Presidential leadership headline

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Until Dietz’s senior year of high school, her father made no real effort to meet her. She wasn’t even sure if she wanted to meet him at all. “I thought that he had taken 17 years to get up the courage to meet me, and I wanted my time to decide when I wanted to meet him,” Dietz said. Apart from the fact that he was an alcoholic, Dietz knew very little about her father before his death. But she was forced to learn quickly.

Because Dietz was her father’s only living relative, she was responsible for his funeral arrangements. Dealing with complex feelings of sadness and confusion, Dietz was forced to go to the scene of the crime and deal with harsh realities that most 19-year-olds could never fathom. Life just isn’t the same when you come face-to-face with murder at age 19. “I know what a crime scene looks like. I know what it looks like when a person is murdered in his own home.”

Even though she knew it was better that her father had not been a part of her life, it was difficult for her to deal with his murder. “Someone robbed me of the opportunity to meet him,” Dietz said. She still deals with the feelings that arose from her father’s death. “I have a lot of guilt and regret that I never met my dad. I didn’t realize how horrible his life was and how much better it probably would have been if I had let him have just a little bit of my time.”

Her father’s murder has changed the way she looks at life. “I think I trust people less than I used to. I thought there were always people who needed help, and you needed to help them … but essentially, that attitude led to my father’s death. Every person who needs help is not a good person,” Dietz has realized.

Dietz’s experiences have made her wise beyond her years. Maybe that’s why one of her friends said “everyone always goes to Dietz when they need a fresh, sensible, honest opinion.” Because she has dealt with such adversity, Dietz tends to see the bigger picture in life and is more mature than most of her peers.

“Being at college made me see that the world keeps turning. Deadlines don’t change. You still have to do everything you would normally do,” Dietz said. Through her hardships, Dietz learned and grew. With her courageous attitude and unwavering character, she confirmed everyone’s sky-high opinions of her. At this point, Robert Frost probably best sums up Dietz’s outlook on life: “It goes on.”