“For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to go into law enforcement. I am not quite sure what originally drew me to the career but working as a police officer is an ambition I have never faltered from even to this day. My freshman year, in 2018, is coincidentally the year that the campus police department was founded. I emailed back and forth with Jeff Crow, the director of Safety and Emergency Management, and was fortunate to begin a work-study position with the police department. While there, I was able to get connected with some great officers and staff members within the campus police department. In my junior year, I was offered a position as a staff member rather than a work-study student to work as a service officer for the department. In January of this year, I began a part-time law enforcement certification course sponsored by the campus police department while simultaneously taking on a full load of classes. In May, I, along with some other staff members from OBU, graduated from the part-time class and began working as police officers for the university. Being a student and a police officer at the same time has certainly created some interesting challenges for me. For one, I am policing a community of my friends, peers, and professors which creates a unique environment unlike what most other officers face. Additionally, I live, work, and go to school all in the same place which can prove to be a little challenging. As a police officer, I have a legal duty to respond to events and circumstances in which I am trained to deal with whether I am on duty or off. Therefore, when I am sitting in classes or just walking through campus I need to be prepared and willing to respond to emergencies that may arise. Essentially, this position has laid a foundation that I can continue to build upon throughout my career. However, the most important lesson this experience has taught me is how to stay disciplined. Policing an environment like Ouachita with such a small crime rate can make it easy to slip into complacency, which in the law enforcement community is very deadly. So, staying focused and driven even when nothing may be happening is a very important and fundamental skill that will serve me well.”
Senior, Mass Communications
Plano, Texas
photo by Abby Blankenship
