Posted on

Be There For the People You Love

Be There For the People You Love Be There For the People You Love

Aliyah Pilgram, fifth place

“Don’t judge people for the choices they make when you don’t know the options they had to choose from.” -Anonymous When I was in 6th grade, my sister started to only hang out in her room and never talk to me anymore. Her grades started declining and she didn’t care about anything anymore. My parents were mad because they thought that she was just choosing to not try or care. They would always fight, which caused me to have a lot of worry about what was going on. One night they got into a big fight and my sister and parents sat down and talked about our other family members that had or have depression and anxiety. They talked about how that might be the reason for everything my sister was experiencing. They later made an appointment for my sister and she was diagnosed with depression and anxiety.

I didn’t know what to think. I had never heard anything about mental illnesses until that day. Living with someone with a mental illness has taught me so many things. I learned that having a mental illness is not someone’s fault and they did not choose to have it. Something that is cemented into my brain is when my parents had to sit down and talk to me about making sure that my sister would not hurt herself while they were gone and we were left home alone. That is something that I never thought that I would have to hear. My sister has always been someone that I have looked up to and always thought that I had to be perfect just like her. I was always so worried about her and was especially worried when my parents had to put away the kitchen knives to prevent her from self-harm. That is when it really hit me, it hit me that my sister that I always thought was so perfect was not okay and I needed to be there for her and just make sure that she is okay.

What I learned from this experience is that we should never judge someone by their cover because you never know what is really going on in their life. This was the first time that I was introduced to any mental disorder. I didn’t know what to think. I thought that this was going to change my life in a bad way but in reality, I think it changed my life in the best way possible. It made me understand what so many people were going through and how it sometimes is okay to not be okay. Not everyone is perfect and you shouldn’t think just because something bad happens in your life it’s ruined forever.

I want my law of life to just be there for others no matter what. I want to be there for them because maybe they don’t have anyone else that will listen to them and be there for them. I don’t want anyone to feel the same way that my sister did and think that no one was there for her and not feel alone. The reason I feel this way is because I know what it feels like to need someone to be there for you. I always love when people ask me what’s wrong and are there for me so I want everyone to feel the same way.

LATEST NEWS