Down to 30 days left of R's time at the academy and we couldn't be more excited!
After the cadet's got their assignments, they tested on scenarios. Despite being 21 weeks in, R was definitely nervous for scenarios, since we knew they were one of the last major tests that they could fail out on. We were so relieved when R passed all of them, as did his roommates!
Since then, the cadets have been finishing up the LDs, which are their academic classes on law enforcement topics. They certified on their night shooting and finished up Spanish PMA as well. It's been a series of long days for these cadets as their time at the academy is coming to an end.
This past weekend was the big ride along, where all the cadets got to visit their new offices! R and I were so pleased that Hayward was just a car ride away and it gave us a great opportunity to look for new housing in the East Bay. On Friday we did a test drive to the Hayward office and on Saturday R spent the day there.
I was so excited for R that I barely slept the night before his ride along and when he got ready to leave at 7:15, I was wide awake and ready to kiss him goodbye. He looked SO handsome in his cadet blues with his brass name plate and radio. I was beaming with joy as I wished him luck on his day ahead.
He came home Saturday night (after spending 8 hours at his office) SO excited to tell me everything they did that day. He loved his office and said all the officers were very nice. He was also very happy with the beats he was shown because they were fairly easy to remember and they didn't include any unincorporated areas. So good news overall! I think Hayward will be a good fit for us.
It's hard to believe that in a little over a month, R will be an officer with the California Highway Patrol. We're so incredibly lucky to have gotten this opportunity and I hope you all are as proud as I am that R made it through!
Cheers to the final 30 days and starting this new chapter in our lives!
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Day 133 of 158 (Week 20) (Oops, I guess I forgot to publish this one!??!?!)
It's official, we know where we're headed.
R will be joining an office in the Golden Gate division!
We're very excited because it puts us less than 2 hours away from home and we've heard good things about the CHP team in the Bay area. We also have quite a few friends living in the East Bay area. We were ecstatic to finally receive confirmation to share with family and friends.
It's also nice to finally talk about graduation. Funny thing about R is how superstitious he is. For instance, last year we had to keep our Christmas tree up until early February because the Denver Broncos were winning all season while we had our tree up so it HAD to be up for the Superbowl. He's just a superstitious guy by nature. So for most of his time at the academy, we would talk about graduation in whispers only, so we don't jinx him. But as of week 18 when we received the dream sheets, we've started talking about what life will be like after graduation. I've been able to ponder aloud about how break-in will be and a possible mini graduation trip we're thinking of taking.
That's not to say there aren't more tests to pass in the next 7 weeks, there definitely are. There are still lots of reasons to send R good vibes and prayers to power through to the end. But after nearly 4 months of speaking in hushed tones, I'm so happy to be able to talk about graduation as a tangible event, happening in 48 days!
In terms of scenario testing this week, so far R has passed them all on his first attempt. He was particularly worried about the Crim Law scenarios yesterday but he passed them all and came home on liberty to have dinner with me so we could celebrate. They have 2-3 scenarios to do today and then Company A is done with them.
The downside of it being Week 20 is that it became a big week of cadet dismissal, with them losing 6 more cadets in their CTC this week to EVOC. My heart breaks for those cadets and their families, for the long journey they've taken, only to have it cut short. But I hope and pray they find the strength to come back to the academy, if they're called to do that.
Continue to keep R in your thoughts and thanks for hanging in with us on this journey!
R will be joining an office in the Golden Gate division!
We're very excited because it puts us less than 2 hours away from home and we've heard good things about the CHP team in the Bay area. We also have quite a few friends living in the East Bay area. We were ecstatic to finally receive confirmation to share with family and friends.
It's also nice to finally talk about graduation. Funny thing about R is how superstitious he is. For instance, last year we had to keep our Christmas tree up until early February because the Denver Broncos were winning all season while we had our tree up so it HAD to be up for the Superbowl. He's just a superstitious guy by nature. So for most of his time at the academy, we would talk about graduation in whispers only, so we don't jinx him. But as of week 18 when we received the dream sheets, we've started talking about what life will be like after graduation. I've been able to ponder aloud about how break-in will be and a possible mini graduation trip we're thinking of taking.
That's not to say there aren't more tests to pass in the next 7 weeks, there definitely are. There are still lots of reasons to send R good vibes and prayers to power through to the end. But after nearly 4 months of speaking in hushed tones, I'm so happy to be able to talk about graduation as a tangible event, happening in 48 days!
In terms of scenario testing this week, so far R has passed them all on his first attempt. He was particularly worried about the Crim Law scenarios yesterday but he passed them all and came home on liberty to have dinner with me so we could celebrate. They have 2-3 scenarios to do today and then Company A is done with them.
The downside of it being Week 20 is that it became a big week of cadet dismissal, with them losing 6 more cadets in their CTC this week to EVOC. My heart breaks for those cadets and their families, for the long journey they've taken, only to have it cut short. But I hope and pray they find the strength to come back to the academy, if they're called to do that.
Continue to keep R in your thoughts and thanks for hanging in with us on this journey!
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Updated FAQ on the CHP Academy (Week 20)
Hi there!
So I noticed in the last few weeks or so, there seems to have been a jump in blog readers, especially of the older blog posts and the previous FAQ. With CTC IV-14 joining the academy, some of you may have found our blog and might be looking for some information.
So I thought it'd be a good time to update our FAQ with our experience we've had thus far (we're in week 20) so that the information is more current, as the last FAQ was written before R started the academy.
What's the biggest change with your cadet in the academy?
The biggest change was the level of contact we had with our cadet. It is a live-in academy Monday-Friday and yes, their phones will be off for at least 21-22 of the hours in a day. The good news is that in all of R's time so far in the academy, he has called me at least once a day. So there hasn't been a day that I have not heard from him.
How much contact time can we expect?
The first week of the academy, you can expect limited conversation time. The first night of the academy, we got exactly 51 seconds. That whole first week was somewhat of a mystery because we only got maybe 15 minutes at most, a night of conversation. As the weeks progress (and depending on your cadet), the conversation time can get gradually longer. As they become more proficient in the tasks they do every night (shining boots, brass and cleaning their gun), they may have more time to be on the phone.
What are the approximate times we can expect contact?
I tend to set the bar at 8:00 pm. In our 20 weeks, there's been a good chance R calls between 7:30-8:30 pm. The first few weeks, it's can definitely be closer to 9:00-9:30 pm. And trust me, they are wiped those first few weeks so it might be best to keep call times short so they can get some shut eye.
How does liberty work? (Keep in mind this is our experience with our CTC)
Liberty is what we call cadet's time off, where they are allowed to leave the academy.There are 2 opportunities for liberty. One is Wednesday night and the second is the weekend.
The cadets will know if they have either liberty by Monday of that week.
Wednesday liberty is typically something you have if you only received 0-2 gigs the week prior. Usually if you've gotten 3 gigs, you can count next Wednesday's liberty out. You can also lose part of Wednesday liberty if you have to re mediate from a failed test. Wednesday liberty starts at 5 on Wednesday afternoon and they have to be back at the academy by midnight Wednesday night.
Weekend liberty is something the cadets will usually have, unless they fail a test and need to re mediate or they've broken a major rule of some kind. The caveat is that our cadet class has had some EVOC testing on the weekends too, which doesn't mean the cadet "lost" liberty, it's just the way scheduling had to happen. Weekend liberty usually starts between 5-6 pm on Friday afternoon and they have to be back at the academy by midnight Sunday night.
What is the CHP Academy like?
Really, it's everything we thought it'd be and more! The videos they show at orientation are accurate and it's a long 27 weeks for our cadets. They get up by 4:45 am to workout, then they go to class, they're on their feet most of the day and their evenings are usually spoken for with tasks they need to accomplish for the next day. But it's been worth it so far, they get superb training.
What can you expect for your weekends?
This is mostly a personal answer in what R and I have experienced. R comes home on Friday wiped from the week, so we try not to make plans on Friday. And that's with us being a 20-30 minute drive from the academy, so we consider ourselves lucky. Expect to go to a store to pick up supplies at some point in the weekend for the first few months. We went to Target every weekend for 3 months to pick something up whether it was cases of water, a beanie, cleaning supplies, etc.
They have tasks to accomplish on the weekend too. For R, it's doing at least 1 load of laundry (although we send his blue uniforms out via the service at the academy), writing memos, shining his boots, ironing shirts and studying for the week. In general though, we could accomplish all these things (including the Target trip) in 1 full day.
How do holidays work?
The cadets will know ahead of time if they get any time off but since we were part of a fall/winter academy, they received 2 additional days off for Thanksgiving and Christmas each (which was wonderful!). They did not get Labor day, Veterans day, or New Years.
How do finances work in the academy?
The cadets are paid monthly while in the academy but there were some out of pocket expenses we needed to cover. I don't know the full estimates of what they had to purchase but I'd say by Week 20, we've likely spent around $1000-$1300, at least. You don't need all of it up front but it's a good to have some money put away either before the academy or starting from your first academy check and so on.
In the next 2 months, we'll hopefully be paying for his uniforms too (eek, excited!) so more will be spent there too (although there is a uniform loan/allowance involved in that to help with costs).
When do dream sheets come out?
For our CTC, it was week 18 (the week of Christmas).
That's all for now, maybe I'll do a FAQ Part 2 at a later date. I hope that helps any of you out there looking for answers! Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them with the knowledge I have: rechp2015(at)gmail.com.
So I noticed in the last few weeks or so, there seems to have been a jump in blog readers, especially of the older blog posts and the previous FAQ. With CTC IV-14 joining the academy, some of you may have found our blog and might be looking for some information.
So I thought it'd be a good time to update our FAQ with our experience we've had thus far (we're in week 20) so that the information is more current, as the last FAQ was written before R started the academy.
What's the biggest change with your cadet in the academy?
The biggest change was the level of contact we had with our cadet. It is a live-in academy Monday-Friday and yes, their phones will be off for at least 21-22 of the hours in a day. The good news is that in all of R's time so far in the academy, he has called me at least once a day. So there hasn't been a day that I have not heard from him.
How much contact time can we expect?
The first week of the academy, you can expect limited conversation time. The first night of the academy, we got exactly 51 seconds. That whole first week was somewhat of a mystery because we only got maybe 15 minutes at most, a night of conversation. As the weeks progress (and depending on your cadet), the conversation time can get gradually longer. As they become more proficient in the tasks they do every night (shining boots, brass and cleaning their gun), they may have more time to be on the phone.
What are the approximate times we can expect contact?
I tend to set the bar at 8:00 pm. In our 20 weeks, there's been a good chance R calls between 7:30-8:30 pm. The first few weeks, it's can definitely be closer to 9:00-9:30 pm. And trust me, they are wiped those first few weeks so it might be best to keep call times short so they can get some shut eye.
How does liberty work? (Keep in mind this is our experience with our CTC)
Liberty is what we call cadet's time off, where they are allowed to leave the academy.There are 2 opportunities for liberty. One is Wednesday night and the second is the weekend.
The cadets will know if they have either liberty by Monday of that week.
Wednesday liberty is typically something you have if you only received 0-2 gigs the week prior. Usually if you've gotten 3 gigs, you can count next Wednesday's liberty out. You can also lose part of Wednesday liberty if you have to re mediate from a failed test. Wednesday liberty starts at 5 on Wednesday afternoon and they have to be back at the academy by midnight Wednesday night.
Weekend liberty is something the cadets will usually have, unless they fail a test and need to re mediate or they've broken a major rule of some kind. The caveat is that our cadet class has had some EVOC testing on the weekends too, which doesn't mean the cadet "lost" liberty, it's just the way scheduling had to happen. Weekend liberty usually starts between 5-6 pm on Friday afternoon and they have to be back at the academy by midnight Sunday night.
***(Keep in mind this is our experience with our CTC)***
What is the CHP Academy like?
Really, it's everything we thought it'd be and more! The videos they show at orientation are accurate and it's a long 27 weeks for our cadets. They get up by 4:45 am to workout, then they go to class, they're on their feet most of the day and their evenings are usually spoken for with tasks they need to accomplish for the next day. But it's been worth it so far, they get superb training.
What can you expect for your weekends?
This is mostly a personal answer in what R and I have experienced. R comes home on Friday wiped from the week, so we try not to make plans on Friday. And that's with us being a 20-30 minute drive from the academy, so we consider ourselves lucky. Expect to go to a store to pick up supplies at some point in the weekend for the first few months. We went to Target every weekend for 3 months to pick something up whether it was cases of water, a beanie, cleaning supplies, etc.
They have tasks to accomplish on the weekend too. For R, it's doing at least 1 load of laundry (although we send his blue uniforms out via the service at the academy), writing memos, shining his boots, ironing shirts and studying for the week. In general though, we could accomplish all these things (including the Target trip) in 1 full day.
How do holidays work?
The cadets will know ahead of time if they get any time off but since we were part of a fall/winter academy, they received 2 additional days off for Thanksgiving and Christmas each (which was wonderful!). They did not get Labor day, Veterans day, or New Years.
How do finances work in the academy?
The cadets are paid monthly while in the academy but there were some out of pocket expenses we needed to cover. I don't know the full estimates of what they had to purchase but I'd say by Week 20, we've likely spent around $1000-$1300, at least. You don't need all of it up front but it's a good to have some money put away either before the academy or starting from your first academy check and so on.
In the next 2 months, we'll hopefully be paying for his uniforms too (eek, excited!) so more will be spent there too (although there is a uniform loan/allowance involved in that to help with costs).
When do dream sheets come out?
For our CTC, it was week 18 (the week of Christmas).
That's all for now, maybe I'll do a FAQ Part 2 at a later date. I hope that helps any of you out there looking for answers! Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them with the knowledge I have: rechp2015(at)gmail.com.
Monday, January 5, 2015
Week 20 begins!
Happy New Year everyone! I am incredulous that we are officially down to single digit weeks left of our time at the academy. The last two months have felt like we were in fast forward and 2015 is finally here.
R and I had a very relaxing weekend in, probably our first one in awhile where we really hunkered down for a netflix watching marathon and just took a mental vacation. R went into the academy on Saturday for a few hours to practice scenarios since he knew a few cadets were doing that together. They're testing on scenarios all this week (Company A is, Company B goes next week) and I think all the guys are nervous. But I have no doubt that their weeks of learning in the classroom will pay off for them.
Big news since our last blog post, CTC III-14 received their dream sheets, which is the list of available offices for assignment! No surprise that there were no offices near our hometown (as it is traditionally a very senior office) but we were pleasantly surprised that there were a few within 2 hours away of home, in the east bay. We spent a weekend deliberating and changing our mind several times about what offices we were interested in, and by Monday had decided on a list that made us mutually happy. In essence, we decided to leave it up to CHP whether we were going to remain up north or travel down south, with our first and second choices having equal numbers of openings.
We didn't hear back within the same week we submitted our choices but today marks a week since the cadets turned them in so we're crossing our fingers for confirmation today! We're nervous but excited to see where we end up.
Like I said, R's company will be doing scenarios this week so keep him in your thoughts and prayers. We've heard this is one of the last major tests we have to pass and I know R will breathe easier once this week is over.
51 days til graduation (but who's counting? ;) )
R and I had a very relaxing weekend in, probably our first one in awhile where we really hunkered down for a netflix watching marathon and just took a mental vacation. R went into the academy on Saturday for a few hours to practice scenarios since he knew a few cadets were doing that together. They're testing on scenarios all this week (Company A is, Company B goes next week) and I think all the guys are nervous. But I have no doubt that their weeks of learning in the classroom will pay off for them.
Big news since our last blog post, CTC III-14 received their dream sheets, which is the list of available offices for assignment! No surprise that there were no offices near our hometown (as it is traditionally a very senior office) but we were pleasantly surprised that there were a few within 2 hours away of home, in the east bay. We spent a weekend deliberating and changing our mind several times about what offices we were interested in, and by Monday had decided on a list that made us mutually happy. In essence, we decided to leave it up to CHP whether we were going to remain up north or travel down south, with our first and second choices having equal numbers of openings.
We didn't hear back within the same week we submitted our choices but today marks a week since the cadets turned them in so we're crossing our fingers for confirmation today! We're nervous but excited to see where we end up.
Like I said, R's company will be doing scenarios this week so keep him in your thoughts and prayers. We've heard this is one of the last major tests we have to pass and I know R will breathe easier once this week is over.
51 days til graduation (but who's counting? ;) )
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