Thoughts by Hannah Michelle

May is mental health month.  Mental health is so stigmatized, and this month's purpose is to not only raise awareness, but to continue to stop the stigmas.  Mental health problems are more common than you might think.  Here are some statistics:  1 in 5 adults in America have a mental illness, with 1 in 25 living with a serious mental illness. 18.1% of adults in America have an anxiety disorder, and 6.9% live with major depression. 2.6% live with bipolar disorder and 1.1% - 2.4 million adults in America - live with schizophrenia, the most debilitating mental health disorder.   Many people that are either homeless, incarcerated, or living with addictions have mental health problems. 90% of suicides are people who had underlying mental health issues.  It is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. 44,193 Americans die by suicide every year.  For each suicide, 25 more attempt. That is 121 suicides a day - 50% of these involve firearms. 60% ...

Just about a year ago, I was graduating from high school.  In many respects, it feels like much longer ago than one year.  I have grown and learned more than I ever expected or imagined I could grow this year, so those changes make me feel like it's been much longer than one year. If a year ago, someone would have told me I'd be majoring in Criminal Justice, I probably would have laughed right at them.  However, I felt so called to that I left one college to go study Criminal Justice at another.  I have not regretted this decision for a second.  Sometimes it has scared me, but I have never regretted it. As I sit here today, surrounded by case files and memoirs of missing children cases, community justice philosophies, probation officer types, and juvenile crime statistics, I realize how much different I am.  At this time last year, I was surrounded by scripts, sheet music, and instruments.  I avoided the news.  I only watched sitcoms, and I wa...

I had to answer "What is the role of Jesus and His impact on the Christian lifestyle?" For my religions class today, and I just wanted to share this here. Jesus.  Who was He?  Who is He?  It is hard to describe Jesus in a few brief sentences; He is and was so many things. Here are the undeniable facts: There was a man named Jesus.  He was crucified for claiming to be the Son of God by Pontius Pilate and his court.  That is proven through not only the gospels, but non-Christian sources and historians as well.  Our calendars are also based off of this man’s lifetime.  The years “BC” are Before Christ, and the years “AD” – like now, it is 2017 A.D, meaning anno Domini, which is Latin for “in the year of our Lord.” It’s what happened after His death that some people believe or chose not to believe, but Jesus Christ was a man, and that’s a fact. Jesus is our center of Christianity.  In the Apostle’s Creed (recited in many church servi...

The past two years, May 1st was a big "decision day" for me.  I am so happy it isn't this year.  That being said, I just wanted to say how happy I am about where I am right now, and how that path was for me. I'm really happy about the "non-traditional" path I have taken.  Having to change your plan is NOT bad - for me, it has been amazing. Two years ago, I had to decide whether or not I was going to transfer to Arlington or not, which I decided not to, based on classes.  I think either choice would have been fine.  Then, last year, I had to decide what college I wanted to attend this fall.  This decision was quite difficult for me, and I decided right in the last week of April.  I chose Doane University.  I chose to major in Music Education, because I knew it was something I could do.  Throughout high school, I wanted to major in performance, but I didn't think I could do it, so I decided to major in music education and theatre. Through...