This blog post is for Teresa from Wheat Ridge. I have been told that she has been reading my blog when she is bored or has nothing better to do. I will take that as a complement. For those of you that are like Teresa and seem to enjoy reading brief summaries about our academy experiences, I am happy to tell you that I am going to make an effort to try to post more entries. I wanted to get situated with academy life, become familiar with what is expected of me, and I wanted to make sure that I was prepared each day to meet these challenges. We are now finishing up week three and I feel that we have been introduced to most of the routines that we will be dealing with for the next 17 weeks and maybe I will have a little more time. On that note, let’s take a look at this week’s activities.
This has been a big week for the recruits. We had our first inspection. Now, I am not going to lie about this,………. I was very nervous. For those of you that have not experienced a formal inspection, I will explain. An inspection is a routine common to law enforcement agencies and to the various military branches. Recruits line up in formation and while the instructor inspects your uniform for standard neatness and appearance, you are asked variety of questions regarding an infinite amount of subjects, of which you are expected to know the answers. For everything wrong with the uniform detail, your appearance, any questions asked that cannot be answered correctly or any fact that you have failed to remember that is obviously extremely important to the instructor, there is a mandatory follow up memo by the offending recruit to the instructor. This follow up memo will explain to the instructor the correct answer, why you didn’t know the correct answers, along with a list of everything that was discovered to be wrong with your uniform detail, appearance and a thorough explanation why this situation will never happen again. I will use my inspection questions as an example:
Instructor: Kevin, who is the Sheriff of Jefferson County?
Kevin: Sir, Sheriff Ted Mink is the Sheriff of Jefferson County, Sir.
Instructor: That is correct. Now, who was the Sheriff before Sheriff Mink?
Kevin: Sir, Sheriff Cook, Sir
Instructor: Good. And before him?
Kevin: Sir, I don’t know that information, but I will find that information for you as quickly as possible, Sir!
This first inspection, I believe, was geared to take an individual that is nervous and under stress and force them to think and create answers while under that stress. The questions would continue to roll out of the instructor until the recruit would have to admit they did not know the answer. In other words, I believe every person in the academy will be writing a memo of some sort to the instructor. As I have indicated, since I have already said I wouldn’t lie about it, I was nervous but I did enjoy the experience and the confidence you begin to build in yourself and the other academy members as we stand inspection, complete physical training and the classroom aspect of the academy. It is performing under stress. It is a good feeling. I enjoy it.
We also had our first exam this week. It was thorough and brought back memories of studying and prepping for college exams. I scored what I believe was above average but I can and will do better. The test questions covered everything we have been exposed to and have been introduced to over the past three weeks. There has been a great deal of information covered and you must absorb and retain everything. Your life and other lives can depend on this information.
I feel like I am learning a ton which is good. I will continue to learn and I will get better. However, one must continually prove this during tests and quizzes, practical skills and physical fitness. All the while performing under self imposed and purposely created stress. To be successful, we will all make adjustments, work harder, and I believe it will happen for all of us.
Until next time…….
Kevin
P.S. Teresa,………….. It will be soon and I hope you continue to enjoy these memos of our experiences.
This has been a big week for the recruits. We had our first inspection. Now, I am not going to lie about this,………. I was very nervous. For those of you that have not experienced a formal inspection, I will explain. An inspection is a routine common to law enforcement agencies and to the various military branches. Recruits line up in formation and while the instructor inspects your uniform for standard neatness and appearance, you are asked variety of questions regarding an infinite amount of subjects, of which you are expected to know the answers. For everything wrong with the uniform detail, your appearance, any questions asked that cannot be answered correctly or any fact that you have failed to remember that is obviously extremely important to the instructor, there is a mandatory follow up memo by the offending recruit to the instructor. This follow up memo will explain to the instructor the correct answer, why you didn’t know the correct answers, along with a list of everything that was discovered to be wrong with your uniform detail, appearance and a thorough explanation why this situation will never happen again. I will use my inspection questions as an example:
Instructor: Kevin, who is the Sheriff of Jefferson County?
Kevin: Sir, Sheriff Ted Mink is the Sheriff of Jefferson County, Sir.
Instructor: That is correct. Now, who was the Sheriff before Sheriff Mink?
Kevin: Sir, Sheriff Cook, Sir
Instructor: Good. And before him?
Kevin: Sir, I don’t know that information, but I will find that information for you as quickly as possible, Sir!
This first inspection, I believe, was geared to take an individual that is nervous and under stress and force them to think and create answers while under that stress. The questions would continue to roll out of the instructor until the recruit would have to admit they did not know the answer. In other words, I believe every person in the academy will be writing a memo of some sort to the instructor. As I have indicated, since I have already said I wouldn’t lie about it, I was nervous but I did enjoy the experience and the confidence you begin to build in yourself and the other academy members as we stand inspection, complete physical training and the classroom aspect of the academy. It is performing under stress. It is a good feeling. I enjoy it.
We also had our first exam this week. It was thorough and brought back memories of studying and prepping for college exams. I scored what I believe was above average but I can and will do better. The test questions covered everything we have been exposed to and have been introduced to over the past three weeks. There has been a great deal of information covered and you must absorb and retain everything. Your life and other lives can depend on this information.
I feel like I am learning a ton which is good. I will continue to learn and I will get better. However, one must continually prove this during tests and quizzes, practical skills and physical fitness. All the while performing under self imposed and purposely created stress. To be successful, we will all make adjustments, work harder, and I believe it will happen for all of us.
Until next time…….
Kevin
P.S. Teresa,………….. It will be soon and I hope you continue to enjoy these memos of our experiences.
