“Personally for me, I know that when the police came to my door it was not only scary for me but also my parents,” Aimee says. “And it made me feel hesitant to reach out again to potential supports because I didn’t want the police to come to my house again.”

When she was younger, Aimee felt “unique” in her struggles with suicidal thoughts, like nobody would be able to relate to the feelings and urges she was having. She now understands this is not the case. In fact, Aimee serves on the state of Colorado’s Suicide Prevention Commission helping to lead the Youth-Specific Initiatives Workgroup.

“I realize the value of not only advocating for myself but also other people in terms of mental health,” Aimee says. “And just having an outlet for that really helped me improve.”

Her civic engagement doesn’t end there. Aimee is involved with the Colorado Youth Advisory Council (COYAC), as well as the Centennial Youth Commission, where she participates in the policy-making process of her own community.

“Even though working with all these groups helps me have an outlet to try to make things better, progress isn’t linear,” Aimee says.

“It’s not going to get better instantaneously. It’s going to take years and years of work on yourself in order to feel better. But it will happen eventually,” Aimee says. “And you’re not always going to feel that way. One day you’re just going to wake up and you’ll realize that you’re doing better than you were two months ago, or two years ago.”