My name is Taylor Gossard. I am 17 years old and I am from Shelbyville Illinois. I would like to enter the field of Law Enforcement because growing up, I dealt with my father using drugs. I was left in unsafe situations, but I was so young at the time, I didn't even realize what was going on. I noticed that things with my father had changed, but I didn't understand the severity. I was always surrounded by other addicts and I was sometimes left home alone. It's so scary to think back on! When my mother said I couldn't be around him anymore, I was so frustrated. I am so thankful to my mom now for getting me out of those situations. During the midst of things, I went to jails and prisons to visit him, always on phone calls while he was in prison, writing letters back and forth. He would talk about the things that would go on while he was away and I was always so interested in what he had to say. This is definitely when I found my love for Law Enforcement, I just hadn't realized it. When I was 14 years old, I was walking home from school when I found out my father had been arrested, and I was so relieved that he was going to be safe and not slowly killing himself. I found out about the arrest because my grandpa sent me the video of the arrest happening. I was a mess. This is when my time in the prison started. When I first entered the prison, I was scared. Officers were touching me, searching me, and they yelled. I hated the environment at the time because I didn't understand the severity of the place I was at. Today, I do understand why officers have to be so tough, and that's an environment I would like to work in. My dad was in prison for a year. After he got out he stayed clean, but that didn't last forever. I was in a situation where a probation officer came to my house to drug test my dad. It all happened right in front of me. I wanted to believe so badly that he was still clean after 7 months, but he was not. My dad was given the option to go to rehab and get the help he needed, or they would take him back to jail. He decided he wanted to get help, but he didn't go straight to rehab like he said he would. He just left and no one knew where he went. About a week later he called me from the rehab to let me know he needed to get away and needed to get in the right mindset before he went. He has been clean ever since. I have been around Law Enforcement my whole life. I have seen things no kid needs to see but it made me mature quickly and opened my eyes to my future career. I'm not 100% sure what it is exactly I want to do, but I do know that I want to help people like my dad and make a positive impact on not only my life but everyone I share it with and more.