"And how have your anxiety attacks been recently?" Dr. Keesha Franklin asked Johnny, a man in his early 20s dealing with anxiety issues.
"I've been doing better. Those methods you recommended seem to be working." Johnny said.
"Alright," Keesha took notes on her notepad "Would you be okay with another method to help you further?"
"Yes, Dr. Franklin. I would appreciate it."
"Very well. Why don't you try finding things that often give you anxiety and try to avoid them for extended periods of time? That would certainly help you a lot."
"Sounds good to me," Johnny smiled at Keesha, "Thanks."
"No problem. And remember to make an appointment for next week."
"Of course. Bye." Johnny then left and Keesha updated her notes on her computer. After updating her electronic files, she looked up at the clock and saw that her shift was almost up. She then packed up her things and left for the day.
This was the life of Keesha, though it was not what most people had envisioned it would be.
If you asked the young Keesha what she would be when she grew up, she would tell you that she wanted to be a journalist. Keesha had always been the one who was obsessed with getting to the bottom of things and finding the truth. Ever since that time when Ralphie pretended to be Weatherman (no one but the gang knew about it due to Ralphie not wanting other people to know, thinking it would make him look uncool), Keesha knew she preferred the truth and being realistic than living in her own imagination. Journalism seemed to be the perfect way to get the truth. With reporters looking to uncover conspiracies and finding the flaws in an imperfect system, the whole job seemed to be about the truth.
Keesha thought of being a big-time reporter when she grew up, but things changed in high school. Even back then, Keesha was having doubts about being a reporter due to the internet. With the internet containing a whole lot of information, Keesha knew that it was only a matter of time when people would prefer getting news online instead of on TV or newspapers. I would just be easier for people. Even back then, she had the feeling that print news would die out.
Her predictions came true when, by the time she graduated college, even small-time reporter jobs were rare (additionally, the rise in bloggers and social media leading to competition with online news further strengthened her decision to not pursue journalism).
Since her first career choice was out, Keesha started thinking of another career path. The summer after her junior year, she had figured out another career: psychology. Even today, with so many advanced technologies, the brain is still a big mystery to us. No one knows how the brain truly functions or just how complex it really is. It's the biggest mystery on Earth, except for the ocean and the pyramids. For Keesha, this meant a new kind of opportunity to search for a truth: the truth about the brain.
On top of that, psychology would also offer ways to help people, especially clinical psychology. Years of being best friends with Phoebe had caused Keesha to want to help people. Of course, Keesha didn't have the activist zeal of Phoebe, but she understood the desire to help when possible, so psychology appealed to her more.
This passion took her to Northwestern University. She almost immediately fell in love with the amazing psychology program they had. She made sure that most of her courses were mainly about clinical psychology as that was the branch that would offer the most help to people and allow her to explore the most mysterious part of the brain: mental illness and what causes it.
After finishing her undergrad studies, she attended the University of Texas at Austin to get her doctoral degree to be allowed to practice clinical psychology. She had heard many great things about UT's graduate program, so she was really excited when she started taking it. Of course, the entire process was really hard. She spent so much time taking classes, researching, writing papers, etc. There was barely any free time. She had actually lost 20 pounds in her first year because she did not have time to stop and eat 3 meals every day. Most of the time, she either ate a piece of fruit or a protein bar, and that was it for the day. She also faced a lot of stress from all of the work she had to do. She might even say that PhD really stands for "Permanent Head Damage." Of course, she knew what she would be getting into when she chose to study for a PhD, so she had to put up with this.
Luckily, Keesha was able to work on her time management more and practice better stress relief after the first year, so she found more time to stop and eat a full meal every day and all of the work wasn't as stressful anymore. It was all worth it when she completed her dissertation and finally graduated from UT with her PhD. She was now officially Dr. Keesha Franklin, PhD.
Keesha then decided to move back to Virginia to be closer to Walkerville. Like Carlos, she had a strong connection with the town that raised her, so she couldn't stay away for so long. In fact, all of the Frizzle kids couldn't leave Walkerville for too long. Well, mostly...
Anyway, Keesha got a job at a mental health hospital in Richmond as a clinical psychologist. She helped a lot of people with mental health problems, whether it be anxiety, depression, stress, or any other mental health problem. Granted, she believed that most of her clients, like Johnny, would benefit more from medication to treat their problems rather than methods, but she was a clinical psychologist, not a psychiatrist. She could only employ psychotherapy methods to help her patients, not medications.
Luckily for her, most of her patients felt that her methods were a much better treatment than medication, so she was happy that she could help people without the need for medication.
Keesha drove to her house in the outskirts of Richmond, parked her car in the driveway, and went inside the house. She then sat down on the couch in the living room and ordered Chinese food, feeling a bit too tired to actually cook something. She lived alone and was not currently in a relationship. She was weary about entering into one ever since her relationship with Ralphie. She had always had a soft spot for Ralphie, especially since third grade when she finally called Ralphie "Weatherman" after strongly arguing that he was not Weatherman. She was excited when they began dating in their junior year, but Ralphie's massive popularity kept him from wanting to settle down for a long time. She had hoped that it wouldn't be that way with her since they had been friends for a long time, but unfortunately, it wasn't. He was constantly flirting with other girls when he was dating Keesha, and when he asked for an open relationship, she couldn't take it anymore, and they both ended things then and there. She was sore about it for a long time, but luckily, Ralphie and Keesha started hanging out again after Keesha decided to forgive Ralphie. They are still really good friends.
Still, Keesha was weary about dating after that experience. She didn't know if she would go through something similar with some other man, so she had decided to try and avoid dating for some time. Of course, there were times when she felt like she would be better off in a relationship and that the right man for her was out there.
When the food arrived, Keesha began eating and then decided to check the mail. She found a letter from Walkerville Elementary and became curious as to what it was about. She opened the letter and read it. When she finished, she became overwhelmed with feelings of sadness and shock. Ms. Frizzle is dead?! She thought.
Her phone then rang. It was Ralphie. "Hello?"
"Hey Keesh. I need to know if you got a letter from Walkerville Elementary." Ralphie responded.
"Yeah, I did. I can't believe it!"
"I know. I also need to know if you'll be at the funeral."
"I guess I will. It's feels like I need to be there."
"I know. I feel the same way, too. Can you check if anyone else is going? I know Carlos will most likely be there, and he said he'll check with Tim."
"Well, I can check with Phoebe." Keesha responded.
"Great. I'll see you around."
With that, Ralphie hung up. Keesha took a few minutes to process the information she had just received, and then she dialed Phoebe's, her best friend's, number. I hope she'll be there. She thought.