Making My Mark by Kaitlyn

Making My Mark by Kaitlyn - January 2024 Scholarship Essay

I’ve always been a dreamer. From the moment I could walk, I’ve wanted to run as fast as I could. As the years passed, my need to dream has not ceased, but rather grown as I have.

In the summer of 2021, with the help of my older sister, Madi, I created a plan to combat the stigma surrounding mental health within our school, something I dreamed of when I began noticing my friends failing to know how to help themselves. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew that if I didn’t do something, no one else would either.

The Gray Matters Collective is a non-profit organization that “aim[s] to push mental health to the forefront of public conversation and policy to instill hope”. With the help of Haley DeGreve, TGMC founder, we brought this organization to our school. Our main goals were to educate the school and community on mental health, while teaching coping and self-help strategies, to break down the walls of stigma surrounding mental health. While most would think this is a positive idea, unfortunately, not all agreed.

The administration struggled to understand our need and didn’t believe that our students experienced lingering effects of COVID that negatively impacted their lives. Our principal wouldn’t allow us to initiate this mental health support movement within our school. Knowing the dire need firsthand, Madi and I didn’t let that stop us. We began to build our school chapter off school grounds. Our group quickly grew, reinforcing our belief that mental health could no longer be ignored. With the support of local community members, we finally received administrative approval. While I can’t take away everyone’s personal struggles, now I know they at least have been taught some strategies to cope with these issues. I am not naive enough to believe that what we have created will solve every mental health problem in my community, but I do know that I have made a difference. With more than 30 high school and college chapters of The Gray Matters Collective currently, I am extremely proud to say that ours was the first high school chapter of TGMC ever created.

I feel like I’ve accomplished everything I can in high school, so I dream and I plan for my future life; the day I finally become a forensic investigator for the FBI, the day I test my first DNA sample in my lab, the day I help solve my first case. I dream of the day when I can help more people, make a bigger impact on the world.