How my experiences with mental illness has led me to my major by Samantha

How my experiences with mental illness has led me to my major by Samantha - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

I am a witness. Every day I witness the effects of autism and cognitive impairments on my older sister Johanna. She struggles to understand what most people have known since elementary school. I struggle to understand how society can do better for my sister and others with disabilities. Inspired by my personal experiences growing up with my sister Johanna, I am driven to explore the societal shortcomings in understanding and supporting individuals with disabilities.
Growing up with Johanna has made my life more meaningful. It has most certainly made me more aware of what people are feeling. I am curious about others and how they relate to their world. My relationship with Johanna is important to me. When Johanna and I go to the grocery store in our small town, I put myself in her shoes. Seeing the world through her eyes allows me to phrase things in a way that matters to her. I cannot say things as a parent because that is not who I am to her. To speak as a big sister would be just as upsetting to her. I am the younger sibling. The trip to the store is as much about Johanna being able to be independent and valued in her experience as it is about me.
I am grateful to have grown up with Johanna. A quality she and I share is persistence. Johanna sets a goal for herself and focuses on it, and I do the same. I have learned the benefit of persistence in my schooling, my waitressing job, and in my sport competitive cheer. Even though my life is different from that of my sister’s, I see myself reflected in her. As a beginning of my efforts to understand and relate to various forms of human experience, this fall I am taking an Introduction to Sociology and Introduction to Psychology dual enrollment classes. Later in the year, I will be taking abnormal and developmental psychology classes.
I am ready to be more than just a witness to other people’s worlds. My goal is to become involved with the diagnosis and treatment of those in need by becoming a psychologist. I believe that this is how I can make the greatest impact in the world. For people like Johanna, the world should be a more equitable place, and society needs to have a more empathetic understanding in order to make that happen.