I want to start by saying hello and thank you to everyone who still uses dsipaint! This community really supported me when I was younger. Now I’m twenty two and I haven’t logged in in the last few years, I was worried this site would have been totally abandoned. Don’t get me wrong, I know the number of users is nothing like it used to be, but it’s still nice to see a couple dozen regulars floating around. Adding onto that, most of my old friends from dsipaint are not logging in anymore, so if anyone wants to meet a new friend I would look forward to corresponding.


Last time I logged on I was just starting my undergraduate career at New York University and was feeling extremely conflicted about my future career. Since then I’ve graduated with my Bachelor Of Arts in Photography and Imaging bad Psychology. I took a major in Child and Adolescence Mental Health, and a semester in Florence, Italy. I made friends from around the world and discovered that while I love photography and always will, I do not want my career to revolve around my ability to self promote. As someone who grew up with major depression and generalized anxiety disorder, I frankly didn’t have the confidence to become a celebrity photographer or artist. BUT, I can now confidently say that I am glad this is the way my life has turned out. I am now studying Social Work at Loyola University Chicago, and I know that my future is going to be meaningful. I don’t know if anyone remembers me from the early years of the site, but I think in a way I was a social worker even back then. I’ve always found it natural to help people when they were struggling, through words or through resources.

I’m still dating my high school sweetheart, and we have been living together for four years now. Two months ago we adopted our loving labradoodle puppy, Cider, and the three of us have been living our happily ever after one Chicago. I don’t want to say that things are perfect, because obviously there are still dark days, but I wanted to share this to prove that even a young girl who felt hopeless and alone can grow up feeling like she has purpose. Even the girl that hurt herself and wished herself dead can find herself glad she is not. You’re not alone.