Annual Report
Take a Hike Gave Me My Power Back
How do you sum up an experience like Take a Hike? It changed my life.
Before Take a Hike, I never thought I would graduate. Take a Hike made this possible for me. The program helped me learn how to cope with my mental health struggles, struggles that I thought I would just have to deal with forever, and while they still exist today, I have the tools to gain control over them and thrive.
As a teenager, you care so much about how you’re being perceived. If you feel like you stand out or are different, you feel like there is a light shining on you and bringing attention to what makes you unlike everyone else. Before Take a Hike, all I wanted was to fit in, but I knew I was putting on an act because all I could feel was the mental health issues taking over.
I was struggling and school was becoming difficult, I didn’t have the resources I needed to cope. Anxiety and depression became a daily occurrence and balancing difficulties at home and school life became harder and harder. I remember sharing my struggles with the staff at school and they couldn’t find a way to support me. My peers didn’t really understand what I was going through, and my parents didn’t know where to turn as we weren’t sure what was going to be the right kind of support for me. Nothing seemed like enough and my mental health struggles kept growing. On top of that, having to seek out therapy after school—it became too much to manage, and I was starting to feel ostracized and the feeling of being different was creeping into my already busy thoughts. I realized that I needed something that meshed with my everyday life.