My entry is a drawing of my mom made up of words describing her. She has always been someone who I can look up to and who cares for me no matter what I do. She is an incredible figure in my life who I try to model myself after. In short, my hero. I would tell more about her, but you only need to look at my drawing to see what kind of person she is. She is so supportive and has always given me confidence when I doubted myself. I will always be grateful to her.
The mental health heroes I decided to portray are my friends. Individually, we all have our struggles and mental blocks; together, we can fill in each other’s gaps of mental vulnerability. If one friend is going through something, the rest of us will help support them however we can. Not everyone has the same problems, which is why we are like a puzzle. Each of us brings a piece to the table, whether that be experience, advice, or even just emotional support. The format I made the piece was akin to a video call because the group of friends I drew is people I got much closer to during a time when we were supposed to be further than ever. Quarantine. Growing up comes with many struggles, many of them mental, but my friend group will always support each other through it all.
I chose my dog, his name is S’mores, as my mental health hero. After a long day, going home and spending time with my dog always makes me happy. I drew that landscape to describe the highs and lows of life. The right part of the drawing represents the sad parts of life. My dog and I are passing over the bridge to the other side. He is guiding me and helping me be happy.
I’ve chosen to take the monthly prompt “mental heroes” as a way to look back and see what my mental heroes looked like dating all the way back to my childhood. I had this one stuffed animal that I just couldn’t ever part with, and his name was Ozzy. Ozzy was a friend to keep at night to keep the monsters at bay, but his specialty was helping me throughout the day. Like keeping me company, keeping my secrets, and just being there for me. I can honestly say Ozzy saved me from the hardships of elementary school. I’ve chosen to draw my piece in a format of a child’s to again showcase that all of this is through the mind of my 7-year-old self.
Reggie is the CEO/founder of Project Aware, a program that helps kids learn to cope with their emotions. There are thousands of things I could say about this amazing man. He’s done so much for me and my partner, we’ve learned so much about not only ourselves, but others. We’ve learned to be more emphatic, more caring and loving. He asks us such out of the box questions that really make you reflect on yourself, and I have no idea where I’d be without him. He’s an amazing mentor, hardworking, and deserves to be celebrated. This artwork is something to reflect how much we truly care for him. He helps so many people in his processes and deserves to receive something for that.
This entry is a dedication to my mom. I wanted to tell the story of her struggles and how much I really appreciate her. Her selflessness is something I want to carry with me as I grow older. And I hope that others can take away something greater from this: You can tell a lot about a person by their hands. And in this case, my mom is an amazing person.
I drew a picture of my older sister. She has inspired me. She has supported me. And she has used her incredible influence for good. I went into freshman year of high school practically knowing no one. I had transferred from a charter school to a traditional public school that was in another district. Predictably, I felt extremely lonely, and the experience was all but overwhelming to me. However, my older sister who I’ve depicted here, was a junior at the time, and she watched out for me. She put her best efforts forward to be there for me and to be my friend. She introduced me to her friends and helped me integrate into this new school. I thank her for that, and her kind actions mean so much to me.