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.
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