Out of all of my family members who served on the military, my dad is the most heroic to me. I will always be in awe of the fact that his picture, along with that of my two uncles and my grandfather, on my high school’s military wall of honor. My dad joined the Air Force Reserves as a young adult because he was motivated to continue his family legacy. He was a firefighter, which was perfectly aligned with his career aspirations as he waited for the next FDNY test. He convinced his younger brothers to join the military as well, and soon, my grandparents had pictures of the three of them in the foyer of their house. He went to the Navy for a couple of years as a medic assigned to the Marine Corps, and when he was invited to the Marine Corps Ball, he took my mom with him and the event served as their second date. He eventually decided to go back to the Air Force, because of he liked it better there, and he rose through the ranks until he became a Master Sergeant. He always talks about how he “made some good choices by mistake as a young man,” and tells me the story of his life that I will never get tired of hearing, the story I will now share. In the 1980’s, when my dad was in his early 20’s, he enjoyed hanging out at our local fire department where he volunteers. He wasn’t very responsible at the point in his life, so he spent most of that time hanging out and drinking. One night, however, someone asked him “what the hell” he wanted to “do with life,” and my dad shrugged and answered that he wanted to be a city fireman. “No. What are you doing?” The older man asked again, and my dad gave the same answer. Then, my dad was given advice. As it turned out, the man knew when all of the civil service tests would be. He gave my dad a plan to take various EMS and Firefighter tests when they were available on the coming years. Somehow, my dad listened to this. My grandfather had also been nagging my dad about getting a full-time job as he wasn’t in school and simply living at home, so my dad also joined the military as an Air Force Reservist. He didn’t end up working as a city firefighter, instead becoming a court officer and continuing to serve on the military, and turned his life around. Honestly, I wouldn’t know about of this story if I hadn’t been told it. My dad is the most hardworking person I’ve met. Even after knowing this, my dad is my hero, and I couldn’t be more proud of him.

I grew up on a community-oriented, civil service family. My mom and three of her siblings were police officers in New York City, one of whom later went to the City Fire Department. My dad comes from a military family, and it seems to me that he’s done everything. Along with being a volunteer firefighter since he was seventeen, he’s been a New York City EMT, an Air Force Firefighter, a Police Officer, and a Court Officer. I grew up hanging out at the fire department with my dad, and going to the Christmas parties at my mom’s precinct. Unfortunately, having a family like mine has its drawbacks. I’ve been to countless funerals for members of service over the years, including for my Uncle Chuck, my mom’s brother who had been a firefighter on September 11th, 2001. He had esophagus cancer that was found too late, and he left behind a wife and three kids. His youngest child, who is a year older than me, had only been seven years old at the time. I don’t know if either of us understood the concept of death yet. I saw less of my cousins after my uncle’s death, but I started to spend more time at my town’s volunteer fire department with my dad. He would bring me there when he hung out with his friends, did rig checks, and went to events. When I was in seventh grade, I decided that I wanted to be a paramedic after I took a career quiz for a school assignment and matched with that. My parents were completely supportive, and they continued to encourage me when I took a CPR class and joined the Youth Squad at my Ambulance company. In February 2022, a member of my dad’s fire department passed away in the line of duty. I went to the services for him, as well as a second man my dad knew that died in December of 2022. I struggled to understand the fried that their families were experiencing, but I attempted to offer condolences as I’d been taught to do. At the ambulance company, I was allowed to respond to calls as an observer once I turned sixteen. My first shift was at the beginning of 2023. It was only four hours long, and we only got a couple of calls, but I knew for sure that I would do anything it took to keep myself on this path before I clocked out. Eight months ago, I started an EMT class as well as my senior year. I managed to balance my busy schedule, and worked so hard that I performed amazingly in every way. I became a certified EMT in March, and I was accepted to a college for their paramedic program. Unfortunately, I have been to three department funerals this year. My dad was friends with all of them, so naturally, I went with him to pay my respects. I have accepted that a part of my career path is seeing a lot of death, with both patients and friends. However, I am still devoted to becoming a paramedic, and this will never change.

Since I was in seventh grade, I have wanted to work in emergency medical services. This was no doubt influenced by my parents and extended family, who are mostly first responders. My mother and three of her siblings, who are now all retired, were police officers in New York City. Her oldest brother went on to work for the Fire Department of New York. My father is a now retired court officer, who has volunteered in our local fire department his whole life. I grew up going to the Christmas parties at my mom’s precinct and hanging out in the ready room at the firehouse. Now I am in my senior year of high school. For over two years, I have been a member of the Youth Squad at my local ambulance company. I’ve learned how to take someone’s blood pressure, done rig checks, and took a course on bleeding control. Due to department requirements, I am also certified to perform CPR, use an AED, and provide first aid, and I renew these certifications every two years. Obviously, a person has to be an Emergency Medical Technician before becoming a paramedic. I am registered for a course that starts on September 21st that ends with a hands-on skills exam taking place at the end of March, so I will most likely be registered as an EMT by April or May. I am also heavily involved with my local ambulance company where I am a Youth Squad member as part of the drill team. Since January, I have also been volunteering at the ambulance company every week and responding to calls. The experience I get from this is indescribably valuable and will help me a lot with my future. My department gets about two or three calls every shift- every four to six hours- so I’ve seen a good range of patients, even though most of them haven’t been too bad yet. For me and my family, volunteering is a way to help people and support our community. It isn’t a chore. This outlook has led me to spend a lot of time volunteering for different things throughout middle school and high school. I’ve helped teach religion at my church as an assistant to my mother and participated in beach cleanups with Scout troops a lot over the years, and I am a member of a club at my school that is dedicated to fundraising for various community needs. Obviously, my favorite volunteering experience is my duty crew shift at my ambulance company. I get to ride with one of my oldest friends and someone that my father went to high school with, which is really great because we were comfortable working with each other in the first hour of my first shift. Senior year is bittersweet for everybody. I am naturally intimidated by all the unknown things that await me at college, and afraid of what I’ll be leaving behind when I graduate high school in June, but I know I will be okay because I am leading myself on a steady path that will lead to achieving my dreams. I know I will continue to stay on this path, so my future dreams are in reach.