My father has served as a Delaware State Trooper for the last twenty-one years in many different capacities from shift work on the road to working as a Detective in Property Crimes, Major Crimes, Homicide, and most recently Polygraph. In that time, he and my mom have taught my brothers and I respect for the rules and appreciation for service and sacrifice, something that many take for granted. Probably one of the most important lessons I have learned is standing up for what is right, even if that means standing alone or having an unpopular opinion. When I was little, I didn’t truly understand the full capacity of what it meant to be a law enforcement family. I never worried about how dangerous the job was. I was clueless as to why my brothers and I were sometimes rushed out of a store or aisle to avoid someone my dad had recently arrested. I never realized that he would have to leave his emotions at the door so he could be present and engaged with us when he came home. My parents didn’t want me to grow up fearful of the world around me. As I grew older he began to share more with me about his experiences on the job and the cases that caused him to lose sleep at night. Not only has it made me realize how fortunate I am to have a family that loves and supports me, it also opened my eyes to how cruel the world can be. This has caused me to see the world differently than the rest of my friends. My Dad has instilled the importance of situational awareness while I am out in public. While my friends are focused on their phones and intently talking to one another as though they are the only ones in the world, I’ve learned to balance being engaged with remaining aware of my surroundings, often choosing to position myself facing the door when eating out, like my Dad does. Although I admire the sacrifice of my community's first responders, my heart is drawn to a different form of service. My passion for animals has led me to pursue veterinary medicine, so I can one day give back to my community. Delaware is in desperate need of veterinarians due to the growing population and limited accessibility to veterinary care. My future occupation could truly make a difference in the community that I live in. I know that this calling will mean making sacrifices. It will be financially draining (four years studying Pre-Veterinary Medicine at the University of Delaware beginning Fall 2026 with an additional four years of college to complete my DVM). It will be mentally taxing between studying while in school as well as the emotional toll of the job. It will also mean putting my life, a family, and other goals on hold for eight years. It’s a pathway that will be challenging but worth the effort. Chasing my dream will be demanding, but it is not the first time that I have ventured away from home in pursuit of a challenge. In July of 2023, I spent 9 days at boot camp when I was a member of the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corp. We had no access to phones or means of communicating with our families, other than the occasional letter from home. Instead, we created connections with our fellow cadets and learned to rely on each other to complete tasks. We worked out everyday, did team building exercises, practiced marching and standing in formation, and attended classes with an exam on the last day. While those nine days were incredibly grueling, it filled me with a sense of accomplishment and made a lasting impact on me. In the end, I was not only selected to hold one of the guidon in the ceremony, I was also awarded Honor Cadet for excellence in leadership, military bearing, setting the standard/serving as a role model, and willingness to help others. Although my future goals no longer include military service, that experience has taught me that I am capable of working through challenges and putting in effort can help me accomplish my goals. In addition, I learned independence and the confidence to succeed on my own without always having someone there to rely on. This will be incredibly helpful for life at college because I won’t have my parents with me to do everything for me.