Personal Statement: Dedication, Duty, And Determination

Dedication, duty, and determination are the main attributes I live my life by. At the age of 17 I joined the Army as an Chemical Operations and Biological Specialist, and spent my summer before senior year at basic training. I was in an advanced literature class in my senior year, so in any free time during training, I read my assigned reading so I would not be behind once school started. For those two reasons and my selfless service to the Special Needs students in school, I received special recognized by the Dean of Students at the end of my senior year. Over the next ten years I attended multiple classes through the military to include certification as a Human Resources (HR) Manager. I maintained deployment packets, medical and personnel records so we were ready to deploy within a 72 hour notification window. In 2011, I received a phone call to individually deploy as a HR Manager with a NATO

Unlike most HR Managers I traveled frequently via ground and air missions in order to ensure everyone had contact with their families, pay issues were handled and all paperwork was in order for leave or their return back home at the conclusion of their deployment. Unfortunately, during my deployment I ended up sustaining an injury to my spine and unknown cause of heart problems. Upon my return from deployment the chest pains and heart episodes were found out to be a severe problem. I was sent to the Fort Bliss Wounded Warrior Battalion for medical treatment. I spent 18 months undergoing a variety of surgeries, procedures, physical therapy, and traumatic brain injury rehabilitation. After fighting to stay in the Army to finish my remaining years, it was later denied resulting in a medical retirement. I was able to serve honorably for 12 years, for which I am