Hey everyone! I just wanted to remind you all to embrace every moment because our time here is limited. Life gets so busy, but it's crucial to remember that we're only here for a short while, so let's make the most of it! I'm incredibly grateful for the universe blessing me with a healthy body, a healthy mind, and everything else I need for a fulfilling life. Let's start with my arrival into this world on September 14, 2006. My early years are a bit hazy, but I've been told that I was quite mischievous and loved taking my toys apart. I was ecstatic to start school at around 4 or 5 years old and got involved in nursery school and karate. I've always been passionate about learning, and I'll never forget the pride I felt when I scored 98% on a final exam, ranking first in my entire class. However, that joy faded a bit when my name was omitted from the award ceremony list and my scorecard was tampered with. It was a tough reality check for me. Afterward, I was feeling a bit down, but my parents took me to a Gift/Toy Shop to buy me a gift to cheer me up. I was stubborn and insisted on receiving an award/gift from school on a stage, but they bought me an expensive gift anyway, which I didn't accept at the time. Now, it's one of my most cherished memories, and the toy is proudly displayed on my memory shelf. This experience toughened me up and taught me some invaluable life lessons. Since then, I've grown to achieve a 2nd Dan Black Belt in Karate and I'm currently pursuing higher studies. I'm sharing this story not for your sympathy, but to illustrate that life often gives us a reality check. Maintaining a positive mindset has been crucial for me. It's not about the circumstances or the situation, but what we take from them that truly matters. I've also discovered that physical exercise has been a secret to building mental strength. Just a favor to ask: if you make a decision, keep it to yourself until you've applied it in your life. Also, it's best not to give advice on matters that you haven't personally experienced or don't have expertise in. Ananda, or true happiness, is within each of us. Start your self-discovery journey and embrace it. If you'd like to hear more about my life events, feel free to ask!

I was utterly shocked after reading the report that I had received then, and suddenly fear engulfed me; my hands started shaking, I began to shiver, and the World around me froze.Initially, my mind stopped me from opening it; I waited for my wife to open it for me instead. Yes, I was tested Covid Positive on August 20, 2020. I was not ready for the mental harassment and faced the ugly society. Many thoughts started to enter into my mind, and with little space to think precisely, I have already thought of misery, pain, suffering that was about to come. There were zero cases in our locality, and I was the first person to be reported as Covid positive at my branch as well. I used to work for a reputed bank. I rechecked our financials and discussed the same with my wife if I do not live to see another day. Also, the society we are part of didn't sympathize with a Covid Positive patient. I tried to consult a doctor who was not ready to see me or even talk to me over the phone. I requested him, but he asked me to call Municipal Corporation authorities and no further suggestions. While returning home after the humiliation from the doctor, I received a call from my office to join a con call; they were aware that I was unwell, and as I was on leave from August 17, 2020, they could have skipped my name, but I was asked to be in the call, adding more misery, my head was distressing, and I was feeling breathless. After reaching home, I called up the concerned authorities; they suggested self-quarantine and asked me to continue taking the medicines I was already taking and disconnected the call. I was surprised and shocked by the answer. Also, to our surprise, they showed after 9 days, and a wave of fear spread in the locality. People started to think that it was my 1st day of quarantine; however, it was the 9th day. The moment to remember was my son's monthly birthday that I celebrate every month, so I asked my parents and sister to celebrate this moment with him. Even while in pain, we all made him feel special on the day. He was happy, he asked me why we all were crying, and no one had the answer for his sweet little question. So we did it, and I got little motivation. I am happy to celebrate his 40th month birthday this month. Sometimes, a reason to smile is more significant in Life to live it with happiness. I wanted to live with the moment. I was stepping into the unknown, and it was not easy. Sometimes we need to be reminded of what we already have and trust that it is worth fighting for; I have amazing people around, and that's what is enough to fight to live another day. My wife served me the food, tasted delicious, and enjoyed every bite as if it were my last. The minister of Yama was already on his way to fetch me to the heavens. I said to my wife, "I don't want to die." Hearing this, she hugged me and said, "Don't worry we are in this together, and nothing will happen to you, I will not let anything happen to you, just stay calm." We both were crying and trying to be strong. We had a big reason to worry as there was a substantial single-day spike in the positive cases on that day. That night I couldn't sleep, it was 1.30 am, and I started to suffocate in my own thoughts. I imagined my death, and every time it was different. I started to search out for memories with my parents, siblings, friends, wife, and most of all, my son. I wanted him to hold my hand and take me along somewhere. I was crying for hours, and the ocean of tears in me was not empty. I am weeping now while mentioning it here as I remember every single bit of it. My wife was sleeping in the other room. I wanted to hug her for the last time, but I could not do so and kept staring at her from a distance with the hope that it is not the last time. I wanted to tell her that I loved her a lot, kiss her feel the warmth for the last time. She was looking breathtakingly startling while in sleep—the hair strands on her luminous face were something. I wished that if ever I had a time machine to go back one day—so many wishes to fulfill, so many people to meet up and celebrate life with. I lingered in the small World of four walls that were created by my mind and heart. I tried to write a simple letter on the roof to the mind, "Dear Mind, Please Stop Thinking, Stop Thinking of Death." I realized that day, "Life has its ways of turning things upside down, hit you hard when you least expect it. It will test your resolve to the last bit of spirit in you. It makes you question everything around you and take you for granted. But sometimes it's a good thing, it's the best way to move onwards and upwards." Today we live in a society that is always ready to play the blame game. Pandemic adds more spice to it, and people neglect the facts and accept the myths. Life is pleasant, and we should live it with the correct mindset. We all need to embrace Life's primary purpose: living, as Life is full of surprises and unpredictability.

"The world has survived different kinds of crises. People have seen world wars and economic depression, but the human spirit has endured and survived." - Swati Rustagi "When it hit, it hit hard and brought everyday life to a standstill. We entered a worldwide lockdown; ‘the new normal." In one way or the other lockdown brings the "Time" for everyone, Which earlier people didn't get for a second. I know people are suffering from this virus and recession too, there is no money in the market, Everybody is suffering from this situation. And at this moment being happy and saying "yeah" Coronavirus brings Happiness or say Time for me is not a good idea. But Still, everything has its positive and negative effects. This virus too has it both effects •Positive can be it brings the time for the family to spend together, where on one hand, when people don't have a second to spend it with family were being lockdown and spending the entire day with there family. •Negative of course a disease spreads from being in contact with other people and recession. On a positive note, the pandemic has also taught us self-sustenance; from cooking meals at home no junk food for about 5 months, and after that also and undertaking home improvements. We are a family of four adults, and because of lockdown, we all had been home together at a stretch for the first time. Initially, when the lockdown was announced, It seemed like a task, but with the materialistic things been shut and you have to be at home for a time being the stress levels have gone down. One lesson that I have taken away from this situation is that as a race, humans have to be more respectful towards the other creatures inhabiting the planet and show more respect towards each other. In a situation like this, all the money in the world is of no use; what counts is the love and compassion towards each other and learning how to co-exist.

Is it a good morning today? Is It a bad morning? Is it going to rain? What time is it?... Questions once simple to answer… But the lockdown has given a new meaning to them. It is indifferent to us if it is going to rain today. All days look alike. Some nights the shadows on the balconies seemed so alive, dancing in a waltz with no faces. Is this an illusion? Is this situation of isolation a new truth? Total silence of the night and the lights are off. People behind the closed curtains of the neighborhood, say goodnight in silence. Is this an illusion? Today's truth has become a conventional obligation that challenges you. Is freedom an illusion? Try to find the meaning of it in books and articles of yesterday. Maybe you will not find it anymore. The truth of today is totally different. Masks are thrown on the sidewalk and time and space become vague concepts. Once being social, now you keep ‘Social Distancing'. The new social norm. Your freedom has terms and conditions. Its illusionary and vague. You can keep what's positive from the new ‘truth' and discard the ‘negative' burden. Maybe it is all a game that we need to win, and remember the words of Anton Chekhov, that “the illusion which exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths.”

I graduated high school back in 2011, and have been attending community college ever since. At the time I was not interested in continuing with school but my older sister forced me to enroll because education was and is the only tool that many of us have. The only tool to work our way out of being poor for the rest of our lives. I attended classes but I had no direction, no passion, but I still tried anyway, I changed my major several times and for a while it seemed like maybe I could make a career out of being an American Sign Language interpreter because it didn't seem too bad, but after four semesters of that I knew I couldn't continue studying something I didn't have a passion for. I made a D in ASL 4, and thought maybe school wasn't for me, so I decided not to return. That only lasted a semester because I fell into a deep depression and my family made it their business to make me go back to school. So when I began to look at what classes I could take, I noticed that I had taken many of the core classes along with some developmental classes that I didn't need to take, and had avoided the upper sciences and math. At a quick glance, what seemed to be the “easiest” class to me was Stellar Astronomy, and that was the only class I took in Spring 2016. That one class changed everything for me. All my insecurities and complaints that I had about every little thing became superficial after taking that class. Out there - time and space become one, there is a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, dark matter etc. it all fascinated me, caught my attention. Earth, the only known planetary body to harbor life and we are a part of that, a part of the Universe. Suddenly I didn't hate school anymore and even though I originally wanted to become an astronomer because of that course, I knew the only career options for me were to either work for NASA or work at a planetarium which both seemed extremely unlikely because of limited opportunities and the competition. Through my searching I chose environmental sciences as an alternative, which seemed general enough because I began to appreciate every subject. My next step was to take more science and math, which I did and it was not easy. Spring 2017 I took Trigonometry and once again I made another D. That was personally crushing for me as well as for my gpa. I thought life was supposed to become easier when you found your passion but instead I left that class defeated. As a result, six weeks of my Summer I spent retaking Trig and made a B. In the Fall I took a Biology and a Geology course. I believe that it was somewhere around this time that I stopped receiving financial aid because for one I had become an independent student and two I had exceeded the time-frame given to students to complete their degree. I now had to pay tuition myself with the help of my family. My gpa wasn't the best, I had no achievements, no honors, no extracurriculars, so even though I had help with money I felt like I squandered so much of my time in school and I had no achievements. I had an idea of what I wanted to study but I began to wonder if it was too late for me. Everyday I felt an enormous amount of pressure from my family to finish school because I kept not graduating, and everyone thought I'd change my major again, and I needed to stop wasting my time so I could begin working to make big money. I was told to go back and finish my ASL interpreter training because I was halfway done with that degree. My family's worries were and are completely understandable but I did not want to settle because that's what so many people around me did and many of them are miserable. That one semester I took off was enough to keep me going - I never wanted to feel that way again. Spring 2018 I decided to go back to math and take Precal, and once again my life changed. The professor told the class about an opportunity called NCAS which was an acronym for “NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars” and I couldn't believe what I heard. Almost immediately I applied early and spent several agonizing weeks waiting to hear back. When I did hear back via email, I was accepted into the program! There was no way I was going to squander this opportunity. The online program lasted 5 weeks and was actually a competition with about 400 students from across the US who participated. Students who did well were going to be given a four day onsite visit for FREE as long as we earned a B to be considered. I made a 100% and after some paperwork I visited the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. NCAS Summer Class of 2018. One year later and I am currently participating in NASA's Lucy Student Pipeline Accelerator & Competency Enabler or L'SPACE for short. I don't worry about my future as much anymore. I tried, failed many times, kept going and had to learn to become relentless with my goals and aspirations. I can't wait to see what my future holds. Just a little bit longer. But how much longer?

Suicide. What just crossed your mind? One single word sends countless thoughts through countless heads. Just seven letters, and thousands of thoughts... Sad. Scary. Bad. Tragedy. Fear. Don't say that. You can't do that. Painfully blunt. Too much. Quiet down! Suicide is a rising epidemic worldwide. There are over 550 deaths by suicide every single year in my home state alone. Every single year this monster takes almost 600 of my people. But this monster is not suicide. "Suicide" is simply a word that means a life was taken by hands of it's own. The monster is something very different. The monster is the cause of suicide. There are many monsters, but there is one that we ignore. One we shove to the back corner, so we can pretend it doesn't exist. One monster that may be more lethal than any other. And that monster is stigma. Suicide means someone's life was taken by their own hands; but it doesn't mean that someone killed themself. I know what you're thinking. Slow down! That is literally what it means! Before you flee to the dictionary for a denotative definition, hear me out. Yes, the person died by their very own actions. But, in the majority of cases, it is my belief that they didn't kill themself. The monsters killed them. Humankind is making mounds of progress in the knowledge that people who died by suicide are rarely the cause of their own death. Through education, many are learning that mental illness is a real issue, and a very big one. Mental illness is one of the monsters that plays a large part in the majority of suicide cases. Through dedicated research, humankind has discovered ways to help people who suffer from mental illnesses, including varying forms of treatment and raising awareness. We have done a lot to lower the reach of mental illness, now it is time to put our efforts toward lowering the reach and effects of another very quiet but horribly significant monster: stigma. Stigma. Noun. A mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person. Mental illness kills. And so does the stigma surrounding it. Why is it that there is such a large and negative stigma surrounding mental illness and suicidal ideation? This stigma stops people with serious illnesses from reaching out for help. Somehow being mentally ill is wrong. Being suicidal is shameful. One brings it upon themself. Or, this is what the world should have us think. The stigma surrounding mental illness tells people who simply have sick brains that these horrible thoughts and feelings they deal with are their own fault, and nobody can know because it is shameful. There is an enormous pressure to hide it, and to fix it by yourself. This is not reasonable! One can expect mentally ill people to fix themselves as much as one can expect people with broken bones or physical impairments to fix themselves. Pressure builds, the issue is not helped, and the illness gets worse. Because of stigma, mental illness goes from treatable to lethal. Though it isn't ideal and nobody would wish it, mental illness is a reality that many individuals face. And still, though we have the knowledge needed to understand and accept mental illness as it is, the stigma surrounding it kills; more than the illness itself. Humankind has come so far over the years! We have learned how to treat mental illness in many cases, saving many lives! Now it is time to treat the stigma surrounding mental illness. Stigma has been killing people. It is time for people to kill stigma.