Hey, I’m Katie and the writer for The Innovatist. Writing has always been a passion of mine, whether it’s fiction or non-fiction. However, mental health runs deeper than passion. It’s a part of me. As it is for so many others. At 11 years old, I would consistently experience an imbalance in my hormones, which caused me to have heavy, painful periods, cystic acne, and dangerously low mood swings, which later on led to low serotonin levels, ultimately causing depressive episodes. After leaving high school due to high levels of anxiety and low moods, I fell into a seemingly never-ending depression in which I was experiencing thoughts to end my own life. This dark period of my life lasted for around two years. I lived in a state of fear and had a pessimistic filter on the way I saw the world. My self-esteem was on the floor, and my mindset was weak and troubling at best. Playing with different types of medication as well as birth control to help with my hormonal issues, and trying out different strategies such as fitness and healthy coping mechanisms, I then started regaining a taste for life. I made it a lifelong mission to not only get better but to become the very best version of myself I could be. It has been a slow and steady journey to self-growth and is not one that continously goes up all of the time. But, one I haven’t looked back on since. With therapy, I have learnt to reprogram my brain’s negative patterns into one of a positive and strong mindset. I later received an autism diagnosis, and things started to click. I made it a mission to understand my neurodiversity and where I fit in the world.

Working on my mental health, mindset, and overall stability helped me greatly deal with and accept my father’s diagnosis of stage four bowel and liver cancer. He passed away in October 2024 after a two-year-long battle; just as I had started college. His strength alone was more than a motivator to help me achieve all the goals I intend to achieve. Despite all of this, from 2025 to the current time I am writing this, has been the most fulfilling time of my life in which I am learning and exploring new aspects of life every day, especially going into adulthood. We all have a story that makes us who we are and we all have our perspective. It is what we do with that that makes all the difference. I am about to go into a new chapter of my life, living on my own, going to university. I am hoping to bring everything I continue to learn into an even further progression of my overall journey.