As Sandy and I resumed our CAS project over the course of this year, we came to a close to this project as we created a business plan for the printing of the books as well as finishing the story. Throughout the process, we overcame several 0bstacles such as writer’s/artist’s block, brainstorming ideas, and actually producing the product.

The stories we wrote are usually inspired by events that occurred in our daily lives. For instance, as the image below shows, one of the stories I wrote was on the idea of “unhealthy dependence” since I recently discovered how while it was important to have a support system, everyone ultimately needs to learn how to take care of themselves in order to be self-sustaining. Ideas like these are often overlooked as we often romanticize the idea of co-dependence. Ultimately, while this book strives to provide positivity to its readers, it also aims to spark reflection among its readers.

One of the ethical concerns, however, is that this book may appear insensitive to some groups since everyone may have a different interpretation of the “moral of the story.” To tackle this, we decided to include a disclaimer at the beginning of the book that reminds readers of the fact that this book is based on our personal experiences and that we are not experts on the topic of mental health trying to offer advice. Instead, we are merely high schoolers trying to document and share our perception of the concept of stress, self-reliance, and other emotions.