Aly Danick

I am an AACPS: Alum, Arundel High School

High school was a spectrum of emotions, obstacles, and experiences. As Dickens once stated “It was the best of times and it was the worst of times” but these moments either good or bad would not have made me who I am today. In high school I learned that labels don’t mean anything. It’s not about what is on the outside but it’s more of what makes up our inner soul. Words are words, and actions are worth a million of words.

I, like many of my peers was labeled in high school, but I had multiple identities, many were known to the public eye but a few were not. Athlete. Scholar. Leader. Responsible. Friendly. Caring. Outgoing. These were all of my traits seen to the public eye. Depressed. Anxious. Insecure. Scared. These were the traits that were not seen, partly because of the labeling culture. In the beginning of high school I was struggling to find my true identity. I was scared to let others in because if they knew I had Depression and Anxiety, they may label me as a weak person. For two years I didn’t tell anyone how much pain I was in. For two years, I thought I was the only one suffering. I had reached the end of a dark road and without one of my beloved teachers Mrs. Kirk I wouldn’t be here. She made me realize its okay to ask for help and to speak out on this stigma of mental illnesses.

During high school I spent a lot of my time advocating for people who are struggling. I created an anonymous twitter page where people could send in compliments about other students, I helped to run Seeking Smiles a support group for people who are suffering and or want to make new friends and I attempted to spread positivity wherever I went. Through the Signature program with help from Mrs. Dziedzic and Mrs. Billheimer, I also learned diversity is key in bettering our community and relations with peers. When I lost my best friend to suicide I made it my mission to never allow labels to silence us. It is important to end the stigma that mental illness is a joke and not needed to be talked about. That’s false. If you are suffering, speak out. Don’t let the labels of high school define who you want to be. The only label you need is that you are HUMAN. If its three in the morning and the demons are haunting you pick up the phone and call someone. You are never alone in this battle of life and you are so much more than a label. That is the most important thing I learned in high school. Don’t allow yourself to conform to your surrounding environment, keep pushing yourself to become a better person and never forget your true identity. Always remember everyone is fighting their own battle so just be nice, smile at strangers and love those around you.