I should first start off by probably saying,
"HI MICHAEL!!!"
Haha. He's a good friend of mine and seems to enjoy this craziness of what I call a blog.
He nudged me today with a text that read,
"UPDATE YOUR BLOG HOE!"
(True friend right there).
Anyways, a boat load has happened in the past month.
Where to begin....
I have been trying, and trying being a key word, to pursue my law enforcement career goals by trying to actually land a position as an officer, or recruit, before I graduate in May.
Let me just start out by saying that anyone who thinks it would be easy or simple to apply and become a cop is just flat out wrong.
Never in my life have I gone through applications an application process that feels like I'm applying to be the goddamn Pope.
That being said, California is a competitive job market and a great place to live. In this past month I wanna say I've had around 5 interviews and traveled collectively by car enough mileage to get me to
England.
But man has it been both fun and exhausting. I missed lots of school which is great, and also decided to resign from my job at the Marriott to give me flexibility in applying to these various police departments.
But first, some pictures from my SoCal time I spent on the road.
Shout out to my sister for letting me quite literally live with her during this past month.
Stumbled upon this Santa Barbara Taco Stand just randomly walking.
Verdict: DELISH
Beachfront home in Oceanside (sorry bout the watermarks)
Tried taking this beautiful sunset pic through the car as I was driving, doesn't do it justice. Was in Oceanside for this one.
YASSSSS a self absorbed shirtless pic. Blurry yes because I took it in the reflection of a car window ha.
I put this up because someday down the line I will look back and actually believe I looked nice.
Oceanside Pier at Sunset
So with all the travel I have done in the past month, I have not only come to love SoCal and just the shear size of it and how many people there are, but also a little bit about myself.
My Mom always reminds me when I bitch or complain about something being hard or unfair she says,
"We can do hard things!"
Simple yet has its effect.
I was juggling so much with my schedule and applications, school, two jobs, etc. that I literally bought a daily planner this past month to jot down when I had assignments due for class, tests, interviews, police exams, physical tests for police, and more.
The interviews were probably the most rewarding yet scary thing. I of course was nervous beforehand and my sister Rachel would kinda give some advice but overall it's a mental game for me.
My first interview was with Newport Beach PD.
Went decent overall. I'd give myself a grad of a B or B+.
The next interview was with Santa Barbara. Went very well and I felt I had picked up some steam.
Then my final interview was with Santa Ana Police. Feel I nailed it.
So I built confidence, looked good too, and just was genuine yet professional.
These things I have never really learned in college over the years. I have read tips and tricks to interviews online and gotten feedback from people, but honestly experience is the best teacher.
So after all these exams and interviews I had some down time to do a ride along with Santa Barbara.
Don't know why I wouldn't have thought of this sooner since it gets your face out there and shows you are serious. It also does a reality check and sees if this is really what you want to do. Kinda like shadowing.
So I reported to the police department at 3:45pm. Met with the officers for their briefing for the shift. Seemed like what I had seen in TV shows. Casual yet serious and the officers joked and were super friendly.
I then met the officer I was to ride along with, Officer Cipres.
I was somewhat nervous and tried to be comfortable following around this officer.
Eventually we started to patrol and answer some calls that were coming in. First off the car was super nice and Officer Cipres had a badass M16 like gun right by me.
The calls were relatively simple and Officer Cipres was very nice to people and gave good advice to me and we slowly started to get to know each other.
Our best call that turned into a huge adrenaline rush for me was when we got a call to a grocery store about a potential shoplifting going on.
The moment we pulled up my office instantly recognize the suspect as a druggie kid he had arrested before. He told the kid to stop and the kid just dropped everything and took off. My officer rushed after him and soon they were out of sight.
I was told in advance to stay with the vehicle in the case of a foot pursuit.
So he eventually comes back empty handed and bleeding down his arm. I was like, "You alright?" and he laughs and says, "I ate shit man haha."
He took a tumble because wearing a 30 pound equipment belt and running full speeding can make you lose your center of gravity when changing direction quick.
So we get all these cops to the grocery store because his girlfriend was in her car and they suspected drugs and sure enough the K9 dog sniffed them out and so the car was stripped. In the meantime the officer and I were looking up this kid that got away and Officer Cipres quickly located where he lived.
We went flying to his place by car and he arrested the kid.
Upon seeing the guy he was young but you could definitely tell he was a huge dope head.
His skin looked gaunt and his teeth, etc, were just decaying.
Found out they had just gotten high on heroine. My Lord my Lord kids never do drugs.
Heroine is literally hell on earth from what I saw.
The entire time I kept thinking about Jesse Pinkman...
YES YOU JESSE!!! STAY AWAY FROM THOSE DRUGS!
So eventually the night wrapped up and I had a great time. Officer Cipres was a great guy and I really walked away with an appreciation for what they do.
**Political moment.
With all the media scrutiny towards police officers I really have felt bad and frustrated for officers because they are essentially trying to do their main job in protecting and serving their communities. Yes there are always going to be some bad apples but honestly, from my experience with the Santa Barbara Police Department and Officer Cipres, he was nothing but professional and courteous to people he was serving and arresting even.
So, be nice to cops and give them a damn break, they put themselves on the line everyday.
**Political moment over...
I also went on a hike and a bike ride around wonderful Redlands, CA with my fellow fool Andre.
Redlands really is such an awesome place. Tucked away in the Inland Empire and just a slice of Orange Heaven in the beautiful California landscape.
Look at those goddamn shorts! Smh.
Andre and I have been buds for over 3 years and what a great guy is all I can say.
While traveling the past month I also am trying to go hiking more and just surround myself with nature.
I really have become addicted to my phone and computer so I am trying to balance that out.
I feel lately that when I go to bed exhausted from doing so much in a single day, or week, or month that's a good thing. Means I'm living and using my body to actually move and progress.
I really do believe in Newton's first law,
"A body in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by another force, and same goes for a body at rest."
Paraphrased of course.
But really when I am on the go and dedicated and focus I just keep going.
When I'm being lazy or just moping around it seems I get stuck. This past month I was on the go.
Who knows what the result will be from my efforts with these police applications and or where I will end up in a year's time. But hey I really am enjoying it, even if it is crazy at times.
This was from today....
Went for a motorcycle ride in da desert. I am from the desert so might as well enjoy the pretty sunsets that happen in it.
Did March even happen this year???
OK BYEEEEEEEEEEE
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