Job Decision

[mremmaye]

Hello,

I have been lurking on this site for awhile learning almost everything I can from all the fine contributors here. Just to give you a little backround: I am currently in the process to become a CHP officer. I took the written, PAT, psych. and QAP last year for the Golden Gate division getting as far as the QAP without a passing score. :confused: I am now re-testing again in February, hopefully i'll pass the QAP with a 95 or better!

Ok, my question is how did you guys decide on taking this career path? and on your way how did you deal with, if any, negative support?

[Mac]

Ok, my question is how did you guys decide on taking this career path? and on your way how did you deal with, if any, negative support?
I wish I could give you a story about a voice speaking to me from a burning bush and the angels on high singing "Join the CHP!".....but to tell you the truth, I came to the career path by a much more ordinary way. :biggrin: I was 17 years old and still wondering what the heck I wanted to do after high school. My girlfriend and I were walking around the San Diego county fair that summer, and came upon the CHP recruitment booth. The photos and literature about the job looked pretty interesting, and I, being an adrenaline junkie type, figured that this wouldn't be a boring, ordinary job where you do the same monotonous things every day (I'd already had a couple of those jobs, and hated that type of work). I talked to the officers staffing the booth, and the more I looked into it, the more it appealed to me. I wanted a job where I could be outdoors, stay active and have some fun (adrenaline-type fun), and law enforcement seemed to fit the bill. I went on to college, majored in Admin of Justice and became an Explorer with the local PD, and the hook was set. I did 2 1/2 years as an Explorer/Explorer Sergeant and Reserve Officer with two different PDs, and also went on a few CHP ride-alongs, and decided that I liked the CHP's job better than PD work (no disrespect whatsoever intended to my PD/SO brothers.....just different strokes for different folks).

The decision process was helped along by one of my FTOs on the PD who was a former Chippy....he had left the CHP and gone to the PD because of peer pressure from a bunch of his PD buddies who derided the CHP and exhorted him to become a "real cop". He had caved in and made the switch, and I figured he would be a great source of advice since he had "lived" both sides of the equation. I asked him what he would do if he were in my shoes, and he said "Don't make the same mistake I did". He gave me a lot of insight into the pros and cons of each, and when I asked why he didn't go back to the CHP, he grinned and said "Because I wouldn't want to have to go through that Academy again!". I asked him if it was really that tough, and he replied "If you make it through, you'll understand what I'm talking about". A couple of years later he was in the audience at my Academy graduation, and after it was all over I shook his hand and said "Now I understand what you were talking about!". :lol:

As far as "negative support"....I don't come from a cop family, so of course my mom (being a mom and all) was worried about the danger of the job - but she was also proud and supportive. Some of my friends were, shall we say, significantly less than positive/supportive, and offered plenty of ragging about it....but I blew it off knowing that I was making a good choice and THEY were the ignorant ones. I knew exactly where I was going and had razor focus on my goal while they were still wandering aimlessly through college, partying and working menial part-time jobs without the slightest idea what career path they would take when the party was over.

Fast forward through 22 years of a great career, and I can wholeheartedly say without reservation that I have absolutely no regrets about the path I chose. The job is still fun, no two days are ever the same, and I've met and worked with a lot of great people and had a lot of great times (along with a few crappy, scary and sad ones). If I had it all to do over again, I wouldn't do a single thing differently....and that's the best feeling of all.

[425BMX]

[Lucky Seven]

Well...after Mac's post the only thing I can add is that I experienced the burning bush and angels singing! :biggrin:

[Mac]

Yeah, I know.....I get a little verbose at times. It just kinda flows - the whole "stream of consciousness" thing or whatever. :lol:

[Lucky Seven]

Actually Mac I thought it was a great post. The names and places would have to be changed but there were alot of similarities to our experiences. I just had to be a smart ass and add my comment.

[retchp]

I was five years old and in a drugstore in my hometown with my mom. A big old red headed CHP officer named Sullivan was in there talking to the pharmacist. I stealthily slipped up on him and reached up and touched his holster. He bent down and talked to me for a couple of minutes.
Fire lit. Career path chosen. Never varied.
Now fifty five years later I am still connected to Sullivan and I am also connected to the newest cadet in the Academy. Just as all of us who chose this path are connected. It is like a never ending river. Through Officer Sullivan, whom I remet after he ritired and I was an officer and shared this story with, (he didn't remember me); and back from him to the originals from the late twenties and early thirtes ahead to todays cadets...we are all connected and all share a common bond that is unbreakable.
How's that for stream of consciousness and 'ol Philosopher stuff?

[Your Mentor]

Here, here Bob. Well spoken; great insight.

[Mac]

Great post! I too was lucky enough to meet a CHP "old-timer" who took me under his wing as I was aspiring toward the job. He took me on several ride-alongs, invited me into his home, and imbued me with a lot of his wisdom and philosophy toward the job. I worked close to his beat, and he often stopped by for a cup and asked me how the process was going. I became good friends with him and his wife, and he was a source of inspiration and support as I went through the hiring process and the Academy. He attended my Academy graduation and was as proud as my own parents to see me walk across that stage and receive my badge. Sadly, I lost touch with him after he retired and moved.....would love to still be in contact with him, as he was a great mentor.

How the great circle continues. I, in turn, have mentored several youths (now officers) as they went through the process, taken them on ride-alongs, spouted my philosophies to them (whether they liked it or not!) :lol: , served as a source of support (and hopefully inspiration) as they went through the hiring process and the Academy, and attended their Academy graduations....and was as proud as their parents to see them receive their badges.