My name is Mandy Graham and I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and explain the purpose of my Educational Portfolio. I am currently a graduate student finishing up my Master of Arts in Education at Michigan State University and beginning my Master of Arts in Comparative Religions at Western Michigan University. Once I finish up my second Master's degree, it is my hope to continue my mission to learn as much as I can about education and technology and enroll in a PhD program that will allow me to do so. I am extremely passionate about education and incorporating technology into the learning process. I believe that incorporating technology into education will allow many people with disabilities (not only mental) to obtain a quality education. Mental illnesses can provide many hurdles for students who suffer from them. I seek to help those who suffer from mental illnesses and find ways to make their educational experiences not only successful but enjoyable. 

 

          The reasoning behind my desire to help educate those who suffer from mental illnesses, is that I struggle with mental illness myself and I know how difficult it can be to perform to the best of your abilities when you have a constant fatigue, stress, anxiety, depression and so on. Acquiring an education is something that is very rigorous and there is a lot of time and effort you need to put into your education to be successful. Once you add struggling with a mental illness into the mix, things can become almost unbearable. There have been many times when I just wanted to give up because I did not feel I could handle the stress, succeed in my studies, or perform to the best of my capabilities. I was being held back by this illness that was determined to control every aspect of my life. Then one day I decided that I could stop it all, I could stop being a victim, I could stop feeling badly for myself, and I could start fighting for those who needed a voice but were too afraid or ashamed to speak out. I know people may think I'm "crazy" and I have come to terms with that. I want to eradicate the use of the word "crazy" when it comes to speaking about those with mental illness. Unless you have lived with a mental illness, you have no idea how horrible it can be. I want to bring awareness to the subject and help those who do not experience mental illness, understand just how detrimental it can be for those of us that do, to simply exist. 

 

       As you may notice there are many pictures of myself with my face painted throughout this site. I have found that this form of artistic expression has allowed me to calm myself down when I'm in throes of a severe panic attack, which I experience quite often. I really want the viewers of this site to understand that, while these pictures may come across as different, to say the least, there is a reason behind my placement of them on this site. I feel like I was able to create what I felt on the inside on the outside, I just chose a different medium than most. 

 

Thank you for stopping by my site and I hope you enjoy!