"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong." Abraham Lincoln

There are clear truths that one establishes for themselves that helps to define their course in life. My clear and indelible truths are integrity, humility, and service. Upon this foundation I stand and because of these truths I strive everyday to be a better a better researcher, a better paramedic/firefighter, ..... a better human. I think George Washington Carver said it best with, "How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.". Service to my community is a rightful debt that I try to pay. Life is challenging and God knows I haven't always gotten it right but the ability to give of yourself to someone else in need, without a goal of reciprocity, is to truly accept that we all err, we all need, and we all deserve the compassion of humanity. "Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even." Muhammad Ali