Dear Future, 

I plan to fill you with endless hope and dreams. I plan to work towards those hopes and dreams until I’m able to complete them. I plan to set myself up for success. Most importantly, I plan to make myself happy and proud. 

2017 was the toughest year of my life. I tragically lost my older brother Owen to drugs in Milwaukee. During that tough time I felt as if I were alone in this big world, yet the only thing putting a smile on my face was helping others. Helping others not only made me feel more confident in my ability to advocate but overall made me more confident with my future. I knew I wanted to make a living out of helping others’ The best feeling I get is putting a smile on someone's face who's going through a tough time. The loss of Owen made me realize helping others is my biggest passion. Nobody should have to go through these things alone. 

Victim advocates. A job challenging, yet rewarding. You get the chance to be someone's support and reason to keep pushing everyday. A victims advocate deals with the emotional fallout of crimes. This includes grief, fear, and trauma. They also guide the person through the legal process of whatever situation they’re in. Of course there are other jobs in criminal justice and psychology that make more money however that’s not my intention. My intention is to fall in love with what i'm doing, my intention is to feel like I belong. I don’t want to wake up everyday dreading what I do. I want to wake up everyday knowing I have a purpose and that I'm doing what makes me happy. Helping people is what makes me happy. 

Sure, lots of people have support from their families and friends however sometimes that’s just not enough. Sometimes you need someone willing to help and do everything possible for you to feel comfortable. Especially considering the fact that the situations victims advocate for help in tend to be serious, gruesome, and truly devastating for a human being to have to go through. Being involved in such a serious and big part of someone's life is a major thing. You make a tremendous impact on their life and are sometimes the only support system a person has. You want to be the best support system, you want to make them feel that they can power through. 

The times I’ve felt alone in such a populated world were some of the worst times of my life. I never want someone to go through that. Which is why I’m choosing to continue my path to my dream career of a victims advocate. Due to many tragedies and unfortunate events in my life, I can sympathize more easily with feelings. Obviously some situations are worse than others however that’s not the point, the point is to be the support system for those struggling. The point is to get them through the hard and confusing part of court. Remind them of their rights and freedoms. Remind them that they have someone to contact in any time of need. 

Future, I plan to push towards my goals everyday. I plan to make myself happy with where I’m at. I plan to make the most out of this crazy world and attempt to make it a better place with one day at a time.