Elegant Personal Statement

Mental health has been an important issue to me for the majority of my life. My mother owns and operates a vocational center for individuals with mental disabilities, and through her program I was able to discover my passion for helping those who can not always help themselves. While I am spending time with the individuals at the program, I become inspired by the kindness, compassion, and strength that radiates from within them. Living with a mental illness can be very challenging and comes with many difficulties, and to alleviate some of their struggle by simply listening and caring brings me immense joy. I have volunteered at my mother’s business, Elegant Clinical, for five years; there I do paperwork, cleaning, and more recently have been able to interact with the clients. Over this past summer, I helped an individual served at Elegant do an entire online application for a job at Stop and Shop. She is not stable enough to work yet, she knew that, but she simply wanted someone to spend the time with her, so I did. It took us around two hours and I enjoyed listening to what her dreams were. Even though she wasn’t work ready, I was able to be there for her to take away some of the struggle that she experiences daily, even if just for those couple of

A mural of a forest in the winter is on a wall in the social skills room that I had designed and painted myself. Incorporating arts as expressive therapy for those with disabilities and I enjoy facilitating small social skills groups to understand an individual further without language. The file cabinets in the offices have been organized and labeled by me, and each weekend I go in to make new files, label them, and make sure everything is in order. The many opportunities that I have had at the program translate into other aspects of my