2018. Right now, it is about 7-8 weeks until it hits 2019. I will say, I never would expect a year like this one to ever shape me, but now I call 2018 “The Remaking of Me.” 2018 has been a year where I did not think that events both nationally and internationally would change the way I think and the way I approach things and people of all kinds of backgrounds.
In March, I came out of the “mental health” closet and revealed my depression and anxiety which started the “remaking of me” and made me realize that coming out of that was not only helping me, but also helped others who went through the same situation or worse. My own experience of this also expanded by taking a risk of emailing the chancellor in April about my mental health panel event and also highlighting the different perspectives of mental health. This then expanded once again into several phone calls, meetings and now into having a first official meeting this summer where I never expected with a marketing internship. I was so fortunate to learn so much about marketing being the communicator factor for a business, the face of how marketing interconnects people and the different departments within the business and the company. With that, I also made some really amazing friends.
On top of that, I am pretty thankful for God, family, and friends and fortunate that I go to a university that cares about diversity and inclusion. I list these things and hate to brag because last year around this time was very dark and heavy fir me. I was in a major I was miserable in and with dealing with that, I also was dealing with emotional unsupportive parents while being bullied at school by people who acted very stuck up and mocked my race with derogatory and disrespectful words. Those words at times still hurt left and right, but I have been using those experiences for positive growth by relating to other people around me who have gone through similar situations.
There have been times this year that I learned in a way that I am stronger, I learned that being humble, open, honest, kind and being your authentic self opens up many doors in ways I could not imagine and that people will appreciate it more. I hope that my writing will continue to be a haven for self-expression and could maybe help a person who needs it.