I am transgender and pansexual and my Christian, right-leaning dad does not agree with my identity. The relationship between me and my dad has been negatively impacted by our disagreements on how I should live my life, unfortunately. My dad always misgenders me and dead names me. I still love him, of course, but it's hard for me to spend time with him because it feels like I have to pretend to be someone else and that gets really exhausting for me. I don't want to sound like a sob story or be overly negative, so let's focus on the positive things that came from my experience with my dad. Since my dad doesn't agree with or respect my decisions about being transgender, I try to always be a support system for other people who are going through things like me. I know many people who are also gay and/or transgender with both their parents who don't agree with or respect their decisions. As their friend, I make sure that I make them feel loved and accepted no matter how they identify. Whenever I meet new people, I make sure I address them how they want to be addressed so they can have a place where they can be themselves and be happy. Not to toot my own horn, but I have had many peers come up to me and tell me how nice I am and that I always make them feel welcomed. My friend August had just moved to the school and they didn't have any friends. When they joined my forensics class, I offered to have them sit at my table and I would talk to them, ask for their input on assignments, make sure they were understanding the material, and made sure they were doing okay. I even let them vent when they needed to. A year later, August thanked me for including them and making them feel welcomed. Feeling alone or unseen is a terrible feeling and I don't want anyone to feel left out or alone. I want everyone to have a place to be free and themselves. And with the way the government is behaving lately, members of the LGBTQIA+ community are going to need as much support as they can possibly get. We all need to stand together and keep our freedom to be who we are. No one can take away our right to be ourselves.

One of the biggest obstacles I faced in my life wasn't from an outside source, it was actually inside of me. I used to have really low self-esteem and it prevented me from making friends and achieving goals because I thought I wasn't good enough. For the first 3 years of high school, I didn't join theater because I thought I wouldn't be good enough to get a part. I went and watched the shows and saw how talented everyone else was and I told myself I'd never be as good as them. Thankfully, I finally realized that I am good enough to be in theater. I actually surprised myself at how good at acting I am. One of the student directors for the One Act we did (which is going to States Competition in March) told me that I did so good in auditions that they wanted to give me 2 major parts but they felt it wouldn't be fair to the rest of the cast, so they gave me one major part and one minor part. And in the Mean Girls Musical we are doing, I am in the ensemble with a few lines. I've had people who are part of the main cast come up to me and tell me that I am a great actor and that I'm super entertaining and they love watching me onstage. I am good enough at acting to get a part and add to the production, and even if I'm not as good as the leads, I am still good and there is always time for improvement. Another problem that my low self-esteem gave me was preventing me from making friends and putting myself out there. I was terrified of what other people thought of me, so I tried to be this cool and mysterious guy. But as the saying goes, "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar". I'm not the best at understanding sayings like this and I don't know why someone would want to catch flies unless to get rid of them, so I'm not sure if this saying even applies to this situation, but we are just going to go with it. Basically, I'll make more friends being myself and being funny than if I were mysterious and quiet. When rehearsals for Mean Girls first started, I didn't like going because I had no friends there. I would sit by myself and be sad when no one came up to talk to me. As time went on, I understood that I had to make my own friends. If i sit in the corner, by myself, looking like I don't want to talk to anyone, no one is going to talk to me. I started going up to people and talking to them and being myself. I made people laugh, told them how great the show was coming along, and I said how excited I was to be part of a show with them. People actually want to be friends with people who are positive and make them feel good. No one wants to be friends with someone who always makes them sad, it's exhausting. Low self-esteem was a big obstacle for me but I was able to learned from my experience and start believing in myself and making friends.

My experience with mental health has shaped my goals, relationships, and understanding of the world by helping me to see the world differently and being able to relate to other people. I have anxiety and depression and although I am on medicine now, I spent most of my life so far unmedicated, so I've learned coping mechanisms. While these coping mechanisms may not work for everyone, it allows me to be able to at least offer a solution that could help my friends or family in the case that they are feeling anxious or sad. One time, my friend Micah was anxious about turning 18. I am already 18, so I had experience with feeling anxious about not being a kid anymore. I told her that being 18 isn't so bad. You don't have to stop doing what you love just because you are a legal adult. You can still watch kid shows and play with toys and stuff. Micah was especially worried about being an adult out in the world, and I told her that she will have more freedom to do things and she'll make more memories and have more experiences. She can get a job and make money and buy things with that money. And once she lives on her own, she can go where she wants to and do things without asking her parents first. After I told her all this, she was less anxious and she was actually excited to turn 18. I can connect with people in my theater group too, because a lot of them get stressed when it gets closer to show night, so I make sure that I am there for everyone and I don't add to the stress by asking too many questions or being too hyper around them. I know how I am when I'm stressed and what makes it worse, so I try to make sure I don't make people more stressed. I offer hugs and depending on the situation, I offer distractions like little jokes and dances to make people laugh. I always try to be an upbeat and positive person so I can make people happy and a little more relaxed. Sometimes just a laugh can make people feel a lot better. I've grown up hearing "laughter is the best medicine", and I believe that. The world needs more positivity and laughter, so I strive to make people laugh. Life is better when we all laugh together.

I've been drawing for as far back as I can remember. Art is my life and it is a huge part of me. At the start of high-school, I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I use art to help me through my emotions and to distract me from things I don't want to think about. I have a lot of thoughts in my head, so being able to illustrate them and put them out into the world is truly a blessing. Even as a kid, I thought differently than the people around me. I would come up with these ideas and I'd explain them to people but they wouldn't get it, so I'd draw it out. That way, even if they still didn't understand why I would think about let's say a giant monster hiding under a city, they would see a cool drawing and at least be entertained. With my art, I hope to entertain people and make them happy or excited. A few months ago, I drew a picture of the main characters from My Little Pony but they were in tanks of goo and they were all mutated. Each one had their own mutation, like Rarity had gems growing all over her, Applejack was turning into a tree, Rainbow Dash had a ton of wings (even in her eyes), and Fluttershy had a bunch of different animals fused with her. A lot of my friends like My Little Pony, so they were super excited when I told them what my project was going to be. When I finished the artwork and showed people, they would take a while looking at it, trying to take it all in. Sometimes when they looked at it again later on they would see something they hadn't noticed before. I love when people can look back at my art and still see new things. It keeps it interesting and engaging. Another thing I love doing with my art is giving it to other people. I am trying to get commissions for my art, but that's not working out too well. I'm going to keep trying though! Anyway, my friend, Mallory, loves hot sauce and horror movies, so I decided to combine the two for her Christmas present. I used sticker labels and I drew some things from her favorite horror movies. I drew Chucky, Jigsaw, the Jurassic Park logo, Audrey 2, and Ghostface and then I put the labels on store bought hot sauce bottles. She loved them! Her face lit up when she saw the gift. Mallory had been having a hard time at home during that time, but I know that I made her day better by giving her the customized hot sauces. That's what I want my art to do. I want my art to make people happy and give them a reason to keep going or see the world a different way.

I've been making art since I gained consciousness, so art is a very important part of my life. I draw whenever I can. I am usually doodling on papers during class and when I'm bored. When I was younger, I loved when they gave me a menu to draw on. I'd do the activities and then flip the paper over and draw on the back. I wish more restaurants gave adults menus to draw on. I know you can ask for one sometimes but I think it's frowned upon, and reusable menus are better for the environment. My twin, Ceci, actually was the one who really got me into art. Ceci helped me learn about drawing different poses (I had a problem with just drawing people with their hands behind their back) and how to get proportions more accurate. Ceci has always been a role model for me especially when it comes to art. We still draw together a lot and I think it really strengthens our bond and helps us connect with each other. Art helps people connect to others and show feelings that they might not be able to put into words. Back before I truly grasped that I was transgender, I drew what I was feeling. I would draw boys in feminine clothes and looking uncomfortable. I made this character named Eli and they didn't really have a specified gender. They were just living their life and t\\rying to become a ballerina. Eli was trying to find where they belonged in the world and who they wanted to be, just like I was. I like drawing non-binary characters and characters that don't have a specified gender identity because it lets the viewer decide who they see. Art is a great way to show heavy topics in a way that speaks to a lot of different audiences. You don't need to read a long article or listen to random people talk about it on a podcast. And the art doesn't explicitly tell you what to think about the problem. I went to an art gallery and I saw a 3-D piece that was basically a bedroom set up but with fabric and streamers to make it look like it was on fire. The artist had put pink and orange lights facing the piece. Based on the childish look of the bed, I thought it was a child's room. I was wondering what the artist was trying to convey through their art. While I could've just looked at the plaque next to it describing what the art was and why the artist made it, I prefer to wonder about the art and come up with my own ideas and theories. Art can also bring people together and let you find out about things you wouldn't have found on your own. For example, I drew a picture with a ton of different portals/cells and each one had a kind of unsettling and creepy scene. I just looked on Pinterest for ideas and took inspiration from things like The Mandela Catalogs and things like that. I saw this one thing and I thought "I'm going to draw my own version of that." My friend, Grace, saw my art and said "this guy reminds me of Doctor Nowhere, is that where you got it from?" I had no idea what Doctor Nowhere was, but turns out that the guy I based my drawing off of was from Doctor Nowhere which is a cool channel on Youtube. So, art brings people together, makes people think, and lets you find new things.

My mental and physical wellness is important to me because when I am doing well mentally, I can be productive, enjoy hobbies, focus on important things like school and theater, and I can be a better friend and son/brother. I am currently medicated for anxiety and depression, so when I don't take my medicine it can get troublesome. This past weekend, for example, I didn't take my medicine. Stopped cold turkey because I just didn't want to take it anymore. Bad idea, I know. I thought that I would be okay and I'd just get a bit paranoid and sad like how I get if I accidentally miss a dose. I was wrong. It started out fine but then I started getting really lightheaded and dizzy and I would be stuck listening to music and playing Screw Sort 3-D instead of doing my work even though I knew I needed to do my work. I started getting really bad headaches and my stomach was upset. I had no idea what was going on with me, so as a young man with a fear of developing a terminal illness, I asked my mom what was wrong with me. She asked me if I had been taking my medicine and I said no. She informed me that my ailments were most likely the result of abruptly stopping my medication. I am back to taking it when I am supposed to, so we are good now but I didn't know how connected mental health was to physical health. I knew that my anxiety had effects on me physically like sweaty hands, headaches, and stomachaches, but I didn't know the extent to which I was being effected. I had no idea that I would get so dizzy because of being off my medicine. From now on I will be better with taking my medicine when I'm supposed to even if I am busy. Being busy is a major challenge when it comes to maintaining good mental and physical health. This year, my school is doing a production of Mean Girls and I am in the ensemble as well as doing the art for the show, so my hands are pretty full with that. On top of those things, I also have to stay up to date with my steps to get ready to go to Flagler College in the fall. I also have other classes in which I'm trying to keep all As in and I'm also trying to get my art sold. So I have a lot going on and it's hard to find time to catch a breath. I can't over work myself but I can't just not do the things I need to do. My solution is to enjoy the little breaks I can get and find ways to make my tasks more enjoyable, like listening to music while working. For example, I'm jamming to Hip to Be Square by Huey Lewis and the News right now. It's upbeat, catchy, and it keeps my mind off of all the other things I need to do before school tomorrow. Finding joy where you can and remember to take breaks when you can so you don't overload your brain.

As a young black transgender teen with anxiety I have been the victim of assumptions other people made of me. Back in middle school, I would always be picked last for group projects and games because people thought I was weird or thought I would just drag behind. I used to let things like that deter me from trying to get along with people and I would opt to work alone instead of working with people. Now, however, I know that I can't let people get in the way of me getting stuff done or having fun. I decided to be myself and not worry about if people would pick me for a dumb kickball game. I am myself, loud and proud. To my surprise, people actually ended up liking me more when I started being myself and not worrying what other people think. My friends and classmates always tell me that they love how funny and confident I am. My friend, Porter, said I was a bundle of joy and never boring to be around. People I don't even really talk to come up to me and tell me that they love how confident and energetic I am. If someone told younger me that people would love me and want to be around me even though I don't have long black hair and ripped clothes, I wouldn't have believed them. I thought the only way to feel like I belong and have friends was to dress cool and be nonchalant. Now I know that it doesn't matter how you dress and not being nonchalant actually makes you a lot more interesting. I used to want to be all dark and mysterious but I've learned that being open and approachable makes people more comfortable coming up to you and talking to you. If you learn to be yourself no matter what people think, the friends you do make will love you for who you are, not the mask you put up to look cool. It took me until 10th grade to realize this and I wish I had understood it before. I lost friends because they thought I was too much of a silly goose and they wanted to be cool. I had really let that upset me for a while and I would stay up wondering what I did wrong. Why did they leave me? Why don't they like me anymore? As my mom always says "It's their loss". It is! If people don't want to be friends with me because I'm super funny and awesome, that's their choice. My ex-girlfriend said she still wanted to be friends with me (which I was okay with) but then she just stopped sitting at my table in class and she doesn't even talk to me at all. Past Ricky would've obsessed over what I could've done for her to just stop talking to me, but present Ricky knows that things happen for a reason and it is what it is. If she doesn't want to talk to me, that's okay. I don't need the weight of wondering what went wrong to cloud my brain. I have enough going on! So I let things happen and I know that everything will end how it's supposed to and everything will be okay. It is what it is.

All throughout my life, I have been a quiet kid. I kept to myself and hardly ever asked questions in class. I had my sibling ask the teacher if I could use the restroom. I was always so scared to speak out and go "out of my shell". Now, however, I have grown and changed as a person. I am in the theater program at my school and I am more willing to ask questions in class, especially in science class. A couple years ago, I was diagnosed with anxiety. I take anxiety medicine to help calm me out and regulate my emotions so I can function. I try not to rely on them though. My science class can get pretty loud, and I'm not too fond of loud, small areas. I tell my teacher whenever I get overwhelmed and she lets me take a walk down the hallway so I can collect myself and take a minute to breathe. One time I had an anxiety attack in class but I didn't want to leave the class because I didn't want to miss any of the learning, so I asked myself what was making me feel anxious; was it the people? everyone talking over each other? or was it the lights being too bright? I figured out that it was seeing the people talking over each other. I put my head down so I could separate myself from the triggering environment and I focused on one or two voices at a time instead of trying to hear all the voices at once. I don't usually feel my feelings if they are negative, I just push them down and set them aside to deal with later, but many people have told me that I shouldn't do that. Lately, I've been trying to feel more emotions instead of pushing them aside. It's been hard because I hate crying in front of people and showing people anything other than my fun and creative side. I don't want people to ask if I'm okay or see me upset. I have to learn how to be more open and vulnerable to people, especially my close friends. I will support others in their mental health journeys by always being their for them and helping them through whatever they are going through. I will generate awareness for mental health challenges by helping out people in my community and being open about my mental health.

Ricky Dominguez 10-11-24 Depression affects many people on our beautiful planet. Depression, at points, makes my life hell, but ultimately, depression makes me appreciate the good things in life. A couple years ago, I got really depressed. This was around the time when I came out as transgender to my parents. My mom was more accepting than my dad and I had many fights with my dad about the topic. I don’t blame my dad. He didn’t make me have depression. My depression definitely made it harder for me to feel emotions because I just shut down when I feel negative emotions. I couldn’t have conversations with certain people or talk about certain things because I would shut down and waste both of our times. I spent most of my time in my room listening to music or sleeping. I missed out on moments with my family. My dad and my sibling watched many movies without me because I didn’t want to leave my room. I made everyone around me miserable even when we were at amusement parks or festivals. I was a total buzzkill. Many people, unfortunately, turn to drugs or self-harm. Thankfully, I didn’t do any of those things. I mainly just cried uncontrollably on the bathroom floor. Sometimes, and I think this is quite funny, I would eat weird things late at night. By “weird things” I don’t mean dirt or anything harmful like that, I mean spoonfuls of yellow mustard and dry oatmeal. Thanks to my depression, whenever I don’t know what to eat or we haven’t gone shopping in a while I have a good alternative: dry oatmeal right from the Quaker Oats container. The hurdles I have overcome are not being a buzzkill and doing things even if I’d rather stay in my bed, and really feeling my emotions instead of shutting down. Over the years, I have learned that I can’t only think of myself. I have to do things other people want to do. I went to a fall festival a while ago and I had a blast because I went in with a positive attitude and didn’t bring everyone down. Now I try my best to go into new experiences with an open and positive attitude. I also have learned, with help from therapy and my family, how to work through my emotions instead of shutting down. I still shut down sometimes, but it happens a lot less than it used to. Depression has helped me see the beauty in this world. I often find myself staring out the window and seeing the leaves shake in the wind. Before I focused on just the trees and thought “boring, it’s just trees” but now I see the trees and I see the individual leaves and the critters in the branches. I appreciate everything around me. I have a deeper love for the world around me because of my darkest days. Even though I have spent many days feeling numb and many nights lying awake crying, I have grown and changed and am now a person who is ready to see the good in everything and take on new experiences with a positive attitude.

Ricky Dominguez 10-11-24 From breakdowns and suicides to sleepless nights and bothersome headaches, mental health has affected me in many ways. As a student, mental health is extremely important to me because of how it affects interpersonal relationships. Mental health affects everyone. It affects the whole community. My friend, Bianca committed suicide and a girl on the volleyball team also committed suicide around the same time. The whole school was devastated. We made banners and grief counselors came to our classrooms. Bianca was in the theater program, and we all miss her terribly. We even made a board full of pictures of her and put it in the sound booth. As a student, mental health is important to me because I never want to lose anyone like that again. School is supposed to be a place where everyone feels like they belong and can be themselves and be happy. I’ve made it my goal to make everyone feel welcomed and wanted in the school. In my junior year, two kids transferred to the school in the middle of the year. They joined my creative writing class, and they didn’t know anyone. I didn’t have many people at my table, so the teacher sat them at my table. The new kids mostly stayed quiet but when they eventually opened up, I talked to them and made them feel comfortable in class. One of them told me later that if I hadn’t become friends with him that he would’ve killed himself because he felt like no one liked him. Even if you don’t think it makes a difference, just talking to someone can make a big difference in their life. No one wants to go through four years of school feeling unloved and unwanted. My freshman year wasn’t good because I felt like I didn’t belong. Once I found a group that accepted me and I figured out how to make friends, my time at school got significantly better. My experiences made me realize that everyone wants to have a place where they are comfortable and can be themselves but sometimes it’s hard to find. So, I help people. I provide a safe and accepting place for them to grow and be themselves. In my groups of friends, we often do mental health check-ins. We ask each other how we are doing, and we help each other out when needed. My friend, Em, was having a really bad day, so after school my sibling and I got some McDonald’s and drove to Em’s house. We sat in the car and ate McDonald’s while Em ranted and cried. We made sure that she got it all out and we hugged her after. We also go to Wendy’s and chill in the parking lot. It doesn’t seem like much, but we can just relax and be ourselves. On Instagram, I sometimes see people post that they are sad or upset. One time, I saw that this girl I follow posted something that made me worry about their mental health. I didn’t know the person, but I messaged them and checked in on them. They said they were fine and they appreciated me checking on them. I don’t know if I helped them, but in my mind, it’s better safe than sorry.