Camila was a good student, a sociable, outdoorsy teen who spent hours each week training in the pool as a competitive swimmer.  The pandemic changed everything.  Camila stayed inside, in front of the computer for hours. “Then I just lost control,” she admits. “I was spiraling. I started not eating and over-worrying. Once Covid ended I tried to do everything again and that was too much.” 

In her sophomore year she was hospitalized for a life-threatening eating disorder. “That’s when I started to change my mindset and accept help.  I knew I couldn’t let this one thing stop my whole life.”

Camila began working on finding balance and skills to lower stress with therapist Kristen Watkins at the Seneca Valley High School Wellness Center.  “What I really learned from Kristen is that there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel, even in your darkest time, keep going forward and you will get to a point when you’ll be fine and that it is ok to have ups and downs.”

Kristen not only encouraged Camila to participate in Wellness Center activities, but helped with college and scholarship applications, especially stressful as the first in Camila’s family to apply to college. For Camila, the Wellness Center “was a community where I felt heard. There were people with families the same as my family. The Wellness Center helped me survive high school and get out in one piece and be fine.”
Camila finished high school with honors near the top of her class and a full scholarship to Catholic University where she is pursuing a degree in psychology. Kristen is confident that Camila will succeed.  “I’m very proud of her. She did the work; I was the supportive force.”