I want to see a world where average citizens are ready to respond to local, state, national, and international incidents such as natural or man-made, accidents, and emergencies with swift and decisive action. As a former Boy Scout and current member of the Civil Air Patrol, the all-volunteer nonprofit branch of the US Air Force, I've learned extensively about emergency management and crisis response. Some skills I've learned through these organizations are basic outdoor survival, emergency first aid, CPR/AED implementation, 48/72 hour emergency bag assembly, search and rescue from both air and ground positions, and much more. These skills have helped make me a more valuable asset to my community should an incident occur. I believe that more people spent a few hours out of their week or the month just to sit down and simply become more knowledgeable on survival or emergency first aid. That would be able to vastly increase their odds of being more resilient to a significant crisis in their lives. In turn, by making themselves more resilient to these disasters and being self-sufficient, they can take care of those around them which dramatically impacts the resource strain on incident resources. As mentioned before, I volunteer with the Civil Air Patrol. One of CAP's three missions includes providing emergency services to the US. This included handing out supplies or conducting damage assessments during recovery efforts, providing real-time areal imaging of said disasters, using cell phone forensic teams to locate stranded or lost boaters, locating lost or crashed aircraft, and using ground-based search and rescue teams. We also work closely with agencies such as the DoD, FEMA, Red Cross, US Coast Guard, and other local, state, and federal agencies. I have several FEMA incident management credits and hold CAP ratings as an aircrew Mission Scanner, Mission Radio Operator, Urban Direction Finder, and Ground Team Member. My job also includes teaching my skills to new members of CAP and improving our team's mission readiness and capabilities.

The surgery was supposed to be an eight-hour procedure - it ended after two. The news was ripping, sure, but none so hit as hard as my father who was an audience of this news for the third time in his life. My mother was a fighter and unshaken until the very end. Not once did she fold under the pressure of chemo, pills, or pain. Not under the pressure of a second surgery, not under the pressure of working a full-time job, and certainly not under the pressure of maintaining a household. My mother was and still is one of my biggest inspirations. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2017 and told she might be lucky to survive six to 12 months. She was able to fight on for three years. This cancer has a mortality rate of over 90% at five years with aggressive procedures and treatments. And with all of this debilitating information, she kept on with life. She attended my graduations from high school, Civil Air Patrol encampment graduations, Boy Scout ceremonies, and all of the family events as much as she could. She always wanted me to pursue an education, one that would open the doors she never was afforded due to her immigration and financial status. Her chemo solution hung on her shoulder just as she carried her purse, taking it to every event mentioned. To her, this illness was but an inconvenience - or so she portrayed it to be for mine and my father's sake. Her strength Just her fighting on through the pain was enough to motivate and help discipline me into setting out and accomplishing any and every goal. Through her example, I was able to push through so many barriers and challenges. I joined the Army Reserve as a 12N Horizontal Construction Engineer, finished several certificate courses, earned two Associate degrees from Moraine Valley Community College, and earned the Eagle Scout rank in the Boy Scouts. I lead a squadron of cadets in the Civil Air Patrol - the US Air Force Auxiliary - a 501c non-profit all-volunteer organization - and attended countless special cadet activities, training exercises, and so much more. As a current member of the Civil Air Patrol, my duties include training other members on emergency services techniques and methods used in air and ground search-and-rescue operations, operating radios, performing damage assessments after natural disasters, or searching for crashed aircraft from both air and ground positions, while remaining proficient in these tasks. My goal is to earn an AAS in Automotive Technology and set my classes around my drill and CAP training schedules so I may continue to contribute to the community, state, and nation. After earning the degree and beginning work as a full-time auto mechanic I will be eligible for excused time off for training or similar official events. For example, under the Illinois Civil Air Patrol Leave Act, employees must request time off no less than 14 days prior if the event is more than five consecutive days at no expense to me. This will allow my employer to continue operations with undue disruption while allowing me to serve my community. Overall, I would be remiss in saying I have gotten this far in life without the motivation of my mother. She has pushed me time and time again while she gritted her teeth through the unimaginable pain to be better. Even now, although she is no longer with us, she continues to push me. Without a doubt, I owe much of my success and discipline to her.

It is not hard to see that I love serving the community and the nation. For as long as I can remember, service has been something I have always had a deep need and love for. This is not only manifested in my military service, but also through my involvement in the Boy Scouts and Civil Air Patrol. It will be difficult, but I fully plan on continuing my volunteer service well into the future regardless of my academic and professional workload. Ever since I was 10 years old, I have been involved in community service. I participated regularly in the Boy Scouts and learned the basics of outdoor survival as well as community participation. Some events we did included food drives, garbage collection, local church renovations, and helping with local parades and fire department breakfasts. One of my favorite projects was when I was asked to install a Wi-Fi network at my church. I sourced all of the routers, cabling, and tools through donations and had help from the members of my troop. It was a hot summer day and I remember sweating like no one's business. I still have all of the documentation and photos since I was the project manager because it was such a prideful experience! When I turned 15, I joined the Civil Air Patrol, which is the civilian component of the US Air Force as a cadet member. During this time, I learned the basics of leadership, aerospace, and emergency services. Part of my job as a cadet was to impart what I had learned to new cadets in my unit as well as at encampments held at various military installations such as Naval Station Great Lakes, IL and Camp Atterbury, IN. While I am no longer in the Boy Scouts, I am still in the Civil Air Patrol as a senior member. CAP is one of the most valuable resources in the US due to our capability to provide real-time imaging and damage assessments after national incidents because we are an all-volunteer force with very few funding requirements. I personally volunteer by attending monthly training exercises meant to train, certify, and recertify members in various areas of CAP's emergency services mission. I currently have a Mission Scanner rating which allows me to strategically look for signs of natural disaster damage or crashed aircraft, a Ground Team rating which allows me to perform ground searches and assessments of the aforementioned scenarios, a Mission Radio Operator rating, as well as courses on emergency management from FEMA. I want to earn a DAART operator rating which will allow me to operate a camera that streams real time imaging to a ground site, which is then delivered to our customers such as the Red Cross, FEMA, and other local, state, and federal agencies. Moving forward, I plan on pursuing an AAS in Automotive Technology from Moraine Valley Community College, IL as a full-time student. In fact, being a full-time student gives me freedom to be more active in the Civil Air Patrol because I can plan my classes during the semesters around CAP's monthly emergency services training exercises and my Army drill weekends. Overall, pursuing an education while remaining active in the community is not going to be an issue because it's an important part of my life. Planning my academic schedule around those activities won't be an issue and I know I'll be able to handle the workload.