I have suffered from OCD and anxiety since I was five years old. I would get overwhelmed in school easily. The other kids would notice and mock me out because they didn't understand what was going on. The teachers only made it worse by insinuating that I was the problem; simply throwing tantrums to get attention.

 I was able to overcome my anxiety in the classroom with the help of numerous therapists, medication, and the stigma of mental illness being a topic of interest for my generation. Even though I was eventually graduated  from PCTI with a 4.0 in 2016, one thing stuck with me: what could have been done differently? In the future, what would be done for people like me?

 I worked with special needs children  from 2019 to 2022. Most of them were like me: autistic, anxious, and unsure of everything. I wanted to give these students--who are often rejected by peers, teachers, and even their own families, at times--- a chance to be seen as human. Humans with unique issues, illnesses, and abilities.

In my childhood, mental illness was seen as a joke, something that could be cured definitely or mocked in the process. In my adulthood, people are willing to open up and discuss their trauma (especially from their youth.) These are the people that walked so the next generation could run, and I know that the next generation will not be running from the stigma of mental illness.

They will break the stigma.