Personal Narrative - Essay Example

At that time, I was stationed in Manhattan, KS and had to choose between Manhattan, Salina, and Topeka. Topeka and Manhattan were testing on the same days and as fate would have it, I decided to give Manhattan a try. Having no navigational skills in the city, I was first challenged in finding the testing site for the physical agility test. When I arrived at RCPD range were the recruitment was taking place, I was shocked to realize that I was going to be put up against other forty people who were competing for five or six slots.

Once I got out of my truck and started talking to other hopeful applicants I became worried about the chances of success through the hiring process. I was confused on what would be my next step if I was not successful and was unable to secure a chance in the police department. I felt as though I was under qualified after finding out that 60%- 70% of the applicants had degrees in Criminal Justice. I thought for sure that college would be a major hiring point. I was determined to prove my ability and advantage over the graduates who lacked professional experience.

The air was thin and cold on this particular day, making just breathing a chore. Gazing out at the course the towers were tall and a long climb, the walls were high with steep drops to the other side. For the agility test, the recruits were expected to run through tires and drag a 170 pound dummy had to a safe zone. I felt confident since I was still in the Army and was in the best cardiovascular condition in my life. The lieutenant introduced himself to the crowd and began explaining the course, at the end of his explanation and demonstration he asked for volunteers to go first.

In my mind I thought it would be good to volunteer, but I had learned early on in the Army not to volunteer for anything. I held my ground and stayed back to gauge the motivated people stepping to the front. I watched several individuals run through the course until it was finally my turn. Once I stepped up to the starting line my adrenaline ran high and I felt unstoppable at that point. I had heard the fastest time was 2:09 through the course on this day and I was determined to beat it and set a new record.

I took off up the steep flight of stairs and down the other side simulating a chase. I felt like a wild animal closing on my prey as I hopped the fence and dropped to the other side. Next I ran through a makeshift neighborhood setting and to a high wall I had to climb. Once at the top I ran down the steps and around the turnaround point. It was then that I realized how fast I was moving, I was flying through the course and hurting badly inside. Despite the difficulty, I knew I had to hold on for the next 30 seconds and I would have achieved my target.

I ran to the shooting simulation and picked the bad guy out of the standup targets, ran to the dummy drag the 170 pounds 20 yards like a dog carries a flea on a daily basis. Once I was at the end of the line I heard the scorer yell “2:03”, I had done it. On the finishing line, I felt proud to have achieved my target and was convinced that I had already secured the job. My score got beat by a fraction of a second later in the day, but I was still proud that I was able to overcome the pain to get to the finish