High School is a time full of learning in both one’s academic classes and their personal life. For Vanessa, an MHS sophomore and staff writer for the newspaper, she is most proud of the growth she has made from her personal experiences with overcoming struggles with mental health.

Through these times, she has learned the importance of making the best of a situation. She puts this into practice by evolving herself into the person she truly wants to be. 

“What I did after to make me be the version of myself I am now, I feel like that kind of sets me apart,” said Vanessa. 

Something she found really enjoyable that got her on that path, that she continues to do today, is going for walks or just being outside to soak up the sun. 

She uses this time to relax and reflect on everything she has going on, saying it’s best for, “allowing myself to be consumed by nature itself,” shared Vanessa.

Despite the growth Vanessa has noticed in herself, and the difference her friends have seen in her, she still hopes to keep improving throughout the year.

When asked what trait she wants most in her friends, she said honesty.

She has several goals she would like to meet, but she says that her current one is that she would like “to be way more social.”

This is a personal goal, but one that also extends to her friend group. They would all like to create a larger group for themselves or at least have a few more friends in their classes. 

“If my hair looks bad and I ask them about it, and they say ‘yes, it does’ and they fix it for me,” said Vanessa. 

She also has goals set for further in the future. Vanessa would like to take a gap year before going straight to college, her mind set on going into a field heavily focused on mental health, such as psychology.

The reason she has already chosen this path is because she has a passion for paying things forward, saying, “I want to be able to help people the way somebody was able to help me.”

To get her on the way to achieving this dream, she has already signed up for a psychology class next semester. This is important because something Vanessa values is her overall success in the future.

Her inspiration for this would be her brother, “because he basically kind of ‘made it’ [in their family],” she said.

Overall, Vanessa strives to have a life where she can keep growing as a person and continue pursuing her passion for psychology. So, be excited to follow her journey this year by keeping up with the stories she publishes.