Learn your own way

Now, all my life, I have been told to work as hard as I physically can and to shut people out, only letting them in when I have accomplished something worth sharing. However, since moving away from home (Los Angeles, California) and now living in Fairbanks at the UAF campus, I find that these voices are gone from my head, and I have the freedom to learn how to operate for myself. This doesn’t mean that I should stop my 40-hour work weeks on top of 20/30 hours of school a week, because truthfully, being this busy is good for me. I am learning to open up more because if I wait to open up to the people who love and care for me when I cross my finish line, the chances of them being there are very slim. But if I let them in and share my journey with them, they can help me cross that finish line, and I wouldn’t be crossing it alone anymore.

I am looking to become a Police Officer, not a social worker, in my future. Surprisingly, I know this. I believe that this class can greatly help me find solutions to problems because that is one thing that both professions do—they solve issues and problems, perhaps at different levels, but at the end of the day, they want the best for people. Now, coming to UAF, I initially wanted to work as a green shirt/Wildlife Trooper because I have always loved the outdoors and wildlife. I want to protect it for others to share my love with, but starting a job at UAFPD has opened a new path for me. It allows me to see people on their worst and best days and learn to prepare and handle both accordingly. I have learned that I find people interesting, and the wide variety that we all come in is something I look to explore in my career. I want to be the person to help when it is the darkest day for them and to be there for others when it could be the greatest day of their lives.

My dad was a first responder, a firefighter more accurately, and he has always been my hero, just as he may have been someone else’s on the days he worked. I wanted to be a firefighter for almost my whole life because I wanted to make him proud, you know, follow in his footsteps and all that mushy good stuff. However, it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I decided I needed to be my own self; I can’t follow someone else’s trail. Although I always knew I wanted to help someone and be someone’s hero even for a day, just like my dad was when he went to work every day. This is where I found that becoming a police officer could fit into what I wanted in life. I know that in today’s world, many people don’t see police as heroes now; they see them more as criminals than the people in jail. I believe that I could be a different kind of police officer with new training and even being raised differently from police officers 10 to 15 years older than me. I will have a different perspective than them all, but that does not mean I will not learn from their experience. I think that this is something that is needed today. Although I might not agree with everything that is happening and changing in the world today because of my own personal beliefs and views, we have to accept that we can’t change everyone; we all have our own way of life.

Picture of back home at the beach which I love going to.