My Story

Hello! My name is Adam Renteria, I am sixteen years old and a sophomore in high school. I have been asked numerous times how I got to where I am today. So, here I will share exactly that. Throughout my life I have struggled with my mental health. I was badly bullied throughout elementary and middle school. From being adopted to being gay people never let me forget that I was the odd one out. In seventh grade I was being sexually abused by a classmate. During that same time my big brother died by suicide. I was a complete wreck. My parents found me a psychiatrist and therapist which helped a lot. I ended up going to a different school for eighth grade. There, I was sent rape threats and was constantly being bullied and inappropriately sexualized by classmates. Towards the end of eighth grade I got placed in a therapeutic private school by my district. There, I had individual therapy once a week and group therapy everyday. While at this school, I learned the importance of mental health resources in a school setting. I saw the real-time benefits of it in myself but also my peers. So, bottom-line, how I got to where I am is because of the mental health resources I had access to. Every kid deserves to have these resources available. Kids also deserve to know that they are not alone in their battles. Through speaking to kids around New Jersey, my goal is to help them understand that too.