Alumni Member Report

This year I would say was one of the toughest for me to go through. I went through a lot of challenges this year in 8th grade both academically and socially. A few of my academic challenges were passing classes, keeping up with all the work that was given to us, and turning in all the work that was given to us on time. Which was hard for me only because I like to take a long time to think through things and try to do thing the best of my ability. Not to mention, my social life is

My journey through undergrad was similar to a flight going through a lot of turbulence. I came in knowing what I had to do, make Good grades, shadow doctors, and volunteer/participate in community service. However, there were a lot of trials and tribulations. It was not until after my freshman year when I hit rock bottom academically that my whole world

During those semesters, I relapsed in my battle with depression. I was originally diagnosed at the age of nine but learned to manage the disease with the proper tools of guidance of professionals. The transition from college to the next step presented me with many new challenges that reignited my triggers. After having the disease in remission for so long, I had forgot how to handle my struggles on a day to day basis, so my academics took a hit. The process of learning to cope, build myself back up, and continue moving forward has been tough but has made more confident in who I am as a person, a student, and as a future

There I was, feeling as if the entire world was crashing on top of me. I will be the first to say that I haven’t had and worry free and easy life but I will also tell you that nothing will ever compare to that night. The sheriffs were talking but I didn’t listen. I was lost deep in my thoughts and i feared they would always consume me. As I continued to panic, I realized my little sister needed me so I hid it all and played the calm big sister I have always been. My family watched me for a few days as I lost all sense of

My sophomore year at Central High School did not start out the best. I was recovering from an awful grade point average, awful for me at least, I was sitting the bench in a sport that I had lost interest in, and overall I just did not enjoy school anymore. I personally did not see the point in coming to school at all. It took some time, but I finally started to get my grades up, my season had ended for football, and I knew I was not going back. After everything was starting to go my way I started thinking, “What am I going to do next?”

I was sleeping a lot, my grades were failing, I rarely left my room and I found myself going to class in pajamas more often than not. By the end of the second semester, I was failing two classes and I was so emotionally distraught that I finally decided it was time to ask for help. Getting to the point where I was able to acknowledge my mental illness and reach out to a professional was huge for me. I have been struggling with depression since I was in high school, but I was too ashamed (and extremely stubborn) to admit that I had a problem and I needed help. My first thought was that I needed to go into counseling, but the wait for that is extremely long and I would be back at UNH by the time I was let in. At this point I was stressed out and felt like I had no other

During my second year of College I had to move in my father that got released from the army because of an injury. I lived in New Jersey and he lived in Florida. I had to move to Florida and transfer to another college and watch over my father because he was suffering from PTSD. It was extremely stressful because I saw my father at his low point which affected me mentally. I had hard time concentrating in class and my grades were getting affected by it. I normally do quite well, so this was a sign of a big problem.

My freshman year in high school was unarguably the best year of my high school career, If I knew how the rest of my school career would go I probably would have cherished it a lot more. My sophomore year was going pretty well until one major internal change shifted my well being in the worst. I always knew about depression,but It was always one of those things that I never really thought about because I thought that only certain types of people experienced depression and I couldn't be one of them. was wrong. During the spring of sophomore year I fell into a depression, at the time I did not know what depression was ,nor did I know what was happening with me so I didn't know what to do, I didn't ask for help, and I didn't talk about it. I started to go down an even darker path with self medicating, drinking ,and self destructive behavior all of which I never told to anybody. As the winter and spring ended and summer began I came out of my rut and told myself that If that ever happened again, I want to get help and I don't want to be on a self destructive path

During my sophomore year, the stress of taking all AP and Honors classes made me more vulnerable to having mental breakdowns. I grew increasingly tired of trying to fit the ideal image of a Vietnamese girl and maintaining the best grades so that my family would be proud of me. They had continued to tear me down with any chance that they could despite my desire and efforts to become accepted. Things took a worse turn during the summer before my junior year. My self-esteem became so low that I could no longer jokingly call myself beautiful, even though I had been able to do so on numerous occasions before. That was when depression hit me hard. Mood swings became a part of my daily life and I became immensely dependent on the presence of others. I fell into despair with the thoughts of not knowing what my purpose to live was

Freshman year was a little hard for me because I was trying to get adjusted to new people and make friends as well. I also learned quickly that we were responsible for making choices and knowing what was expected of us as a student. Second semester of my freshman year I began taking my first college course thinking that it would be hard because it was a college class. As I progressed through the Early College I was doing well until I started to experience some issues that I was dealing

My 7th and 8th grade years were emotionally challenging for me. I had the stress of high school in my plate, visiting schools, looking at applications and also stressing about my grades. Another complication was that I had two uncles that were diagnosed

I wasn’t as depressed, and I was creating a fresh life for myself. I got involved with the drama club, and various sports teams. It was only during my second year that things began to deflate once more.

I particularly remember one situation where I was close to fail my freshman year. I was at the point where I was done with everything. I had mentally given up on that year of school. I had bad grades in math, Spanish, and English. I remember

She makes sure to smile , so everyone thinks shes fine . She's not fine . Nothings fine . She thought that by keeping quiet it might calm down all these thoughts , and ease the pain. But she was wrong. It hurts more than ever. While you are moving along with your lives ,she's stuck , shes watching everyone around her move but she's frozen.

Life before graduation was a struggle for me. I lived in a home that seemed to bring me nothing but pain and anger. I watched someone close to me die little by little every day. I did not live a normal childhood because I was a