My current career path is in the field of emergency medical services. This year, I will be attending paramedic school. Working in the field of health care and especially emergency medicine became crucial for me because I found a great pleasure in helping people in the most critical situations in their lives. Emergency medicine has helped me develop skills of compassion and advocacy and taught me to show great respect towards every individual who needs my help. I would like to continue learning and growing to be a provider who gives the best medical assistance to his patients and at the same time creates a comfortable environment for them. Being non-binary and belonging to the LGBTQ+ community, I had certain experience which helped me to form my view on things and make decisions about what I would like to do in my career. The field of EMS is one of those which are not yet very welcoming for members of the LGBTQ+ community, and especially for gender-diverse people. My experience in EMS helped me to find strength in myself and learn to be more confident about my gender identity. Simultaneously, it made me more empathic towards other patients and coworkers. These experiences encourage me to be the type of healthcare worker that makes patients feel safe, respected, and understood. I am definitely someone who wants to continue contributing to the LGBTQ+ community in my lifetime and professional career. Representation and awareness are essential in EMS and healthcare in general. I hope that by using the opportunity that my future paramedic career will provide, I can promote equal treatment and respect for everyone. Apart from being able to contribute professionally, I also hope that I will be able to serve as an example to younger members of the LGBTQ+ community and show them that they too have the potential to lead happy and fulfilling lives without compromising their identity. In terms of financial benefits, this scholarship will make a huge difference in my life. As you might know, studying paramedicine is both challenging and expensive. While having to work to pay for my education, it is difficult to balance everything and manage time and money properly. Considering the costs associated with my education, including tuition, books, equipment, certification, and many other expenses, this scholarship would greatly help me concentrate on my studies and further professional development. It would also provide me the opportunity to further focus on my studies as it will lighten the load on how much I have to work.

I am an EMT who is wanting to expand my scope. I work in EMS and have for about a year now. There are so many inadequacies in the profession that I can't stand to see anymore. I want to help people the most I can and I feel like as an EMT, I'm not doing enough. I see medics who are burnt out and not willing to do the work needed anymore and I want to change that. The best way to do this is by being the change. I am perusing my Paramedic license and I eventually want to be in the fire service. I feel as though By doing this I will be able to help more people and be the medic that I want to see in the field. There are many places in this world that need help and I am willing to be the one to provide it. The first call that stuck with me was a cardiac arrest. This wasn't just any but it was my first arrest. I was working with a medic and we got sent out to an arrest and on the way we find out that it is a 4 year old little girl. At this point, I am wondering what we are about to walk into and if I'm even ready for something like this. But I have no choice. We get on scene and find people doing compressions on this little body that's just flailing around. She had to be intubated and my medic had to drill an IO into her leg. We did get ROSC but that also meant that she started to react to all of our interventions. She began to move around before a sedative was pushed. It was awful seeing a kid in that space but once that call ended, I realized something. I was supposed to be there. If we weren't there to help her, she might not have made it. Even though it was rough and I struggled to see her like that, the call felt natural. It felt like I had done it before. I realized after that I wanted to be able to fill the role of medic in those scenarios, I want to be the one that can run those calls and make that big change. I also respect the BLS before ALS mentality and know that if basic compressions weren't performed that the girl wouldn't have made it, but that's also why I want to be a medic people look up to and want to work with. There are too many who shut down EMTs and treat the profession like a mistake. I hope to be able to get this scholarship and help pay for my schooling in the fall to be a better provider. Thank you for your consideration.