Hi, my name is Kylie Myers and I am a high school student from Indiana. I am also in an early college program with IvyTech Community College majoring in psychology. I learned early on that life is not always fair; life is almost never fair, really. I was born into a family full of mental health issues, violence, and poverty. I don't necessarily consider these characteristics of my life 100% a disadvantage, though. Having to learn to face these difficult hardships in my life has taught me strength, independence, and most of all: compassion. I plan on majoring and obtaining a PsyD or PhD in psychology and have already started my education path in this major because caring for others and my own mental health is my number one priority in life. I'm choosing to go into mental health to improve the function of this country. 1 in 4 adults in America struggle with mental health, and those are just the ones who report it. 57% of Americans with a mental illness receive no treatment. This includes males who don't admit they have a problem because of society's stereotypes, people who are scared of a diagnosis, or individuals who simply don't have access to it because of financial problems or otherwise. We as a community have a stigma associated with mental issues that has lasted for generations. I myself had a fortunately failed, recent suicide attempt this past year and was diagnosed with depression and a few other diagnoses. I didn't even realize I had depression because it was never talked about in my life. I was taught to push down my feelings, which almost led to me ending my own life. These realizations about myself have provided me with the interest and determination to help people like me. I plan to be a leader in mental health, and as a leader I will provide help in ending the stigma surrounding mental disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, and more. As a potential leader in mental health, I also plan to make mental health more affordable and accessible. There are many free clinics around the country for physical health. Why not as many for mental? My ultimate goal is to open up my own free clinic regarding any type of mental health, open to any and everybody. I will do this partly with my own money that I will earn, but mostly from donors. The objective of my clinic will be to help individuals from low-income or difficult backgrounds to live a happier, healthier life. Another pursuit of mine is to help people who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from sexually related violence. I am a survivor of multiple occasions of sexual abuse and experience PTSD. I will be an advocate for helping to not only treat individuals with this, but help prevent it. I plan to get a law passed in my home state, Indiana; this law will give a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole to anyone who sexually abuses a minor under the age of fourteen. If I am awarded this scholarship because the money will be put to good use. My own experience and dedication to improving mental health will lead to many achievements in advancing the improvement of this field. I know I will achieve my goals and be able to help people; not only because of my determination, but because of how much I care.

Hi, my name is Kylie Myers and I am a high school student from Indiana. I am also in an early college program with IvyTech Community College majoring in psychology. I was in the Indiana foster care system when I was two years-old to four years-old. I lived with an amazing woman named Karen Woolfork. I learned early on that life is not always fair; life is almost never fair, really. I was born into a family full of mental health issues, violence, and poverty. I don't necessarily consider these characteristics of my life 100% a disadvantage, though. Having to learn to face these difficult hardships in my life has taught me strength, independence, and most of all: compassion. I plan on majoring and obtaining a PsyD or PhD in psychology and have already started my education path in this major because caring for others and my own mental health is my number one priority in life. I'm choosing to go into mental health to improve the function of this country. 1 in 4 adults in America struggle with mental health, and those are just the ones who report it. 57% of Americans with a mental illness receive no treatment. This includes males who don't admit they have a problem because of society's stereotypes, people who are scared of a diagnosis, or individuals who simply don't have access to it because of financial problems or otherwise. We as a community have a stigma associated with mental issues that has lasted for generations. I myself had a fortunately failed, recent suicide attempt this past year and was diagnosed with depression and a few other diagnoses. I didn't even realize I had depression because it was never talked about in my life. I was taught to push down my feelings, which almost led to me ending my own life. These realizations about myself have provided me with the interest and determination to help people like me. I plan to be a leader in mental health, and as a leader I will provide help in ending the stigma surrounding mental disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, and more. As a potential leader in mental health, I also plan to make mental health more affordable and accessible. There are many free clinics around the country for physical health. Why not as many for mental? My ultimate goal is to open up my own free clinic regarding any type of mental health, open to any and everybody. I will do this partly with my own money that I will earn, but mostly from donors. The objective of my clinic will be to help individuals from low-income or difficult backgrounds to live a happier, healthier life. Another pursuit of mine is to help people who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from sexually related violence. I am a survivor of multiple occasions of sexual abuse and experience PTSD. I will be an advocate for helping to not only treat individuals with this, but help prevent it. I plan to get a law passed in my home state, Indiana; this law will give a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole to anyone who sexually abuses a minor under the age of fourteen. If I am awarded this scholarship because the money will be put to good use. My own experience and dedication to improving mental health will lead to many achievements in advancing the improvement of this field. I know I will achieve my goals and be able to help people; not only because of my determination, but because of how much I care.

Hi, my name is Kylie Myers and I am a high school student from Indiana. I am also in an early college program with IvyTech Community College majoring in psychology. My medical conditions aren't physical; they're mental. I suffer from depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, social anxiety, and borderline personality disorder. These disorders have really impacted my life, but not always in negative ways. I learned early on that life is not always fair; it almost never is, really. I was born into a family full of mental illnesses, and I soon learned that I really belonged. I was informed of my disorders about a week after my 15th birthday, when I survived a suicide attempt. I wasn't even aware of my depression because things like that aren't talked about in my family. I wasn't necessarily taught, but observed that you're supposed to keep your emotions in and not talk about them. I believe that my suicide attempt actually helped me, in the long run. It let me become aware of my mental health and how to treat it. I no longer had to be miserable all the time. My conditions have affected me in several different ways. They have led to me having very few relationships in my life. I also have to work much harder to exceed because of the lack of determination I experience sometimes. While these disorders have been a real hardship in my life, they have provided me with good things, too. I feel that I am able to better empathize and appreciate individuals with these types of disorders because I identify with them myself. I can apply this to my studies and career in psychology which will greatly help me. They have also taught me perseverance. I've learned to study, work, and just get through the day; even when I'm not feeling my best. My goals are to graduate high school with a 4.3 GPA; I know this is possible because I already have a 4.1. Next, I will go to college where I will graduate with a bachelors in psychology, and go on to medical school to become a psychiatrist. As I advance in my career I will do everything in my power to help people. I'm choosing to go into mental health to improve the function of this country. 1 in 4 adults in America struggle with mental health, and those are just the ones who report it. 57% of Americans with a mental illness receive no treatment. This includes males who don't admit they have a problem because of society's stereotypes, people who are scared of a diagnosis, or individuals who simply don't have access to it because of financial problems or otherwise. We as a community have a stigma associated with mental issues that has lasted for generations. I plan to be a leader in mental health, and as a leader I will provide help in ending the stigma surrounding mental disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, and more. As a potential leader in mental health, I also plan to make mental health more affordable and accessible. There are many free clinics around the country for physical health. Why not as many for mental? My ultimate goal is to open up my own free clinic regarding any type of mental health, open to any and everybody. I will do this partly with my own money that I will earn, but mostly from donors. The objective of my clinic will be to help individuals from low-income or difficult backgrounds to live a happier, healthier life.