The best thing to ever happen to me was when I became an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Firefighter. On December 1, 2007, I met with the captain,
Jeff Bryant Senior, of the Amboy Volunteer Fire Department. When I met with
Captain Bryant, he and I discussed whether I would be an EMT cadet, fire cadet,
or both. After talking to my mom, I decided that EMT would be best, for now.

Meanwhile as January 2008 rolled around, I was required to obtain a Hazardous Materials Awareness certification and CPR/AED
certification. Next thing I knew, February was here and I was asked to take the
Basic EMT course to receive my certification so I could become licensed. I said
that I would be more than happy to join the class, this was a five month long
course and it consisted of 200 hours, without clinical or ride time. Then it
was Extrication School in the beginning of April as well as Monroe Fire School
in August. They both were incredible lifetime experiences to have been involved
in. As the months were flying by, I was working hard at becoming a certified
EMT. Anything such as classes or training that crossed within my path, I was
definitely there, and a big part of it.

By this time it was October and I decided to sit down and discuss with Captain Bryant about my love and passion for the fire
department and its services. The purpose of our meeting was for me to be able
to ask him about joining the fire side of the department. After talking with
the chief and the other officers, he later told me that they had made a
decision and it was a yes. I was so overwhelmed and filled with joy. It wasn’t
just a yes, there was more to it. He told me that they were having another EMT
class that would be held at the fire department and they strongly felt that I
should sit through it so I could refresh for my state EMT exam. I told them
that it was only fair.

So, the refresher EMT course had ended and it was time for me to take the state exam, talk about nerve wrecking. You either pass or
you fail. After three attempts and missing it by 1% all three times, I thought
it was over and felt like giving up but I couldn’t, not yet anyways. I ended up
having to retake the whole EMT class over again. By this time I felt like a
failure but I hadn’t had enough yet and wasn’t going to give up that quick. In
my mind, I thought it would be best to take a few months break from the EMT
certification so before attempting the EMT class, again, I decided to begin a
firefighter 2 course in February of 2009 so I could become a certified
firefighter. Being a firefighter is tough; it’s a lot of hard work and
dedication that’s for sure, but I was willing and determined to do it and
become one. I completed all of the required practicals and classroom materials
so I was now ready to take the state firefighter 2 exam; there were three
parts, Modular A, Modular B, and Modular C, and usually they are broken up into
three tests. My class took it all at one time just because we were taught all
of the material at one time. As I sat
patiently waiting for the results of whether or not I passed or failed, May was
already here and it was the day of my high school graduation. I found out that
I had passed and was officially considered to be a real firefighter. I was so
happy and proud of myself; I ended up wearing my firefighter helmet instead of
my cap for the ceremony.

With the luck of passing my firefighter exam, I was able to get right back up and attempt to put in all of the hard work and hours of
the EMT class again. After all my clinical and ride time was completed as well
as all the classroom work, I was able to take the state EMT exam again in
January of 2010 on the 13^th. Since I had already taken the exam
before I knew what to expect and I was ready. I was doing what I could to keep
the others in the class calm for the exam. A week had passed and the results were in, my
heart sank. I didn’t want to get my hopes up thinking I had passed when I
hadn’t. Eventually I had enough nerve to see if I passed and sure enough I had.
After two long, hard working years and dedication, I had finally received my
Basic – EMT license.