Day 1

Day one has already come and gone! Yesterday K and I woke up at the hotel around 5:30am to get him all suited up and ready to officially move to the academy. I did my best to get some food and coffee in him while he got ready, but he really can't eat when he is nervous, so he pretty much started off on an empty stomach...*cue my maternal instinctive worrying.* We triple checked his bag and papers, loaded up the car, and drove down the street at around 7am where we waited in a long line of cars filled with other nervous cadets.  Instructions were to arrive between 7:15 and 7:30, no earlier and no later, and after we made it through the line to the kiosk it was 7:16...perfect!

      

When we made it to the parking lot it was a quick goodbye. K jumped out of the car, pulled out his bag as I slide into the driver's seat, and gave me a kiss and goodbye through the window. I had to zoom in and it is still really blurry, but in that bottom picture you can see him walking towards check in, toting his controversial red duffle bag. We have seen video from day one and knew in advance the staff would be tossing the cadets' bags around in a big pile, making it difficult to distinguish between the many black bags. We were advised at K's division orientation last week to tie something on his bag to make it easy to find.  Since he already has a red one he thought he might as well bring it and deal with any potential consequences of standing out too much :)

After watching my handsome cadet walk off towards his impending day 1 doom, I drove back home and spent the whole day wondering what he was doing and when I'd be able to talk to him. I knew he probably wouldn't be able to call me until late--if he was able to call me at all--so I turned my ringer on high and went to sleep. At 10:51pm (or should I say 2251 hours?) my phone rang and it was K! I swear it felt like I hadn't talked to him in days even though I had just seen him that morning.  He had just gotten back to his room so they definitely had a long first day. We were only able to talk for four minutes, but he sounded so great. He said it was a long hard day, but "it actually wasn't that bad." Music to my ears after I had spent the day picturing the worst. One of his roommates is a re-tread which means he has been to the academy before but was unable to finish for whatever reason (failed a test, got hurt...). This was a huge answer to prayer! That means this guy will already know the ins and outs of academy life and will definitely be able to help K learn the ropes quickly.

I am so looking forward to his first weekend so I can hear about everything in more detail!

-D

Orientation Day

Yesterday was the day before the big day! K, my parents and I headed down to the academy for the new cadet orientation, and the whole day felt unreal. Just driving onto academy grounds was like a crazy out of body experience. As we walked the path to the gym, we occasionally passed a few senior cadets standing at attention who would greet us with "good morning ladies, good morning
gentlemen." Their boots seemed so shiny, uniforms pressed so perfectly, and in that moment I couldn't believe that in three short months, K will be a senior cadet like them, welcoming his junior class to their orientation. We entered the gym where the program was held, found seats, and anxiously waited...along with 110 other eager cadets and their families. The orientation was very informative and offered perspectives from the academy staff, senior cadets, and even a wife of a CHP officer.

As the head honcho of the staff office excused us for a break with snacks and refreshments he made it clear that the incoming cadets were not allowed to have any, only the families. He then instructed all cadets to line up single file in the back of the gym.  A sea of bald heads stood, scrambling for their papers, and made their way to the back where they lined up and were led out the side exit. My parents and I grabbed some coffee and a cookie, not knowing at the time that the cadets were getting their first taste of academy life one building over in the cafeteria. About thirty minutes or so later, they returned to the gym and K informed us that it was intense. At first it was all good, the senior cadets talked to them for a bit and answered their questions. But all of a sudden, the seniors cleared out and in came the very vocal academy drill sergeants staff. Apparently guys got chewed out for not dressing properly (have I mentioned that you should wear a suit to everything?), making eye contact with the staff, being 'overweight,' staring down at the table instead of dead ahead, and one cadet got majorly ripped into for smiling. K managed to avoid any direct interaction but he said it was crazy! In a way we think it was a good thing, though, because it gave the cadets a heads up for what would be coming the next day.

After the break for the families and the beat down for the cadets, we finished up the presentation and were escorted in groups on a tour of the academy. We got to see the tiny dorms that K will be living in for the next 27 weeks as well as the classroom, staff office, cafeteria, and the PX store. K was able to talk with one of the seniors as we walked around which was really helpful and gave him some peace of mind. After the tour we took some pictures and then headed to Midtown for some lunch. K and I had to drive back to my parents house to grab some papers he needed, but after that we drove to our hotel right across the street from the academy. My parents' house is only about 25 minutes from the academy which is such a blessing since I will be living with them while K is there and he can easily stay with me each weekend. We thought it best to stay at a hotel nearby the night before so there was no chance of showing up late on day one!

More updates to come! Please pray for us (especially K) if you are keeping track of our story--we definitely need it during this crazy season.

Blessings,
D

Let's start from the beginning (continued)...

Remember that one time I decided to start a blog? Yeah, I should have known that I wouldn't be as on top of things as I'd originally hoped ;) Two and a half months later I am back to finish up sharing about this crazy CHP application journey!

Since August when we got the good news about K's acceptance, we have mainly been preparing for the academy and trying to soak up every bit of our time together. Although this past year has been frustrating at times through all the uncertainties, I want to be sure to look back and appreciate all the time we spent together. As we enter a new chapter, I foresee us having to fight for time together regularly - during & after the academy - and I just need to sit here for a sec and thank God for the unique season of "togetherness" he gave us in our first few years of marriage! It would be so easy for me to say "good riddance" to this challenging year, but I want to strive to see the value in each and every season of life the Lord takes us through as a family. Okay, enough sappiness for now!  In my last post I left off right before going into what the interview process looked like for K, so here's a brief recap of what he went through...

First came his initial interview on February 9, 2015 where he sat down with his background investigator for the first time. This meeting lasted about 2 hours, and K had to arrive with copies and originals of important documents such as his social security card, birth certificate, marriage license, etc. At first K was instructed by his BI to review his PHS and make any necessary changes, he was left alone in the room for this part.  Afterwards, his BI came back in, turned on a tape recorder and discussed K's PHS with him. He asked him about any mistakes he may have made and let K explain each situation he wrote down on his PHS. This interview was pretty low key, not too much interrogation, but his BI did grill him on a few things...surprisingly not the things we thought he would get grilled on though.  At the end of this they scheduled him for the Computerized Voice Stress Analyzer (CVSA) which is the lie detector test used by the CHP.

The CVSA came later that week on February 13, and K definitely did not enjoy this one. This isn't like the lie detectors they show in the movies where they hook you up and watch that little needle go all over the paper when you're lying, it is much less accurate. He basically just held a microphone while he answered questions about his PHS, and it was supposed to detect stress in his voice if he was lying. But based off the questions that were flagged as lies during his interview, we know it was not accurate. For example, the test showed that he lied about having applied to other law enforcement agencies...information that could easily be looked into and proven as false. But during the interview the guy administering the test kept saying things like "this is 100% accurate...we will know if you're lying...why would that question have flagged if you were telling the truth?" He pretty much tried to get K to slip up on something and was looking for discrepancies between what he said and what he wrote in his PHS. This all lasted about 3 hours.

After the CVSA, we waited over a month for the final interview of the background investigation to be scheduled. I should add that between the initial and final interviews, K's BI had contacted his references, former employers, and family members via letter and phone calls.  Some had to fill out questionnaires about K, others (like myself) were just contacted via phone and had to verbally answer some questions.  Finally, on March 26, K met with his BI for the final interview of the background investigation. Here he was asked to review his PHS again and make any necessary changes (he mainly just had to change our address). After that, his BI gave him the good news that he had passed backgrounds! K was able to ask questions about the academy and his BI gave him some pointers. At the end of the meeting he scheduled the next portion of the process which was the psychological written test.

On April 1, K took his psych written test with about six other applicants. The test was comprised of about 900 questions and took four hours long...WOW. K said it was pretty terrible to sit there for that long answering the type of questions they asked. If you're an applicant reading this, just do your best and answer as honestly as you can...there's really no way to prepare for the questions.

Next came the medical exam on April 6 where they performed various tests on K.  He had his back X-rayed, they did a blood test, got drug tested, had his hearing and vision checked and was hooked up to a heart monitor. We didn't really hear back from anyone about the medical, but we figured no news was good news! We waited from April to June to finally be contacted again, and in late June he was scheduled for the psych interview to take place on June 30.

Last but certainly not least was the psych interview where K had to sit on a couch for two hours across from a psychologist. Surprisingly enough he was not asked any questions regarding the psych written test, but about (you guessed it) his PHS. According the K this was the most brutal part of the application process.  The psychologist was constantly trying to catch K in a lie and attempted to get him to contradict himself based on what he wrote on the PHS and what he said in person.  When K came home from this one, he thought for sure he failed.  He knew he was telling the truth, but the psychologist made him feel like a complete liar. Hopefully that will encourage some applicants out there--just stick to the truth, don't change your story (or add to it) and you'll be okay!  After the psych interview we waited some more, and finally on August 7, K got his invitation to the October academy!

So there you have it! In a nutshell that is what the application process looked like, and I've listed the full timeline below.  K starts the academy in TWO days which is unbelievable...we could not be more excited that it is finally here.  I will do my best to keep this blog active throughout the process for any hopeful CHP families out there looking for info!

Blessings,
D

CHP application timeline...at least for the Walkers ;) :
7.7.14 - Online application
9.20.14 - Physical Abilities Test (PAT)
9.21.14 - Written test
10.15.14 - Instructed to fill out/submit Personal History Statement (PHS)
11.26.14 - Background Investigation Questionnaire (BIQ)
2.9.15 - Initial interview with background investigator (BI)
2.13.15 - Computerized Voice Stress Analyzer (CVSA)
3.26.15 - Final interview
4.1.15 - Psychological written exam
4.6.15 - Medical exam
6.30.15 - Psychological interview
8.7.15 - Received invitation to academy
10.26.15 - Academy starts