specifically, going to college and learning everything I can about the industry. I plan on taking as many internship opportunities as possible to gain connections and have hands on learning experiences. I want to gain as much knowledge as possible so that I’m prepared as soon as I begin my career and I can work my way up quickly.

When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I started noticing that I just kept having bad days and I felt like I was slowly disconnecting from the world around me. Every day, I would go to school and work hard to make up for my lack of commitment to anything else. Last year, I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I began taking medication and I feel like my whole world has changed. I’ll never be completely cured, but a weight that I’ve been carrying for three years has finally been lifted. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. I’m far from where I want to be, but I’m trying give myself credit for what I’ve done so far. My problems made me realize the importance of determination. It makes it even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals. I strive to become the best I can be because I know I have the strength to do whatever I set my mind to. These struggles have given me motivation to do so much in my life in order to make up for the time I lost while I was struggling. I want to do so much more with my life, and I can finally see the optimistic side of life. Now I am beginning to set huge goals for myself because I see now that I have the strength to accomplish more than I ever thought possible. All of these struggles have given me the motivation I need to set goals and set in motion the things I need to do in order to achieve them.

My motivation comes from the journey I’ve taken over the past three years. When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I started noticing that I just kept having bad days and I felt like I was slowly disconnecting from the world around me. Every day, I would go to school and work hard to make up for my lack of commitment to anything else. Last year, I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I began taking medication and I feel like my whole world has changed. I’ll never be completely cured, but a weight that I’ve been carrying for three years has finally been lifted. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. I’m far from where I want to be, but I’m trying give myself credit for what I’ve done so far. My problems made me realize the importance of determination. It makes it even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals. I strive to become the best I can be because I know I have the strength to do whatever I set my mind to. These struggles have given me motivation to do so much in my life in order to make up for the time I lost while I was struggling. I want to do so much more with my life, and I can finally see the optimistic side of life.

I’m not a very outgoing person, but I speak my mind at the right times. I’m not afraid to say what I believe. I’m in an environment where people don’t usually agree with my opinions when I share them. The cultural difference with the people around me can create some disagreement, but that doesn’t affect me speaking my mind. I remind myself that it’s okay that not everyone agrees, but it’s important to not be ashamed of what I think. If I have an opinion about something, I’m not afraid to share with someone how I feel. If someone asks for my opinion, I will answer honestly. My friends sometimes will have discussions and debates on controversial topics. We always keep it friendly and are open minded to hearing each other. While I’m open to changing my opinion by hearing the other side, I make sure I don’t back down on what I believe just because I’m the only one of us that believes it.

I would consider my best skill to be my artistic ability. I love to paint, craft, knit, draw, and do anything creative. This passion started when I was young but developed substantially over the years as I continued my art hobby on the weekends. Over the past few years, I’ve continued to educate myself and grow my skills because of the passion that was instilled in me in a middle school art class. I got to develop my skills much more than I had before, and I loved it. After, I wanted to pursue a higher education of art and I’ve been in two art classes since. I have learned just how important education is to improve my skills. The classes I’ve taken have taught me the history of art and different artistic styles, which has shaped my artistic talents into something unique, while still having influences from other important artists. I’ve seen my skills, especially drawing, improve so much in a short period of time. Now I create art that I’m very proud of. It’s been a big part of my high school years and I plan on continuing to pursue more education while I grow my skills even further as I finish my senior year in high school.

My bucket list is all about travel. I have a passion for seeing new cities and cultures across the world. Unfortunately, until this point in my life I haven’t been able to get far from my home state. My hope is that in the future I can travel to many cities across the United States and explore new countries too. My bucket list is an actual written list I keep on my wall. I wanted to start out small, so I included 5 cities in the United States that I want to visit: Los Angeles, New York City, Las Vegas, Chicago, and Honolulu. Hopefully once I’m able to cross those off my list, I can expand and start branching out. After that, I want to visit Europe, especially France and Italy. I want to immerse myself in a wide variety of different cultures so I can fully experience all the different traditions of the world. The thing I have crossed off my bucket list is going to Florida. I was lucky enough to go to Florida three years ago and it was so nice to see a place so warm and sunny. That trip made me appreciate getting to travel and made my love for traveling grow.

One hobby of mine that I never expected to get into is autograph collecting. It's a unique hobby that many don't know about, and I wasn't quite sure what it was either until I stumbled upon it years ago. It started after I saw an actress post her fan mail address. I decided to write a letter and I received a signed photo back weeks later. It was so thrilling to open the package and find a sweet note. I've continued to write fan mail and it's become a big part of my life. I will write a letter to an actor or musician I'm a fan of, find their fan mail address, and mail it to them with a photo asking if they could sign it. I've now grown my collection to over 300 autographs. I really enjoy sending letters because it given me the opportunity to connect with people I otherwise wouldn't have been able to. I love being able to tell someone how much I love their work. It's also very rewarding when I receive not only an autograph, but a letter back too. I've received some of the kindest notes from people thanking me for taking the time to write to them. Many people really love hearing how their work has impacted their fans and it makes me feel good knowing they appreciate it.

I would consider my best talent to be my artistic ability. I love to paint, craft, knit, draw, and do anything creative. I’m always working on some art project. This passion started when I was young but developed substantially over the years as I continued my art hobby on the weekends. Over the past few years, I’ve continued to educate myself and grow my skills because of the passion that was instilled in me in a middle school art class. I got to develop my skills much more than I had before, and I loved it. After, I wanted to pursue a higher education of art and I’ve been in two art classes since. I have learned just how important education is to improve my skills. The classes I’ve taken have taught me the history of art and different artistic styles, which has shaped my artistic talents into something unique, while still having influences from other important artists. I’ve seen my skills, especially drawing, improve so much in a short period of time. Now I create art that I’m very proud of. It’s been a big part of my high school years and I plan on continuing to pursue more education while I grow my skills even further as I finish my senior year in high school.

Motivation hasn’t been on my mind for the past few years because its something I’ve lived without. Now that I see both sides of life, one with and one without motivation, I can say motivation is an essential part of our daily lives that many of us take for granted. My motivation comes from the journey I’ve taken over the past three years. When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I started noticing that I just kept having bad days and I felt like I was slowly disconnecting from the world around me. Every day, I would go to school and work hard to make up for my lack of commitment to anything else. Last year, I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I began taking medication and I feel like my whole world has changed. I’ll never be completely cured, but a weight that I’ve been carrying for three years has finally been lifted. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. I’m far from where I want to be, but I’m trying give myself credit for what I’ve done so far. My problems made me realize the importance of determination. It makes it even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals. I strive to become the best I can be because I know I have the strength to do whatever I set my mind to. These struggles have given me motivation to do so much in my life in order to make up for the time I lost while I was struggling. I want to do so much more with my life, and I can finally see the optimistic side of life.

I show love towards others by letting them know that I care. That may sound vague, but there are so many ways to show care. Personally, the times I most feel loved are the times that someone has told me that they care about what I’m going through or that they hope everything works out, so that is exactly what I try to do for others. Showing care and love all starts with listening. There have been so many times in my life that I felt the lack of care from people I trusted, only because they never took the time to ask how I was doing or even listen to what I had to say. I try to always make myself available so that I have time to hear about what’s going on in the lives of the people around me, if they’re willing to share. I want to celebrate their successes and be there to comfort them with their struggles. I’m in a place now that I feel very loved, but I used to not feel that support around me. My family was always supportive, but I didn’t have friends who I felt that I could share with, or who were genuinely happy for me when something great happened in my life. I always try to be there for my friends now, because I know how it feels to not have a support system. I think making someone feel loved always involves showing care and listening.

When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I started noticing that I just kept having bad days and even little things started to upset me. I felt like I was slowly unravelling and disconnecting from the world around me. I drifted away from myself, and I struggled to function normally. Every day, I would go to school and work hard to make up for my lack of commitment to anything else. I couldn’t connect with people and focused on getting through the day. While my grades didn’t suffer, my social life did. I hid my emotions, and no one knew what I was dealing with. After three years, I felt hopeless. I thought I was too far gone to get help and that I would never be able to get better. I had gotten used to the feeling of depression and accepted it as something I would have my whole life. After finally deciding to seek help, I began going to therapy, which is where I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I was prescribed medication and have seen a big difference in my life. I’ll never be completely cured, but a weight that I’ve been carrying for three years has finally been lifted. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. My progress isn’t without struggles. Even with the progress I’ve made, my mental health isn’t perfect and maybe never will be. I’m far from where I want to be, but I’m trying give myself credit for what I’ve done so far. It’s easy to feel like it’s not enough, but it’s about progress, not perfection.

To me, joy means doing things you enjoy and not being weighed down by stress. I try to seek out joy in my life by taking time to do things that aren’t obligatory, but something that I want to do. I enjoy things like drawing, baking, and going to concerts. Concerts make me happy because there is something so therapeutic about live music. The feeling of being at a concert is hard to describe, but there’s nothing like it. The anticipation, lights, drum beat pulsing through the floor, and the crowd cheering as the first sound rings through the speakers never fails to bring me so much joy. Every time I get to see an artist that I love so much stand in front of me and sing their music, I am so happy that I momentarily forget all the things that make life so stressful. I even find small things to make me smile in my everyday life. Flowers are such a simple thing that brings me so much joy. I planted a flower garden this summer and seeing these beautiful colors and blooms out of my window makes me smile every day. Even things like food can be a simple pleasure. Recently, I have been trying to have a balanced diet, but every now and then I have a cheat day. Coming home from a long day and having an appetizing, warm bowl of mac and cheese is a big comfort for me. My pets are also one of the things in life that make me the happiest. When one of my cats sits on my lap and snuggles with me, it’s a nice stress reliver. Even simple things like these can make me so happy and have a big impact on my daily life.

My favorite way of helping others is by helping out my family. Recently, my 92-year-old grandmother has been living with my family, so I have been trying to help my mom take care of her as much as possible. Whether that’s helping her down the stairs, making dinner, helping her pick out pajamas, or making her bed, I try to help in any way I can. I help her out of the shower and listen outside the door to make sure she doesn’t fall or need me to help with anything. Every night when she is going to bed, I walk up the stairs with her and make sure she has everything she needs. One of the biggest things we have to do is organize her medications. She has about two dozen medications she takes daily, so we sit down and cut her pills into the correct doses and arrange them. Doing these things also takes stress off my mother knowing she has less to worry about and take care of. I used to think I could only make an impact if I did these enormous tasks, but I realized that’s not at all true. Doing things as small as bringing my grandmother a bottle of water is still helpful. Doing little things daily seem to get passed by so often because many people don’t realize the importance they serve.

Over the past few years I’ve learned that I’m a hard worker. I’ve always been a hard worker, but I really started noticing it in high school. I’m determined in almost every aspect of my life, and I think it’s been so beneficial to me. With all of the assignments I receive in high school, it’s been important to me that I manage my time wisely so that I get all of my assignments done. I’ve learned that procrastination doesn’t get you anywhere but being diligent can make your life so much easier. I used to be terrible at time management, but I would get so stressed trying to turn in my schoolwork on time. Now, I am able to get papers and assignments done days before the due date and I haven’t had a late assignment in years. It’s been a valuable trait because I am able to keep my grades up without waiting until the last minute. I’m so proud of how I’ve been able to prioritize my work and get things done in a timely manner.

“Always be compassionate to others because you have no idea what they might be dealing with.” This piece of advice is so close to my heart because I know how big of a difference it would make if more people would be more courteous towards others. I have suffered with mental health problems for years, but most people don’t know about it. Being in high school, it can be difficult to be surrounded by my peers who don’t know my personal troubles. When I have bad days, people tend to ignore me because they assume that I’m just anti-social or don’t want to talk to anyone. In reality, my problems cause me to withdraw and makes it difficult for me to interact. Most people don’t look twice, but I wish people would be more compassionate instead of making assumptions. The few people who have taken the time to show me kindness have truly made a big impact. They didn’t even know what I was going through, they are just naturally kind people. It’s so important because every decision you make can impact someone. Every time you choose to ignore someone instead of acknowledging them, you might not realize the impact it has. I noticed every time it happened, and it made me feel even worse. Taking the time to learn compassion in your daily life can benefit so many people, and who knows, they might need that friendly “hello” more than you realize.

I want my legacy to be filled with music, love, and selflessness. I have dreams of working in the music industry and I hope to help others share their music with the world. I hope my legacy is someone who had a substantial impact on the music industry. I don’t know exactly what I want my role to be, but I know that in some capacity I want to be involved. I want to help bring even more music in the world. I want to be seen as someone who had a lot of love to give to those around her. I hope that people will remember the times I took the time to tell people how much I care about them or how much I love them. Someone that doesn’t hold grudges because life is too short to be mad at the ones you love. It’s a simple trait that is so important and one of the best ways to be remembered. When people think of me and my legacy, I want to be known for helping others. The ways I do small things for others in ways that might go unnoticed, but ultimately help others. Even if it’s just to help a friend dealing with the same issues I’ve faced, I want my experiences to do something good, big or small.

Concerts make me happy because there is something so therapeutic about live music. The feeling of being at a concert is hard to describe, but there’s nothing like it. The anticipation, lights, drum beat pulsing through the floor, and the crowd cheering as the first sound rings through the speakers never fails to bring me so much happiness. Every time I get to see an artist that I love so much stand in front of me and sing their music, I am so happy that I momentarily forget all the things that make life so stressful. It’s a moment of pure joy that nothing can compare to. It is so fun to scream lyrics to your favorite song, and it’s a joy that I’ve chased ever since my first concert at age 9. When everyone in the crowd sings along together and thousands of voices fill the air, you can feel the music in an indescribable way. It makes me happy to know that every single person that decided to come to the concert are all connected, because no matter how different we may be, the love of music can bring us together.

One thing that gives me hope for the future is seeing my generation taking actions to make the world a better place. I’ve seen so many people have passion for current issues and make change I never would’ve thought possible. In all honesty, sometimes I feel disappointed with my generation because I’m constantly surrounded by people who seem unaware of the problems all around them. It can be discouraging to see so many opportunities passed up by people who could be so helpful to the world if they cared enough to put in effort. At the same time, I realize that not everyone is going to try to make a change, but even a single person can make a big impact. Every time I see someone speak out about mental health awareness or racial issues within the teenage population, my mind shifts, and I realize there are still people out there fighting to do something good in the world. It seems like every day I see an article or news segment about a young person that took matters into their own hands and got involved with making change. I’ve seen people starting fundraisers, spreading awareness, and even talking to local leaders about what they want to be done in their community. I even saw someone start a garden to grow fresh producer in their community and it amazes me how creative people can be. I also saw elementary school students find innovative ways to help when COVID-19 was beginning to spread throughout the country. I specifically remember someone helping deliver groceries to elderly individuals who couldn’t go to the store for safety concerns. That was a terrible time, but it showed me that there is still so much good in the world. People are still ready to help others when needed and while I hope more people start volunteering after the pandemic, it’s a good start that people are still willing to assist in their communities. Many people believe that age determines value, but as I see others prove them wrong, it inspires me to do more to help others because I know that it will make a difference.

I believe that the best way to live a healthy life is to take time each day to practice self-care. I used to think that being a hard worker and being successful meant staying busy, without any kind of self-care routine in mind. I’ve always been hard on myself, and I wouldn’t take time to relax because I wanted to get as much done as possible. I now know that practicing self-care improves productivity, reduces stress, and overall improves quality of life. It has improved my mental health immensely. I try to find at least 30 minutes of “me time” each day to unwind and de-stress. My favorite self-care activities are watching films, writing letters, and taking bubble baths. Giving time to enjoy the things I love doing has made me a much happier person because it keeps me from getting so overwhelmed by life. It’s easy to have life overpower you, but it is important to take time to enjoy the good things in life. After all, what is the point of life if you can’t enjoy it?

I have suffered with mental health problems for years, but most people don’t know about it. Being in high school, it can be difficult to be surrounded by my peers who don’t know my personal troubles. When I have bad days, people tend to ignore me because they assume that I’m just anti-social or don’t want to talk to anyone. In reality, my problems cause me to withdraw and makes it difficult for me to interact. Most people don’t look twice, but I wish people would be more compassionate and empathy instead of making assumptions. The advice that I love is “always be compassionate to others because you have no idea what they might be dealing with.” This piece of advice is so close to my heart because I know how big of a difference it would make if more people would be more courteous towards others. The reason I chose to have empathy is because I know the impact it can make, especially if you live without it. The people who showed me empathy helped me so much in dark times. I try to be patient with people, no matter how rude or inconsiderate they may be, because I realize now that it might not be that they’re a bad person, their behavior could be a result of problems they’re facing. It's so important to have empathy because every decision you make can impact someone. Instead of judging someone, choosing empathy is much a much better solution because they might have many things, they’re dealing with that you don’t realize. Taking the time to learn empathy in your daily life can benefit so many people.

I encourage others by showing that I care about their success. I try to help my friends with homework when they’re struggling to understand the material and they get very frustrated. I try to use words of encouragement when they feel discouraged and let them know that they can do it. They tend to think that they’re not smart enough, but I will tell them that they just need to practice until they understand, it takes time. Especially since my classmates are starting to pick colleges, I try to encourage them in any way I can. I’ve already made me college decision, but a few of my friends are struggling with last minute decisions. My best friend hasn’t decided yet and I’m trying to advise her to the best of my ability. She is trying to base her decision on which option is cheapest and I’m trying to advise her against it. I realize how important money is when choosing a college (which is why I’m applying to scholarships!), but I think quality of education should be just as important. I’m encouraging her to choose the place that best fits her educational needs rather than choosing the place where she has to spend the least.

One quality that I value about myself is that I’m a hard worker. I’m determined in almost every aspect of my life, and I think it’s been so beneficial to me. I’ve learned that procrastination doesn’t get you anywhere but being diligent can make your life so much easier. I used to be terrible at time management and I would get so stressed trying to turn in my schoolwork on time. I eventually got tired of that endless stress and figured out how to do my assignments when they’re assigned. Now, I am able to get papers and assignments done days before the due date and I haven’t had a late assignment in years. Even normal, everyday tasks are so easy to put off. I can’t tell you how many times I have put off cleaning the dishes or folding laundry. By getting things done without procrastinating, I feel so proud of myself because I feel like I get so many more things done. It gives me a since of accomplishment and organization because I never have to worry about what I forgot to do. I think this skill will help me tremendously in my life and career because I believe my employers will appreciate the dedication to my job. Instead of taking the easy way out, they will see how I always do my work with quality and don’t find excuses to put off my work to tomorrow. I think it will set me apart from others who will do the bare minimum without putting importance on doing work in a timely manner. It’s a quality that I admire in others and I’m hoping that I am able to set an example for my coworkers. I hope that the more people see that not procrastinating in their life, whether that be at work or at home, can be so beneficial for them and that they make a change in their life. It’s been a great stress reliever to me, and I hope it can be for others too. I’m so proud of how I’ve been able to prioritize my work and get things done in a timely manner. It makes me feel happy to know that I’ve learned a lot and I have the ability to get better if I work hard. It’s taken a while for me to get to the place I am today, and I occasionally slip up, but the growth I’ve had with time management and procrastination have made such a big difference in my life and I’m so thankful for it.

I’ve learned to always be compassionate to others because you have no idea what they might be dealing with. This piece of advice is so close to my heart because I know how big of a difference it would make if more people would be more courteous towards others. I have suffered with mental health problems for years, but most people don’t know about it. Being in high school, it can be difficult to be surrounded by my peers who don’t know my personal troubles. When I have bad days, people tend to ignore me because they assume that I’m just anti-social or don’t want to talk to anyone. In reality, my problems cause me to withdraw and makes it difficult for me to interact. Most people don’t look twice, but I wish people would be more compassionate instead of making assumptions. The few people who have taken the time to show me kindness have truly made a big impact. They didn’t even know what I was going through, they are just naturally kind people. It’s so important because every decision you make can impact someone. Every time you choose to ignore someone instead of acknowledging them, you might not realize the impact it has. I noticed every time it happened, and it made me feel even worse. Compassion is something I’ve implemented in my everyday life no matter who I’m talking to. Taking the time to learn compassion in your daily life can benefit so many people, and who knows, they might need that friendly “hello” more than you realize.

I live in Nashville, TN, where I’ve grown up surrounded by music. Music is my passion and that's why I'm pursing music business in college. My parents surrounded me with all kinds of music, and I've played piano since I was 9 years old. My other hobbies include reading, cooking, drawing, record collecting, and writing fan mail. I have an online store where I sell t-shirts and it's been great to earn income while being creative. In my free time, I volunteer at an animal shelter. In the future, I hope to travel and explore other cultures. I also hope to spread awareness about animal welfare and mental health.

If I could change education in one way, I would make it tailored to each student’s individual needs. That may seem extremely difficult in a class setting, but it can be as simple as having teachers teach in ways that each group of students learns best. One class can be for people who learn best by listening to a teacher lecture, and one for people who prefer a more visual learning experience. It can be the same curriculum but taught different ways. I think this would be very beneficial because each student would have the opportunity to maximize their knowledge by learning the best way for them. It can be so frustrating to be in a class where you don’t learn much by the teaching methods. Personally, I’ve always found that in class where the teacher was more visual, with videos or pictures, I would remember the material more than classes where we were just expected to read from a textbook. I always had to spend hours studying in hopes to remember the material when the teacher only lectured about the subject and expected us to remember it. This could work for some people, but everyone learns differently, and it didn’t work for me. I have heard many of my friends complaining that they struggled in these classes too. I believe that schools should offer students options on which type of learning they want and be placed in classes based on their specific academic needs. If these types of lessons could be implemented, I think it would help students tremendously. The learning techniques would be personal, instead of being grouped into a class with basic, standard learning plans. This allows students to gain as much knowledge possible without the stress of trying to re-learn everything being taught to them in class. They would understand what they’re being taught better, and I believe the grades would improve.

Business is something that I’ve always seemed to have interest in, but I don’t know where the interest started. I grew up watching Shark Tank and I’ve always loved the idea of running your own business. I think that it’s a huge accomplishment to have the skills to promote and run a business properly. I don’t know which aspect of business I love the most, but I really enjoy being able to understand all of the details behind running a business. I have my own business and over the years I have improved my management skills greatly through all of the learning experiences I’ve had. My business is small, but it’s impact on me has been huge. I sell t-shirts through my online shop and I’ve grown my business exponentially since I started over four years ago. It started out as a way for me to make money, but it’s grown into something I really enjoy. I like being able to be my own boss and run all aspects of the business. I create the designs, make the products, take product photos, make sale listings, advertise my products, answer customer questions, and ship the merchandise. I’ve learned that there are so many aspects of business that all have to be taken care of in order for a business to run smoothly. If I slack on one of these areas, the product quality can go down or I can get a negative review. While my business is on a much smaller scale than the business I hope to work for in in the future, I believe that it’s set a good foundation for me to learn the basics of business. I’ve always had a strong love of music, and I’ve always wanted to be a part of the entertainment industry. I’ve always wanted my career to involve music, but I’ve developed a love for business that now I want to be a part of the business side of this industry. My love of music and business have guided me towards my path in college, majoring in music business. I’m so excited to learn about two things that I love while also setting up a foundation for my future career. I’m not sure what I want my specific job to be, but I’m leaning towards a manager or promoter. I still have a lot to learn, but I’m excited about learning more about business when I start attending Belmont University in the fall.

Therapy can be such a helpful tool for dealing with mental health problems, but it can be unattainable for many people. This is due to numerous reasons including accessibility and insurance coverage, but possibly the most prominent is the affordability, or lack of, for most people, especially adolescents. Therapy has been a very important tool for my personal mental health journey, but many people don’t have the resources that I have access to. It’s unfortunate because there are so many people that could be improving their quality of life if they were able to go to therapy. Going to therapy helped me cope with my problems and learn skills to manage my symptoms, which have been helpful in improving my everyday life. There needs to be therapy clinics set up with affordability as their main goal. Qualified and experienced professionals can offer their services for a discounted price, instead of the normal hourly rate of hundreds of dollars. Quality healthcare shouldn’t cost more. Mental health is just as important as physical health, so making these services widely available would greatly improve the lives of many people dealing with mental health problems. Getting affordable appointments is the start, but helping people get there is just as important. Some people can’t afford to get pay for gas or pay the fees that go with hiring ride services. Ride services should offer free rides to and from therapy sessions for people who don’t have means of transportation to get there. These two solutions go hand-in-hand in helping getting thousands of people who struggle with mental health access to therapy.

The most inspiring book I’ve read is also my current favorite: This Will All Be Over Soon by Cecily Strong. I didn’t expect that a book that talks so much about grieving could be so inspirational. This book stuck out to me in so many ways and piqued my interest the moment I heard about it. This book connected with me within the first chapter I read. It’s difficult for me to connect with others because many of my peers haven’t experienced the same things I have. The book centers around her experience dealing with loss of a loved one and her grief, as well as dealing with her anxiety during the pandemic. She talks about some of the same things I’ve recently dealt with. When she spoke about trying to understand her grief, I understood exactly how she felt because I’ve recently had to deal with the first big loss in my life. I’ve also had anxiety for years and the way she explained her experience with the pandemic comforted me knowing that I wasn’t the only one feeling that way. I feel like she understood how I felt and through her writing, I saw a lot of myself in her. Writing is so powerful, and this book really made me understand how much one book can impact someone so much. It was inspiring to me because I saw someone go through the same things I had, which I never had before. I keep feeling like I’ll never be able to overcome my problems but seeing her come out on the other side gave me hope that I can too. I realized that however difficult these problems may be, it can always get better. That revelation gave me the strength to keep going, and I needed to hear it.

I hope to make a positive impact on the world in three ways. These three ways include mental health advocacy, volunteering, and sharing music with the world. I have had a long and painful journey with mental health, but I want it to serve a greater purpose. Even if its just to help a friend dealing with the same issues in the future, I want my journey to do something good, big or small. In my career I hope to get one of the leading positions in the music industry before eventually opening my own company. Part of my goal with this company is not to be the standard management company others have seen, but to play a role in helping others through music. At this company we will manage artists, as well as partnering with charities to ensure that our clients are able to use their platforms to help others. I hope to be able to give back to mental health charities and encourage others to campaign for the stigmatization of mental health. I’m really proud of the volunteering work I’ve done with my local animal shelter, the Sumner County Humane Society. It’s something I’ve started recently but I’ve really enjoyed it. It involves sweeping & mopping floors, cleaning dishes, organizing food, walking dogs, and doing other things needed around the shelter. It’s been so rewarding, even though I’ve just started recently. It makes me so happy to feel that I am helping out and making a difference. I’ve always had a passion for animals, so I enjoy doing whatever I can to help the people who are trying to get them adopted. I love getting to walk the dogs because they are so happy getting to go outside and get fresh air. It’s so fulfilling to give them love since they can get lonely. It’s important because it keeps the workers from feeling overwhelmed. I’m glad I can take some stress out of their day by helping with their workload. I also got my friend to volunteer too, so knowing that I’m able to get others involved makes me feel like I’ve done something important. Animals are so important and being able to help them are something I’m so proud of. I hope to leave an impact on the world through music. Music has been a constant in my life that has shaped me into who I am today. I’ve always been surrounded by music and I have felt such a connection to it. The music I feel most drawn to always tells a story – either melodically or lyrically – and I really want to be a part of sharing even more stories. I know the impact music has had on me, so I want to continue to help others get their music out in the world so it can have the same impact on others. I don’t know what I want my job to be – maybe an artist manager or producer – but I know I want to be a part of sharing music with the world in some capacity. Somehow, I want to help others share their music so that they can reach thousands, or even millions, of people. If that music has even a small impact on even one person, I know I will have made a difference.

If you asked me four years ago why mental health is important, I wouldn’t be able to give you an answer. It’s hard to admit, but I just wasn’t educated. When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I started noticing that I just kept having bad days and even little things started to upset me. I felt like I was slowly unravelling and disconnecting from the world around me. I was overwhelmed and not feeling like myself. I noticed my anxiety started to amp up and I was worrying about everything. As depression took over, I drifted away from myself, and I struggled to function normally. Every day, I would go to school and work hard to make up for my lack of commitment to anything else. I couldn’t connect with people and focused on getting through the day. While my grades didn’t suffer, my social life did. I hid my emotions and no one knew what I was dealing with. I occasionally had what my therapist called “mild panic attacks” and I distinctly remember feeling like my heart was about to explode before I took my driver’s test. This continued for three years. After three years, I felt hopeless. I thought I was too far gone to get help and that I would never be able to get better. I wanted to prove to myself that I didn’t need help. I told myself that it was just a phase. Even after I finally came to accept it, I didn’t want help. I thought I could fix it by myself, without anyone else knowing. It wasn’t until this year that I finally gave in. Without my mother pushing me to get help, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I remember my breaking point was on a trip this summer. I had gotten used to the feeling of depression and accepted it as something I would have my whole life. When I was on a trip with my friend, I realized just how much it affected not only me, but people around me. I finally reached a breaking point and realized that I couldn’t deal with it anymore. After going to therapy and multiple doctors’ appointment, I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I began taking little white pills and now my whole world has changed. Ending the stigma around medicine is important because more people would be able to get help with medication. I’ll never be completely cured, but I a weight that I’ve been carrying for three years has finally been lifted. I can’t say I’m glad this happened, but I’m learning a lot from it. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. I remember the first day my medicine started working and I didn’t feel the depression hit me when I woke up. I went through the day smiling. Nothing exciting happened, it was very routine, but inside it felt different. I was so happy to finally feel free because I forgot what that felt like. My progress isn’t without struggles. Even with the progress I’ve made, my mental health isn’t perfect and maybe never will be. I feel like I should have made much more progress by now because after taking medicine, I wanted all of my problems to go away. One problem is easier to manage, but there are still countless others to overcome. I’m far from where I want to be, but I’m trying give myself credit for what I’ve done so far. It’s easy to feel like its not enough, but it’s about progress, not perfection. My problems made me realize the importance of determination. It makes it even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals. I strive to become the best I can be because I know I have the strength to do whatever I set my mind to. It’s difficult, but I’ve done it before and I’m ready to do even more. This experience this makes me want to do so much in my life to make up for the time I lost while I was struggling. I have dreams of working in the music industry, which is why I’ve decided to further my education. I’m applying to scholarships early, although I won’t be starting college until fall 2022. I’m still learning how to adjust because now I’m in a period of reinventing myself. I’m still learning who I am everyday and that is challenging, but now I feel like I’m better equipped to face challenges that come my way. I feel like I’m starting to get my life back and I’m digging myself out of a dark hole I’ve been in for so long. Even if its just to help a friend dealing with the same issues in the future, I want my journey to do something good, big or small. In my career I hope to get one of the leading positions in the music industry before eventually opening my own company. Part of my goal with this company is not to be the standard management company others have seen, but to play a role in helping others through music. At this company we will manage artists, as well as partnering with charities to ensure that our clients are able to use their platforms to help others. Through this, I am able to help others share their music with the world, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. I hope to be able to give back to mental health charities and encourage others to campaign for the stigmatization of mental health.

I’m really proud of the volunteering work I’ve done with my local animal shelter, the Sumner County Humane Society. It’s something I’ve started recently but I’ve really enjoyed it. It involves sweeping & mopping floors, cleaning dishes, organizing food, walking dogs, and doing other things needed around the shelter. It’s been so rewarding, even though I’ve just started recently. It makes me so happy to feel that I am helping out and making a difference. I’ve always had a passion for animals, so I enjoy doing whatever I can to help the people who are trying to get them adopted. I love getting to walk the dogs because they are so happy getting to go outside and get fresh air. It’s so fulfilling to give them love since they can get lonely. It’s important because it keeps the workers from feeling overwhelmed. I’m glad I can take some stress out of their day by helping with their workload. I also got my friend to volunteer too, so knowing that I’m able to get others involved makes me feel like I’ve done something important. Animals are so important and being able to help them are something I’m so proud of.

My simple pleasures in life include everyday things that mean a lot to me. Flowers are such a simple thing that brings me so much joy. I planted a flower garden this summer and seeing these beautiful colors and blooms out of my window makes me smile every day. My mom likes to surprise me and will put fresh flowers in a vase so I see then right when I walk in my room. It never fails to make me smile. Even things like food can be a simple pleasure. Recently, I have been trying to have a balanced diet and eat less carbs, but every now and then I have a cheat day. Coming home from a long day and having an appetizing, warm bowl of mac and cheese is a big comfort for me. My pets are also one of the things in life that make me the happiest. When one of my cats sits on my lap and snuggles with me, it’s a nice stress reliver. Even simple things like these can make me so happy and have a big impact on my daily life.

My acts of service in my daily life include helping my grandmother. She has been living with my family recently, so I try to help my mom take care of her as much as possible. Whether that’s helping her down the stairs, helping make dinner, or making her bed, I try to help in any way I can. I help her out of the shower and listen outside the door to make sure she doesn’t fall or need me to help with anything. Doing these things also takes stress off my mother knowing she has less to worry about. One of the biggest things we have to do is organize her medications. She has about two dozen medications she takes daily, so we sit down and cut pills. Then we have to put them in medicine containers, organized into daily and nightly medicine. I love that my grandmother gets to stay with us and I get to see her every day, so I’m happy to help.

Listening means paying attention to those around you and trying to understand their feelings. When they reach out, its important to listen because it might be a plea for help. Without listening, you’ll never be able to get them what they need or gain a deeper understanding of what they’re dealing with. Whenever anyone talks to me, I always try to listen. That means putting away distractions and just being present with that person. I want to make sure they know that their voice is important. Not only does this help others but listening to other people’s experiences can provide wisdom to anyone who listens. As I listen to what people my age have gone through, I realize how important it is to make the right decisions. When someone tells me a mistake they made, that’s a sign to me to not repeat that error. These stories provide lessons that can help guide us through life, which is especially now in my life when I’m starting to make life changing decisions about my future.

Generosity to me means helping out others when you see a need. Recently, my 92-year-old grandmother has been living with my family, so I have been trying to help my mom take care of her as much as possible. Whether that’s helping her down the stairs, making dinner, helping her pick out pajamas, or making her bed, I try to help in any way I can. I help her out of the shower and listen outside the door to make sure she doesn’t fall or need me to help with anything. Every night when she is going to bed, I walk up the stairs with her and make sure she has everything she needs. One of the biggest things we have to do is organize her medications. She has about two dozen medications she takes daily, so we sit down and cut her pills into the correct doses and arrange them. Doing these things also takes stress off my mother knowing she has less to worry about and take care of. I used to think I could only make an impact if I did these enormous tasks, but I realized that’s not at all true. Doing things as small as bringing my grandmother a bottle of water is still helpful. Doing little things daily seem to get passed by so often because many people don’t realize the importance they serve.

I’m not a very outgoing person, but I speak my mind at the right times. I’m not afraid to say what I believe. I’m in an environment where people don’t usually agree with my opinions when I share them. The cultural difference with the people around me can create some disagreement, but that doesn’t affect me speaking my mind. I remind myself that it’s okay that not everyone agrees, but it’s important to not be ashamed of what I think. If I have an opinion about something, I’m not afraid to share with someone how I feel. If someone asks for my opinion, I will answer honestly. My friends sometimes will have discussions and debates on controversial topics. We always keep it friendly and are open minded to hearing each other. While I’m open to changing my opinion by hearing the other side, I make sure I don’t back down on what I believe just because I’m the only one of us that believes it.

My motivation comes from the journey I’ve taken over the past three years. When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I started noticing that I just kept having bad days and I felt like I was slowly disconnecting from the world around me. Every day, I would go to school and work hard to make up for my lack of commitment to anything else. Last year, I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I began taking medication and I feel like my whole world has changed. I’ll never be completely cured, but a weight that I’ve been carrying for three years has finally been lifted. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. I’m far from where I want to be, but I’m trying give myself credit for what I’ve done so far. My problems made me realize the importance of determination. It makes it even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals. I strive to become the best I can be because I know I have the strength to do whatever I set my mind to. These struggles have given me motivation to do so much in my life in order to make up for the time I lost while I was struggling. I want to do so much more with my life, and I can finally see the optimistic side of life.

I don’t necessarily consider myself a brave person, but bravery comes in different forms. Even though I might not be brave in the traditional sense, I express my bravery in other ways. Bravery to me means stepping out of your comfort zone. It doesn’t necessarily mean doing something huge like skydiving, but doing things you normally wouldn’t do. I try to do this every day in little ways. With my mental health struggles, I have found it hard to do normal, everyday things. I’m in my journey to getting better, and I want to do things every day that normally I struggle to do. That to me means talking to someone I normally wouldn’t talk to or speaking up in class. These things may not be brave to some people, but to me nothing feels braver than taking these steps. Bravery comes in many different forms, but mine means taking steps to be the person I want to be.

When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I started noticing that I just kept having bad days and I felt like I was slowly disconnecting from the world around me. Every day, I would go to school and work hard to make up for my lack of commitment to anything else. Last year, I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I began taking medication and I feel like my whole world has changed. I’ll never be completely cured, but a weight that I’ve been carrying for three years has finally been lifted. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. I’m far from where I want to be, but I’m trying give myself credit for what I’ve done so far. My problems made me realize the importance of determination. It makes it even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals. I strive to become the best I can be because I know I have the strength to do whatever I set my mind to. These struggles have given me motivation to do so much in my life in order to make up for the time I lost while I was struggling. I want to do so much more with my life, and I can finally see the optimistic side of life. Now I am beginning to set huge goals for myself because I see now that I have the strength to accomplish more than I ever thought possible. All of these struggles have given me the motivation I need to set goals and set in motion the things I need to do in order to achieve them.

One interest of mine that I never expected to get into is autograph collecting. It's a unique hobby that many don't know about, and I wasn't quite sure what it was either until I stumbled upon it years ago. I started collecting around 2016 after I saw an actress post her fan mail address. I decided to write a letter and then I received a signed photo back weeks later. It was so thrilling to open the package and find a sweet note. Ever since then I've continued to write fan mail and it's become a big part of my life. I will write a letter to an actor or musician I'm a fan of, find their fan mail address, and mail it to them with a photo asking if they could sign it. I've now grown my collection to over 300 autographs, many of them from writing letters. I really enjoy sending letters because it gives me the opportunity to communicate with someone I admire. I love being able to tell someone how much I love their work. It's also very rewarding when I receive not only an autograph, but a letter back too. I've received some of the kindest notes from people thanking me for taking the time to write to them. Many people really love hearing how their work has impacted their fans and it makes me feel good knowing they appreciate it. Some of my favorite letters include a page-long note from a singer I loved watching on The Voice and a hand written note from an actor personally inviting me to attend a taping of one of my favorite shows. It's such a great feeling to receive a letter that someone took the time to write specifically for you. Writing fan mail takes a lot of time and energy, but it's definitely worth it. It's given me the opportunity to connect with people I otherwise wouldn't have been able to. Not only has this hobby been a way for me to grow my autograph collection, but it has also led to many connections I never would've expected. I have made so many friends by meeting fellow collectors online. I share my collection through Instagram and exchange tips with other collectors. Two of my closest friends started out through Instagram. We started out by talking about autographs, but found out that we have so much in common. Because of this we were able to form a really deep friendship and I've hung out with both of them in person multiple times. I'm so thankful for the friends I've made through this experience. I've come to realize that I want to be a part of the entertainment industry through talking to people through fan mail. What started out as a fun summer activity has turned into something that has impacted my life so much, and I'm so glad it did.

I hope to leave an impact on the world through music. Music has been a constant in my life that has shaped me into who I am today. I’ve always been surrounded by music and I have felt such a connection to it. The music I feel most drawn to always tells a story – either melodically or lyrically – and I really want to be a part of sharing even more stories. I know the impact music has had on me, so I want to continue to help others get their music out in the world so it can have the same impact on others. I don’t know what I want my job to be – maybe an artist manager or producer – but I know I want to be a part of sharing music with the world in some capacity. I'm going to Belmont University next year in order to get my degree in music business so that I am able to accomplish this. Somehow I want to help others share their music so that they can reach thousands, or even millions, of people. If that music has even a small impact on someone, I know I will have made a difference.

One thing I’m passionate about is equal pay for women. It’s an issue that is still prevalent today, and as a woman I feel the need to fight for it. We live in a society that has made progress toward equality, but in many ways, we are still far from where we need to be. As society’s views start to evolve towards women and equality, there are things we need to do in order to further increase the equality between men and women. In theory, many view men and women as equal, but there are still clerical differences that separate genders significantly. The most powerful thing we can do to empower women is equal pay in the workplace. It’s shocking that even today where we have come so far with the equality movement, women are still paid on average 18% less than a man for the same job. It’s so demeaning for us to be paid less solely because of our gender. We should get paid based on the job we do and work ethic, not the gender we identify as. When the wages become equal, women will finally feel the liberation we deserve. As a society, we need to show that women are valued and should have the same rights as men. We don’t want to be better than men, we want to be equal. For too many years women have been viewed as not capable of having the same skills as men. Women have worked as secretaries and assistants while men were given corporate jobs. It is time to finally give women the opportunities and compensation they rightly deserve after years of inequality. This is such an important issue to fight for, and it will continue to be a passion of mine until change comes.

Music has been a constant in my life that has shaped me into who I am today. I’ve always been surrounded by music and I have felt such a connection to it. My grandfather was a country music songwriter, so I guess music is just in my blood. I’ve taken piano lessons for almost 10 years now and as a whole music is just something I wouldn’t be complete without. The music I feel most drawn to always tells a story – either melodically or lyrically – and I really want to be a part of sharing even more stories. I know the impact music has had on me, so I want to continue to help others get their music out in the world so it can have the same impact on others. I don’t know what I want my job to be – maybe an artist manager or producer – but I know I want to be a part of sharing music with the world in some capacity. My goal is to graduate from Belmont University in four years with a degree in music business. I also want to have completed an internship and have studied in Los Angeles or New York City for a semester. I also want to give back in some way. Mental health and animal rights are two topics that I’m very passionate about, so I want to some way help spread awareness about those issues. I don’t know exactly what that looks like yet, possibly volunteering or partnering with a charity, but no matter where my career ends up taking me, my goal is to somehow make an impact. Even if it’s a small impact, it would make me feel so good to know I did something to benefit others in some way.

My turnaround story is one that doesn’t have an ending yet, but this year has made me realize that it can be an ongoing story that you learn from. I’ve struggled with mental illness for years and this year I decided I wanted to make a change because I was tired of struggling every day. When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I was slowly disconnecting from the world around me. As depression took over, I drifted away from myself, and I struggled to function normally. I thought I could fix it by myself, without anyone else knowing. After going to therapy and multiple doctors’ appointment, I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I recently began taking medication and now my whole world has changed. I’ll never be completely cured, but having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. My problems made me realize the importance of determination. It makes it even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals. I believe that there is a reason for everything, but I’ve yet to figure out what the reason for this journey is. I hope that one day I’ll find out. Even if it’s just to help a friend dealing with the same issues in the future, I want my journey to do something good, big or small. I want my experience to serve a purpose and show someone that it is possible to get better, even if it feels impossible. I’m living proof of that, and I want to pay it forward. I’m proud of the progress I’ve made and everything I’ve learned from it. It might not be completely over, but I’m getting better and learning from it every day.

I believe that the best way to live a healthy life is to take time each day to practice self-care. I used to think that being a hard worker and being successful meant staying busy, without any kind of self-care routine in mind. I’ve always been hard on myself, and I wouldn’t take time to relax because I wanted to get as much done as possible. I now know that practicing self-care improves productivity, reduces stress, and overall improves quality of life. It has improved my mental health immensely. I try to find at least 30 minutes of “me time” each day to unwind and de-stress. My favorite self-care activities are watching films, writing letters, and taking bubble baths. Giving time to enjoy the things I love doing has made me a much happier person because it keeps me from getting so overwhelmed by life. It’s easy to have life overpower you, but it is important to take time to enjoy the good things in life. After all, what is the point of life if you can’t enjoy it?

The one investing tip I’ve taken to heart is to start taking care of your money when you are young. I started saving when I was very young, and I had a savings account before I started middle school. This instilled in me a skill of managing my money wisely and never spending more than I had. When I look back on how much I have saved, it makes me appreciate that I didn’t spend the money on something I wouldn’t use. It is so beneficial and looking back on every time I decided to save money instead of spending it, I realize that it was worth it. While taking a business class this year, I realized even more how important it can be to start young. I plan on starting a retirement fund in college and while it might sound too soon, I learned that it’s never too early to start planning for your future. The earlier you start investing, to more you can potentially earn in returns. This can ensure financial security later in life and will cause less stress than if you wait until later in your life to start saving.

I used to think that being a hard worker and being successful meant staying busy, without any kind of self-care routine in mind. I’ve always been hard on myself, and I wouldn’t take time to relax because I wanted to get as much done as possible. Whenever I would relax, I would guilt myself into feeling like I was being lazy. I now know that practicing self-care improves productivity, reduces stress, and overall improves quality of life. I try to find at least 30 minutes of “me time” each day to unwind and de-stress. My favorite self-care activities are watching films, writing letters, and taking bubble baths. Giving time to enjoy the things I love doing has made me a much happier person because it keeps me from getting so overwhelmed by life. It’s easy to have life overpower you, but its important to take time to enjoy the good things in life. After all, what is the point of life if you can’t enjoy it?

Trust. Care. Listening. Sincerity. Simplicity. Bond. To me, a good friendship embodies all of these characteristics. I am someone who has experienced many friendships throughout my life, good and bad, and I can easily say the true friendships, the ones that last, are the ones that encompass these qualities. Friendship means trusting someone enough to share things that you don’t feel safe telling anyone else. It’s caring enough about the person to help them through tough times and have their best interest at heart. It’s listening to someone when no one else will and just being there when someone needs it. It’s advising what you think is best and being sincere when you mean it, because their wellbeing is important to you. Friendship contains a bond between people who trust, love, listen, are care about each other. Friendship is simple, it doesn’t need to be extravagant, but even this simple feeling of friendship is extraordinary.

My growth mindset comes from the lessons I've learned through my mental health journey. To me, a growth mindset is working hard to grow your talents while not letting setbacks apprehend your motivation. This year I was diagnosed with clinical depression. After struggling years, I began taking medication and my whole world has changed. I’ll never be completely cured, but it’s about progress, not perfection. The quote “one day at a time” has helped me. It’s been a reminder to help get me through life. I’m always overthinking, and part of my problem is that I feel like it’s never going to end. When I feel this way, I take a deep breath and tell myself to take things “one day at a time.” It helps me calm down and focus on today. I’ve learned to not look too far ahead, but to be in the moment. My problems made me realize the importance of determination. Depression makes even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals. I strive to become the best I can be because I know I have the strength to do whatever I set my mind to. This experience this makes me want to do so much in my life to make up for the time I lost while I was struggling. Due to my three-year journey, I’ve seen just how much growth can happen over time. For so long I let my problems get in my way, but after being in therapy, I now have a growth mindset. I no longer let my problems control me. A setback is just a bump, not a stop. I can overcome more than I expected even if it’s hard, because I’ve done it before, and I can do it again.

Investments. Personal growth. Waiting to get that one important phone call. There’s one thing that all these things have in common – they all take time and patience. Patience is a virtue that can be difficult to achieve but can have immense value in our daily lives. If you invest money, the longer you wait, the more your money will grow and the more potential money you will earn. The same principle can be applied to many things in life. Personally, I have struggled with patience for years. It’s easy to want things to be done quickly and timely. I’ve found that it’s hard to wait for something when you are anxious about learning the outcome. As I deal with my mental health problems, I want everything to be fixed instantly. Everyone wants their problems to go away, but I’ve learned that it takes time. My journey has taught me the importance of patience because personal growth is something that happens over time, maybe even years, but I’ve learned that it’s worth the wait. As I see the results of things I’ve patiently waited for, I see just why patience is so important. Rushing things doesn’t solve anything, but having patience always pays off.

One hobby of mine that I never expected to get into is autograph collecting. It's a unique hobby that many don't know about, and I wasn't quite sure what it was either until I stumbled upon it years ago. It started after I saw an actress post her fan mail address. I decided to write a letter and I received a signed photo back weeks later. It was so thrilling to open the package and find a sweet note. I've continued to write fan mail and it's become a big part of my life. I will write a letter to an actor or musician I'm a fan of, find their fan mail address, and mail it to them with a photo asking if they could sign it. I've now grown my collection to over 300 autographs. I really enjoy sending letters because it given me the opportunity to connect with people I otherwise wouldn't have been able to. I love being able to tell someone how much I love their work. It's also very rewarding when I receive not only an autograph, but a letter back too. I've received some of the kindest notes from people thanking me for taking the time to write to them. Many people really love hearing how their work has impacted their fans and it makes me feel good knowing they appreciate it.

I would consider my best talent to be my artistic ability. I love to paint, craft, knit, draw, and do anything creative. I’m always working on some art project. This passion started when I was young but developed substantially over the years as I continued my art hobby on the weekends. Over the past few years, I’ve continued to educate myself and grow my skills because of the passion that was instilled in me in a middle school art class. I got to develop my skills much more than I had before, and I loved it. After, I wanted to pursue a higher education of art and I’ve been in two art classes since. I have learned just how important education is to improve my skills. The classes I’ve taken have taught me the history of art and different artistic styles, which has shaped my artistic talents into something unique, while still having influences from other important artists. I’ve seen my skills, especially drawing, improve so much in a short period of time. Now I create art that I’m very proud of. It’s been a big part of my high school years and I plan on continuing to pursue more education while I grow my skills even further as I finish my senior year in high school.

I live with gratitude by realizing every sacrifice that’s been made to get me where I am today. That includes so many people: my family, friends, teachers, and me. I’m so lucky that I’ve got to have so many great opportunities in my life because of people who’ve helped me get there. My biggest support system has been my parents. They’ve sacrificed so much for me to go to a quality high school by saving money to afford my education. My parents have pushed back their retirement for years in order to earn enough money to keep me in a private school. There have been many times that I’ve seen other people around me getting to do things that my family can’t afford, but I have to step back and realize how fortunate I am to be able to go to a private school. Every day I push myself to not be envious, but instead be grateful. Having gratitude in my life makes me more content. I try to have simple reminders that I am so lucky to be where I am and to not take it for granted. Every time I get to do something new, I realize how amazing it that I get to do it. Happiness stems from being joyful about what you have and not what you don’t. Gratitude is one of the necessary qualities to live a fulfilling life.

I have suffered with mental health problems for years, but most people don’t know about it. Being in high school, it can be difficult to be surrounded by my peers who don’t know my personal troubles. When I have bad days, people tend to ignore me because they assume that I’m just anti-social or don’t want to talk to anyone. In reality, my problems cause me to withdraw and makes it difficult for me to interact. Most people don’t look twice, but I wish people would be more compassionate and empathy instead of making assumptions. The advice that I love is “always be compassionate to others because you have no idea what they might be dealing with.” This piece of advice is so close to my heart because I know how big of a difference it would make if more people would be more courteous towards others. The reason I chose to have empathy is because I know the impact it can make, especially if you live without it. The people who showed me empathy helped me so much in dark times. I try to be patient with people, no matter how rude or inconsiderate they may be, because I realize now that it might not be that they’re a bad person, their behavior could be a result of problems they’re facing. It's so important to have empathy because every decision you make can impact someone. Instead of judging someone, choosing empathy is much a much better solution because they might have many things, they’re dealing with that you don’t realize. Taking the time to learn empathy in your daily life can benefit so many people.

My goals stretch far into the future but start from college: I graduate college and earn my bachelor’s degree in music business. I live in the most musical city of all, Nashville TN, and begin my career in the music industry. As I work my way up in my career, I work hard to get one of the leading positions in the industry before eventually opening my own company. Part of my goal with this company is not to be the standard management company others have seen, but to play a role in helping others through music. At this company we will manage artists, as well as partnering with charities to ensure that our clients are able to use their platforms to help others. Through this, I am able to help others share their music with the world, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. In many ways my dreams are simple, but in my life I want to achieve so much. I’m sure my dreams will grow even bigger as I go through life, but one thing that will always be the same is my passion for music.

When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I started noticing that I just kept having bad days and even little things started to upset me. I felt like I was slowly unravelling and disconnecting from the world around me. I drifted away from myself, and I struggled to function normally. Every day, I would go to school and work hard to make up for my lack of commitment to anything else. I couldn’t connect with people and focused on getting through the day. After three years, I felt hopeless. I had gotten used to the feeling of depression and accepted it as something I would have my whole life. After finally deciding to seek help, I began going to therapy, which is where I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I was prescribed medication and have seen a big difference in my life. I’ll never be completely cured, but a weight that I’ve been carrying for three years has finally been lifted. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. Though this is the hardest thing I’ve ever dealt with, I always tried my best to persist. There were many times I felt hopeless, but ultimately, I kept going. Therapy didn’t work immediately, but my mom insisted that I persist and to not give up on it yet. Luckily, I listened to her! Even now that I’m much better than I was before, I have to persist every single day. I must have persistence in my life constantly because I still have bad days. There are so many times I’ve wanted to just give up. It’s a constant struggle but I have to remember to keep going because I know it will get better.

My goals stretch far into the future but start from college: I graduate college and earn my bachelor’s degree in music business. I live in the most musical city of all, Nashville TN, and begin my career in the music industry. As I work my way up in my career, I work hard to get one of the leading positions in the industry before eventually opening my own company. Part of my goal with this company is not to be the standard management company others have seen, but to play a role in helping others through music. At this company we will manage artists, as well as partnering with charities to ensure that our clients are able to use their platforms to help others. Through this, I am able to help others share their music with the world, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. In addition, I am able to travel and attend award shows with my clients, which fulfill so many dreams of mine. In many ways my dreams are simple, but in my life I want to achieve so much. I’m sure my dreams will grow even bigger as I go through life, but one thing that will always be the same is my passion for music. I plan on achieving these through working hard and studying. Specifically, going to college and learning everything I can about the industry. I plan on taking as many internship opportunities as possible to gain connections and have hands on learning experiences. I want to gain as much knowledge as possible so that I’m prepared as soon as I begin my career and I can work my way up quickly.

My bucket list is all about travel. I have a passion for seeing new cities and cultures across the world. Unfortunately, until this point in my life I haven’t been able to get far from my home state. My hope is that in the future I can travel to many cities across the United States and explore new countries too. My bucket list is an actual written list I keep on my wall. I wanted to start out small, so I included 5 cities in the United States that I want to visit: Los Angeles, New York City, Las Vegas, Chicago, and Honolulu. Hopefully once I’m able to cross those off my list, I can expand and start branching out. After that, I want to visit Europe, especially France and Italy. I want to immerse myself in a wide variety of different cultures so I can fully experience all the different traditions of the world. The thing I have crossed off my bucket list is going to Florida. I was lucky enough to go to Florida three years ago and it was so nice to see a place so warm and sunny. That trip made me appreciate getting to travel and made my love for traveling grow.

Creativity is part of my daily life in many ways. It changes all the time, but I’m constantly working on something creative. I always want to incorporate new ideas into my life. Currently that means decorating a pair of shoes I bought and trying to decide what I want to paint on my wall. Sometimes its drawing or painting, other times it’s something crafty. Even gifts I give have some form of creativity, I usually design and make individual gifts for my friends and family around the holidays. I’m constantly finding inspiration online to find new projects to try. I always try to find something unique to create because I love the feeling of making something myself. It feels artificial going to the store to buy things that I can easily make myself. Many of my decorations in my room are DIY projects that I’ve made myself, and it’s saved lots of money of the years. My mom taught me to be creative and learn to create things from my own ideas.

My goals stretch far into the future but start from college: I graduate college and earn my bachelor’s degree in music business. I live in the most musical city of all, Nashville TN, and begin my career in the music industry. As I work my way up in my career, I work hard to get one of the leading positions in the industry before eventually opening my own company. Part of my goal with this company is not to be the standard management company others have seen, but to play a role in helping others through music. At this company we will manage artists, as well as partnering with charities to ensure that our clients are able to use their platforms to help others. Through this, I am able to help others share their music with the world, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. In addition, I am able to travel and attend award shows with my clients, which fulfill so many dreams of mine. In many ways my dreams are simple, but in my life I want to achieve so much. I’m sure my dreams will grow even bigger as I go through life, but one thing that will always be the same is my passion for music.

I encourage others by showing that I care about their success. I try to help my friends with homework when they’re struggling to understand the material and they get very frustrated. I try to use words of encouragement when they feel discouraged and let them know that they can do it. They tend to think that they’re not smart enough, but I will tell them that they just need to practice until they understand, it takes time. Especially since my classmates are starting to pick colleges, I try to encourage them in any way I can. I’ve already made me college decision, but a few of my friends are struggling with last minute decisions. My best friend hasn’t decided yet and I’m trying to advise her to the best of my ability. She is trying to base her decision on which option is cheapest and I’m trying to advise her against it. I realize how important money is when choosing a college (which is why I’m applying to scholarships!), but I think quality of education should be just as important. I’m encouraging her to choose the place that best fits her educational needs rather than choosing the place where she has to spend the least.

Motivation hasn’t been on my mind for the past few years because its something I’ve lived without. Now that I see both sides of life, one with and one without motivation, I can say motivation is an essential part of our daily lives that many of us take for granted. My motivation comes from the journey I’ve taken over the past three years. When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I started noticing that I just kept having bad days and I felt like I was slowly disconnecting from the world around me. Every day, I would go to school and work hard to make up for my lack of commitment to anything else. Last year, I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I began taking medication and I feel like my whole world has changed. I’ll never be completely cured, but a weight that I’ve been carrying for three years has finally been lifted. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. I’m far from where I want to be, but I’m trying give myself credit for what I’ve done so far. My problems made me realize the importance of determination. It makes it even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals. I strive to become the best I can be because I know I have the strength to do whatever I set my mind to. These struggles have given me motivation to do so much in my life in order to make up for the time I lost while I was struggling. I want to do so much more with my life, and I can finally see the optimistic side of life.

My favorite way of helping others is by helping out my family. Recently, my 92-year-old grandmother has been living with my family, so I have been trying to help my mom take care of her as much as possible. Whether that’s helping her down the stairs, making dinner, helping her pick out pajamas, or making her bed, I try to help in any way I can. I help her out of the shower and listen outside the door to make sure she doesn’t fall or need me to help with anything. Every night when she is going to bed, I walk up the stairs with her and make sure she has everything she needs. One of the biggest things we have to do is organize her medications. She has about two dozen medications she takes daily, so we sit down and cut her pills into the correct doses and arrange them. Doing these things also takes stress off my mother knowing she has less to worry about and take care of. I used to think I could only make an impact if I did these enormous tasks, but I realized that’s not at all true. Doing things as small as bringing my grandmother a bottle of water is still helpful. Doing little things daily seem to get passed by so often because many people don’t realize the importance they serve.

To me, joy means doing things you enjoy and not being weighed down by stress. I try to seek out joy in my life by taking time to do things that aren’t obligatory, but something that I want to do. I enjoy things like drawing, baking, and going to concerts. Concerts make me happy because there is something so therapeutic about live music. The feeling of being at a concert is hard to describe, but there’s nothing like it. The anticipation, lights, drum beat pulsing through the floor, and the crowd cheering as the first sound rings through the speakers never fails to bring me so much joy. Every time I get to see an artist that I love so much stand in front of me and sing their music, I am so happy that I momentarily forget all the things that make life so stressful. I even find small things to make me smile in my everyday life. Flowers are such a simple thing that brings me so much joy. I planted a flower garden this summer and seeing these beautiful colors and blooms out of my window makes me smile every day. Even things like food can be a simple pleasure. Recently, I have been trying to have a balanced diet, but every now and then I have a cheat day. Coming home from a long day and having an appetizing, warm bowl of mac and cheese is a big comfort for me. My pets are also one of the things in life that make me the happiest. When one of my cats sits on my lap and snuggles with me, it’s a nice stress reliver. Even simple things like these can make me so happy and have a big impact on my daily life.

Independence means having your own unique opinions, and being free to live your life uniquely, in any way that you choose. This is a quality that I’ve carried with me for most of my life. Maybe it’s because I’m an only child or my desire to be individualistic, but whatever reason, I tend to stand on my own. Its so important to me because it impacts each decision I make in my life. It takes a lot of trust in yourself to be independent because it comes with responsibility. I know that by being independent, I have to make my own choices without letting others influence me, and deal with the benefits and consequences that come with those decisions. Independence doesn’t mean not listening to others and having relationships but depending more on yourself instead of them. By being independent, I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but they’ve all taught me lessons and made me smarter.

I want my legacy to be filled with music, love, and selflessness. I have dreams of working in the music industry and I hope to help others share their music with the world. I hope my legacy is someone who had a substantial impact on the music industry. I don’t know exactly what I want my role to be, but I know that in some capacity I want to be involved. I want to help bring even more music in the world. I want to be seen as someone who had a lot of love to give to those around her. I hope that people will remember the times I took the time to tell people how much I care about them or how much I love them. Someone that doesn’t hold grudges because life is too short to be mad at the ones you love. It’s a simple trait that is so important and one of the best ways to be remembered. When people think of me and my legacy, I want to be known for helping others. The ways I do small things for others in ways that might go unnoticed, but ultimately help others. Even if it’s just to help a friend dealing with the same issues I’ve faced, I want my experiences to do something good, big or small.

When I think of nature, three things come to mind: wildlife, peace, and art. I consider myself lucky because where I live, I see wildlife every day. I have deer, turkeys, racoons, coyotes, and plenty of other animals in my yard on a daily basis. I’m a huge animal lover, so seeing these animals as I drive to school every day makes me smile. I didn’t realize how rare it is until friends of mine came over and were fascinated about seeing a deer so close to them. I realize it’s not something to take for granted. Nature can be so peaceful if you go enjoy it the right way. My favorite spots to go are ones that are quiet except for a few birds chirping or animals running around. This calms me down because I can relax and all of my stress temporarily goes away. My personal favorite place to enjoy nature is in Cade Coves, located in a national park near Gatlinburg TN. I have so many great memories there and some of my earliest childhood memories are where I got to see the cabins built in the park. My family and I visit there every few years and it seems like a different world than the fast-paced, technology driven society we live in today, but that is why I love it so much. I believe nature is art, because anything beautiful is art to me. It amazes me to think about how beautiful God’s creation can be. Even the smallest leaf can have the most detailed design and colors. It isn’t lost on me how beautiful the simplicity of being in nature can be.

I believe the meaning of life includes making meaningful connections. This means anyone you meet can have some type of significance in your life. Whether big or small, each connection you make can impact your daily life. These connections can help lead you on the path your supposed to be on. Or it can be the opposite; when someone tries to steer you the wrong way, you learn lessons from the way you respond. You can tell a lot about a person by the closest connections they have and the people they form bonds with. I try to make meaningful connections by listening to everyone I meet. This means hearing the experiences and opinions of others because through this, I can learn from others. Each connection has the possibility to change my view on an idea or make me form new opinions that alter the way I make decisions every day.

When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I started noticing that I just kept having bad days and even little things started to upset me. I felt like I was slowly unravelling and disconnecting from the world around me. I drifted away from myself, and I struggled to function normally. Every day, I would go to school and work hard to make up for my lack of commitment to anything else. I couldn’t connect with people and focused on getting through the day. While my grades didn’t suffer, my social life did. I hid my emotions, and no one knew what I was dealing with. After three years, I felt hopeless. I thought I was too far gone to get help and that I would never be able to get better. I had gotten used to the feeling of depression and accepted it as something I would have my whole life. After finally deciding to seek help, I began going to therapy, which is where I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I was prescribed medication and have seen a big difference in my life. I’ll never be completely cured, but a weight that I’ve been carrying for three years has finally been lifted. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. My progress isn’t without struggles. Even with the progress I’ve made, my mental health isn’t perfect and maybe never will be. I’m far from where I want to be, but I’m trying give myself credit for what I’ve done so far. It’s easy to feel like it’s not enough, but it’s about progress, not perfection.

I believe that the best way to live a healthy life is to take time each day to practice self-care. I used to think that being a hard worker and being successful meant staying busy, without any kind of self-care routine in mind. I’ve always been hard on myself, and I wouldn’t take time to relax because I wanted to get as much done as possible. I now know that practicing self-care improves productivity, reduces stress, and overall improves quality of life. It has improved my mental health immensely. I try to find at least 30 minutes of “me time” each day to unwind and de-stress. My favorite self-care activities are watching films, writing letters, and taking bubble baths. Giving time to enjoy the things I love doing has made me a much happier person because it keeps me from getting so overwhelmed by life. It’s easy to have life overpower you, but it is important to take time to enjoy the good things in life. After all, what is the point of life if you can’t enjoy it?

My study strategies can vary depending on each subject, but usually I have a method that I use to prepare for upcoming tests. I start out by creating a deck of flashcards, usually digitally on a website called Quizlet, and look through them to familiarize myself with the information. I then begin to quiz myself using fill in the blanks, especially for definitions and dates. Once I have tested myself on the important terms and definitions, I make a list of all the ones I got wrong. I highlight them in categories based on whether I need to study each term a lot, or just a quick review. After knowing which topics I need help with, I continue to use my flashcards and fill-in-the-blank quizzes until I feel comfortable with the information. As I complete each section, I mark it off my list to indicate that I feel confident in my knowledge of that topic.

Concerts make me happy because there is something so therapeutic about live music. The feeling of being at a concert is hard to describe, but there’s nothing like it. The anticipation, lights, drum beat pulsing through the floor, and the crowd cheering as the first sound rings through the speakers never fails to bring me so much happiness. Every time I get to see an artist that I love so much stand in front of me and sing their music, I am so happy that I momentarily forget all the things that make life so stressful. It’s a moment of pure joy that nothing can compare to. It is so fun to scream lyrics to your favorite song, and it’s a joy that I’ve chased ever since my first concert at age 9. When everyone in the crowd sings along together and thousands of voices fill the air, you can feel the music in an indescribable way. It makes me happy to know that every single person that decided to come to the concert are all connected, because no matter how different we may be, the love of music can bring us together.

I show love towards others by letting them know that I care. That may sound vague, but there are so many ways to show care. Personally, the times I most feel loved are the times that someone has told me that they care about what I’m going through or that they hope everything works out, so that is exactly what I try to do for others. Showing care and love all starts with listening. There have been so many times in my life that I felt the lack of care from people I trusted, only because they never took the time to ask how I was doing or even listen to what I had to say. I try to always make myself available so that I have time to hear about what’s going on in the lives of the people around me, if they’re willing to share. I want to celebrate their successes and be there to comfort them with their struggles. I’m in a place now that I feel very loved, but I used to not feel that support around me. My family was always supportive, but I didn’t have friends who I felt that I could share with, or who were genuinely happy for me when something great happened in my life. I always try to be there for my friends now, because I know how it feels to not have a support system. I think making someone feel loved always involves showing care and listening.

Recently, my 92-year-old grandmother has been living with my family, so I have been trying to help my mom take care of her as much as possible. Whether that’s helping her down the stairs, making dinner, helping her pick out pajamas, or making her bed, I try to help in any way I can. I help her out of the shower and listen outside the door to make sure she doesn’t fall or need me to help with anything. Every night when she is going to bed, I walk up the stairs with her and make sure she has everything she needs. One of the biggest things we have to do is organize her medications. She has about two dozen medications she takes daily, so we sit down and cut her pills into the correct doses and arrange them. Doing these things also takes stress off my mother knowing she has less to worry about and take care of. I’m committed to being selfless because I know how impactful it can be. I used to think I could only make an impact if I did these enormous tasks, but I realized that’s not at all true. Doing things as small as bringing my grandmother a bottle of water is still helpful. Doing little things daily seem to get passed by so often because many people don’t realize the importance they serve. I’m starting to do other things now in my daily life that may seem insignificant, but I know that they serve a purpose to help someone in some way.

Recently, my 92-year-old grandmother has been living with my family, so I have been trying to help my mom take care of her as much as possible. She slowly started by staying with us a few days a week, then a week or two a month, and now she stays with us most of the time. Helping take care of her when she needs it is important to me. Whether that’s helping her down the stairs, making dinner, helping her pick out pajamas, or making her bed, I try to help in any way I can. I help her out of the shower and listen outside the door to make sure she doesn’t fall or need me to help with anything. Every night when she is going to bed, I walk up the stairs with her and make sure she has everything she needs. Doing these things also takes stress off my mother knowing she has less to worry about and take care of. One of the biggest things we have to do is organize her medications. She has about two dozen medications she takes daily, so we sit down and cut her pills into the correct doses and arrange them. Then, we have to put them in medicine containers, organized into daily and nightly medicine. We usually do a months’ worth in advance, so it can be time consuming. It’s actually taught me a lot about organization, and I’ve gotten so much better since I’ve started. It has impacted my daily life in a positive way. I love getting to come home and see my grandmother sitting in her chair, it makes all of the things we have to do worth it. Helping do these things for her makes me happy. I feel good knowing that I’m doing something positive in my family’s life. Truthfully, sometimes they do feel like a chore, but I have to remind myself of the reason I’m doing it. Even when it feels like an obligation, I know that it’s serving a purpose to help out my family. It’s changed my ideas because I used to think I could only make an impact if I did these enormous tasks, but I realized that’s not at all true. Doing things as small as bringing my grandmother a bottle of water is still helpful. Doing little things daily seem to get passed by so often because many people don’t realize the importance they serve. I’m starting to do other things now in my daily life that may seem insignificant, but I know that they serve a purpose to help someone in some way.

I would consider my best skill to be my artistic ability. I love to paint, craft, knit, draw, and do anything creative. This passion started when I was young but developed substantially over the years as I continued my art hobby on the weekends. Over the past few years, I’ve continued to educate myself and grow my skills because of the passion that was instilled in me in a middle school art class. I got to develop my skills much more than I had before, and I loved it. After, I wanted to pursue a higher education of art and I’ve been in two art classes since. I have learned just how important education is to improve my skills. The classes I’ve taken have taught me the history of art and different artistic styles, which has shaped my artistic talents into something unique, while still having influences from other important artists. I’ve seen my skills, especially drawing, improve so much in a short period of time. Now I create art that I’m very proud of. It’s been a big part of my high school years and I plan on continuing to pursue more education while I grow my skills even further as I finish my senior year in high school.

Over the past few years I’ve learned that I’m a hard worker. I’ve always been a hard worker, but I really started noticing it in high school. I’m determined in almost every aspect of my life, and I think it’s been so beneficial to me. With all of the assignments I receive in high school, it’s been important to me that I manage my time wisely so that I get all of my assignments done. I’ve learned that procrastination doesn’t get you anywhere but being diligent can make your life so much easier. I used to be terrible at time management, but I would get so stressed trying to turn in my schoolwork on time. Now, I am able to get papers and assignments done days before the due date and I haven’t had a late assignment in years. It’s been a valuable trait because I am able to keep my grades up without waiting until the last minute. I’m so proud of how I’ve been able to prioritize my work and get things done in a timely manner.

Listening means paying attention to those around you and trying to understand their feelings. When they reach out, its important to listen because it might be a plea for help. Without listening, you’ll never be able to get them what they need or gain a deeper understanding of what they’re dealing with. Whenever anyone talks to me, I always try to listen. That means putting away distractions and just being present with that person. I want to make sure they know that their voice is important. Not only does this help others but listening to other people’s experiences can provide wisdom to anyone who listens. As I listen to what people my age have gone through, I realize how important it is to make the right decisions. When someone tells me a mistake they made, that’s a sign to me to not repeat that error. These stories provide lessons that can help guide us through life, which is especially now in my life when I’m starting to make life changing decisions about my future.

My acts of service in my daily life include helping my grandmother. She has been living with my family recently, so I try to help my mom take care of her as much as possible. Whether that’s helping her down the stairs, helping make dinner, or making her bed, I try to help in any way I can. I help her out of the shower and listen outside the door to make sure she doesn’t fall or need me to help with anything. Doing these things also takes stress off my mother knowing she has less to worry about. One of the biggest things we have to do is organize her medications. She has about two dozen medications she takes daily, so we sit down and cut pills. Then we have to put them in medicine containers, organized into daily and nightly medicine. I love that my grandmother gets to stay with us and I get to see her every day, so I’m happy to help.

I hope to leave an impact on the world through music. Music has been a constant in my life that has shaped me into who I am today. I’ve always been surrounded by music and I have felt such a connection to it. The music I feel most drawn to always tells a story – either melodically or lyrically – and I really want to be a part of sharing even more stories. I know the impact music has had on me, so I want to continue to help others get their music out in the world so it can have the same impact on others. I don’t know what I want my job to be – maybe an artist manager or producer – but I know I want to be a part of sharing music with the world in some capacity. I'm going to Belmont University next year in order to get my degree in music business so that I am able to accomplish this. Somehow I want to help others share their music so that they can reach thousands, or even millions, of people. If that music has even a small impact on someone, I know I will have made a difference.

One thing I’m passionate about is equal pay for women. It’s an issue that is still prevalent today, and as a woman I feel the need to fight for it. We live in a society that has made progress toward equality, but in many ways, we are still far from where we need to be. As society’s views start to evolve towards women and equality, there are things we need to do in order to further increase the equality between men and women. In theory, many view men and women as equal, but there are still clerical differences that separate genders significantly. The most powerful thing we can do to empower women is equal pay in the workplace. It’s shocking that even today where we have come so far with the equality movement, women are still paid on average 18% less than a man for the same job. It’s so demeaning for us to be paid less solely because of our gender. We should get paid based on the job we do and work ethic, not the gender we identify as. When the wages become equal, women will finally feel the liberation we deserve. As a society, we need to show that women are valued and should have the same rights as men. We don’t want to be better than men, we want to be equal. For too many years women have been viewed as not capable of having the same skills as men. Women have worked as secretaries and assistants while men were given corporate jobs. It is time to finally give women the opportunities and compensation they rightly deserve after years of inequality. This is such an important issue to fight for, and it will continue to be a passion of mine until change comes.

Music has been a constant in my life that has shaped me into who I am today. I’ve always been surrounded by music and I have felt such a connection to it. My grandfather was a country music songwriter, so I guess music is just in my blood. I’ve taken piano lessons for almost 10 years now and as a whole music is just something I wouldn’t be complete without. The music I feel most drawn to always tells a story – either melodically or lyrically – and I really want to be a part of sharing even more stories. I know the impact music has had on me, so I want to continue to help others get their music out in the world so it can have the same impact on others. I don’t know what I want my job to be – maybe an artist manager or producer – but I know I want to be a part of sharing music with the world in some capacity. My goal is to graduate from Belmont University in four years with a degree in music business. I also want to have completed an internship and have studied in Los Angeles or New York City for a semester. I also want to give back in some way. Mental health and animal rights are two topics that I’m very passionate about, so I want to some way help spread awareness about those issues. I don’t know exactly what that looks like yet, possibly volunteering or partnering with a charity, but no matter where my career ends up taking me, my goal is to somehow make an impact. Even if it’s a small impact, it would make me feel so good to know I did something to benefit others in some way.

Giving is important to me because helping others is one of the best things you can do. By giving to important causes, I feel that I am helping someone who has less than I do. As a human being, I feel that it’s my responsibility to help others. Giving makes someone’s life better, whether that’s helping relive some of their stress from bills or putting food on the table. My personal favorite causes include The Cameron Boyce Foundation, that strives to find a cure for epilepsy, and The Amy Winehouse Foundation, that supports, informs, and inspires youth. I also think it’s important to find ways to help without monetary aid. I plan on volunteering at my local animal shelter starting in January. I found that even though I don’t have much that I can give financially, I can help in other ways. Giving your time helps your community and it can create change in your neighborhood.

It’s taken me a while to know what I want my career to be. It seemed so confusing at first, but now I have such a clear plan for what my goals are. Music has been a constant in my life that has shaped me into who I am today. I’ve grown up in Nashville, so I’ve always been surrounded by music, and I have felt such a connection to it. My grandfather was a country music songwriter, so I guess music is just in my blood. I’ve taken piano lessons for almost 10 years now and as a whole music is just something I wouldn’t be complete without. While I don’t know what exactly I want my job to be just yet, I still know that I want to be part of the music industry somehow and that is why I’ve decided to go to college in Nashville to become a music business major. I know I want to be a part of sharing music with the world in some capacity. I will feel so lucky if I’m even a small part of it. The music I feel most drawn to always tells a story – either melodically or lyrically – and I really want to be a part of sharing even more stories. I know the impact music has had on me, so I want to continue to help others get their music out in the world so it can have the same impact on others. I’m excited about continuing my education and pursuing something I love so much. I want to have so many opportunities during college and I don’t want to be weighed down by trying to figure out how to pay for college. I plan to use this scholarship money to fund my classes when I start college in the 2022 fall semester. The thought of college debt and student loans has been on my thoughts recently. It’s a scary topic and ever single students wants to avoid it. With my college journey beginning in less than a year, I’m starting to plan now so I can ensure that I can avoid having to graduate college with an outrageous amount of debt. I hope to get enough financial aid before college so that I won’t have to stress about paying back loans during college and I can focus solely on my education. I will start college in fall 2022, but I am already working on scholarship applications. My goal is to earn enough in scholarships to avoid taking out student loans. I’ve already applied to 75 scholarships, and I plan to apply for many more. It is very important to me to earn money for college before I start so that I start off on the right foot. I have also decided that I am going to live at home and commute to school in order to save money. This will save me thousands of dollars a year by not paying for on campus housing. I am willing to make sacrifices in order to avoid unnecessary debt in any ways possible.

My simple pleasures in life include everyday things that mean a lot to me. Flowers are such a simple thing that brings me so much joy. I planted a flower garden this summer and seeing these beautiful colors and blooms out of my window makes me smile every day. My mom likes to surprise me and will put fresh flowers in a vase so I see then right when I walk in my room. It never fails to make me smile. Even things like food can be a simple pleasure. Recently, I have been trying to have a balanced diet and eat less carbs, but every now and then I have a cheat day. Coming home from a long day and having an appetizing, warm bowl of mac and cheese is a big comfort for me. My pets are also one of the things in life that make me the happiest. When one of my cats sits on my lap and snuggles with me, it’s a nice stress reliver. Even simple things like these can make me so happy and have a big impact on my daily life.

The song that inspires me the most is “Look at Her Now” by Selena Gomez. It’s a pop song that when most people listen to it, they might not understand why it would be an inspiring song. It’s an upbeat song that you could dance to, but yet I found the lyrics to be powerful. The song starts by talking about a darker time in her life where she was in a bad relationship. She wasn’t where she needed to be, but the song depicts how she experienced personal growth and got to a place in her life where she was happy after making the choice to leave that relationship. She learned from her experiences and shared it through this song. The lyrics include: “of course she was sad, but now she's glad she dodged a bullet. Took a few years to soak up the tears but look at her now.” Even though at the time it was hard for her to leave that relationship, looking back she sees that she made the right decision. The words “look at her now” shows how she has grown since then. This song inspires me because it shows me that even terrible experiences in our lives can have a positive impact and we can learn from it.

The piece of art that inspires me the most is a painting by Taylor Swift. This painting depicts a horizon with cloudy blue sky. To me, this picture represents clarity and clear skies ahead. It might not be the brightest or most stunning sky in the world, but it’s still beautiful. It’s captioned with the words “I’m doing better than I ever was” and it inspires me to envision growth ahead. A previous panting of hers shows a similar skyline, but instead with a darker ominous sky. This feels like a continuation, a sense of growth and renewal. It shows that even when there are dark skies currently, they will not last. For someone like me who has endured a dark past, it gives me hope that a clear sky will appear. We sometimes cannot see the light ahead, but this inspires me to see that it will come with time and patience.

One thing that gives me hope for the future is seeing my generation taking actions to make the world a better place. I’ve seen so many people have passion for current issues and make change I never would’ve thought possible. In all honesty, sometimes I feel disappointed with my generation because I’m constantly surrounded by people who seem unaware of the problems all around them. It can be discouraging to see so many opportunities passed up by people who could be so helpful to the world if they cared enough to put in effort. At the same time, I realize that not everyone is going to try to make a change, but even a single person can make a big impact. Every time I see someone speak out about mental health awareness or racial issues within the teenage population, my mind shifts, and I realize there are still people out there fighting to do something good in the world. It seems like every day I see an article or news segment about a young person that took matters into their own hands and got involved with making change. I’ve seen people starting fundraisers, spreading awareness, and even talking to local leaders about what they want to be done in their community. I even saw someone start a garden to grow fresh producer in their community and it amazes me how creative people can be. I also saw elementary school students find innovative ways to help when COVID-19 was beginning to spread throughout the country. I specifically remember someone helping deliver groceries to elderly individuals who couldn’t go to the store for safety concerns. That was a terrible time, but it showed me that there is still so much good in the world. People are still ready to help others when needed and while I hope more people start volunteering after the pandemic, it’s a good start that people are still willing to assist in their communities. Many people believe that age determines value, but as I see others prove them wrong, it inspires me to do more to help others because I know that it will make a difference.

My turnaround story is one that doesn’t have an ending yet, but this year has made me realize that it can be an ongoing story that you learn from. I’ve struggled with mental illness for years and this year I decided I wanted to make a change because I was tired of struggling every day. When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I was slowly disconnecting from the world around me. As depression took over, I drifted away from myself, and I struggled to function normally. I thought I could fix it by myself, without anyone else knowing. After going to therapy and multiple doctors’ appointment, I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I recently began taking medication and now my whole world has changed. I’ll never be completely cured, but having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. My problems made me realize the importance of determination. It makes it even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals. I believe that there is a reason for everything, but I’ve yet to figure out what the reason for this journey is. I hope that one day I’ll find out. Even if it’s just to help a friend dealing with the same issues in the future, I want my journey to do something good, big or small. I want my experience to serve a purpose and show someone that it is possible to get better, even if it feels impossible. I’m living proof of that, and I want to pay it forward. I’m proud of the progress I’ve made and everything I’ve learned from it. It might not be completely over, but I’m getting better and learning from it every day.

“Always be compassionate to others because you have no idea what they might be dealing with.” This piece of advice is so close to my heart because I know how big of a difference it would make if more people would be more courteous towards others. I have suffered with mental health problems for years, but most people don’t know about it. Being in high school, it can be difficult to be surrounded by my peers who don’t know my personal troubles. When I have bad days, people tend to ignore me because they assume that I’m just anti-social or don’t want to talk to anyone. In reality, my problems cause me to withdraw and makes it difficult for me to interact. Most people don’t look twice, but I wish people would be more compassionate instead of making assumptions. The few people who have taken the time to show me kindness have truly made a big impact. They didn’t even know what I was going through, they are just naturally kind people. It’s so important because every decision you make can impact someone. Every time you choose to ignore someone instead of acknowledging them, you might not realize the impact it has. I noticed every time it happened, and it made me feel even worse. Taking the time to learn compassion in your daily life can benefit so many people, and who knows, they might need that friendly “hello” more than you realize.

I have received many helpful financial tips, but the one that has stood out to me the most is to start taking care of your money when you are young. I started saving when I was very young, and I had a savings account before I started middle school. This instilled in me a skill of managing my money wisely and never spending more than I had. When I look back on how much I have saved, it makes me appreciate that I didn’t spend the money on something I wouldn’t use. As a kid, I would spend money on toys that I would outgrow in a few months and never use again. I started saving half of my birthday money and spending the other half. It’s okay to spend money on something you want and treat yourself occasionally, but it’s important to not go overboard. This is so beneficial and looking back on every time I decided to save money instead of spending it, I realize that it was worth it. While taking a business class this year, I realized even more how important it can be to start young. I plan on starting a retirement fund in college and while it might sound too soon, I learned that it’s never too early to start planning for your future. The earlier you start investing, to more you can potentially earn in returns. This can ensure financial security later in life and will cause less stress than if you wait until later in your life to start saving.

The most inspiring book I’ve read is also my current favorite: This Will All Be Over Soon by Cecily Strong. I didn’t expect that a book that talks so much about grieving could be so inspirational. This book stuck out to me in so many ways and piqued my interest the moment I heard about it. This book connected with me within the first chapter I read. It’s difficult for me to connect with others because many of my peers haven’t experienced the same things I have. The book centers around her experience dealing with loss of a loved one and her grief, as well as dealing with her anxiety during the pandemic. She talks about some of the same things I’ve recently dealt with. When she spoke about trying to understand her grief, I understood exactly how she felt because I’ve recently had to deal with the first big loss in my life. I’ve also had anxiety for years and the way she explained her experience with the pandemic comforted me knowing that I wasn’t the only one feeling that way. I feel like she understood how I felt and through her writing, I saw a lot of myself in her. Writing is so powerful, and this book really made me understand how much one book can impact someone so much. It was inspiring to me because I saw someone go through the same things I had, which I never had before. I keep feeling like I’ll never be able to overcome my problems but seeing her come out on the other side gave me hope that I can too. I realized that however difficult these problems may be, it can always get better. That revelation gave me the strength to keep going, and I needed to hear it.

Education inequity is something we should all fight for because access to quality education is a right of every person. Every single person, despite race, religion, sexuality, income, or gender should be able to acquire all the knowledge they aspire to obtain. College specifically is a valuable way to gain skills and knowledge through higher education, but unfortunately so many students see college as a burden, instead of an opportunity. The classes available through college are an asset that helps students like me gain the valuable skills needed for our future careers. Without these classes, it becomes much harder for us to excel in our career field because we must find other ways to learn. College needs to be accessible to everyone so we as students can further our education without the looming cloud of debt from student loans. Even hard-working college students cannot earn enough money to pay for college when they work in addition to being a full-time student. The loss of sleep, stress, and anxiety student loans can cause make it difficult for students to focus on learning because they are constantly worrying about how they will pay for it. Every year we don’t fight for it, less students are going to college and prices are rising. My generation and generations to come deserve to have these opportunities and if we don’t fight for it, it will continue to get worse.

I believe that the best way to live a healthy life is to take time each day to practice self-care. I used to think that being a hard worker and being successful meant staying busy, without any kind of self-care routine in mind. I’ve always been hard on myself, and I wouldn’t take time to relax because I wanted to get as much done as possible. I now know that practicing self-care improves productivity, reduces stress, and overall improves quality of life. It has improved my mental health immensely. I try to find at least 30 minutes of “me time” each day to unwind and de-stress. My favorite self-care activities are watching films, writing letters, and taking bubble baths. Giving time to enjoy the things I love doing has made me a much happier person because it keeps me from getting so overwhelmed by life. It’s easy to have life overpower you, but it is important to take time to enjoy the good things in life. After all, what is the point of life if you can’t enjoy it?

The one investing tip I’ve taken to heart is to start taking care of your money when you are young. I started saving when I was very young, and I had a savings account before I started middle school. This instilled in me a skill of managing my money wisely and never spending more than I had. When I look back on how much I have saved, it makes me appreciate that I didn’t spend the money on something I wouldn’t use. It is so beneficial and looking back on every time I decided to save money instead of spending it, I realize that it was worth it. While taking a business class this year, I realized even more how important it can be to start young. I plan on starting a retirement fund in college and while it might sound too soon, I learned that it’s never too early to start planning for your future. The earlier you start investing, to more you can potentially earn in returns. This can ensure financial security later in life and will cause less stress than if you wait until later in your life to start saving.

I’ve struggled with mental illness for years and this year I decided I wanted to make a change because I was tired of struggling every day. When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I felt like I was slowly unravelling and disconnecting from the world around me. I was overwhelmed and not feeling like myself. As depression took over, I drifted away from myself, and I struggled to function normally. After three years, I felt hopeless. I thought I was too far gone to get help and that I would never be able to get better. I thought I could fix it by myself, without anyone else knowing. It wasn’t until this year that I finally gave in. After going to therapy and multiple doctors’ appointment, I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I attend counseling a few times a month. I recently began taking medication and now my whole world has changed. I’ll never be completely cured, but a weight that I’ve been carrying for three years has finally been lifted. I can’t say I’m glad this happened, but I’m learning a lot from it. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. My problems made me realize the importance of determination. It makes it even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals. This experience this makes me want to do so much in my life to make up for the time I lost while I was struggling. I have dreams of working in the music industry, which is why I’ve decided to further my education. I’m applying to scholarships early, although I won’t be starting college until fall 2022. This scholarship will help me tremendously to help pay for my college expenses. I plan to use the money to fund my classes for my freshman year of college at Belmont University. I believe that there is a reason for everything, but I’ve yet to figure out what the reason for this journey is. I hope that one day I’ll find out. Even if it’s just to help a friend dealing with the same issues in the future, I want my journey to do something good, big or small. I want to help end the stigma around mental illness so no one else will ever feel ashamed of asking for help. I want my experience to serve a purpose and show someone that it is possible to get better, even if it feels impossible. I’m living proof of that every day, and I want to pay it forward.

I used to think that being a hard worker and being successful meant staying busy, without any kind of self-care routine in mind. I’ve always been hard on myself, and I wouldn’t take time to relax because I wanted to get as much done as possible. Whenever I would relax, I would guilt myself into feeling like I was being lazy. I now know that practicing self-care improves productivity, reduces stress, and overall improves quality of life. I try to find at least 30 minutes of “me time” each day to unwind and de-stress. My favorite self-care activities are watching films, writing letters, and taking bubble baths. Giving time to enjoy the things I love doing has made me a much happier person because it keeps me from getting so overwhelmed by life. It’s easy to have life overpower you, but its important to take time to enjoy the good things in life. After all, what is the point of life if you can’t enjoy it?

Trust. Care. Listening. Sincerity. Simplicity. Bond. To me, a good friendship embodies all of these characteristics. I am someone who has experienced many friendships throughout my life, good and bad, and I can easily say the true friendships, the ones that last, are the ones that encompass these qualities. Friendship means trusting someone enough to share things that you don’t feel safe telling anyone else. It’s caring enough about the person to help them through tough times and have their best interest at heart. It’s listening to someone when no one else will and just being there when someone needs it. It’s advising what you think is best and being sincere when you mean it, because their wellbeing is important to you. Friendship contains a bond between people who trust, love, listen, are care about each other. Friendship is simple, it doesn’t need to be extravagant, but even this simple feeling of friendship is extraordinary.

My growth mindset comes from the lessons I've learned through my mental health journey. To me, a growth mindset is working hard to grow your talents while not letting setbacks apprehend your motivation. This year I was diagnosed with clinical depression. After struggling years, I began taking medication and my whole world has changed. I’ll never be completely cured, but it’s about progress, not perfection. The quote “one day at a time” has helped me. It’s been a reminder to help get me through life. I’m always overthinking, and part of my problem is that I feel like it’s never going to end. When I feel this way, I take a deep breath and tell myself to take things “one day at a time.” It helps me calm down and focus on today. I’ve learned to not look too far ahead, but to be in the moment. My problems made me realize the importance of determination. Depression makes even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals. I strive to become the best I can be because I know I have the strength to do whatever I set my mind to. This experience this makes me want to do so much in my life to make up for the time I lost while I was struggling. Due to my three-year journey, I’ve seen just how much growth can happen over time. For so long I let my problems get in my way, but after being in therapy, I now have a growth mindset. I no longer let my problems control me. A setback is just a bump, not a stop. I can overcome more than I expected even if it’s hard, because I’ve done it before, and I can do it again.

Investments. Personal growth. Waiting to get that one important phone call. There’s one thing that all these things have in common – they all take time and patience. Patience is a virtue that can be difficult to achieve but can have immense value in our daily lives. If you invest money, the longer you wait, the more your money will grow and the more potential money you will earn. The same principle can be applied to many things in life. Personally, I have struggled with patience for years. It’s easy to want things to be done quickly and timely. I’ve found that it’s hard to wait for something when you are anxious about learning the outcome. As I deal with my mental health problems, I want everything to be fixed instantly. Everyone wants their problems to go away, but I’ve learned that it takes time. My journey has taught me the importance of patience because personal growth is something that happens over time, maybe even years, but I’ve learned that it’s worth the wait. As I see the results of things I’ve patiently waited for, I see just why patience is so important. Rushing things doesn’t solve anything, but having patience always pays off.

If you asked me four years ago why mental health is important, I wouldn’t be able to give you an answer. It’s hard to admit, but I just wasn’t educated. When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I started noticing that I just kept having bad days and even little things started to upset me. I felt like I was slowly unravelling and disconnecting from the world around me. I was overwhelmed and not feeling like myself. I noticed my anxiety started to amp up and I was worrying about everything. As depression took over, I drifted away from myself, and I struggled to function normally. Every day, I would go to school and work hard to make up for my lack of commitment to anything else. I couldn’t connect with people and focused on getting through the day. While my grades didn’t suffer, my social life did. I hid my emotions and no one knew what I was dealing with. I occasionally had what my therapist called “mild panic attacks” and I distinctly remember feeling like my heart was about to explode before I took my driver’s test. I panicked so much, everyone started staring at me. This continued for three years. After three years, I felt hopeless. I thought I was too far gone to get help and that I would never be able to get better. I wanted to prove to myself that I didn’t need help. Even after I finally came to accept it, I didn’t want help. I thought I could fix it by myself, without anyone else knowing. It wasn’t until this year that I finally gave in. Without my mother pushing me to get help, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I remember my breaking point was on a trip this summer. I had gotten used to the feeling of depression and accepted it as something I would have my whole life. When I was on a trip with my friend, I realized just how much it affected not only me, but people around me. My depression goes through phases where I have good and bad days – emotional highs and lows. The first day, I had a great morning, but it didn’t last long. I guess you could say my battery ran out, but my energy level dropped quickly. I went from having a fantastic morning to one of my worst depression days ever. I hardly ate the entire time. I realized that if I didn’t go out, my friend wouldn’t either. She came on this trip to spend time with me, but I was ruining it. I gave myself a hard time because I couldn’t snap myself out of it. I realized that now this was affecting not just my vacation, but hers too. Something needed to change. After going to therapy and multiple doctors’ appointment, I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I began taking little white pills and I feel like my whole world has changed. Ending the stigma around medicine is important because more people would be able to get help with medication. It made me realize just how many people view medicine as a bad thing. Its supposed to be a tool to help improve our lives, not something that should be looked down upon. I want to help end that stigma so that no one will ever refuse medicine because they feel shamed for it. I’ll never be completely cured, but I a weight that I’ve been carrying for three years has finally been lifted. I can’t say I’m glad this happened, but I’m learning a lot from it. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. I remember the first day my medicine started working and I didn’t feel the depression hit me when I woke up. I went through the day smiling. Nothing exciting happened, it was very routine, but inside it felt different. I was so happy to finally feel free because I forgot what that felt like. My progress isn’t without struggles. Even with the progress I’ve made, my mental health isn’t perfect and maybe never will be. I feel like I should have made much more progress by now because after taking medicine, I wanted all of my problems to go away. I’m far from where I want to be, but I’m trying give myself credit for what I’ve done so far. It’s easy to feel like its not enough, but it’s about progress, not perfection. My problems made me realize the importance of determination. It makes it even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals. I strive to become the best I can be because I know I have the strength to do whatever I set my mind to. It’s difficult, but I’ve done it before and I’m ready to do even more. This experience this makes me want to do so much in my life to make up for the time I lost while I was struggling. I have dreams of working in the music industry, which is why I’ve decided to further my education. I’m applying to scholarships early, although I won’t be starting college until fall 2022. I’m still learning how to adjust because now I’m in a period of reinventing myself. Some of my friends have only know me while I was depressed, so I have discovered a whole new side of myself that no one has seen in years. I even discovered that others have similar struggles, but it isn’t talked about much. I believe that there is a reason for everything, but I’ve yet to figure out what the reason for this journey is. I hope that one day I’ll find out. Even if its just to help a friend dealing with the same issues in the future, I want my journey to do something good, big or small.

If you asked me four years ago why mental health is important, I wouldn’t be able to give you an answer. It’s hard to admit, but I just wasn’t educated. When I started my freshman year of high school, my journey with mental illness began. I started noticing that I just kept having bad days and even little things started to upset me. I felt like I was slowly unravelling and disconnecting from the world around me. I was overwhelmed and not feeling like myself. I noticed my anxiety started to amp up and I was worrying about everything. As depression took over, I drifted away from myself, and I struggled to function normally. Every day, I would go to school and work hard to make up for my lack of commitment to anything else. I couldn’t connect with people and focused on getting through the day. While my grades didn’t suffer, my social life did. I hid my emotions and no one knew what I was dealing with. I occasionally had what my therapist called “mild panic attacks” and I distinctly remember feeling like my heart was about to explode before I took my driver’s test. I panicked so much, everyone started staring at me. This continued for three years. After three years, I felt hopeless. I thought I was too far gone to get help and that I would never be able to get better. I wanted to prove to myself that I didn’t need help. I told myself that it was just a phase. Even after I finally came to accept it, I didn’t want help. I thought I could fix it by myself, without anyone else knowing. It wasn’t until this year that I finally gave in. Without my mother pushing me to get help, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I remember my breaking point was on a trip this summer. I had gotten used to the feeling of depression and accepted it as something I would have my whole life. When I was on a trip with my friend, I realized just how much it affected not only me, but people around me. My depression goes through phases where I have good and bad days – emotional highs and lows. The first day, I had a great morning, but it didn’t last long. I guess you could say my battery ran out, but my energy level dropped quickly. I went from having a fantastic morning to one of my worst depression days ever. I hardly ate the entire time. I realized that if I didn’t go out, my friend wouldn’t either. She came on this trip to spend time with me, but I was ruining it. I gave myself a hard time because I couldn’t snap myself out of it. I realized that now this was affecting not just my vacation, but hers too. Something needed to change. After going to therapy and multiple doctors’ appointment, I was officially diagnosed with clinical depression. I began taking little white pills and now my whole world has changed. Ending the stigma around medicine is important because more people would be able to get help with medication. I’ll never be completely cured, but I a weight that I’ve been carrying for three years has finally been lifted. I can’t say I’m glad this happened, but I’m learning a lot from it. Having bad days made me appreciate the good days even more. I remember the first day my medicine started working and I didn’t feel the depression hit me when I woke up. I went through the day smiling. Nothing exciting happened, it was very routine, but inside it felt different. I was so happy to finally feel free because I forgot what that felt like. My progress isn’t without struggles. Even with the progress I’ve made, my mental health isn’t perfect and maybe never will be. I feel like I should have made much more progress by now because after taking medicine, I wanted all of my problems to go away. One problem is easier to manage, but there are still countless others to overcome. I’m far from where I want to be, but I’m trying give myself credit for what I’ve done so far. It’s easy to feel like its not enough, but it’s about progress, not perfection. My problems made me realize the importance of determination. It makes it even simple things hard for me, but it makes me work harder to reach my goals. I strive to become the best I can be because I know I have the strength to do whatever I set my mind to. It’s difficult, but I’ve done it before and I’m ready to do even more. This experience this makes me want to do so much in my life to make up for the time I lost while I was struggling. I have dreams of working in the music industry, which is why I’ve decided to further my education. I’m applying to scholarships early, although I won’t be starting college until fall 2022. I’m still learning how to adjust because now I’m in a period of reinventing myself. Some of my friends have only know me while I was depressed, so I have discovered a whole new side of myself that no one has seen in years. I’m still learning who I am everyday and that is challenging, but now I feel like I’m better equipped to face challenges that come my way. I feel like I’m starting to get my life back and I’m digging myself out of a dark hole I’ve been in for so long. I believe that there is a reason for everything, but I’ve yet to figure out what the reason for this journey is. I hope that one day I’ll find out. Even if its just to help a friend dealing with the same issues in the future, I want my journey to do something good, big or small.

One thing I love about myself is that I’m a hard worker. I’m determined in almost every aspect of my life, and I think it’s been so beneficial to me. I’ve learned that procrastination doesn’t get you anywhere but being diligent can make your life so much easier. I used to be terrible at time management, but I would get so stressed trying to turn in my schoolwork on time. I eventually got tired of that endless stress and figured out how to do my assignments when they’re assigned. Now, I am able to get papers and assignments done days before the due date and I haven’t had a late assignment in years. I’m so proud of how I’ve been able to prioritize my work and get things done in a timely manner. It makes me feel happy to know that I’ve learned a lot and I have the ability to get better if I work hard.

My favorite book currently is This Will All Be Over Soon by Cecily Strong. I tend to read fiction books but recently I’ve gotten interested in reading nonfiction and biographical books. I like hearing people’s stories and experiences. I feel like I can understand a person so much better by their writing and establish a deeper connection. This book stuck out to me in so many ways and piqued my interest the moment I heard about it. I’ve been a fan of Cecily’s work on Saturday Night Live and so I wanted to support her by reading her book, but it impacted me more than I could’ve expected. This book connected with me within the first chapter I read. I’ve always found it difficult to connect with others because many of my friends and my peers haven’t experienced the same things I have. The book centers around her experience dealing with loss of a loved one and her grief, as well as dealing with her anxiety during the pandemic. She talks about some of the same things I’ve recently dealt with. When she spoke about trying to understand her grief, I understood exactly how she felt because I’ve recently had to deal with the first big loss in my life. I’ve also had anxiety for years and the way she explained her experience with the pandemic comforted me knowing that I wasn’t the only one feeling that way. I feel like she understood how I felt and through her writing, I saw a lot of myself in her. Every time I opened the book, I felt connected in a way I never felt before. Writing is so powerful, and this book really made me understand how much one book can impact someone so much.

As David Alejandro Fearnhead once said, “Life is not a competition between men and woman. It is a collaboration.” We live in a society that has made progress toward equality, but in many ways, we are still far from where we need to be. As society’s views start to evolve towards women and equality, there are things we need to do in order to further increase the equality between men and women. In theory, many view men and women as equal, but there are still clerical differences that separate genders significantly. The most powerful thing we can do to empower women is equal pay in the workplace. By paying us the same salary for the same job, it tells us that we are just as valuable as men. It’s shocking that even today where we have come so far with the equality movement, women are still paid on average 18% less than a man for the same job. It’s so demeaning for us to be paid less solely because of our gender. In a workplace, women tend to be patronized instead of empowered. We should get paid based on the job we do and work ethic, not the gender we identify as. We need to fight for the rights we deserve. We can start by encouraging companies to close to wage gap and leave companies that values one gender over the other. To ensure that these changes don’t go unnoticed, laws can be passed to require equal pay regardless of gender, making it illegal to pay women less. When the wages become equal, women will finally feel the liberation we deserve. As a society, we need to show that women are valued and should have the same rights as men. It’s not about competing with them or making them less but raising women up to feel more than they do right now. We don’t want to be better than men, we want to be equal. For too many years women have been viewed as not capable of having the same skills as men. Women have worked as secretaries and assistants while men were given corporate jobs. Women would have the same skills if they were just given the same career opportunities. G.D. Anderson said it best, "Feminism isn't about making women stronger. Women are already strong, it's about changing the way the world perceives that strength." Women are here to change the world, now we just need wage gap equality to be one step closer.

My year started off in a way I never thought it would – the death of my grandfather. I remember first getting the news and just having all feeling leave my body. It took a minute to register the words I was hearing, but when I finally processed it, the pain set in quick. After the craziness 2020 brought, I hoped 2021 would be better, but it wasn’t off to a great start. Part of the pain I felt was the fact that I didn’t get to say goodbye. Due to the pandemic, I hadn’t been able to go visit my family in 13 months so it only made it that much harder when I found out he was gone. Until that point, I had never gone more than 6 months without visiting, so I felt a bit lost without my family visits that I love so much. I would do anything to have more time with him, but I have to learn how to cope with the fact that it isn’t possible. Now, 9 months later, I’m still trying to heal from the pain, but I’m learning to deal with it in new ways. The funeral was the hardest part, but there was a positive takeaway from it. As the eulogy was being given, I got to hear all of the things that he accomplished in his life. Hearing stories from my family members made me miss him even more, but seeing everyone come together showed just how much he was loved. I truly saw the impact that just one person can have and it makes me want to work even harder so that I can have a positive impact during my life. I’m learning every day to not take a day for granted. I’m focusing on my future so that I can pursue my dreams and live my life to the fullest. I want to be someone that is remembered for their determination and simple ways of helping others. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small number or numerous people, but knowing I made an impact on even a few lives would mean that I did something right. I want to pursue my education in music business when I start college next year. I plan on working hard so I’m able to be successful in helping musicians share their music with the world. Even though I have so many academic and career goals, I also realized that I can’t spend my whole life focused on just getting further in my career. That is very important, but if I learned anything from the way my family has supported each other, it’s the importance of family. Most of the stories I heard were family memories and I want my life to be filled with stories like that. I want to live my life to where I have a successful career, but don’t get too overwhelmed with it. I’m going to make sure I find a balance so I’m able to maintain close friend & family relationships and create cherished memories for years to come, just like he did.

My #Back2SchoolBold moment was inspired by my love of music. This summer I decided to give my room a makeover, but I wanted to do something special since I decided I will be living at home when I start college next year. I wanted to create a space that I loved coming home to and I knew I had to find a creative way to incorporate my love of music, especially since I plan on studying music in college. Since I collect vinyl albums, my mom and I decided to display my favorite album covers on my wall to resemble a record store. After hours of designing, creative planning, and building, we were able to display them on my wall and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the outcome! It’s been the perfect way to end my summer and as I begin my senior year of high school, I look forward to coming home every day and seeing my beautiful room.

It’s taken me a while to know what I want my career to be. It seemed so confusing at first, but now I have such a clear plan for what my goals are. Music has been a constant in my life that has shaped me into who I am today. I’ve grown up in Nashville, so I’ve always been surrounded by music and I have felt such a connection to it. My grandfather was a country music songwriter, so I guess music is just in my blood. I’ve taken piano lessons for almost 10 years now and as a whole music is just something I wouldn’t be complete without. The music I feel most drawn to always tells a story – either melodically or lyrically – and I really want to be a part of sharing even more stories. I know the impact music has had on me, so I want to continue to help others get their music out in the world so it can have the same impact on others. I’ve struggled with mental health problems for a few years and it has caused me many challenges. My problems have made it difficult for me to get out of bed in the morning and sometimes a day can seem infinite. I’ve tried facing my problems this year by getting help and I take a deep breath and tell myself to take things one day at a time. I’ve learned to not look too far ahead, but to be in the moment. With the problems I’ve been facing, it made me realize the importance of determination. It makes it even simple things hard for me, but it’s made me work even harder to reach my goals. I strive to become the best I can be because I know I have the strength and willpower to do whatever I set my mind to. It’s not easy, but I’ve done it before and I’m ready to do even more. I’ve decided that when I continue my education in college next year, I’m going to stay in Nashville where I have the most opportunities. I want to attend Belmont University and become a music business major. I’m exciting about continuing my education and pursuing something I love so much. I want to have so many opportunities during college and I don’t want to be weighed down by trying to figure out how to pay for college. I plan to use this scholarship money to fund my classes when I start college in the 2022 fall semester. My goal in continuing my education is that I won’t have to suffer from student loan debt, so that’s why I’m actively starting my scholarship search almost a year in advance. I want to prepare now so I have less to overcome next year.

For most of my high school years, I had no idea what I wanted my career to be. I saw everyone around me have so much confidence in their future, but as I slowly figured out my goals, it became so clear to me what I want to do. Music has been a constant in my life that has shaped me into who I am today. Growing up in Nashville, I’ve always been surrounded by music and I have felt such a connection to it. My grandfather was a country music songwriter, so I guess music is just in my blood. I’ve taken piano lessons for almost 10 years now and as a whole music is just something I wouldn’t be complete without. I’m definitely not a singer, and as much as I would love to write songs, God did not give me those talents. I still know that I want to be part of the music industry somehow and that is why I’ve decided to go to college in Nashville to become a music business major. I don’t know exactly what I want my job to be – maybe an artist manager, agent, or producer – but I know I want to be a part of sharing music with the world in some capacity. I will feel so lucky if I’m even a small part of it. The music I feel most drawn to always tells a story – either melodically or lyrically – and I really want to be a part of sharing even more stories. I know the impact music has had on me, so I want to continue to help others get their music out in the world so it can have the same impact on others. I also want to give back in some way too. I’m not quite sure what that looks like yet, but I know I want to help others. Maybe I will partner with charity organizations one day or help my church with their fundraisers. No matter where my career ends up taking me, I know I want to make an impact. Even if it’s a small impact, it would make me feel so good to know I did something to benefit others in some way.

The quote that means the most to me is “one day at a time.” It’s a very special quote to me because I’ve used it as a reminder to help get me through life. I’ve struggled with mental health problems for a few years and it has caused me so many challenges. My problems have made it so hard for me to get out of bed in the morning and sometimes the days can seem endless. I have good days, but many times I feel so overwhelmed and I feel like its never going to end. I’ve tried facing my problems this year by getting help and I’ve turned the phrase “one day at a time” into my signature phrase to help me when I’m struggling. I’m always overthinking, and part of my problem is that when I feel like its never going to end, I always start to think about how long the feeling is going to last – days, weeks, months. Thinking that way has only made my thoughts spiral and feelings worsen. When I feel this way, I take a deep breath and tell myself to take things “one day at a time.” It helps me calm down and focus on today. I have hard days sometimes, but I know that if I focus on getting through that day, it will get better. I’ve learned to not look too far ahead, but to be in the moment. This quote is a constant reminder of that and it has helped me tremendously. It might seem silly, but that simple reminder has been so helpful in reminding me to keep going, even when things aren’t going perfectly.

There has been one teacher who I consider to be the very influential in my education journey, my middle school art teacher Mrs. Chopson. Art has always been part of my life and I really enjoy learning about it. I grew up always painting and doodling, but I never considered it as something I was serious about. That all changed when I began the art class at my school in 7th grade. I really enjoyed creating unique art projects and soon began to develop my own personal art style. One thing I always appreciated about her class was the assignments she gave - they weren’t like any other art teachers I’ve had before. I also appreciated how she was very close with her students. I was lucky enough to be in a small class with only a few other students. I think the way she developed close relationships with her students is why she was the favorite teacher of many students. When I was in her art class, she was always encouraging me. I’ve always been very self-critical of my work, but she always made me feel like I was doing a good job. I had so many times I would work so hard on my work, but never felt like it was good enough. She would encourage me to continue to draw, even in the summer and out of school, in order to get better. Her encouragement always stuck with me, and because of this I’ve continued to learn more about art since then. Over these past few years, I’ve continued to educate myself and grow my skills because of the passion that she instilled in me. I wanted to pursue a higher education of art and didn’t stop after just taking the one art class. I’ve been in two art classes since, and I’ve enjoyed them so much. I have learned just how important education is. The classes I’ve taken have taught me the history of art and different artistic styles, which has shaped my artistic talents into something unique, while still having influences from other important artists. Without her, I don’t think I would’ve pursued art. It’s been a big part of my high school years and it’s hard to imagine how different it would be if she hadn’t been such a great teacher. I plan on continuing to pursue more education and grow my skills even further as I finish my senior year in high school, all because of my middle school art class.