My name is Leylanni Kennedy, and I'm a junior at SUNY at Old Westbury. I'm studying psychology with a BA in the aspirations of becoming child care or forensic psychologist. I haven't made up my mind yet, but I am passionate about mental health and want to focus on the Latin and black communities, beginning with adolescents. I chose this field of study because of the many experiences I had as a youngster with my mental health and seeing how studying human behavior through my experience opened my eyes to recognizing how I may help others who are in similar situations. My choice between working with children and forensics is based on the classes I've attended, my previous experience working with children, and my interest in criminal justice. Why are adolescents are my target group? Emotional and social development are intertwined. Early intervention in helping children understand their emotions can have a big impact on their emotional development now and in the future. In either case, I would like to work with young patients to assist them in their development. Working in different judicial settings based on the situation, whether it's child custody or child abuse, is how I hope to use my education to make a difference. I'd like to start a program where kids in those situations can go to a house where they can interact with a different therapist, participate in group therapy, and socialize with one another so they feel like they can connect with others who understand their predicament. I wanna place this idea around more minorities because of the lack of attention many adolescents from these communities get. There are cultural variables that contribute to the definition of mental health and the support of well-being, resiliency, and healing. I also wanna see more people of color in the field of psychology, whether it's school counselors or psychiatrists, there needs to be representation so we can bring awareness to our communities. being a stem should be promoted more and we can provide more in society.

To me, legacy entails acknowledgment and loyalty. The reason I think these two examples of legacy are due to how much work and dedication someone has put in throughout their lives, despite the numerous challenges they have faced, the result testifies to the dedication this person has placed into their life's work. There ought to be a recognition of how hard they've worked and how their loyalty has touched those around them; an individual will be remembered for the rest of their life, My mother is someone who has left an indelible mark on my life, and she deserves to be honored with a flower for how far we've gone. My mother is known as the "black sheep" since she raised me and my brother alone, despite being a single mother and making mistakes. Peers and family members questioned my mother's ability to parent us. Despite having two parents, she had a good childhood, but emotionally, my grandparents failed to be sympathetic and solution-oriented because they were immigrants and old school. All of the people that assisted my mother in her attempt to better herself either did her wrong or backed her, but her loyalty was never questioned because it was her selfishness that drew them in the first place. My mother addressed her obstacles by returning to school so she could get better jobs, seeking mental treatment, eating better, and working on self-love so that my brother and I could follow in her footsteps. Because of the many challenges my family has encountered, determining how my upbringing influenced my route in life has been difficult, but my mother's legacy of teaching and protecting us has shown me the type of woman I want to be. I plan to continue to be a hard-working woman and support my family through anything whether it's financially, emotionally, physically, etc.. to break the cycle is I wanna have a partner to help build our family and build a strong relationship with my family. I wanna motivate people to work hard no matter what they choose to do in life.

criminal justice reform is something I learned from a young age, not because I took a course in school and had a test on it but for my prior knowledge to protect my rights as a black woman. According to my understanding, racial profiling, police brutality, overcriminalization, mass imprisonment, and recidivism are all structural concerns in criminal justice systems that need to be addressed. I remember the first time I've witnessed the criminal justice system's mistreatment of minorities, I was 11 years old when Trayvon Martin's death occurred and I saw for the first time how the country racially profiled a young back teen. the system has given certain people the idea that they can possess such power and privilege, its corruption has lead people like George Zimmerman to take the incentive to take Trayvon's life and innocence then not achieving any justice for his life. Trayvon rights are one of the millions within the united states who were violated, it becomes a pattern consistently that came with the issue a minority was still guilty and they don't deserve any justification; however, it wasn't until the pandemic with George Floyd death that was caught on camera and the BLM movement has to push harder for a difference on the criminal justice system. However, I feel as though it is inappropriate to call it criminal justice "reform." The definition of reform is to make changes in typically a social, political, or economic institution or practice to improve it. However, according to my understanding of its history, the criminal justice system is doing exactly what it was created to do: continue the oppression of non-white minorities. The existence of police brutality or the disproportionate number of minorities within the prison system is nothing new. In fact, we can trace all of our current issues with the criminal justice system all the way to when slavery was still legal. The foundation of criminal justice has not changed, so reform is so difficult to accomplish in its entirety Even though we have many of these difficulties, we can still move forth with strong ideas to fix areas within the system. the more we discover and accomplish, the more changes will occur to reform the criminal justice system. accountability and the power of media need to be taken seriously if were ever gonna create changes within the country. we need to start in our community so our foundation can be stronger and deal with the roots of the oppression of minorities within the system.