1024 Treasure Lake DuBois, PA 15801 (814) 591-3946 cjcarbett@icloud.

com

Courtney Carbett
Personal Statement

When my father was in high school, he decided he wanted to become a police officer. After he
graduated high school, he went to college and was hired as a police cadet. When he turned 20, he
went into the academy to train. At 21 he became an officer of Ontario, California, and at 25, in
2003, I was born. He continued to work as an officer through the birth of my little brother , Jacob
who was born in 2007. One day he went to work leaving me at four years old, my brother who
was six months old, and my mother alone at home. He was on duty riding his police motorcycle
approaching a freeway when a car made a wrongful left turn in front of my dad on his
motorcycle, which he quick-wittedly swerved to avoid hitting the car head-on. He clipped the
backside of the car, then tumbled and slid about 100 feet on the road. He suffered career ending
injuries that required lengthy surgeries on his back, knees, ankles, and arms. This event caused
my mother to be forced to take care of an infant, a small child, and a newly handicapped husband
all at once. The accident affected everyone in my family in a different way. I had to now learn to
be more independent for my mother’s sake, and learn to accept that I would have to grow up with
a handicapped father.

Being a kid with a bedridden father is difficult. At four years old, the only time I got to play with
my father was when I pretended to be his nurse and I would put medicine on his exposed elbow
bone from being ground down from the asphalt of the road. I would never get to do the simple
activities with my dad that everyone else got to do, like go outside and play catch. Instead my
dad was hardly walking, and if he was, it was with crutches or a cane. At such a young age I did
not think about how long this would affect me, or how much. I had to mature very quickly to
help my mother out in taking care of me, my dad, and my baby brother. I would tend to my
father’s wounds and fetch whatever he needed for him as well as watch my baby brother so my
mother could have a break. This made me learn how to respond to situations where I am needed.

Now, fourteen years later, my dad still lives in chronic pain. Dealing with these events has made
me grow and mature at a young age, and has carried through in lifelong lessons about helping
others, being there for your loved ones, and never taking life for granted. Nearly losing my father
and being reminded of it every day has shown me how temporary life really is and how fast it
can be taken away. I always try to keep in mind ways I can help others in need, and keep as
many people as close to my heart as possible. These experiences have taught me how to live my
life in the best way possible, and I would not trade that realization for anything.