Maaria JanAs a 19-year-old girl, it's hard to imagine how I could relate to topics of such a serious matter. Quite honestly, I can't- at least not to everything. However, that doesn't stop me from having a passion for human justice and writing. Today's societyfaces problems like it never has before. From racism and brutality to domestic violence and more, the fight for justice is never ending. With the battle of one versus the world, how can there be time to fight the battles within? Mental health is constantly concealed and overlooked. Depression, stress, anxiety are just some of many different illnesses fought by so many each day, yet never acknowledged. I believe it's time it's expressed. I've always had a passion for writing poetry. I would write on my long bus rides home from school and work. However, when I turned 18, my life changed and so did my vision in writing. I was diagnosed with Leukemia Cancer and all of a sudden my life was medical charts, treatment, and doctors. But no one saw that it was sided by loneliness, depression, and anxiety. My poetry is where my emotions were truly released. From writing things that I find morally corrupt in the world as I had a lot of time to think, to my emotions personally, I truly gave myself in my writing. Overall, my hope for each reader is to have an open mindset and discover their own meaning when reading about my twisted version of our harsh reality. Read More Read Less