Hi, I'm writing to tell my story about my first experience at my local NAMI. Just in case you don't know NAMI stands for National Adcovates for the Mentally Ill. My parents and myself went to the local NAMI. My brother was working, so he wasn't able to come along. There were client meetings and client and family meetings. We went to a family and client meeting. I'll begin by saying that I felt very nervous about my first visit to my local NAMI. I did not know quite what to expect, but only knew it was about the many different resources, help and opportunites available to people with mental illnesses such as OCD, Schizophrenia, Bipolar and Depression. An example would be becoming more independent, such as living on my own for the first time. I've thought about living on my own for quite awhile now. I am still not quite ready to live on my own for I am learning about the chores around the home in order to keep up my own apartment,group or individual home. Then there's the financial part as well. My OCD and Schizophrenia make living on my own difficult for me. I had a positive first experience. The people were very kind and supportive. I remember one woman saying that it was very brave of me to come here tonight. I met another woman who worked at the community mental health center that I go to. They asked me and my parents many questions about my illnesses. I also ended up bringing home some phamplets on help for different mental illnesses and general mental health. It was an interesting learning experience. Me and my family plan to go back to NAMI for the next meeting on November 23rd. That's all for now, thankyou for letting me share my story.