Growing up in Chicago has had an impact on me and why I aspire to pursue a future career in civil service. My name is Jocelyn Katerina Martinez. I am currently a Senior and my dream is to attend Illinois State University. I hope to obtain my bachaleor degree in Criminal Justice. I want to start off in law enforcement and then work my way up to be a detective. My long term goal is to be a FBI agent. Chicago violence has affected me personally. My cousin was shot at as a teenager. The gangs wanted to take from him what he worked so hard to get on his own. My father was also badly beat up coming home from our local grocery store. He was simply trying to bring home dinner. He was still in his dirty work clothes when he was approached by some men who wanted to take his hard working earnings. He fought back. They left him on the floor bloody and hurt. My mother and I cried when we saw him. He ended up with a broken nose, 2 black eyes and a broken eye socket. I felt helpless and confused. Who would want to hurt an older man who was just holding bags of groceries. It's not fair. I was so mad, emotional and frustrated. I don't think any of us will ever be the same. I live in fear thinking what may happen next. But I will not let those experiences define me. It will motivate me instead. My work will contribute to the well-beng of individuals and communities. I want to give back to my community. I want to bring peace of mind to the victims. They should know that people care and want to make a difference. I will first gain knowledge in a law enforcemnt position. That will prepare me to be a detective. My career will allow me to investigate crimes, gather evidence and ultimately arrest guilty criminals. I want my community to feel safe and through my work enhance that public safety. Protecting citizens will be one of my main goals. By catching criminals I could help protect the communities they live in from further harm and ensure their safely. Most importantly I could provide some kind of closure to the families and a sense of justice for the victims as well. The feeling of injustice of why these things happened to my family members is what inspired me to choose this path. I wish I could have had closure on these terrifying experiences. Thank you for taking the time to read this and for the opportunity to win this scholarship. I will surely put it to great use if I win! Sincerely, from a lifelong learner!

My name is Jocelyn Katerina Martinez. I am a senior and I love to read and write. My future post-graduation plan is to attend Illinois State University. I plan to major in Criminal Justice. My growing up in Chicago around gangs and violence has had an impact on my choices. I want to be a detective and help solve crimes. I want to bring peace to the victims. I have been personally impacted by Chicago violence. My cousin was shot when he was a teenager. He went to school and worked and the gangs wanted to take from him what he worked so hard to get. I remember feeling so afraid when we received the call that he was being rushed to the hospital. He almost became a statistic. My father was also a victim of violence. He was badly beaten. He was coming out of our local grocery store bringing dinner home for us. He had just gotten off of work Still in his dirty work clothers. He became a target. They wanted to take his hard worked earnings. He fought back. They left him on the floor bloody and hurt. My mother and I cried when we first saw him. He had a broken nose and a broken eye socket. Eventually 2 black eyes too. I don't thiink we will ever recover from that scary sitution. I live in fear of what may happen next. I will not let it stop me though. That is why I want to further my education. I want to give back to my community and be a positive role model for others. Ten years from now I see myself as a FBI agent. That is my life long goal. I know I have the potential for greatness. I am very motivated and have faith in my success. During my high school years I have participated in community service. I help make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to help feed the poor. We have been to nursing homes to play board games and keep the elderly company. It feels good to make them happy. I was a girl scout from kindergarten to 8th grade and helped mentor younger girls. We would talk about being proud of being girls and how we could do anything we put our minds to. We were role models to the younger girls. We tried to set the right example and encouraged confidence, courage and a sense of community. I also helped the neighborhood kids by reading to them and helping with homework. It was something I always enjoyed doing. This scholarship would be instrumental in pursuing my next step because it will help me meet the financial gap in order to attend Illinois State University. I am willing to work but I know that I cannot work more than part time because I need to focus on my studies. I am the kind of student that really needs to study in order to obtain good grades. Winning this scholarship will also lessen the finacal burden on my mother. She can't afford to pay that much. I know that I will work extra hard to get good grades. Thank you for taking the time to read this and for considering me as a canidate. I will make it worth it if I do win!

Hello! My name is Jocelyn Katerina Martinez. Furthering my education is very important to me because I know how important it is in order to be successful in the future. I want better opportunities for myself. I know that a higher education will provide greater job security and will help me become independent. I love reading, writing and having meaningful discussions with others. I believe I will be a life long learner. I want to grow as a person, make my family proud and set a good example for my future children. Music has always had a great impact on me. I have been a dancer since I was 4 years old. I have danced ballet, jazz and lyrical. Music inspires me to move and express myself. I really enjoy concerts and have had the opportunity to attend many. One of my favorite has been Taylor Swift. I am in my element when I attend concerts. They make me so happy. I enjoy singing and I can feel the lyrics. Music has also helped me cope with many difficulties in my life. I lost my grandparents to Covid in 2020. My life came tumblng down. Music saved me, though. It helped me cry when I needed to and made me smile other times. Being a teenager has been difficult too. There have been times that friends haven't been very nice. I have fought harder for some friendships that I was better off without. So many pressures to look a certain way and be a certain someone. There have been times that I don't feel good enough. Musicians have helped me realize I am not alone. I can relate to their lyrics. It makes me feel positive. If they can overcome it, I can prevail as well. Music has helped me overcome many insecurities. I'm born and raised on the Southside of Chicago. It is a tough place to grow up in. Gangs and violence surround my community. Crime has affected me personally. My cousin was shot coming home from school. His life was almost cut short due to the violence in Chicago. It is so unfair. We don't deserve to live this way. I remember feeling so helpless when I received that dreadful call. Thankfully he survived and now it's just a scary memory. A little over a year later my father was leaving our local grocery store. He was still wearing his dirty work clothes. He also became a victim. They tried to rob him. He fought back. They proceeded to beat him up. Luckily there was a cop near by. They ran away and left my father on the floor bloody and hurt. My poor father. My mom and I cried when we first saw him. They broke his nose and an eye socket. I don't think we'll ever be the same. It is such a scary situation. I live in fear of what can happen next. But I will not let it keep me down. It has motivated me more to continue my education. Crime has affected my studies. My goal is to become a FBI agent. My major is Criminal Justice. I want to help make my community safer. I desire to help investigate crimes and bring peace of mind to the victims. I will use my experiences to better me as a person. I hope this scholarship is awarded to me in order to help in making my dream come true. I have faith that with hard work and perseverance I will overcome any obstacles and be exactly who I want to be!