A Self Portrait by Derek Snellings
May 24, 1999

As I dangle from the helicopter, my head pulses with every beat of my heart. Slowly I am lowered to the victim as they begin to go under. With every last ounce of strength, I reach for them. I know that the only thing between them and an inevitable death is the bond our hands share. The water soon overcomes us and she soon floats down river where her fate is known. I know the struggles both mentally and physically of being in swift-water rescue, but the rewards far out way the risks and repercussions of the job. The adventure and excitement of this job would serve me for me. A fast paced job where I can do all that I want and am happy and am able to live my life in the fast lane. Whether it be cruising a river searching for a drowning victim or jumping out of a helicopter to save their life, adventure and fast paced is what I am all about. Search and rescue is how it will be for me. Waking up early to get out the door and get on my way to go save the day, at least one person's day, on a good day that is. This is how I envision my future, saving peoples lives, getting paid, spending a lot of time in the outdoors, and getting paid to do all of this.

To get to be who I am has been a long windy road filled with many outside influences. I am nice and yet sometimes I am mean. I try hard and yet I slack off in some other areas. I am many things in the opinion of Myers Briggs. I am Extrovert. I am Intuitive. I am a Thinker, and I am a Perceiver. I am sure all this is accurate also. I am a big fan of the ladies. I try hard to get what I want and many times I am very selfish in my will. I am VERY competitive in all sports and all games and will avoid loosing at almost all costs. I am a loving person who is always kind to all people, nope, I am very cocky, proud and arrogant. I feel that that is related to my strong desire to win. I also am very into the outdoors and all parts of nature, whether it be kayaking down a beautiful whitewater river or hiking on a majestic mountain pass. The outdoors draws me in because of its beauty. I am a religious kid who tries to be good and most of the times I hold my morals strong and don't give into the pressure. I have never been a big fan of drugs, because I know of the effects and don't want to live my life on the street. The one thing about me that is the most negative thing about me is probably my mouth and attitude.

I want to be successful and am willing to work hard to become a good man. I care of the problems of our world and really want to help solve some of the problems that plague our society. I want to be in a job in the outdoors where I can be free to help people and save lives; this is why I want to be in swift-water rescue. I like the water and I would love to save someone's life. "When disaster strikes 4" and videos and movies of that nature are on TV, I am intrigued by how all the rescue workers can save the lives and do it so perfectly. I want someday to see myself on TV where I am saving the life of an innocent victim, and be called a hero by all. It is a sort of selfish goal but it would make me happy. I believe that as a person, who enjoys extreme things, rescue work would be a great thing for me. I am a guy who likes the outdoors and I try to be athletic so as I see that this would be the perfect job for me. In that profession, I think that I would want to be renowned for what I have done and be known by a lot of people. I would want to be paid enough to live on and live nicely. I want to have a hot wife who loves me for me and for us to be able to live happily ever after. She will have to be a back rub technician and love for me to get home so she can get me relaxed after a long day of work.

As I plan to be a swifter-water rescue person, there are multiple things that I must do first before I can do anything related to even getting a job. High school at Nevada Union is something I will have to complete first off. I will need to go to college at a place where there is a medical training program. I plan to go to college and get certified in life rescue programs, which include CPR. Basically, doctor classes and I will just work in the outdoors. I will get interned on a rescue team where I will learn the value of being part of a team and how to work together well. I figure that it will be a year of learning how the whole job is going to be. After I have settled into my job for around 25 years, I hope to become a manager of a team and run more out of the office. Once I have left my mark in the industry, I plan to retire and live a long life of cigars and golf.

In closing, it can be said that as soon as you're born, you start dying, so you might as well have a good time.