Firefighters have what is considered to be as one the best jobs in the world. They are recognized as heroes, the community loves them, they save the precious lives of people, use powerful tools, and of course, they efficiently put out raging fires. Even their salaries are something to talk about. Also, firefighters normally receive pension, paid vacations, and medical insurance (“Benefits”). Indeed the benefits and perks of being a firefighter is a big selling point for the job. For these reasons, some eight years ago I had wanted to join this awesome group of men and women that risk their lives daily to save others. But before I could do so, I had to go through a trial by fire, literally and figuratively, called the Fire Academy.
Entering the Fire Academy was the easy part, but the moment I stepped in I knew that getting through the training was going to either make me or break me. From the very beginning, it seemed as if the training at the Academy was going to break me because at the time of joining I weighed 300 pounds and was in the worst shape of my life. When I compared myself to the other students at the Academy, who were mostly lean and fit, the one thought that came to me was that I had a huge challenge to face if I wished to come out of the institution successfully.
So, as a first step towards achieving this goal I tried to stay confident at the start of everyday and told myself repeatedly that I could do it. However, each time I was pitifully exhausted after physical workout sessions and was adjudged as the weakest in every practical exercise, it kept on occurring to me that maybe I was not cut out to be a firefighter. Additionally, my relationship with my classmates and instructors was a bit rocky in the beginning. I could not gain the respect of my classmates or trainers as I never showed much promise in firefighting. I am sure my friends and coaches thought that I could never join their ranks. Even though my classmates and tutors always gave me support as I struggled to finish the exercises, they always looked at me in a way that clearly meant that this guy is not going to make it.
My instructors would always come to me after every performance, look at me with either pity or anger, and tell me constantly that if I did not do something about my physical condition, I would not be able to last for long in the Academy. I was tired, angry, and discouraged, and I was frustrated with people looking down at me as if I was just wasting myself and my time. But the more I faced these disgruntled people, the more I became determined to see this whole thing through successfully. At the same time, I understood that my instructors were right about one thing- that if I were to graduate from the Academy along with my classmates, I needed to lose a lot of weight and get in shape fast.
One day in one of the classes at the Academy, one of my instructors, Mr. Rivera or firefighter Rivera, which is how we addressed him, saw me struggling to do a set of push-ups. So, he came over to where I was and stood right in front of me. For a moment, I was sure he would scold me. But it came as a surprise when instead of yelling at me, he got himself in the push-up position and did them, all the while encouraging me till I finished my set. He took me to a corner away from the rest of the class, began to speak to me kindly and helped me. He told me that like me, he was also fat when he joined the Academy and had faced tough times at the beginning of the course. He showed me a picture of his when he was rotund- a photograph that I simply could not believe because the man standing in front of me looked nothing like the one in the photo. Mr. Rivera then gave me some tips on following a better dietary pattern and advised me about physical workout regimes that he said would help me improve my performance. He repeated that I was sailing in the same boat that he was in at one point of time, and stressed upon me that I should not give up. He added that if kept trying hard, I would definitely make it through- words that came as a bright ray of hope in the darkness that surrounded me at the Academy. In fact, it was the first time that somebody at the Academy had spoken to me as if they believed in my firefighting abilities, an encouragement that I needed desperately since I was very worn out from the whole exercise and wanted to just quit and be done with it once and for all.
Gradually, my classmates too, began to help me by sharing some of their knowledge with me and investing their time in helping me with my physical workouts. One of their favorite workouts, beyond that performed at the academy, was to go out to the Bank of America building in Downtown Orlando and go up the 25 flights of stairs about four times to work on leg strength. I joined my classmates in this much loved exercise, and they further helped me hone my skills in hose drills, ladder drills, bunker gear drills, and S.C.B.A. drills. Thanks to such interactions with my classmates, I was at last able to bond with my entire class. Such was the inspiration and encouragement I received from them that when I got home, instead of going straight to bed, I would run outside to work on my physical conditioning. I could finally see myself being able to finish and graduate, and not just finish by the skin of my teeth, but do well with a good score.
As I continued to work more on my skills, I began to show signs of improvement to the point where I started to turn some heads not only because was I keeping up with the learning pace of my class, but also because I was going ahead a lot of them. My body weight went down from 300 pounds to 236 pounds, and I went from being in the worst shape of my life to the best I have ever been. The huge change in me was so amazing that I could hardly believe that I had achieved it all simply through hard work and perseverance. The change extended to my classmates and instructors too. The same people who once thought that I was surely going to fail now began respecting me.
But the moment of truth was when the whole class was scheduled to take the final physical skills course, which we were required to clear to pass the Firefighter II class. While no one was thinking about failing the test, with the exam approaching fast, the one thought that was ubiquitous in everyone’s mind was about getting the best time. As the day neared, we were all anxious and nervous. Since my last name starts with the letter ‘T’, I knew that I was going to be one of the last ones to go for the test. As I saw my classmates perform one after the other at the course and observed the times that they were finishing, I told myself that I could perhaps never get as close a time as they did. When my turn came, I went up with a pounding heart to the line, where the instructor asked me if I was ready. I remember mumbling a ‘yes’ with the vague realization that as soon as I would pick up the hose, the time of the course would start. As per the course requirements, I picked up the fire hose and was off to do what was needed. Today, the rest of the course is a blur, but I recollect finishing gasping for breath because of sheer exhaustion. After finishing the course, the first thing I wanted to know was my time at completion. It came as a huge surprise to me and everyone else present that my time was 5 minutes and 23 seconds. What added significance to the number was that although it was not the fastest time, it was the fifth fastest in the whole class. I was almost in tears because I could not believe that I had raced ahead from the last position in the class to the fifth and that I went from having no respect from anybody to everybody cheering for me at the finishing line.
Finally, on the day of graduation, my class honored me by selecting me as the most improved classmate in the entire class, an award which to this day occupies a prized position in my room. I had become what I wanted to be at that time- a certified firefighter/EMT for the state of Florida. I say ‘at that time’ because even though that was what I had desired, God had other plans for my life. His plans for me concerned a pastor, which is the calling that I decided to pursue in the end. But even though I decided not to go in for the firefighting career, today I have no regrets about going to the Academy. For me, it truly made for an awesome learning experience; it was a place where I learned so much about myself and realized how tough and resilient I could be. It also taught me about how much I could take and keep going. Certainly, these were things that I could never talk about and in fact, did not even know or believe about myself before I joined the Academy.
Works Cited
“Benefits and Salary.” Nyc.gov. New York City Fire Department, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2016. <http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/community/ff_salary_benefits_080106.shtm>.
