No, I’m not considering changing careers; I want to be a police officer more than anything. Yesterday after Mass I was talking to Uncle Steve and cousin Stephanie while we were leaving the church. We went up to shake Father’s hand on the way out. I shook his hand and turned to leave. He grabbed my shirt so I wouldn’t walk away. When he was finished talking with Uncle Steve he turned to me and said, “Consider a career in the priesthood. We have a great retirement plan in this life and the next.” I must have given him a look that said ‘yeah right’ so he said, “Did your wife say no?” I told him that Michelle may not appreciate it too much, and informed him of my current career path. He told me that he is a police chaplain for the Marietta PD, and that he would pray for me.

Now this may all seem like a disparate priest’s attempt to recruit people for the diocese, but to me it’s much more. Fr. Tim used to tell me every Sunday that he was praying for me and my future. One day after Mass at St. Francis in Blairsville, a man that I had never met before came up to me and said, “During Mass I felt the Holy Spirit move in me. I have this incredible urge to ask you if you’ve considered becoming a priest.” He said that he would be praying for me. When Fr. Wise became the pastor at St. Francis a similar thing happened. And at another Mass, another stranger had asked me the same question, “Have you considered becoming a priest?”

Last night while I was praying at church I was thinking about all of the different occasions when people have asked me about becoming a priest, and how God must have given up on trying to bring me into the priesthood. Well, God spoke to me again through the priest at last night’s Mass. Unfortunately, my goals and ambitions in life contradict with that of God’s. I want to lead a different career, and I want to marry and raise a family of my own.

There is nothing more humbling than to have God call on you.
There is nothing more painful than to be too selfish to follow His Way.
And there is nothing more terrible than trying to decide between the two.

This past week wasn’t as bad as the first week. There was no passing out, no scalding my face with OC, and we hardly did any PT. The classes this week were all very interesting. We talked about crimes in progress, how to approach them and what to do when we get there. The Cobb County Police Department (CCPD) has one person to a vehicle, so the most important thing to do when approaching a crime is to wait for back up. CCPD’s number one goal is to have all of the officers go home safe.

Sergeant Moore from the narcotics unit came in to tell us everything we need to know about drugs. We talked a lot about methamphetamine (meth). I knew that the stuff was bad, but I had no idea how easy, dangerous, and cheap it is to make. The main ingredients are cold medicines, red phosphorous (from matchbook strikers), and a solvent (like paint thinner). 25% of all meth labs explode. If the person extracting the red phosphorous from the matchbooks isn’t careful, then the red phosphorous turns into white phosphorous. White phosphorous is used in bombs and such. It will burn through absolutely anything and everything it touches until it is burned out. One of the by-products of making meth is a poisonous gas. Sgt. Moore told us that it was the same gas used by the Nazis in the concentration camps. The worse thing about meth is that any redneck with a bucket, a coffee pot, some kitty litter, and a nearby drugstore and hardware store can make it.

Before we broke for lunch that day, Sgt. Moore pulled out a bag of marijuana and passed it around so we would know what it looks and smells like. He then pulled out a soda-can-turned-bong and lit some of the marijuana so we’d know what it smells like lit. Police academy is crazy.

Yesterday evening, they had a memorial service for all of the fallen officers in Cobb County. There are at least six or seven police departments in Cobb, and many of the officers and their families showed. I was honored that they asked all of the recruits to attend as well. It was a very touching service. As they read off the names (there were about ten names dating back to the 40s) a white dove was released from behind the stage. After a 21 gun salute I helped light everyone’s candles. I got home around 7:30 last night and fell asleep almost immediately.

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Tuesday
Academy officially started on Tuesday since we had orientation on Monday. We started the day by raising the American, state, and county flags. We then had a very long class on harassment. Informative yet boring. We also heard from a few other people about a few other things. After lunch, we had our first physical training (PT). I was amazed at how difficult it was, even though we only did one forth of what was to come. I won’t get into detail about the different exercises we do, because it doesn’t sound so gruesome on paper. After taking down the colors we were dismissed.

Wednesday
I slept soundly since I was exhausted from the PT, so it was a little bit easier to wake up at 5:00. We had class until lunch. After lunch we began our physical fitness test. This was the first of three. The second will be mid-way through the academy, and the third will be one of the deciding factors of graduating. We were tested on several strength tests as well as a mile and a half run. I went home sore on Wednesday.

Thursday
Our morning class consisted of learning all about OC (pepper spray) since we were getting sprayed during the day. We learned the different deployment techniques to utilize in the field, the effects, the different types of OC, the history, and terms to use in court that will make us sound smart.

After the class finished, we proceeded to a large empty parking lot. EMS arrived to oversee the process, and the academy major showed up with his video camera for some fun. After being sprayed in the face for two seconds from a distance of three to six feet, we were to pick up a baton, run 15 feet to a person holding a pad, attack the person 10 times while yelling things like, “Get Back!” and “Get Down!” From there we dropped the baton, ran another 15 feet to the next person with a pad, and hit them with our elbow in the same manner as the baton. We then ran another 15 feet to the third person with a pad and attacked them with our knee in the same manner as before. One of the effects of OC spray is a temporary paralysis of the larynx, which renders the voice box useless. By the time I finished attacking the third person, I was told that I wasn’t yelling (I honestly thought I was yelling, but apparently I wasn’t) so I had to run back and attack the three people again.

From there we were able to “wash” the OC off of our faces. The only problem is that water reactivates the spray. Even taking a shower that night reactivated the spray.

There are only three ways to describe the pain caused by OC spray. 1) Imagine bobbing for french fries in a deep fryer, 2) imagine sticking your face into the bowels of Hell, and 3) imagine having your face peeled from your head and your eyes repeatedly stabbed with needles. Once you comprehend that pain, double it and you might have an understanding of what I (along with my classmates) went through. The pain was so intense that you were forced to clench your eyes shut; unfortunately, it hurts more when you close your eyes. You cry like a baby, your nose becomes an endless supply of snot, and your skin looks as if you’ve been sunburned.

Friday
My eyes still hurt in the morning, and throughout the day they would randomly start watering. We took a test on the OC material. I scored 100% on the test. We then had a class on the Bill of Rights and Ethics. After lunch we had more PT. I became so dehydrated that I blacked out. Luckily, EMS was already there attending someone else who was injured during the PT.

One week down, twenty-two to go. Please pray that my classmates and myself have strength during the next five months.

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I hardly slept last night, even though today was only an orientation day. Once I actually got to sleep, I didn’t sleep well or for long since my alarm was set for 6:00 AM. After a quick breakfast and coffee, I headed out to a place I had never been. Traffic on I-75 was not as bad as I was expecting, so I arrived a little early. That gave me a chance to meet the guys and gal that I’ll be in academy with. There were also a bunch of guys from the fire department, along with everyone else being hired by Cobb County at the moment.

The day was full of paperwork and people explaining benefits and insurance among many other things. After all of that was finished I went to HQ. It was like Christmas morning! They had all kinds of great things for me: shirts, pants, three jackets, gloves, boots, two sets of handcuffs, two flashlights, an asp baton (which is my favorite thing so far), two baseball caps with the department name on them, and holsters to put all the great stuff on my belt.

I started getting paid this morning, so all-in-all, it was a good day.

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