Jail Officer Toughts

A trainee use to be an individual with civilian character. They posses the eagerness to become uniform personnel but should first earn the title of being a jail officer and its corresponding previleges if they deserve it.

It is a long journey , being an aplicant to taking oath of office. It is a glorious step forward to attaining one's desire to become part of the uniform service, but the tough challenges are not for the faint of heart. With training we forget the old ways and prepare to evolve and adapt to the physical, emotional and mental challenges. We should be forward-thinking, innovative and fast.

An alarm clock jolts us awake in the early morning to the horizon where the sun hasn't even risen yet to prepare our selves for the day. We move in haste as we put on our uniform, the classic white shirt and jeans, nothing fancy. But putting on these particular clothing is like a switcht that sets our mind to readily assume our duties as public servant. As we put on our silver-buckle belt, we pray for the courage and strength to get through the day without any misfortune.

We report for accounting, change too our athletic uniform, sweat ourselves with the daile reveille, clean up the grounds and proceed tk our assigned post, with the proper posture and always on the alert.

We were taught certain things so far from our civillian lives. We can't look at organic personnels eyes, and walk always on the double.

Then another grueling physical exercise on the afternoon.

As the sun sets, we fins ourselves releived of post.

But tommorow is another day.

With each day, we shed our skin and soul to emerge into a disciplined individual. It is not only our own welfare we are concerned about, we have to take care of our fellow trainees as well.

We learned how to empathize, leave no one behind, and ultimately, we learned that the fault of one, is the fault of all. We have to be extra carefull.

We should learned how to co-exist with each other. Soon, we will be assigned to jail facilities that are home to persons deprived of liberty. We should be able to work together to achieve the jail bureau's mandate of humane safekeeping and development of PDL.

We get rattled at times. Perfecting the execution of an order is sometimes difficult but it has to be done , and quickly.

The sudden impact of the various outside forces, the image and expectations of being an ideal jail officer may bring ourselves to question our capabilities from time to time.

Everyday is like a battle field where we engage in a war of the mind and body. It is expected we accomplish our task efficiently. But in reality, a trainee is not a robot that can carry out every single task without failing. Over time, even a machine falters and needs to reset and recharge. With this, one may fall into the trap of quitting, that's why we constantly need guidance and directions from our instructors and organic personnel who have already walked our path before.

We should be patient. Every day is an investment, filled with a purpose.

We grow. Slowly and carefully. We get reprimanded for our imperfections and differences. We remember these and promise not to do it again. Then, we get on with our routine.

We get better and braver every day.

Each step close to becoming a jail officer.