What Legacy Means to Me: 

“This is the legacy I want to leave behind: As long as you are committed, dedicated, and truthful towards your goals, you will achieve your dreams.”

I moved from India about 6 years ago and I saw police officers being very proactive and helpful in my community. I became interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement, so I joined Mountain View Police Explorer program. That is where I met Officer Cooper.

Officer Cooper had a strong desire to help the kids of the community and show them the right path towards a good future. That included having a good education, strong personality, and a passion to achieve dreams successfully. He always taught me to never give up on my dreams.

He inspires me everyday to become a police officer who can bring a good change in community, can generate trust of law enforcement in the eyes of our youth, and to show them the right path.

When I think about the career in law enforcement, I think about helping my community by serving, protecting, caretaking, which is also a motto that every police officer has. I want to take care of people and protect them from danger. When they leave their house at any give day or time, they should feel safe to do so.

I lived in Delhi, India, where it was not safe for many women to enjoy their freedom at nighttime, because there was a lot of crime against women. I wanted to do something to protect these women and also have them get the freedom that every other person in the world has. I want to make my community a safe place where no parent has to stop their kids, especially their daughters to be afraid of going out and having fun. I want to keep the people of my community safe, and this is why I want to become a police officer.

This is the legacy I want to leave behind: As long as you are committed, dedicated, and truthful towards your goals, you will achieve your dreams.

About the Author: 

“Nisha Sharma, a native of India, and now a resident of Mountain View, CA, hopes to pursue a career in law enforcement following her graduation from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Nisha, whose role model is Mountain View PD Officer Ronald Cooper, hopes to work in that field to help protect the vulnerable in her community, and to inspire young people to live a life of integrity. Nisha’s own example of integrity hit home with TMF Spartan and Staff Member Dan Mehdi at the time he selected her to attend a National Law Enforcement Exploring Leadership Academy in 2015. A teacher of Nisha’s noted in a recommendation letter for that academy how Nisha, “when faced with a moral dilemma, she did not take the easy route.” Nisha’s story of integrity in telling the teacher she had received a higher grade than she actually earned, has been used in over 20 Character Does Matter Presentations to inspire about 2000 young adults to live a life of character. Nisha truly embodies the “If Not Me, Then Who…” spirit.”