Securing a job in law enforcement can be a tough ordeal, let alone being able to maintain one for some fifteen years. This was the case of Angela Macdougall, a female SWAT team sniper who is also a mother and a housewife. She has been in the industry for one and a half decade and she is not exempted to the typical day to day challenges of a law enforcement officer. Focusing on the hardships she described, I cannot help but to think of my own experience, especially when it comes to finding the perfect balance between family, social life, and work.
In my experience, the most important (key) principle is time management . We all have twenty four hours a day. The only differentiating factor between me and another person would be the way how we are going to spend those hours. In my case, I always make sure that the things in the top of my priority list would get the biggest chunk of my time and that even the ones in the bottom would not be taken for granted. I think this is also the same principle that Macdougall followed that is why she was able to balance her life as a SWAT team sniper and a mother and housewife.
Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. The real challenge is consistency. Success in this endeavor—finding the perfect and constant balance between career (education) and personal life requires dedication . A single moment of weakness can lead to instances of backsliding. Once a person has backslid, it is typically hard to go back towards making progress. It is so easy to mess up that a lot of people end up having successful careers but unsuccessful family life or the opposite of that. It really is hard to find the perfect balance but in almost all industries and not just law enforcement, the key principle can be summed up to effective time management.
Works Cited
Discover Policing. "A Call to Serve." Discover Policing (2016): Web. http://discoverpolicing.org/why_policing/?fa=call_serve. 21 July 16.
Quast, Lisa. "5 Time Management Tips that will Boost Your Career." Forbes (2016): Web. http://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2016/02/29/5-time-management-tips-that-will-boost-your-career/#5499f5b955e1. 21 July 16.
