The issue I am most passionate about is environmental laws. This is an issue that grabs deep into my soul and has affected my life in a big way. One year ago I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, at this time my youngest daughter was 6 months old. My life became gripped by fear and uncertainty, my mind was completely blown, how did I get breast cancer? Breast cancer is a genetic disease passed down through family genes 98% of the time and my family had never had one member diagnosed with breast cancer until I was, I had the genetic testing done which came back negative, so where did this breast cancer come from? There had been rumors spoken about a company I lived less than a quarter mile from, rumors of chemicals they use causing several kinds of cancers. So I began to do some digging on this company, BCP Ingredients, specifically the chemical this plant uses, ethylene oxide. The research studies I found outlining the dangers and side effects from this chemical were genuine and the chemical was being used right down the road. This led me to begin researching this company, BCP Ingredients, what I found was shocking; this company has had numerous emissions violations, and chemical spills that have gone unreported until a whistle-blower shared the truth. How can a company using such dangerous chemicals get away with such complete disregard for safety procedures and human life? I had already begun school in January of 2023 when I received my diagnosis in March of 2023, I intended to be a criminal lawyer and help bring justice to those who were wrongly convicted. However, the results of a cancer diagnosis and the findings of BCP changed those plans. Generation after generation of families have unnecessarily lost loved ones from cancer due to one company's disregard and lack of care for the community around them and someone has to stand up against this. This is when I knew I would survive this cancer diagnosis to fight for these under-represented families, these poor, uneducated families who don't understand the seriousness of the exposures they are receiving from these chemicals. That is exactly what I am going to do, I will obtain my JD and fight for environmental laws to be followed to the letter. I will ensure these big companies that are improperly using chemicals that seriously affect people will operate correctly or shut down. There is nothing worse in this world than putting profit over human life, working in corporate/environmental law I will be a part of ensuring human life will be put over profit and I will fight tooth and nail for this until my last day. By the Grace of God and my will to fight I am now cancer-free, my cancer port was removed a month ago and I have one semester until I complete my associate's degree. I know I still have a long road in front of me but that road will fuel my passion further. I will stand and speak for those who have been affected by these chemical pollution's and I will advocate for the changes necessary to protect future generations.

My dream has always been to practice law, however, at 19 years old I opted to set that dream aside and begin motherhood. In recent years I began to feel the hypocrisy as I preached to my children the importance of their school work enable to achieve their dreams. That is when I decided to lay it all down and show my children that dreams are worth working for. I enrolled in school at 30, a mother of four with a full-time job. The juggling act of motherhood, work, sports practices, games, volunteering at church, children's homework, and my homework began very shakily. Still, with many late nights and just as many puffy-eyed work days, I found my balance. The understanding that began to form in my older children has empowered me when I have felt that balance teetering. They have begun to see the truth in what I have been preaching to them, they have begun to understand achieving your dreams is important despite any setbacks, despite how difficult it may seem, even despite how old you are, and their own school work reflects their newfound understanding beautifully. Being a non-traditional college student I may have missed some of the college experiences such as being able to join a wide variety of teams and clubs. However, the lessons and the bonds this educational experience has brought to my family are deeper and more meaningful experiences than any other college experience could ever bring. Seeing the excitement on my children's faces as they ask me how I did on a test and then getting to share their scores with me is irreplaceable. Sitting at the dinner table as my children and I work on homework together, rather than me telling them to do homework, are memories that will last all of us a lifetime. My non-traditional educational experience has turned into a non-traditional family experience which has ensured me this is the way God intended for my path, therefore I no longer regret any day I had "put my dreams aside". Being a non-traditional college student has impacted my goals by ensuring I work hard to achieve the best I can, and I have done just that. Except for my first semester; due to a cancer diagnosis and going through chemotherapy treatments which greatly affected that semester's grades, I have maintained a 4.0 GPA. This GPA is the fruit of knowing I am a non-traditional student, I don't have time to waste, and this is my only shot at my dreams. I will continue to strive for this level of success throughout my non-traditional educational experience as well as into my law career.

At 9 years old I lost my father to alcoholism and addiction. Despite his battle with these addictions, he always loved me a treated me as a special princess. I was "Daddy's Girl" in ever essence of the phrase when he passed my whole world collapsed. For the longest time my mother tried to protect me by telling me he "just passed in his sleep" but at 19 years old I found out the real truth of the struggles he had and the fight he fought every day of his life against these addictions. This tore my whole world down again and I fought the crushing feeling that my beloved father chose not to be with me. He chose to miss my prom, graduation, wedding and children. I fought this image that shattered the love I had always had for many years. It would make me angry, and I would have to close my eyes and calm myself. It crushed my heart and broke it into a million pieces at random times and I would have to remove myself and calm myself by thinking of the beautiful things in life I have been blessed with, such as my four children. Imagining these things as I close my eyes would bring me back to peace and tranquility. I often journaled to my father about the events in my life he was not there for, I would write in my journal as if he was sitting right there and I was talking to him. It brought happiness into my heart for those little moments to believe he was there with me. Finally, as I grew older and began to understand the struggles that come in life and the difficulties that come from the disease of addiction and alcoholism. I realized it was time to forgive my father for choosing to leave me. I realized the choices he made were never really to leave me but were from the battle he fought every day that eventually overtook him. I wrote my final journal to my father as a letter, I tied it to a balloon and released all the anger and hurt I had acquired for my father for not being there in that letter and I just let it all go. That final journal entry brought me the most freed feeling I had ever experienced. I live with forgiveness and understanding of my father's struggles along with peace and a promise to never leave my own children. It showed me how to live with forgiveness no matter how much you have been hurt. It also showed me how love heals while anger only festers and makes bitterness. I have always wanted to help people in my life, and for me there is no better way to do that than to fight for innocence in a court room. Though I began a family before furthering my education I have always held fast to my dream. At 32 years old with four children, I am finally working towards that dream. I have many obstacles traditional students may not have but these obstacles only encourage me to work harder for that dream to prove I do deserve it. Now going to college will not only accomplish my dreams but will show my children they can achieve their dreams no matter the circumstances or place they are in life. Through the death of my father my mother always showed strength and support despite losing her soulmate. If there was one person that has influenced me to succeed despite the circumstances it would absolutely be my mother.

At 17 years old, a whole life is gone. Consumed by lengthy stays behind bars and instability when free, my brother, my best friend, and my main support, spent the next 10 years of his life bouncing back and forth between prison and home. A caring, bright, funny young man's whole future was gone just as it was within his reach, all due to being with the wrong people at the right time. This shaped my view of our justice system and the problems within that system. I knew I wanted to do what I could to be part of the fix for the innocent men and women who face imprisonment within our justice system. I am currently pursuing my education credentials in criminal justice with my end goal to be an attorney. I want to represent and fight for those who are innocent and help ensure they receive the clearing of their names that they deserve. I began on the path to achieve these dreams, but quickly a major obstacle set within my path, cancer. I started my schooling in January 2023 and was diagnosed in March of 2023. Though everyone told me my best option was to drop my courses and try again later, I knew better. I knew despite the obstacles that stood in my way, the innocent are still being persecuted every day within our justice system. The more I prolonged furthering my education, the greater the number of innocent young men and women who would be sentenced to life behind bars. Likely without fair representation to fight tooth and nail for them. I will not go into all the details of the trials my young 17-year-old brother faced while he was behind bars, but I will share that he came home diagnosed with schizophrenia and he will never be the same. This is a medical condition that can happen to anyone; however, it may never have been triggered for him if it was not for the severity of prison. My dream is to stand up and fight for the innocent. However, I would also like to grow programs and outreaches to the young, guilty or innocent, that can intervene at crucial points in their lives. I would also like to initiate intense programs as an alternative to prison for young first-time offenders. I want to give them a chance before their whole life is taken.