 So my story begins on February 14th, 2016. One of my best friends died by suicide. He was 18. I was 19 at the time. I went about two or three weeks just kind of not talking to anybody, angry, filled with all these different emotions, sadness, distancing myself, and basically blaming myself for what had happened. What I told myself was to suck it up and keep moving. Don't act like a baby, grow up a little bit. I drank. Another coping mechanism was fighting. It was fighting quite a bit. That was the first time I was hospitalized for anxiety and depression and thoughts of suicide. I didn't really believe in getting help. I kind of thought it kind of showed that I wasn't as strong as I should be, especially being in the military. So I kind of weaseled my way through, said I was fine. Got done with what I needed to do and was let go. And then another incident occurred where an NCO from my previous unit had actually died from suicide. And that was kind of like the unveiling of everything that occurred. And I ended up getting hospitalized for the second time. This time, however, was a little bit different. I didn't want to hurt anymore. I didn't want to feel that pain anymore, that sadness. I was kind of sick of it. I was sick of it taking control of my life and I wanted to change my life for the better. So I listened to what I had to do, went through the process of getting help, taking the medication, listening to what others had to say, and kind of building myself to be the person I am today. Not only am I a better person, I'm a better soldier. I like to, I guess, be a little more outspoken, be my own person. I feel a little bit more confident. I used to be scared of everything, scared of little things. My anxiety was what stopped me from doing the things that I love to do. I was really nervous about the second time being hospitalized for the fact that the military now kind of knew what it was going on in my life. I was scared that I was going to lose my career, lose everything that I've worked hard for, what I've built up to, and instead it was the exact opposite. It was more of a supportive role they took. One of my senior NCOs called me every single day asking how I was, you know, how am I doing and what can he do to help me. Another junior NCO was right there, right along the way. When I was at my low point, I didn't think anybody cared. I was all alone, no brothers, no sisters. Dad always working, mom not in the picture. I had to figure this out on my own. I've never been more wrong in my life. Don't treat the soldier like a liability just because they had a low point. To be honest, they're probably going to be some of your strongest leaders. Now they have an experience that they can share with either the junior enlisted, their peers, or even leaders themselves. So we wear this uniform to serve. And basically when you're in a time of need and a time of sadness or grief, you can't perform to the extent that you want to. It's okay to ask for help. It's okay to feel down. It's okay to hurt. It's not okay to quit.