2. Describe a setback you have encountered in your life. Explain how you have handled the situation and what you have learned from it.
I have faced many setbacks in my life, but one of the biggest is the way mental health has affected my entire life. Not a day of my life goes by that isn’t haunted by mental illness. It hurts me and the people around me. But I would not be who I am today without it.
Mental illness has always been a big part of my family and who we are. My grandparents on my father’s side were both mentally ill, and I have a bipolar aunt on my mom’s side. My father has Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar. Not only has this affected how we’ve been raised and our family life, but it has also caused all 8 of the children in my family to have mental illnesses of our own.
My depression began in 8th grade. It was bad, but high-functioning. I still had straight A’s and was able to go to school. I hurt inside but I was able to keep it together. I went to a psychiatrist the summer after freshman year and was able to get a handle on things. Life was good.
In November of sophomore year, something happened that broke me. I questioned everything about myself and my self-esteem completely dropped. I wanted to take my own life, to end the pain. I couldn’t eat. I cried myself to sleep. The more you don’t eat, the more it harms your body. And the more you harm your body, the harder it is for it to ever bounce back; anti-depressants don’t work unless you have eaten. It was a vicious cycle that I couldn’t break. I began to have headaches and stomachaches all the time. Everything hurt. My memory started to fade. My grades steadily began to drop. Life got so much harder. I was officially experiencing low-functioning depression.
School had never been hard for me before. Not a single aspect, not a single subject, not a single homework assignment. This setback in my life absolutely devastated me. I was on track to graduate with a 4.0 and an outstanding ACT score. I had high aspirations, which I now cannot pursue because I do not have the transcript or health required. It only got progressively worse as time went by.
Not only has my mental illness hurt me, but it has hurt my loved ones. The smallest thing could set me off; my emotions became volatile and I couldn’t control my temper. When I was hurt, those around me were sure to hurt as well. This may have been the hardest part. I was hurting, my grades were hurting, and the people I ca...
