Announcing The Driven by Heart Scholarship recipient for 2023!
We are so pleased to announce our latest recipient of the Driven by Heart Scholarship, Yanice Barajas-Vera! She was awarded $1,000.00 for her dedicated and compassionate contribution to her community. Please read her essay below.
An essay by Yanice Barajas-Vera:
I strive to become the best version of myself. The version of myself that I am slowly becoming is an independent, young woman, from the background of parents that I have seen struggle, but have overcome obstacles in their lives. I am becoming a woman that has grown strength and thick skin throughout her life, but most of all has grown tremendously within the opportunities that I have taken.
Without a doubt, I would say volunteering for the Keizer Police Department has changed my life in a positive way that I would have never imagined would have been so influential in my life. I changed schools in 2021 after the pandemic had put us into lockdown. I wanted change within my life, education, and a sense of community. Moving to my current school, Roberts @ Chemketa, has fulfilled those voids. It has made me who I have grown to become. I came about my current volunteer job from my school. I wasn’t quite sure if I wanted to take the opportunity, but I thought about having a chance of getting closer to my community. I was interested in the work of Law enforcement and the other roles that are in the Criminal Justice field. I took opportunities that were positively enforced by my parents as well. Throughout the application process, I was dealing with interviews and background checks. After the overwhelming wait and process of the application, I was told that I had been accepted to the Keizer cadet program. I was elated by the news that I had received.
Since August of 2022, I have been involved within the Keizer Police Cadet Program. The cadet program involves young teens and adults from the age of 14-20 to volunteer as a police cadet. We become involved with community events by helping and representing the department. We also gain knowledge of law enforcement by going to an academy that teaches us the education of Police officers and other roles in the field. Within the academy, I was elected to become the Keizer class leader. With this came the responsibility of making sure my class was in line with what they had to do and making sure we were a team. As class leader, I had to lead marching, make sure no one was left behind, checked that everyone had all their equipment, and was one to talk to when needed. At the graduation of the academy, the class leader was responsible for having and reading a speech about their class.
With being a cadet, you are not only gaining knowledge of law enforcement, but gaining a connection with your community. Meeting people from different backgrounds and gaining trust with our peers. This helps us as well as the community knowing the future officers and or future people that we will be helping within the community. I have learned a lot in such a short amount of time and all has benefited me. It has positively impacted my life, the person I am today and my career path and the future. This has helped me want to do a lot more in my community and have that as part of my career. Lastly, being a cadet has made me closer to my community than I have ever been before and wanting to help and making sure the community is safe is something I would love to do with whatever career path. My main goal is to show and share my compassion to others, no matter who or what it is.
