In my role as a freshman in college, I have become well acquainted with identity crisis’ in trying to figure out who I am, what I care about, and what’s made me the person I am. From all of my obligatory self-reflection, I’ve determined that to best describe myself, I have to explain how heavily the art of emotion is tied into my life. I’ve always been somewhat of an emotional processor, but I’ve realized how it’s really shaped my relationships and story through my life thus far, hopefully even extending to my future career. I even made my concentration in my AP art portfolio “human emotion” my senior year of high school.

Emotions and vulnerability is how I feel most connected in the world. I’m constantly craving depth in conversations; I want to know about the hard things in people’s lives. I seek healing through facing hard emotions, and I had to learn this for myself when I lost my dad at the beginning of my senior year in high school. I believe that life has so much depth if we are willing to explore it. So yes, I don’t shy away from tough topics or bringing others and myself outside of our emotional comfort zones. And yes, I do know the balance between that and laughing with my friends to lighten the darkness. Counseling is a career that I have found so much healing in for myself, and I have a determination to do the same for others in the future.