When I was a young child, my mother and I were driving home late at night on dirt country roads. I remember the night being especially dark. While traveling on a back road, my mother suddenly slammed on the brakes. Looking out the front window, I couldn't see anything that was in our way, anything that could harm us, but as I turned my head to the right to ask my mom what was wrong, I saw out the driver's side window the underside of a vehicle not two feet from my mom/s window. This was the first time I had come upon an accident in my short life and it terrified me.
My mom quickly took off her seatbelt, looked at me and said, "I'll be right back. Stay in the car."

I remember grabbing her arm and asking her not to go. For some reason, the sight of the undercarriage of the vehicle next to us made me incredibly scared. I thought my mom wouldn't come back.

She looked at me and said, "There are people in that vehicle who may need help," and then left the car to see what happened.

I am not certain if this is the only reason I chose a career as a helper, but I do think that this particular night stuck with me for a reason. I could go out there and help others or I could stay quite and afraid.

Later, when I was an EMT working at Keystone Ski Resort, I decided to go to paramedic school. This had been my goal since attending my first EMT class and I was so excited to begin. Rick, my boss at the time, couldn't understand why I wanted to take that next step from EMT to paramedic. One day, he asked me why I wanted to go to paramedic school. He said, "You are going to have so much more responsibility, doesn't that stress you out?" In his mind, being an EMT was easier because you didn't have all the extra pressure of being the one in charge on a scene.
My fear, was actually the opposite. As an EMT, I had some knowledge, but what if I was in a position where someone needed my help and I couldn't help them because I never learned how? What if I allowed my fear to hold me back? I told him that I would much rather have the skills to help when needed than not be in a position to help when needed.

The stress of knowing someone is in harm's way without the ability to assist was more stressful to me than anything else. And every time I felt a bit of pressure or fear, I would recall my mom running out to help a total stranger on a dark back road without hesitation. I didn't want to be the child hiding in fear in the car, wondering what bad thing is going to happen. I wanted to be the person running to help just in case someone needs a hand.