Week six- Guest Blog Kyle, Lone Tree PD



Since I was four years old I have had my mind set on being a police officer and joining the brotherhood of the thin blue line. When I was 15 I joined the Police Explorer program with Parker Police Department allowing me the opportunity to know that this career is exactly where I belong. So there I was a month after my 21^st birthday applying for my first and only police department, Lone Tree Police. I was up against over 200 applicants.  Getting that letter in the mail letting me know I had made it was the moment my life changed. I knew that I had to prove that I was the right choice and that I would wear the badge with honor.

Starting the academy I knew there was a high possibility that I was going to be the youngest, and soon came to find out that I was. I knew it was going to be a challenge to show I had the maturity and drive that anyone else there did.

Going into the sixth week all of us recruits had gotten to know each other and the real personalities were starting to come out.  It was almost if we were starting to hate each other because we are all headstrong stubborn personalities. We started thinking of team-building activities as we went through the week to show that we could work as a team and put our differences beside us. This was especially hard for me because one of the Sergeants had told me that I didn’t have the life experiences that others did and needed to sit back and watch how my peers responded. I knew at this point that I was in a spotlight and needed to prove everyday that I wanted to be there and have what it takes. So from here on out it is my goal to be the best that I can be. I am the only recruit from Lone Tree, and fortunately have a great support from my department, but if they hear I am not doing well, then I have failed them, and myself.

Being the youngest recruit has been a huge learning experience for me thus far. It is teaching me that everyone at the academy is there for my best interest even though this is very hard to see sometimes. I look at the positives in everything that happens even the times that I am getting talked to in the Sergeants office. They are teaching me that I have to have thick skin and a hard head because I will be challenged when I get out on the streets.  I can't be seen as an uneducated rookie, or a pushover. I have to go out there and settle for nothing less than the best.