As an active duty woman in the United States Coast Guard, I have benefited from numerous experiences that have shaped and prepared me for my academic career. As a health services technician, I had the unique opportunity to treat patients and truly help my shipmates. Seven years of experience has shown me how listening to someone's story is already just a treatment. I selected Sociology as a major because I learned that understanding how we operate in society is an essential tool when making an effort to truly understand someone and, more importantly, understand what tools are needed to succeed in a particular environment. Sociology is a specialty that will help in a future career in medicine because treating the person is as crucial as treating a disease. A focus in Sociology expands our imagination, broadening our ability to feel compassion for our fellow humans. Right after graduating from high school I wasn't ready to attend college. I had little direction and wasn't sure what career I wanted to pursue. Most of my concern stemmed from the cost of college tuition. My parents shared this concern and asked me to pursue other options. I had never considered the military until a good friend of mine suggested the Coast Guard after scoffing at my outlandish plan to become a lifeguard on California beaches at age eighteen. I longed to leave Ohio for California. Six months later, freshly graduated from boot camp, I left for the USCGC Sherman, a 378-foot high-endurance cutter from Alameda, California. It was my time aboard the USCGC Sherman that provided me with a structural environment and introduced me to skills that will serve me throughout my life. Two years of work have taught me that hard work and initiative have ... middle of paper ... pushed me out of my comfort zone and I have proven to myself that I am capable of achieving my goals, big and small. The Coast Guard also taught me responsibility and how important it is to maintain an honest attitude with yourself and your shipmates. I have learned that integrity and responsibility are vital character traits to maintain honor, respect, and devotion to duty. In my field we rely on each other a lot when situations arise and I feel that my studies in sociology have allowed me to look introspectively and observe my weaknesses so that I can continue to improve and evolve into a better person who can continue to serve. I feel like my demographics don't embody diversity. Rather, it is my ups and downs, my experience in the military, and life as an older student that can contribute to intellectual diversity within the student body..