I was born and raised in the heartland of America; Lincoln, Nebraska. If you look it up on the map you’ll find that it is (almost) smack dab in the middle of the United States. Growing up I had wanted to be an emergency room surgeon. The gore, the excitement, and the challenges in saving lives held fascinating wonders to me.

But those wonders would all remain unattainable pieces of my hopes and dreams. On October 28, 1988, at the age of 16, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. My hopes and dreams were lost in that moment. I vaguely remember sitting in the doctor’s oversized chair as he explained to my parents the demise of the rest of my days, or so it seemed at the time. My world as I had imagined it was over before it had begun.

Through months and months of agonizing, painful, and depressing bouts of trying to live with this new chronic disease, I found myself wondering about God and what all of us were doing here. In the years that followed, I began to see the world as a privilege and not something to be taken for granted. What was God’s purpose for us? What were we supposed to be doing? I never wanted to waste a single day. If I was unable to follow the path to becoming a doctor, what path would I need to find and follow?

I worked a number of different jobs trying to find that path: fast food employee, FDA auditor for a blood bank, registrar at a museum, assistant to the director at an art gallery, and numerous temporary jobs. What I found to be consistent in all of my jobs were my interactions with people. I saw that it didn’t matter what job I held, one thing was constant – they all brought encounters with different types of people. I started seeing employment as an opportunity for interaction with others and how those interactions could make each of us a better human being.

It was in the fall of 2002 that the topic of forensic science came up in a conversation. At the time the CSI craze had not yet inundated the television shows. I searched the internet and discovered that the University of Nebraska-Wesleyan was one of thirteen schools offering a masters in forensic science. Upon being accepted into the program, I realized that the forensic science field held the same passionate interests that I had had for the medical field. I had found another world where the gore, the excitement and the challenges of saving lives also existed, albeit in a slightly skewed way. The forensic field opened a whole new chapter in my life. It is a whole new way of viewing people and society. You develop an ability to see the world from those struggling to survive in it, observe ways in which people cope, and create an environment in which true team work is what it is all about.

Each encounter with another person has opened up another opportunity and another path. Where do the paths lead? I don’t know, but I am open and ready for the next chapters—as each of us should be when we are faced with changes and challenges. Experiences builds us stronger, wiser, and more adept at facing and conquering what lies ahead. Life is amazingly short and precious and none of us should wait until we are on our death beds to figure that out.

Cynnamon Jones