I have always been fascinated with psychology, even from childhood (though I didn't realize it then). There are many branches of careers in psychology. Just like the human mind, psychology is not simple; rather, it's quite complex, so there are a variety of different jobs connected to it. Among all of its branches, one sticks out as the obvious choice as a career for me: mental health counseling. A mental health counselor works with an individual to help better their emotional and mental health. They help them understand what they're going through, and they help them through their suffering. My dream is to become one of these people. I have two reasons why I would want to work in this particular line of work. One, I have a great understanding of the turmoil that come with negative emotions that most often come in the form of mental illnesses. Two, I want to help people who are suffering. I want to be a person that won't judge them for what they're going through, and I want to be a person that can help fix those who are broken. Most of all, I want to help those who feel like they're alone. The basis of these two reasons is the fact that I myself went through some In my elementary years, I was very quiet and very shy. In fact, I barely talked at all–only when necessary. This didn't exactly attract many friends, so I became a loner as well. These combined factors led to a lack in social skills. As the years went by and as my awareness of certain things such as appearance grew, I became self-conscious. I didn't hate my self-image, but I was becoming aware of my flaws, and they seemed to stick out like sore thumbs more than others' flaws did. Then the first step in shattering my healthy mental state came in seventh grade. I was sitting on the bus, waiting for the last passengers to arrive so we could start the ride home. That's when a couple of boys came on. As they passed me, they said, referring to me, “You know, she'd be pretty…if she was a guy.” In that single moment, my self-esteem plummeted. In my eyes, I was ugly. Not only that, but I began to think with certainty that no one liked me. They were just being polite, I told myself. Or they were just being pitiful. That eventually morphed into social anxiety, where I dreaded every single kind of social situation. Eventually, I started avoiding them altogether. Of course, when you avoid social situations, you don't really spend much time around people. That causes a deep loneliness inside you. After all, humans are social creatures, and naturally, they crave for companionship. Eventually, I developed depression: I constantly felt hopelessness and deep sadness, and I had several recurrent thoughts of self-harm and suicide. Eventually, I managed to survive those endless feelings with the help of music and books that I could relate to. I also joined the Academic Team in my sophomore year. Through that, I formed a friendship with someone. That friendship–though it only lasted a year because she graduated (and I haven't seen her since)–helped restore my self-esteem. It showed me that there were indeed people who liked me. I went through all that by myself. I never told anyone. I was very good at hiding my inner demons, which is why no one ever found out about anything. To be honest, I was scared to share my thoughts with someone, because I was afraid they wouldn't understand. That is why it's my dream to become a mental health counselor. I want to help those just like me overcome their mental illnesses. I don't want anyone else to feel alone and feel like there's no one who can understand and help them. I don't want anyone else to feel like they'll be judged for having these problems. I want to help them because I've experienced the same things they have. I want to be the person who helps them overcome these mental hurdles and who doesn't stop helping them, no matter how big their struggles are.