 This whole process, the thing that gets me the most is, wow, I really can't believe I'm here. It's emotional. When I said I wanted to be a hospital corpsman, I also knew I wanted to be a chief. To me, in the hospital corpsman, that's who you look up to. To be the chief, I don't think you can put that into words. It's very surreal to be in this moment. It's extremely humbling. Ever since I won this award, I've been sitting back and self-reflecting more than I ever have in my life. One of the things that all of the candidates, part of that I had spoken with, they said through the whole process, just be yourself, be yourself, be yourself. And that's exactly what I've done through this whole thing. Putting on Kaki's first time was surreal. It was a surreal experience. Being in the Navy for 17 years and working so hard and thinking one day you may put it on, but you're never quite sure. Never for one moment in my wildest dreams did I think that this is the manner in which I would get to this level. To think about it in this way that it has happened, I never in my life, if you had told me a year ago, that I was going to get selected as a specific fleet sailor of the year, and be promoted the chief petty officer in the manner that we are, I never would have believed that was possible. It's an incredible situation to be in and to be with this caliber of sailor surrounded by this other sailors of the year. It's just, I mean, it's mind blowing to see what everybody is accomplishing as first classes and why they were selected to be chiefs. It's just really great. It's very humbling to be part of this group. Everyone of us are approachable. I think that's what makes a good chief petty officer. Somebody's approachable and knowledgeable and confident in what you do. It's funny you can kind of pick us out of a crowd. Like you can see what the similarities are between all of us, but the level of enthusiasm that I am sometimes exhausting myself with, I see it in those other sailors. Be who you are and always remember that you can go nowhere without others. You have to have and embrace the people around you because without that you are not able to move forward. And I know that for a fact that I'm only here as a representation of the people that I have been able to serve with. What I'd say to my mentor or somebody that was wanting to be where I am is always be part of the team, always get qualified as fast as possible, always volunteer, be that guy they want to go to to make things happen. I think my favorite thing about the week is that it's here in D.C. and by virtue of being in D.C. we get to go to the museums. We get to go to the national monuments. We get to go to Mount Vernon to get to be here and celebrate this accomplishment with the three other sailors of the year and be doing it here where there's so much of our nation's history and our heritage right here and get to go to those spots and talk about it all together. I think that's just the greatest part of it for me. This is an experience and I will never forget. This is by far the most life-changing experience that I've ever had and I promise to the Navy that I will be the best Pacific Fleet Sailor of the year that I can be and give back. What we've seen and what we'll be able to do and the culmination where my friends and family, Matt Master Chief and C.O. are up there and put on anchors on my cacti for the first time. It'll be a surreal experience sitting in the Navy Memorial and being able to tell that story to my kids and having photos and just the overall experience with everybody at me along the way is going to be amazing. To see such an important stage in a Navy Sailor's life when they progress to the rank of Chief Petty Officer and to have my husband and my daughter, a Master Chief, Cormin Mentor of mine and Chief HMC Mentor of mine welcome me into the Chief's mess is going to be beyond words.