"In high school, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in healthcare to feed my desire to help people in need, so the idea of becoming a paramedic in my home community was very appealing. As I progressed through my training, I realized that the teamwork and close bond I developed with my partner and working with local hospital staff made this a perfect career choice for me."

"When I was in eighth grade, I was a passenger in the car when my family was in a three-car accident in a very rural area in farm country. While my father suffered a broken leg and my brother and I had only minor bumps and bruises, others were hurt severely in that accident. At the scene, I watched how responsive the two ambulance teams were and how they handled the accident scene like true professionals. That experience piqued my interest in emergency medicine, and I'm looking forward to helping many people in similar situations."

"When I left high school, my older cousin worked as a paramedic, and I was very close to him and looked up to him as a role model in my life. In talking to him, he loved the day-to-day action on the job and spoke greatly about how being able to help people was such a satisfying career choice. On top of that, he loved his flexible schedule as a paramedic. Since entering the career, I've been rewarded with awesome experiences working on a community ambulance crew, in the fire service, and doing search and rescue operations."