There are many reasons why I chose to look into the medical field and ultimately choose it as the one I would continue in. I can’t say my decision happened without the influence of my parents who were both members of my towns local fire department and rode the ambulance all throughout my childhood. Joining the department felt like it was me continuing my family legacy. Helping people has been in their blood, and I felt helping people was in my blood too. I started my training at 13 years old when I joined my local towns, fire departments, and junior company. I found more of a liking towards EMS so I really started to specifically train with the EMS Junior company that was within my fire departments, junior company. I was able to work alongside EMTs who had a lot of knowledge, including my mom who was the captain of EMS. At 17 years old, I was able to transfer into the department and be a full-fledged member and not a junior anymore. It was my dad who got to swear me into the department. I was the youngest person in my department and the youngest EMT in my department. at 17 years old, I was trusted in myself and my skills to ride on the ambulance and help the people of my community. My first call was a cardiac arrest and as soon as I got there, I took command and was able to start compressions on the patient. I will say that being a young EMT hasn’t always been easy, I’ve been doubted and told “I wasn’t correct” but I’ve continuously proved them wrong by continuing to give all patients on my ambulance the best care that they deserve. Last year I responded to 417 calls just in one year. I can say that I volunteer because I love the feeling of being able to help somebody. I love the feeling of being trusted by patients to come into their homes and help them on their worst days. I feel empathetic towards all the patients that I have on my ambulance, and I never leave them at the hospital without telling them “I hope you feel better”. I don’t know where I’d be without volunteering because it is something that I can say I feel the most passionate about. Now at 19, I am going to be in Paramedic school soon and any scholarship would help me pay for that continuing education.

The feeling when the tones go off on the pager, and you have no idea what you're going to be responding to, but you know that at the end of the day, you're going to be helping someone is just one of the reasons why I volunteer. There are many reasons why I chose to join my local fire department at such a young age. I can’t say my decision happened without the influence of my parents who were both members throughout my childhood. Joining the department felt like it was me continuing my family legacy. Helping people has been in their blood, and I felt helping people was in my blood too. I started my training at 13 years old when I joined my local towns, fire departments, and junior company. I found more of a liking towards EMS so I started to specifically train with the EMS Junior company that was within my fire department, junior company. I was able to work alongside EMTs who had a lot of knowledge, including my mom who was the captain of EMS. At 17 years old, I was able to transfer into the department and be a full-fledged member and not a junior anymore. It was my dad who got to swear me into the department. I was the youngest person in my department and the youngest EMT in my department. At 17 years old, I was trusted in myself and my skills to ride in the ambulance and help the people of my community. My first call was a cardiac arrest and as soon as I got there, I took command and was able to start compressions on the patient. I will say that being a young EMT hasn’t always been easy, I’ve been doubted and told “I wasn’t correct” but I’ve continuously proved them wrong by continuing to give all patients on my ambulance the best care that they deserve. Last year I responded to 417 calls just in one year. I can say that I volunteer because I love the feeling of being able to help somebody. One time I had a patient express that she had a horrible experience with another ambulance company and she thought she would have the same thing, but when I showed up she felt confident in the care she was going to receive because she trusted me. I love the feeling of being trusted by patients to come into their homes and help them on their worst days. I feel empathetic towards all my patients in my ambulance, and I never leave them at the hospital without telling them “I hope you feel better”. I don’t know where I’d be without volunteering because it is something that I can say I feel the most passionate about. Now at 19, I am applying for Paramedic school and hopefully should start in the fall. This scholarship would be such a big help to me in continuing my education in the emergency service field!

Growing up my childhood was much different than others. Even though I wore pink tutus to dance class like every other little girl did, and played soccer every Saturday morning as every other kid did, it was still different. While I was having fun at elementary school birthday parties and going to playdates at the park, my parents were both responding to emergency calls. I was practically raised at the firehouse. I have been getting trained to be a firefighter / EMT ever since I was born. For my sixth birthday, someone from the firehouse gave me personalized firefighter gear. It was pink and I wore it every day for probably a month. It made me feel so special that I got to match my Dad. The next year she gave me an EMT uniform. I wore that for a month too and this time I got to match my Mom. Everyone knew that I was going to follow in my parent's footsteps and join as soon as I could. I joined the junior company when I turned fourteen and a year later I was voted in as captain. Seeing both my parents be voted in as captain years prior has given me a great understanding of leadership skills. In 2022 I went through the extensive application process and officially was sworn in on August 25th. It was such a great feeling to see all the people that were there to support me as a kid, were now here to support me through my new journey. Aside from volunteering in the Fire Department, I am also a Girl Scout and I have been since the age of 5. I have gone through every level a Girl Scout can go through and I also am a Bronze, Silver and Gold award Girl Scout recipient. My Bronze award was earned by creating over 100 emergency preparedness kits and then teaching the importance of emergency preparedness to younger Girl Scouts. My Silver was earned by creating 150 no-sew octopus stuffed animals. I donated them to a children's hospital right before covid so that any kids that were admitted to the hospital would have a clean stuffed animal to have in the hospital. My Gold award which is the most special to me was earned by creating two benches to be donated to my town's fire department. At the Miller Place fire department, we were gifted tree saplings from the last remaining tree of 9/11. The saplings were in a spot that was not recognized enough so having the benches placed there brought new attention to the saplings and gave a spot for people to go sit and reflect upon them. Being a Girl Scout is something I am so proud of and I feel the same way about being an EMT. I love the time I spend volunteering to be an EMT but when it came to picking a career I knew there was another path waiting for me. I thought about maybe Film but I knew my love to help people was not going to be fulfilled in that career. I officially declared my major as Social Work and I am super happy I chose it. Not only do I get to help people, but I get to be someone who makes their day better. Helping people has been something that I have always been passionate about doing and I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to do it in my community and with my new career path, I know I will be able to help people outside of my community.

When I think about the importance of volunteerism I think about the time I have spent volunteering to make sure someone else’s day was better than the one before. I personally always take pride in talking about being in the Miller Place Fire Department or being a Girl Scout. Throughout both of those volunteer activities, I have helped many different people and have completed many different activities. When I was the age of 5 I became a Daisy Girl Scout. I continued being a Girl Scout all the way until this year when I graduated. Throughout my time as a Girl Scout, I completed and earned three awards. My Bronze award was earned by creating over 100 emergency preparedness kits and then teaching the importance of emergency preparedness to younger Girl Scouts. My Silver was earned by creating 150 no-sew octopus stuffed animals. I donated them to a children's hospital right before COVID-19 so that any kids that were admitted to the hospital would have a clean stuffed animal to have in the hospital. My Gold award which is the most special to me was earned by creating two benches to be donated to my town's fire department. At the Miller Place fire department, we were gifted tree saplings from the last remaining tree of 9/11. The saplings were in a spot that was not recognized enough so having the benches placed there brought new attention to the saplings and gave a spot for people to go sit and reflect upon them. Although I love being a Girl Scout and will always talk about it, something else that I am proud of is being an EMT in the Miller Place Fire Department. As soon as I was sworn in I became an Ambulance crew helper. I was and still am only 17 and have been on so many calls that were some people's worst days. The first call I responded to was a drug overdose that turned into a Cardiac arrest. I was a little scared at first but then I realized that someone needed my help, and I was ready. I enjoyed helping people so much that I began an EMT class in October of 2022 and six months, ten clinical hours and three tests later I was officially certified as an Emergency Medical Technician. I was doubted my skills a few times because of my young age, but I have had so many great influences and mentors in my life and my family like both my parents. My Mom is an Ex-Ems Captain and my dad is currently the chief of the department. I grew up around Volunteering and I will always plan to share why volunteering and helping people will be more special to me than anything else! I am proud of the person I am and I know I make others proud by caring about everyone around me.

Growing up my childhood was much different than others. Even though I wore pink tutus to dance class like every other little girl did, and played soccer every Saturday morning as every other kid did, it was still different. While I was having fun at elementary school birthday parties and going to playdates at the park, my parents were both responding to emergency calls. I was practically raised at the firehouse. I have been getting trained to be a firefighter / EMT ever since I was born. For my sixth birthday, someone from the firehouse gave me personalized firefighter gear. It was pink and I wore it every day for probably a month. It made me feel so special that I got to match my Dad. The next year she gave me an EMT uniform. I wore that for a month too and this time I got to match my Mom. Everyone knew that I was going to follow in my parent's footsteps and join as soon as I could. I joined the junior company when I turned fourteen and a year later I was voted in as captain. Seeing both my parents be voted in as captain years prior has given me a great understanding of leadership skills. In 2022 I went through the extensive application process and officially was sworn in on August 25th. It was such a great feeling to see all the people that were there to support me as a kid, were now here to support me through my new journey. Aside from volunteering in the Fire Department, I am also a Girl Scout and I have been since the age of 5. I have gone through every level a Girl Scout can go through and I also am a Bronze, Silver and Gold award Girl Scout recipient. My Bronze award was earned by creating over 100 emergency preparedness kits and then teaching the importance of emergency preparedness to younger Girl Scouts. My Silver was earned by creating 150 no-sew octopus stuffed animals. I donated them to a children's hospital right before covid so that any kids that were admitted to the hospital would have a clean stuffed animal to have in the hospital. My Gold award which is the most special to me was earned by creating two benches to be donated to my town's fire department. At the Miller Place fire department, we were gifted tree saplings from the last remaining tree of 9/11. The saplings were in a spot that was not recognized enough so having the benches placed there brought new attention to the saplings and gave a spot for people to go sit and reflect upon them. Being a Girl Scout is something I am so proud of and I feel the same way about being an EMT. I love the time I spend volunteering to be an EMT but when it came to picking a career I knew there was another path waiting for me. I thought about maybe Film but I knew my love to help people was not going to be fulfilled in that career. I officially declared my major as Social Work and I am super happy I chose it. Not only do I get to help people, but I get to be someone who makes their day better. Helping people has been something that I have always been passionate about doing and I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to do it in my community and with my new career path, I know I will be able to help people outside of my community.

When I think about the importance of volunteerism I think about the time I have spent volunteering to make sure someone else’s day was better than the one before. I personally always take pride in talking about being in the Miller Place Fire Department or being a Girl Scout. Throughout both of those volunteer activities, I have helped many different people and have completed many different activities. When I was the age of 5 I became a Daisy Girl Scout. I continued being a Girl Scout all the way until this year when I graduated. Throughout the time as a Girl Scout, I completed and earned three awards. My Bronze award was earned by creating over 100 emergency preparedness kits and then teaching the importance of emergency preparedness to younger Girl Scouts. My Silver was earned by creating 150 no-sew octopus stuffed animals. I donated them to a children's hospital right before COVID-19 so that any kids who were admitted to the hospital would have a clean stuffed animal to have in the hospital. My Gold award which is the most special to me was earned by creating two benches to be donated to my town's fire department. At the Miller Place fire department, we were gifted tree saplings from the last remaining tree of 9/11. The saplings were in a spot that was not recognized enough so having the benches placed there brought new attention to the saplings and gave a spot for people to go sit and reflect upon them. Although I love being a Girl Scout and will always talk about it, something else that I am proud of is being an EMT in the Miller Place Fire Department. As soon as I was sworn in I became an Ambulance crew helper. I was and still am only 17 and have been on so many calls that were some people's worst days. The first call I responded to was a drug overdose that turned into a Cardiac arrest. I was a little scared at first but then I realized that someone needed my help, and I was ready. I enjoyed helping people so much that I began an EMT class in October of 2022 and six months, ten clinical hours and three tests later I was officially certified as an Emergency Medical Technician. I was doubted of my skills a few times because of my young age, but I have had so many great influences and mentors in my life and my family like both my parents. My Mom is an Ex-Ems Captain and my dad is currently the chief of the department. I grew up around Volunteering and I will always plan to share why volunteering and helping people will be more special to me than anything else! Being a Girl Scout is something I am so proud of and I feel the same way about being an EMT. I love the time I spend volunteering to be an EMT but when it came to picking a career I knew there was another path waiting for me. I officially declared my major as Social Work and I am super happy I chose it. Not only do I get to help people, but I get to be someone who makes their day better. Helping people is something that I have always been passionate about doing and I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to do it in my community with my new career path, I know I will be able to help people outside of my community.

#BookTok is so important to me. I love reading because of BookTok. Being a student who grew up with reading comprehension problems and issues in the classroom, it is definitely special to me to enjoy reading as much as it does currently. It also makes my Mom really proud of me when she sees me reading because she knows I am pushing through that reading comprehension problem. Being that social media is such a big part of the world's growth, having something like Booktok is so important to be able to refocus us as a society. I personally love how BookTok enables users to discover new reads in a visually engaging way. This platform has the best literary recommendations and BookTok makes reading recommendations accessible to a diverse audience. I also love the idea of promoting a sense of community among book enthusiasts. Here are some books I found on BookTok that are memorable to me. "Such a Fun Age" by Kiley Reid.This book was such a good read. It has become a focal point for discussions on race, privilege, and social dynamics. I love having the BookTok community use their diverse voices about this book. I rated this book 7/10. "Beautiful Disaster" is another one of my favorite books that I found on BookTok. I love books with strong female characters and I love books with college settings. The book shows the complexities of relationships, showing that love can be both beautiful and messy and that sometimes, the most unexpected connections can lead to the best transformations. It also has strong themes of love, trust, self-discovery, and the choices we make for the sake of our hearts. I rated this book 10/10. The last book I am going to share that I recommend to any BookTok lover is "The Woman in the Window". I love how many twists and turns this book had and I read it in one sitting. It exploreed themes of perception, trauma, and the fragility of the human mind. This book kept me on the edge of my seat as we followed Anna's quest to uncover the truth while battling her own demons and the limitations of her agoraphobia. BookTok is something I wish would come up on everyone's for you page on TikTok. It is healthier for long-time TikTok users to see book recommendations instead of watching mindless and nonsense videos. I am a proud BookTok user!

Growing up my childhood was much different than others. Even though I wore pink tutus to dance class like every other little girl did, and played soccer every Saturday morning as every other kid did, it was still different. While I was having fun at elementary school birthday parties and going to playdates at the park, my parents were both responding to emergency calls. I was practically raised at the firehouse. I have been getting trained to be a firefighter / EMT ever since I was born. For my sixth birthday, someone from the firehouse gave me personalized firefighter gear. It was pink and I wore it every day for probably a month. It made me feel so special that I got to match my Dad. The next year she gave me an EMT uniform. I wore that for a month too and this time I got to match my Mom. Everyone knew that I was going to follow in my parent's footsteps and join as soon as I could. I joined the junior company when I turned fourteen and a year later I was voted in as captain. Seeing both my parents be voted in as captain years prior has given me a great understanding of leadership skills. In 2022 I went through the extensive application process and officially was sworn in on August 25th. It was such a great feeling to see all the people that were there to support me as a kid, were now here to support me through my new journey. Aside from volunteering in the Fire Department, I am also a Girl Scout and I have been since the age of 5. I have gone through every level a Girl Scout can go through and I also am a Bronze, Silver and Gold award Girl Scout recipient. My Bronze award was earned by creating over 100 emergency preparedness kits and then teaching the importance of emergency preparedness to younger Girl Scouts. My Silver was earned by creating 150 no-sew octopus stuffed animals. I donated them to a children's hospital right before COVID-19 so that any kids who were admitted to the hospital would have a clean stuffed animal to have in the hospital. My Gold award which is the most special to me was earned by creating two benches to be donated to my town's fire department. At the Miller Place fire department, we were gifted tree saplings from the last remaining tree of 9/11. The saplings were in a spot that was not recognized enough so having the benches placed there brought new attention to the saplings and gave a spot for people to go sit and reflect upon them. Being a Girl Scout is something I am so proud of and I feel the same way about being an EMT. I love the time I spend volunteering to be an EMT but when it came to picking a career I knew there was another path waiting for me. I thought about maybe Film but I knew my love to help people was not going to be fulfilled in that career. I officially declared my major as Social Work and I am super happy I chose it. Not only do I get to help people, but I get to be someone who makes their day better. Helping people has been something that I have always been passionate about doing and I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to do it in my community with my new career path, I know I will be able to help people outside of my community.

The siren blared through the town as I slid down the big red slide at the park. I immediately looked over at my parents. My Dad was already running to his car and Mom and I watched as he put the blue light on and then drove away; that blue light always scared me because of my fear that one day the blue light would be the last thing I could associate my dad with. Growing up my childhood was much different than others. Even though I wore pink tutus to dance class like every other little girl did, and played soccer every Saturday morning like every other kid did, it was still different. While I was having fun at elementary school birthday parties and going to playdates at the park, my parents were both responding to emergency calls. I was practically raised at the firehouse: Raised around both firefighters and EMTs. The amount of fire truck toys that I had was probably enough to fill a Toys R Us shelf and the number of times someone asked “Is that your parents?” when the firetrucks and ambulances passed by. I had my first through sixteenth birthdays at the firehouse; it was like my second home with my second family. It wasn’t until third grade when we had to write about what we did for Christmas that I figured out that my normal wasn't the normal for other kids. That was when I started to question how come. How come other kids go on family vacations with both their parents? How come other kids have both parents come to their school events? The thing was I didn’t know any better. There were more important things than my dance recitals and soccer games, but to a little girl looking into the audience, nothing else mattered. But this was the way I grew up. I know they tried their hardest but sometimes they just couldn’t make it happen. That day I sat at my desk for an hour thinking about how different my life would be if my parents were not involved with the fire department, but the truth was that I couldn't imagine it any other way. Everyone knew that I was going to follow in my parent's footsteps, just not how. Being an EMT is always something I wanted to do because I always enjoyed helping people. I joined the department in August of 2022 and have been on many different types of calls already, and have helped so many different types of people already. Every time I helped someone else, the feeling of success would completely take over. It was a feeling I knew I would never want to give up, but I knew that there was something else for me to do to help people, so when it came to picking a college major I felt that was my time. I picked to go into the Master of Social work program for many different reasons. One was that I could help everyone who wanted help and would need it. I also decided that I would continue volunteering at my Ambulance company as well as work as a Social worker. I know that my major is perfect for me because I will be able to accomplish everything that I always knew I wanted to do!

The siren blared through the town as I slid down the big red slide at the park. I immediately looked over at my parents. My Dad was already running to his car and Mom and I watched as he put the blue light on and then drove away; that blue light always scared me because of my fear that one day the blue light would be the last thing I could associate my dad with. Growing up my childhood was much different than others. Even though I wore pink tutus to dance class like every other little girl did, and played soccer every Saturday morning like every other kid did, it was still different. While I was having fun at elementary school birthday parties and going to playdates at the park, my parents were both responding to emergency calls. I was practically raised at the firehouse: Raised around both firefighters and EMTs. The amount of fire truck toys that I had was probably enough to fill a Toys R Us shelf and the number of times someone asked “Is that your parents?” when the firetrucks and ambulances passed by. I had my first through sixteenth birthdays at the firehouse; it was like my second home with my second family. It wasn’t until third grade when we had to write about what we did for Christmas that I figured out that my normal wasn't the normal for other kids. That was when I started to question how come. How come other kids go on family vacations with both their parents? How come other kids have both parents come to their school events? The thing was I didn’t know any better. There were more important things than my dance recitals and soccer games, but to a little girl looking into the audience, nothing else mattered. But this was the way I grew up. I know they tried their hardest but sometimes they just couldn’t make it happen. That day I sat at my desk for an hour thinking about how different my life would be if my parents were not involved with the fire department, but the truth was that I couldn't imagine it any other way. Everyone knew that I was going to follow in my parent's footsteps just not how. Being an EMT is always something I wanted to do because I always enjoyed helping people. I joined the department in August of 2022 and have been on many different types of calls already, and have helped so many different types of people already. Every time I helped someone else, the feeling of success would completely take over. It was a feeling I knew I would never want to give up, but I knew that there was something else for me to do to help people, so when it came to picking a college major I felt that was my time. I picked to go into the Master of Social work program for many different reasons. One was that I could help everyone who wanted help and would need it. I also decided that I would continue volunteering at my Ambulance company as well as work as a Social worker. I know that my major is perfect for me because I will be able to accomplish everything that I always knew I wanted to do!