My dad has been a police officer in my town my whole life. I have seen first hand the impact that he and his coworkers have had on the community. In addition to seeing it, for as long as I can remember, I’ve heard stories about things that have happened at work. Specifically, I remember hearing him talking to my mom about a boy that had broken his arm while he was working one day. He was the first to respond to the call and calmed the boy down until medical personnel arrived. Sometime shortly after all of this happened, the mom of the boy got on Facebook and wrote an extremely kind message about my dad. At the time, no one in my family had Facebook so our neighbors were actually the ones that showed it to us. I remember feeling so proud of him because of the way he impacted that boy and his family during what were scary moments for them. My dad has been such a prominent role model in my life; he is a big reason why I want to pursue a career in criminal justice. Specifically, I plan on going into the forensic science field. With my degree I plan on helping prevent and solve crimes, and ensuring that justice is served. I want to do my part to identify the perpetrators of different crimes to make sure that they face the consequences of their actions. I would do my part to make sure that all evidence is thoroughly analyzed and ensure that nothing is missed no matter how little. I will begin every new case I receive with one goal: to find the truth. I also want to give victims, their families, and all others affected by the crime(s) the closure they deserve. The criminal justice system can be a very long, complicated process, and it can be hard for victims to go through. The best way I can help all those affected is to do my best to analyze evidence in a timely manner so that the process can keep moving forward. Additionally, this job will require me to be an expert witness and testify during the court process. Even in the courts I can still do my part by being prepared to testify on the evidence I analyzed. Testifying gives me the opportunity to present clear, factual evidence to make sure that the outcome of the trial is based on solid evidence. Presenting this evidence can ultimately benefit the victim and support a fair legal process. Overall, I promise to always work my hardest every day and make sure that everything in my control is done to the best of my abilities.

As a middle child, my love for the game of softball initially began by spending weekends at the ball fields watching my sister play. For me, it was love at first sight. Once I started playing, I never wanted to stop. My career began playing tee ball; however, I quickly got annoyed that you could only advance one base everytime the ball was hit. When I was six-years-old, I started playing softball for real. I began playing 8U softball, and was the youngest player on my team. It didn’t take long for me to know that this was the game I wanted to play forever. From age six until this current day, almost all of my weekends during the season have been spent playing or watching softball. I have been on both sides of the game for as long as I can remember; I was a player, and I was also a spectator. I loved watching my sister and her team play. If there was a weekend that I didn’t play, I would be at the fields watching her, and also running GameChanger or doing the scorebook. One of her teammates' parents took the time to teach me how to do both versions of scorekeeping, and I will forever be grateful for that. It is hard to truly say how much this sport has impacted my life. I have no idea where I would be today without it. For one, this sport has given role models to look up to since the very beginning. I have always looked up to the older girls and thought “I want to be them someday.” It’s crazy to think that I may now be a role model for the younger girls. Softball has also created a bond between me and my sister that I don’t think would be the same if both of our hearts weren’t in the game. We have worked so much together and spent so much time outside of our practices putting in the extra work and challenging each other. My sophomore year of high school I got to finally play with my sister which had been a dream of mine for forever. That season will be one I will never forget. Celebrating the wins, especially the regional final win with her will be engraved in my heart forever. This game has taught me the definition of hard work, and shown me that you can achieve all sorts of things if you work hard everyday. I am a perfectionist, and I can’t give anything less than my best on anything that I’m working on. I attribute my success in school and in life to softball because it was the first thing that truly made me work hard. Finally, and the most important impact from softball is all of the friendships made. I have a feeling that many of my teammates will be lifelong friends because of all the time we spent together each season and the bond that was created through this game. This game is such a special sport to me, and I don’t know what I’m going to do when it comes to an end. I am currently a senior in high school and I plan on attending Coe College in Cedar Rapids Iowa to continue my softball career while studying criminal justice and biology. I am a pitcher and infielder for Ankeny High School and will have my final high school season in the summer. I hope to continue learning about myself through this game and make more friendships with my teammates in college.

My dad has been a police officer in my town my whole life. I have seen first hand the impact that he and his coworkers have had on the community. In addition to seeing it, for as long as I can remember, I’ve heard stories about things that have happened at work. Specifically, I remember hearing him talking to my mom about a boy that had broken his arm while he was working one day. He was the first to respond to the call and calmed the boy down until medical personnel arrived. Sometime shortly after all of this happened, the mom of the boy got on Facebook and wrote an extremely kind message about my dad. At the time, no one in my family had Facebook so our neighbors were actually the ones that showed it to us. I remember feeling so proud of him because of the way he impacted that boy and his family during what were scary moments for them. My dad has been such a prominent role model in my life; he is a big reason why I want to pursue a career in criminal justice. Specifically, I plan on going into the forensic science field. With my degree I plan on helping prevent and solve crimes, and ensuring that justice is served. I want to do my part to identify the perpetrators of different crimes to make sure that they face the consequences of their actions. I would do my part to make sure that all evidence is thoroughly analyzed and ensure that nothing is missed no matter how little. I will begin every new case I receive with one goal: to find the truth. I also want to give victims, their families, and all others affected by the crime(s) the closure they deserve. The criminal justice system can be a very long, complicated process, and it can be hard for victims to go through. The best way I can help all those affected is to do my best to analyze evidence in a timely manner so that the process can keep moving forward. Additionally, this job will require me to be an expert witness and testify during the court process. Even in the courts I can still do my part by being prepared to testify on the evidence I analyzed. Testifying gives me the opportunity to present clear, factual evidence to make sure that the outcome of the trial is based on solid evidence. Presenting this evidence can ultimately benefit the victim and support a fair legal process. Overall, I promise to always work my hardest every day and make sure that everything in my control is done to the best of my abilities.