A Day in the Life of an Academy Recruit: Traci: 24 Hours in a Day…is NOT enough!!

Week 7, Day 3

I know I haven’t posted since the middle of last week and I do apologize for that. My life is very consumed with this academy. I have NO time for anything but the academy. I know that when I was going through the hiring process, the recruiters, the Deputies and anyone else who knows anything about the Jefferson County Sheriff Department Law Enforcement Academy said…”This academy will take over your life. I hope you and your family are prepared.” Well, I am here to tell you, I don’t even remember what my life was like before the academy. Heck, I haven’t seen my immediate family for close to 5 weeks. I know that my Blog partner, Will is talking about the same thing on his Blog and he is dead on about the schedule. I don’t think I make it to sleep before 1130 or midnight (2330 or 0001, for you hardcore military/police officer types).

The reality of this academy is…A LOT of work, A LOT of preparation for the next day, A LOT of time discipline and A LOT of workouts (for the mind and body). And that is if our day goes without any hiccups. This week, we have had a lot of hiccups and with those hiccups come…re-focusing exercises, memos and one-way conversations with Deputy Johnson (and we are not the one’s talking). If you are thinking of applying for Jefferson County Sheriff Dept. and you want a challenge, then I say go for it. This is the most fun I have had since…well, Army MP (Military Police) school. This academy will test you (physically, emotionally and mentally), it will make you better, it will make you stronger (physically, emotionally and mentally), it will make you question your choice in professions, it will make you mad, it will make you excited to be a part of a great organization, but more importantly…it will really tell you, who you are as a person.

Let’s face it, anyone can do push-ups, formation runs and take written exams. But do you have the integrity it takes to get up every morning, even when your physically hurting, put on that uniform, put a smile on your face and serve the citizens of Jefferson County? That’s the question. We come into this profession with a desire to help people, who in a sense don’t always want our help. There are people out there, who don’t want to see a patrol car pull up to their house or behind them on the roadway. They don’t want to see us when they are getting booked into County Jail. And the people that we make contact with, don’t really care how long our academy was, or how many tests we took, or how many push-ups we can do. They just want to know that we have integrity, that we treat them fairly, and that we give them respect. That is what it comes down to. So I say again, if you think you have these qualities and are willing to sacrifice your life for this profession…then I say give it a shot. Be prepared to work hard and have NO time for anything but the academy.

I have included some pictures from the end of last week and the beginning of this week. Last week, we started talking about firearms and firearms safety. Safety is the #1 priority in everything we do, so that is drilled into us. The start of Week 7 brought us into more firearms and the beginning of Arrest Control (handcuffing and learning how to protect ourselves). Loads of fun…yes, we do have some fun. Enjoy the pictures and I will try to post more often to keep you all in the loop.

I would like to say one last thing…I talked about the hiccups we go through in this academy but this week we got some devastating news. One of our classmates got the news that his father died. I would like to use this Blog as a way to let him know the entire class is thinking of him. We would like to send out a prayer to him and his family and we hope that they get through this time and let the healing process begin.