I have always HATED being the new girl. I hated it in high school when I switched my senior year, hated it in college, and I hate it when I start a new job. A few times I have even made myself ill worrying about all the “what ifs”. A huge worry starting this new job was what if I don’t like it or what if I can’t do the job. I had to push those thoughts out of my mind quickly because I had already started and didn’t want to be a quitter without really giving it a chance.

After the first week of training, we all had to do OJT (on the job) training. The “new boots” were given a packet of papers with specific duties that we must be trained on by senior officers before we would be able to work on our own. We were placed with knowledgeable and trusted officers to learn things like report writing or documentation of movement on the dorms, how to properly conduct counts, administer and pass out meds, and pass food trays. This allowed me to also meet my new coworkers and learn from their experiences and ask lots of questions.

There was a big part of me that was confident in my abilities to do my new job because of my education and background (I am a graduate of the police academy and my father was a jailer, correctional officer and police officer). As a young child, I absolutely adored my daddy. I used to think he was so cool in his cop uniform and would wear his hat and boots. I knew that I had the ability to do good in this job because I did have specialized training and had spent many long hours in college studying law enforcement.

During my training, I did have questions. Like, why aren’t the inmates in uniform? I was corrected; they are not INMATES. These men are CLIENTS or RESIDENTS. The residents are not in prison and are not required to wear uniforms and can wear their own civilian clothing. Why do they wear ankle monitors? Some men are required to wear ankle monitors and for different reasons. Lower-level tiers (1 and 2) wear them and will be removed as they advance in treatment. A few men are on parole and that is a stipulation they had. I remember one man had to wear one the rest of his life as a condition of his punishment. Wait, I was so confused. Tiers? What is a tier? And treatment? Treatment for what?

Not until after I was interviewed, hired and started working did I learn what and who I was dealing with. I was hired to work at a center for men who had been convicted and were classified as sex offenders. All these men had been sent to this facility in Littlefield, Texas to receive treatment for these sex offenses. This was my introduction to civil commitment.

I suppose that there are people who might have decided this might not be the job for them. Some women may be too scared to work in this type of atmosphere. And I have learned that there are MANY people who do not believe in rehabilitation. But I am not either one of those types. I absolutely KNEW that I could handle the situation, that I wasn’t one to scare easily, and I have always believed that everyone can change and believe in second chances.

I pushed through that week of OJT and got my packet signed off on. My shift was overnights and I was assigned my captain. I immediately heard he had a reputation for being tough and by the book.

Even after everything I heard that week, I was ready to work. I needed the job. I was smart and educated, determined to prove myself and make this my future.

Well, ironically it did become my FUTURE, but in a way I never, ever could have predicted. To be Continued......