This I Believe

By A’niya Williams, high school senior

I believe in independence, self love and equality. All through elementary and middle school I got bullied and people would pick fights with me for whatever reason I didn’t understand because I was always so quiet. That made me very insecure and depressed. I never really talked to anyone about the issues I was having because I felt like no one could help. When I got to high school I got a new start, and started to see my value, and what I am capable of. This is why self love is so important because if you love and respect yourself, nobody can tell you different. Self love is also not letting another person’s needs come before yours, and not settling. I believe this is very important because if you don’t love yourself it is very hard to love someone else. 

When I was younger I was alway more on the dependent side. When I started to get a little older and started having relationships I would depend on them to make me happy. Then when I moved away my whole attitude and perspective changed. I got a job and started to do as much as I could for myself so my mom could have a little less stress. Also it felt good to not have to ask for something that I wanted. 

I believe independence is important because you can’t always rely on someone to do everything for you, or make you happy. There is a time in everyone’s life where they have to go out into the world and live their own life. It is a really good feeling because you know u did it on your own. 

Lastly equality. Equality is very important to me because when I grew up there wasn’t a lot of it especially in school. Growing up in school as a minority was very hard. I was one of few mixed/ black race at my schools. Teachers would treat me differently and I never really put the pieces together until later in my life. I believe equality in the USA is fake and it’s just here to make people think everything is equal. In reality nothing is equal, because no one is given the same thing when they are put on this earth. Equality is very important to me because it is a right that everyone should be given. 

This is an image of three heart shapes hanging from strings.

I Am Autistic

I am autistic I wonder philosophically I hear love I see equality I want to be normal I am caring I pretend to be normal I feel cast out I touch lives I worry about everything I cry when other cry I am goffy I understand autism Means different I say we are all equal I dream about the futur I try to feel powerful I hope for equality I am autistic

About the Author:

My name is Aidan Draper, I am diagnosed with ASD. I’m 15, I live in Muncie IN, and I go to Liberty Christian School in Anderson, IN. I’m a sophomore in high school. I am passionate about suicide prevention. I live with my parents and my younger brother. I have a bird, dog, and bunny.

Heaven and Shadow Man

Art by Ashley McDaniel from Florida. Ashley is a person with schizophrenia and art keeps Ashley safe.

God's House
This is a drawing of a castle in the sky where God lives. There is a pathway with grass on each side leading from the front door off into the distance. There are three suns shining in the sky, one fluffy blue cloud and three blue dots.
Shadow Man is invisible
This is a drawing of Shadow Man in black, gray and red. There is a gray and red spiral in the middle of the page under the writing and under the spiral is a red fire with black outline and Ashley’s name. The text written in black ink reads “Shadow Man is talking to me but I don’t see him though so I ignor him.”

This is Depression

By Paige Guffey

Have you ever looked in the mirror and wondered where you went? Because all you see is sadness, anger, emptiness or loneliness. A shell of a person who used to genuinely smile.

Have you ever been in the middle of a crowd or surrounded by family, yet felt so alone? A deep, soul-wrenching loneliness.

Have you ever woken up and wished you hadn’t? And, you wished you hadn’t with a passion so deep that it shakes you to the core; it terrifies you.

Have you ever felt so empty that you don’t even know if you’re alive? Like you’re a black hole that is eating every emotion, but you can’t feel anything.

Have you ever laid in bed wondering if your family, your children, would be happier without you? Because you feel like you are this giant burden that is dragging everyone around you down and nothing you do is right anyways.

Have you ever asked yourself why? Why me? Why is this happening? Why do I feel this way? What can’t I just snap out of it?

This is depression at its finest. It’s dark and light. It’s happy and sad. It’s crying one moment and being angry, so angry, the next. It’s putting on a smile to mask the pain. It’s playing with your children as if you hadn’t just been in the bathroom crying. It’s a Black Hole that sucks the life out of you until you don’t even know who you are anymore. It’s like drowning, you’re sinking into an ocean of pain and you can’t breathe and you can’t get to the surface.

And, you can’t explain it. Because you’re scared. You’re terrified that no one will understand. That they’ll judge you. They’ll think you’re crazy. But you’re so scared all of the time of what will come next. What if you don’t get better? What if it never ends?

This is Depression.

  • The Lonely Girl
    The Lonely Girl
Image Descriptions: The image on the left is a colorful painting featuring a mother and daughter, a bunny, flowers, and birds. The sky is purple, the air is orange, and the grass is green. There are three Daisies with white petals. Near the flowers, the mother and daughter silhouette appear to be walking away. The rabbit watches them go. The birds fly over the flowers. The piece on the left uses colored pencils to create an image called “The Lonely Girl” who is sitting on a swing hung from a single branch of the tree. There is a bird sitting on the branch looking down at the lonely girl. The ground is green and grassy with several flowers. The air is downcast colors of brown and blue.