When I grow up I want to...
Since I was a little girl my imagination has not stopped dreaming, I think the first television that was brought home when I was 6 years old helped to awaken in me an enormous curiosity to know how the world was and how I would like it to be for me. I think that since I was a little girl I dreamed of a perfect world, where there were no problems, no arguments and without a man called "Manuel" who sold alcohol. I don't know why I thought that this man was the reason why my dad came home drunk on Friday nights and even though he didn't argue or anything like that, I was a bit tired of having to attend to him and put up with his jokes.
One day I remember that he gathered all of us who were at home that day, Gerardo, Miguel, Didier and me and as he had been a national guard he gave us a talk on that subject that he loved and then he gave us a workshop on survival in natural disasters. :D :D :D :D
You can imagine that a man over 60 years old and drunk was not to be believed, but I had a lot of fun watching my dad rolling around on that floor.
As I told you my dad worked in a military institution and I always saw his pictures and listened to him talk to his friends about his adventures; even though I was a little girl I liked to imagine what his life had been like in the capital of the country, with his beautiful uniform, very handsome and giving his best.
One day he told me about a wallet he got in a coffee shop, that leather wallet that had documents and some money inside, my dad knew that the owner could return when he realized and remembered where he had left it, so he told the owner of the store and kept it all day in his pocket, he says that the man returned faster than expected and was very grateful to my father. I imagined all that and kept it in my heart.
To be or not to be, that's the dilemma!
When I was about 9 years old, I was sitting next to my father watching my brothers working in the fields and suddenly he asked me what would you like to be when you grow up? In that instant I told him _ teacher, dad, I will never forget how we laughed that afternoon because he imagined me being a very strict teacher.
As I grew up my ideas changed, I no longer wanted to be a teacher, now I wanted to be a policeman like my father. At night I would daydream, I would see myself dressed in a uniform with a blue shirt and black pants, investigating unsolved crimes, putting thieves in jail and helping people in any situation. Many times I also put "Mr. Manuel" in jail for giving liquor to parents in my community.
If I were to tell you about my childhood I think it was very peaceful, with its ups and downs as in every home, doing the things that correspond to me, obeying, respecting the authority of my elders, being responsible and quiet. I believe that all this formed my character and helped me to be what I was and what I am.
When I was twelve years old my mother and my aunt conspired to take me to study in the city, according to them in the countryside there were not many opportunities for a girl like me. So that day I began to carve out my future and today I thank God, life and my parents for having helped me and for having insisted that I study and become a professional.
When you are a teenager you don't think about anything else but boyfriends, going out and enjoying life, the truth is that I had left behind those thoughts of what or who I wanted to be or study. Even so I continued studying until the day came to decide what I wanted to do with my life, and guess what? that thought from my childhood came back "I wanted to be a POLICEMAN".
In my homeland there is a saying that goes "Andeans like a cap or a cassock" and although it seems funny it has a lot of truth. There in the state of Táchira-Venezuela is one of the most beautiful and largest seminaries in the whole country and there are also two schools and two of the best military high schools in the country. Everywhere we grow up surrounded by this type of people and on the other hand my state is located on the border between Colombia and Venezuela, so we also live with security people constantly.
As you can see, part of what we see and observe as we grow up influences our thoughts. Our environment tells us what we can and cannot do. It is people and their actions that guide us on our path.
At the age of 19 I fulfilled my dream, I entered the academy of the best police in the world "The Metropolitan Police of Caracas", it all happened thanks to some cousins who already belonged to the institution and they guided me in everything I had to do. In January 95 I presented my tests and I was accepted to enter the police course number 46
I remember that the night before presenting myself at that school my cousin arrived and told me that she had found me something better within the same institution and that it went with my qualities; it was to train me as a police officer who attends to national and international tourists, in strategic places such as ports, airports, museums, theaters, squares and parks of the capital. I really liked that idea and I thank Maribel infinitely every day for having found that opportunity for me. On March 5th of that year I started the course and graduated along with a group of 50 friends and siblings with whom we shared countless incredible adventures.
Life is full of twists and turns, but you have to keep your eyes open for opportunities. If you like what you do you will be very happy. I don't remember a single day of those 17 years I spent in my profession that I went to work in a bad mood; on the contrary, I liked it much more every day. I liked being in my uniform, representing my institution, attending to anyone who needed me and attending to any public order situation.
I could stay here talking about how one day I dreamed it and how nice it was to be a good policeman, how it is better to live doing things well, in an honest way, without mistreating anyone for the fact of having a gun and a uniform.
This is my entry for this week [WE93] POSTING TOPIC prompts: WANT. I would like to invite my friends @Purrix, @Belkisa, to participate in the weekend community.
