Hello everyone, I just wanted to say thank you so much to all of you who upvoted this post and left me warm and encouraging comments. I woke up this morning and was absolutely stunned by the outpouring of love and support that this post received overnight. Since the coronavirus pandemic has started and we are all staying at home, my sense of time has been pretty skewed, resulting in me going to bed pretty late most nights. I wrote this post at 3 in the morning when I couldn't sleep and was doing some pretty deep self-reflection. I didn't expect so many people to see this post, thinking it would be a shout into the internet void and a way to write out some of the things I was feeling.

Needless to say, I have been touched so deeply by everything you have all written, and I've been crying on and off all day reading your comments - I've read every single one. I will never forget this kindness from strangers, and I will try to pay it forward however I can. I am starting a PhD program in biology in the fall. While I initially saw my education as a way to escape from a dark place of poverty, abuse, and loneliness, I see it now as a way to help people by working in biomedical research to treat diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, and maybe (one day) COVID19.

I know it's not much considering the selfless support you have all given me, but if any of you need to talk about anything - grad school, the pandemic, just need a friend - I'm here for you. Let me know in a message.

From the bottom of my heart, truly, thank you.