My dream is to be a Missouri State Highway Patrolman. I am excited to pursue a career in which I can live a life of service to my community. Being a State Trooper is more than just writing tickets and working crashes; you get the chance to make a difference in people’s lives. When you take the time to help an elderly person change their tire on the side of the road, or comfort someone after a loved one has perished in a car accident, you can change their life. I first considered going into law enforcement in January of my sophomore year. I had just started at a new school, and new friends would always be asking me what I wanted to do after high school. I had no idea what I wanted to do, but people continuously asking about it got me seriously thinking about it. I have an uncle who is an Illinois State Trooper, and his job seemed cool, so I started telling people that I was going to be a police officer. That summer, the Missouri State Highway Patrol put on a Youth Academy, a week-long camp based on the Highway Patrol’s Academy, intended for high school students interested in law enforcement. I decided to attend. It was the first time I really interacted with any law enforcement, and from the very first day, I was certain that I wanted to be a trooper. I think what attracted me the most was the character of all of the troopers. They are all dedicated to service and helping people in need. They live by the Highway Patrol’s core values of Integrity, Respect, Responsibility, Resourcefulness, Professionalism, Compassion, Character and Commitment. I was also greatly impressed with the discipline required by the Highway Patrol. Every day at the Youth Academy, we had to be outside before six to do our PT (physical training). It was tough, and the Trooper Instructors pushed us past our limits physically and mentally, but I thrived off the challenge. As a State Trooper, I hope to be always challenged by the agency I work for to constantly grow and become a better officer. After that first real interaction with the Highway Patrol, I got involved in more Criminal Justice related activities. I attended a second Youth Academy, I joined a Criminal Justice Vo-Tech class, I went on ride-alongs, and recently got hired as a Dispatcher at the Police Department. Every interaction I have had with law enforcement has strengthened my decision to be a Trooper. Being in law enforcement comes with many difficulties and challenges, but it is a rewarding career that I am excited to be a part of in the future. It will require hard work, dedication, and sacrifice to meet my goal. I am ready to do the work necessary to achieve my goal, being a part of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

After college, I plan to apply to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. I have chosen to pursue a career in law enforcement because I would like a job in which I can focus on helping people and improving public safety. With a degree in Communication, I will be able to be more effective in helping those in my community who are in need. I first considered going into law enforcement in January of my sophomore year. I had just started at a new school, and new friends would always be asking me what I wanted to do after high school. I had no idea what I wanted to do, but people continuously asking about it got me seriously thinking about it. I have an uncle who is an Illinois State Trooper, and his job seemed exciting, so I started telling people that I wanted to be a Police Officer. That summer, the Missouri State Highway Patrol put on a Youth Academy, a week-long camp based on the Highway Patrol’s Academy, intended for high school students interested in law enforcement. I decided to attend, and from the very first day, I was certain that I wanted to be a trooper. I think what attracted me the most was the character of all of the troopers. They are all dedicated to service and helping people in need. They live by the Highway Patrol’s core values of Integrity, Respect, Responsibility, Resourcefulness, Professionalism, Compassion, Character and Commitment. With a career as a trooper, I will strive to make the world a better place by assisting in the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s mission to serve and protect. As a trooper, I will help keep Missouri highways safe for all travelers by removing dangerous drivers from the roads. However, troopers don’t just stop cars. If someone is stranded with a flat tire, troopers are the ones who will stop to help them out. It is the troopers who show up at car crashes and help people during their worst moments. Communication is the most important skill for a law enforcement officer to have. A great part of their job is talking to people. Dangerous situations can be avoided and de-escalated through the proper use of communication. I wish to study and get a degree in Communications so that I might perform my duties as a trooper better. I believe I am being called to help my community as a State Trooper. I want to live a life of service to my community, helping to serve and protect them. I also want to help current law enforcement officers, who, because of the current officer shortage, are constantly overworked and don't always have backup available when something goes wrong. With a degree in Communication, I will be able to better serve my community and fellow officers.

Participating in my chosen sport, gymnastics, for the last few years has taught me numerous lessons and contributed greatly to shaping my character. As I wind up my senior year of high school, I come to the end of my time as a gymnast. Though saddened that this wonderful time of my life is coming to its end, I look forward to using the lessons I learned and the character I built to make a difference in the world. I've had a great passion for gymnastics ever since my very first recreational class five years ago. Since that first class, I have been fascinated with learning and perfecting a multitude of gymnastics skills. For two years, I worked hard in my beginner class, striving to reach my goal of making it to the competitive team. The summer of 2021, I advanced enough to join the team, and I have been competing ever since. The driving force of my passion for gymnastics is the challenge. I view each new skill I want to learn as a new challenge I must conquer. I thoroughly enjoy the process of setting a goal to get a skill, working intensely on the skill, oftentimes having to overcome fear involving the skill, and then finally accomplishing my goal. Participating in gymnastics played many important roles in my life. Several of my closest friends are my teammates, people I would never have met if not for gymnastics. Spending many hours with one another every week, working together to reach the same goal has formed us into a close-knit team, almost family. This sport has taught me many crucial life skills, most notably, composure, resilience, and grit. Composure was learned at gymnastics meets. If you fall on one event at a competition, you have to keep your composure and not let the fall affect your other events. Grit was learned by the enormous amount of conditioning, drills, and practice it takes to learn a single skill. I learnt resilience rather painfully. At my first meet of the 2023-2024 season, I fell off of the balance beam and rolled my ankle on the edge of a mat, spraining it severely. According to the doctor, I would be out of gymnastics for three weeks. After three weeks, I came back, expecting everything to be back to normal. I was terribly disappointed. I tried to do the simplest tumbling skill, a roundoff, and it caused my ankle to hurt so bad I couldn’t walk for a time afterwards. I was extremely frustrated that I was unable to do things that were so easy before my injury. My coaches and teammates were very encouraging, and they didn’t let me give up. I worked diligently at the uneven bars, the one event I was still able to do, and I placed second at the next meet. When I wasn’t practicing my bar routine, I worked on conditioning. Finally, three months later, I was able to compete in all four months again. It was wonderful to be able to do everything again, and I am very glad I was resilient and came back from my injury stronger than before. Gymnastics has been one of my greatest passions and has taught me many important lessons. I am eternally grateful for the memories, values, and lessons I have gained from gymnastics. I am forever in debt to my parents, coaches, and teammates, for the sacrifices they have made and the valuable lessons they taught me.

I was all alone. The only BMC cheerleader. Alone, I stood on the sideline and led our crowd in cheering our basketball team to victory. I was scared to death, being out there on my own in front of the whole crowd. It all started in October of 2023. My school, Macon County, co-oped for sports with another small school, Bucklin. Due to a lack of interest, we had not had a cheer squad for the last twenty years. This year, we finally brought it back. Our squad consisted of me and four other brave girls from Bucklin. The year started out pretty rough, as none of us had ever cheered before, and our coach hadn't done it since she was in high school many years ago. We persevered, however, and after the first few games, we started to get the hang of it. We started having a great deal of fun doing it. I was voted cheer captain, and having that responsibility helped me to develop my leadership skills. One day, in January, I was in my last hour class, band. Our principal came in and wanted to talk to me. She told me that three of the other cheerleaders had not shown up to school, and the fourth had been sent home sick. We had a tournament basketball game that night to cheer at. The principal gave me three options: 1. Not go to the game. 2. Go to the game and just watch. 3. Come to the game and cheer. Surprising her, everyone else, and even myself, I told her I would go to the game and cheer solo. I am normally a pretty shy person, and immediately after I made the decision, I regretted it and started to freak out about what I had just agreed to do. I considered telling my principal I changed my mind and didn't want to go the game, but the grit I had learned through the learning curve of figuring out cheerleading kept me from giving up. I went to the game and was able to cheer way better than I had thought I was capable of on my own. Afterward, I was glad of my decision to go ahead with cheering alone. The experience improved my self-confidence, showing me that I am sometimes capable of more than I realize, and that I won't know what I can do until I try it. Cheering by myself helped me to get out of my comfort zone and do something that scared me. It also showed me that even though cheering is possible to do on your own, you can do it better if you have a good team to help you out. Overall, the sport of cheerleading has taught me many valuable life lessons. It has helped me to improve in many life-skills areas, including teamwork, leadership, responsibility, and grit. Cheerleading has played an important role in my high school career, and the experience will continue to influence my life.