Police Officer Smith
Well, I'm not a police officer yet, but as of 12:00 today, I am an employee of the Cobb County PD. I was so nervous/excited about my final interview today that I probably only slept 4 hours last night. It took me forever to fall asleep, and once I did, I kept waking up. I woke up at 6:00 so that I would have plenty of time to get ready and battle traffic down I-75. I drove Michelle's car because of the tag situation with my truck. [See the bottom of my last journal entry.] I didn't want to be parked at Police HQ with an expired tag. Since starting my truck in the morning is quite tricky, I started it drove it around the parking lot so Michelle wouldn't have any problems getting it to work. It was the first time she's driven my truck, and said she loved it. There's just something about a 1985 Toyota Pickup that makes it fun to drive.
Anyway, once I got to HQ I had to fill out some more paper work. There were six of us being hired today, and the break room where we were waiting was very quiet. I was third in line to meet with the chief and the hiring board. I waited in the chief's secretary's office while the guy in front of me was talking with the board. Once he was done, he came out of the office and they closed the door behind him. I was so nervous at this point, and asked the secretary if she could hear my heart pounding, or if it was just me. She assured me everything would be ok, but I was still nervous.
They opened the door and called me in. I shook hands with everyone as they introduced themselves, and was instructed to have a seat. I was glad that only the chief was sitting behind a desk and the other three were sitting on couches and chairs. It was much more relaxing than if they had all been behind a table staring me down. They asked me how I was doing, so I told them how nervous I was. They were understanding and made jokes throughout the process to help keep the atmosphere light. Besides telling them about myself, they did most of the talking, and I mostly nodded and agreed with everything they said. It was more as if they were saying, "Are you really sure you want to do this?"
After talking with them, the chief said that he would like to offer me a job. I graciously accepted, and three of the four had to sign to hire me. I suppose that would mean that it would take three people to fire me too...
I then proceeded to supplies be fit for my uniform. I had to try on body armor along with several different layers of clothing. I felt so cool looking into the mirror while I was in uniform. After they got all of my measurements I drove to the sheriff's department to have my finger prints taken. I dropped those of at internal affairs and headed home.
I just can't describe how excited I am. On May 8th I get my uniform, take a tour of the facilities, and set up my insurance and probably do some more paper work. May 9th is the first day of academy.