Empathy is essential in both health-related careers and in life. To be completely honest, when I was younger and immature, I struggled with empathy. I didn't care how others felt, and I didn't take the time to try to understand others' feelings. Everything was always about me and only me. Luckily, I have matured, and I am no longer that girl. I didn't just change overnight, though my experiences and guidance from others have shaped me into who I am now. From a young age, the human body has always fascinated me. I was curious about why things worked the way they did. While health was interesting, I was never the person who wanted to pursue a career in healthcare to help others; it was about the fascination. When I was just eight years old, that changed for me. In third grade was the school year I got glasses, and while this may not seem like a huge deal, it was to me. Before I went to the eye doctor, my parents and I were unaware that I couldn't see well, until they noticed I couldn't read road signs and other similar things. So my parents made an appointment with the optometrist, and they decided I needed glasses. I put on those glasses and walked outside, then I said, "That's what the trees look like, and the grass is so vibrant." The world looked completely new. From that day forward, I knew I wanted to help others get that same feeling. Seeing the beautiful world we live in is a gift, and I want to bestow that gift upon others. The day I put my glasses on for the first time was a core memory that shaped my goals and aspirations for the future. Through this turning point, I became more interested in helping people, but to do so, I needed the skill of empathy. So I started talking to everyone I knew about the health struggles they have. I would try to put myself in their situation so I could understand what they felt. In the field of healthcare, empathy is the foundation for a successful career. A health provider can't provide the best care possible without understanding the patient's situation and how they feel. Empathy is not just feeling bad for someone, though; it's putting yourself in someone else's shoes and trying to fully understand their feelings as if they were your own. My goal after graduation is to attend college to become an optometrist in the future, but without empathy, I won't succeed in that endeavor. So with every small vision check to the groundbreaking appointments I plan to put myself in my patients position. The care they receive will be what’s in their best interest not my own.

As the child and grandchild of a multi-generational family of volunteer firefighters and the daughter of an emergency communications leader I have come to realize that service to the community is a top priority. My parents, grandparents, uncles, and brother have shown me the value of service and hard work. Life is most rewarding through giving, not receiving. Public service has always been a lived value in my family—through careers and volunteerism.The First Responder family has always been part of my life, but never more than this year. I plan to become an optometrist or ophthalmologist, with public service guiding where I pursue this career. Military aviators require biannual vision clearance, offering a way to serve while practicing eye care. If the military is not in my future, I would also love to do volunteer work with non-profits that serve underprivileged children such as Vision to Learn. Whether I choose to join the military or not, I still plan to serve and give back to my community. When I began to consider colleges, essays, and all that went with preparing for my future, I did not think I really had anything of value to write about regarding challenges. This all changed on June 19, 2025. On this day my world changed forever. My brother, my best friend, and my mentor died by suicide. I was volunteering at my school when my parents arrived with the news that rocked our entire world. Life felt perfect—until it wasn’t. Time froze, yet we had to keep moving. This was quite the challenge for me as well as my family. However, through this I also learned what family truly means in the First Responder community. From the moment we found out my brother had passed, our First Responder family was there. They were at his house to support my family. They assisted in funeral arrangements. Through the support of my father's work as an assistant chief of emergency communications and the support of our volunteer fire family, they made the hardest time in our life as easy as possible. There is no way to explain the depths of my gratitude for what they did for us and the only way I can ever repay is to continue my family's legacy of public service. I expected a summer of work, college visits, and time with loved ones—but everything changed. Now I was faced with the biggest challenge I could ever imagine facing. How was I going to move forward without my brother there to help guide and encourage me? You see, he was not just my brother. We were the closest of all our siblings and he was the one I looked up to the most. I joined the Odessa Fire Company and he taught me more about public service. We spent time together with his young daughters and he let me know that he expected me to teach them growing up as he had taught me. We hunted together and he taught me about patience, conservation, and appreciating the beauty of nature. He learned all these things from our father and my grandfather who are truly the epitome of public servants. So, this is where my challenge and personal growth come into play. As I spent the summer in a state of suspended animation, I no longer had any drive or ambition regarding my future. I didn't want to think, much less talk about college. I couldn't even imagine starting senior year without him here for all the milestones. I shut down and had no real interest in moving forward. This continued through the summer. The night before I started my senior year, I finally broke down. I shared all these feelings that I kept inside with my parents. Through openness, conversation, and encouragement, I made it through that first day of senior year. As I began seriously facing my future without my brother, I realized that shutting down was doing a disservice to him, his girls, and myself. No matter what led to his suicide, I knew that I myself must continue moving forward. He never would have wanted his choices to have such a negative effect on me. I changed my mindset and settled into starting researching colleges and completing my common application online.I will honor my family’s legacy—and my brother—by serving others and being the role model he envisioned. Though my future is dimmer without him, I’m determined to light the way forward.