When I Grow Up
I always told my parents that I would want to serve, protect, be known as a person that would risk my own life for others, and be a leader in the community or the whole city. Last year I joined a program called SFPD PAL Cadet Law Enforcement program. During the summer I had to learn the history, training, physical training, and march. At the end of the session we had to try on our uniform to wear outside of the academy, and that time I knew I was one step closer to become a Police Officer.
As a child, I saw Police Officers wearing their uniform with their name on the shirt and with a badge with the number of it. I joined because I just wanted to know if I still wanted to become one, see if I got what it takes to be one, and learn and see what officers do on their daily bases. After we graduated we had to attend to a weekly meeting. Those weekly meetings we do simulations, practice shooting, exercise a lot, and improve our marching skills. To be a police officer it takes a lot of courage because you have to risk your lives for others in a dangerous situation, handle a lot of pressure, having good communication skills, and be trustworthy.
The Cadet program started June 16, 2014 and it only lasted 5 weeks during the summer. I graduated on July 11, 2014, but during the program we learned the history of the police, did a lot of exercise, and testing. Being there was an amazing experience because we did what police officers do in the academy and learn what they do outside in the streets. But somedays it was hard, they had to treat us military-style to be and talk professionally. It changed me a lot because I used to be a kid that didn’t care about anything and just give up, but after the summer program I started doing things for the best of me. It changed my way of thinking and made me be a better person.
There’s a lot of people out there who don’t even like officers because of what they’ve done or how they treat people for no reason. Being in the cadet programs changes your social life, like I lost so many friends since I joined the program just because I was part of the SFPD, and they thought that I would try to hunt them down and know what they’re doing to get them in trouble. Many people dislike me or hate me because I want to be a police officer when I grow up but for me it doesn’t matter — it’s something that I wanted to do.
