Early Life and Small Town Roots

• 🏡 Kirsten hails from Melcher-Dallas, Iowa, a small town where her graduating high school class had only 15 students.
• 🎓 She notes that many classmates attended the same school from preschool through graduation, fostering a sense of mutual understanding.
• 🏈 Unlike larger schools, their small-town high school competed in Class 1A sports, with rivalries against similarly sized schools.

Family Dynamics and Upbringing

• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Kirsten is one of seven siblings, with no two sharing the same biological parents, highlighting a complex family structure.
• 💥 Her father survived a severe industrial accident where his arm was nearly severed, a life-altering event that shaped his life and the family's perspective.
• 💔 Her parents divorced when she was in kindergarten, but they co-parented effectively, and her mother later remarried, adding another sibling to the mix.
• 🤝 Later in life, her father and his first wife (Kirsten's stepmother) reunited and remarried, creating a unique family dynamic.

College Struggles and Mental Health

• 📚 Kirsten excelled in high school but found college overwhelming, leading to academic probation and a diagnosis of ADHD.
• 💊 She struggled with managing her ADHD, experimenting with substances like weed and acid, and experiencing a severe relationship that led to PTSD.
• 💔 A particularly abusive relationship involved intense control, isolation, and eventually physical violence, culminating in a terrifying incident where her ex-partner threatened her life.

Overcoming Adversity and Finding Stability

• 🏠 A pivotal moment came when she moved in with friends who were serious about their studies, providing a supportive environment that helped her regain focus.
• 🏥 A significant lowlight involved a 5150 hold in a military psychiatric unit after experiencing severe insomnia and disorientation, where she was misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder.
• ✅ After advocating for herself and getting a second opinion, she was correctly diagnosed with ADHD and found stability by returning to her previous treatment plan.
• 💍 She met her husband, Devon, under unusual circumstances during college and they eventually married, navigating long-distance and the pandemic together.

Reflections and Advice

• 🌱 Kirsten reflects that while the difficult experiences were traumatic, they taught her valuable lessons about self-worth and boundaries in relationships.
• 🌟 Her advice to her 16-year-old self is to not take things too seriously, to give herself grace, and to understand that problems are not as heavy as they seem.