I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life when I was younger. I thought about being a lot of things, but life had other plans for me. What a crazy, winding path it has been.* Fast forward a few years and I am graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and eagerly awaiting my life to sky rocket to success. Little did I know that I was going to have to crawl and fight my way through a large amount of people looking for their own dream job in a small town with a high unemployment rate.* I found a delightful position with my hometown newspaper. I was given the opportunity to write several articles for the publication. During a few issues, there were shortages of staff writers, so I contributed more articles to ease the shortages. I did a great deal of field work, meeting with locals to cover a story. Sometimes I found myself to be one of the first people on scene during a breaking news story and I was my own photographer. I also sold and created advertisements to businesses in my designated area.*A few more years down the road, I found my life taking a completely different path. I decided to follow in my mother's footsteps and become a 911 dispatcher for our local sheriff's office. For eight years I took calls ranging from pesky animals to the death's of children. Something is to be said for a person who can talk a frantic mother through CPR on her child, disconnect with her, and still be able have the composure to help the next caller. It was my duty and I did it to the best of my ability. I was the very first person these people spoke to during their greatest time of need, all the while continuing to handle my daily clerical duties. I could be helping a gun shot victim on one line and talking to my officer on the other end of the radio simultaneously at any given moment throughout the day. *All of this has shaped me into a person who is not afraid of a challenge and will arise to the occasion with determination and gusto.