I am not your typical woman. Ever since I was little I wanted to work as an FBI Agent. I wanted to be out in the field and catching the bad guys. I would watch all of the criminal justice shows on television, and I would tell everyone I would want to be a police officer. I was young, and I could dream of being anything. That was the best part of being young. You could dream about being anything, and no one would stop you. They would buy you the costumes and deal with the puppet shows, because you were little and your imagination was allowed to run wild.

It was only when I got older that my imagination was treated as foolish. There was such a small percentage of female police officers, so it wasn't a realistic goal. In my small community, there was only one job for women. We were raised to be housewives. Now, I don't have anything against housewives. I know that it is not easy taking care of children and your home life. It can be physically and emotionally exhausting. It can take a huge toll on women. It makes it worse when people treat a housewife like they never do anything. They hold families together and keep them from falling apart. They spend their lives making sure the lives of their families are the best that they can be.

I just couldn't see that for myself, though. I don't want to spend my life with a child on my hip everywhere I go. I'm the worst cook unless there is a step by step recipe in front of me. I absolutely hate cleaning unless I have to do it. I want to be out helping people. I don't want to be the stereotypical housewife that does everything for her husband. My parents raised me to be independent and strong willed. I was raised to believe that I could do anything a man could do. My dreams weren't foolish, but they weren't common.

When I have a family of my own I will love to take care of them. I will cook and clean for them, but I will also be out in the streets protecting and serving. I will give my life for my family, but I will not leave my career to stay with them. I will love and cherish them, and I will do everything to make their lives perfect, but I will not choose the housewife life. It just isn't the life for me. I want to be the same independent person that I always have been. I don't want to give my life away to sit in the same house forever. I want to be out helping people that need it, and I want to help my family, but I need that to be separate. I respect housewives and what they do, but it just isn't the right life for me.