WEBVTT 00:00.349 --> 00:02.460 Uh , just seeing a little bit of what 00:02.460 --> 00:04.682 they do every day , uh , really kind of 00:04.682 --> 00:06.738 fueled my passion to , uh , join the 00:06.738 --> 00:09.039 fire service . And , uh , it only , it 00:09.050 --> 00:11.161 encouraged me to pursue my dream even 00:11.161 --> 00:13.328 more . Um , because I've always looked 00:13.328 --> 00:15.383 up to them , I always thought , uh , 00:15.383 --> 00:17.661 what they did was really cool and , um , 00:17.661 --> 00:19.772 just kind of always wanted to be like 00:19.772 --> 00:21.939 one of them . And , uh , here we are , 00:28.690 --> 00:31.430 after I exceeded the age limit for the 00:31.440 --> 00:33.273 fire camp , I still wanted to be 00:33.273 --> 00:35.799 involved . So I talked to at the time , 00:35.810 --> 00:37.754 it was the assistant fire chief at 00:37.754 --> 00:39.810 prevention , Jason Garcia and , uh , 00:39.810 --> 00:41.699 Billy Clemens was actually a fire 00:41.699 --> 00:43.810 inspector at the time . Uh , I talked 00:43.810 --> 00:46.032 to them and see , um , how I could help 00:46.032 --> 00:48.310 and , uh , they brought me back during , 00:48.310 --> 00:50.532 uh , the junior firefighter camp during 00:50.532 --> 00:50.200 the week to help with the hands on 00:50.209 --> 00:53.240 portions . And also during , uh , fire 00:53.250 --> 00:55.459 prevention week , uh , we went to 00:55.470 --> 00:57.700 Walmart and Academy and Home Depot and 00:57.709 --> 01:00.060 I dressed up as sparky and blaze the , 01:00.069 --> 01:02.580 the house mascot . And , um , you know , 01:02.590 --> 01:05.559 just kind of kept volunteering on , uh , 01:05.569 --> 01:07.791 whenever they had events and whenever I 01:07.791 --> 01:09.958 could help and whenever I was free and 01:09.958 --> 01:11.970 over time just got , uh , built 01:11.980 --> 01:14.400 relations and it only strengthened , uh , 01:14.410 --> 01:16.410 strengthen the relationships that I 01:16.410 --> 01:19.069 have today with those guys . Yeah . 01:21.269 --> 01:23.602 So , for me it's a little bit different . 01:23.602 --> 01:25.713 Uh , everybody here at Goodfellow has 01:25.713 --> 01:27.880 prior military service and I am , uh , 01:27.880 --> 01:30.000 the first one , recently that I think 01:30.010 --> 01:32.860 the first one , in history , actually 01:32.870 --> 01:35.360 that doesn't have military service . So 01:35.370 --> 01:37.426 the way they had to work things is a 01:37.426 --> 01:39.481 little bit different . Uh I actually 01:39.481 --> 01:41.648 had to come in the door with all of my 01:41.648 --> 01:43.870 certifications already . So for me , uh 01:43.870 --> 01:45.981 through the state of Texas , I had to 01:45.981 --> 01:48.148 have firefighter , one and two has met 01:48.148 --> 01:49.870 awareness operations and um my 01:49.870 --> 01:51.814 associate's degree or some sort of 01:51.814 --> 01:53.870 degree . Um I just happen to have an 01:53.870 --> 01:55.870 associates in fire administration . 01:58.720 --> 02:00.942 I actually achieved everything myself . 02:00.942 --> 02:03.164 And when I came in the door , um it put 02:03.164 --> 02:05.360 me a leg up with the certifications 02:05.370 --> 02:09.110 that I have at the age of 16 , I joined 02:09.119 --> 02:11.286 Wall Volunteer Fire Department in Wall 02:11.286 --> 02:13.508 Texas . It's 10 miles southeast of here 02:13.508 --> 02:15.508 and our fire chief was actually the 02:15.508 --> 02:17.619 last active duty fire chief here . Um 02:18.229 --> 02:20.399 And he's taught me a lot about what 02:20.410 --> 02:22.632 goes on here , kind of what to expect . 02:22.632 --> 02:25.610 So , um even , you know , even he still 02:25.619 --> 02:28.229 has connections here , so just uh being 02:28.240 --> 02:30.462 with him and kind of building relations 02:30.462 --> 02:32.740 with different people . Um It gives me , 02:32.740 --> 02:34.907 it gives me the opportunity to get out 02:34.907 --> 02:37.129 and network and meet a lot of people my 02:37.129 --> 02:40.085 first day on shift . Um , I wasn't so 02:40.095 --> 02:42.262 nervous where I was freaking out about 02:42.262 --> 02:44.484 everything . Of course , I was born and 02:44.484 --> 02:46.651 raised here . I pretty much grew up on 02:46.651 --> 02:48.817 this base . Um , but just talking with 02:48.817 --> 02:50.817 him since he actually worked in the 02:50.817 --> 02:52.817 firehouse and we're very close . It 02:52.817 --> 02:54.762 gave me kind of an idea of what to 02:54.762 --> 02:58.509 expect and it helped out a lot . Uh , 02:58.520 --> 03:01.149 something I'd say I enjoyed the most 03:01.160 --> 03:03.789 was just being in the firehouse . Um , 03:03.800 --> 03:05.633 you know , we can sit around the 03:05.633 --> 03:07.800 kitchen table and that's where all the 03:07.800 --> 03:09.856 world's problems are solved and just 03:09.856 --> 03:11.967 hanging out with the guys and telling 03:11.967 --> 03:14.189 war and hearing war stories and telling 03:14.189 --> 03:16.300 jokes and just the environment in the 03:16.300 --> 03:16.080 firehouse is probably the most funnest 03:16.089 --> 03:19.429 part . I'd say one of the , 03:19.440 --> 03:21.662 probably the most fondest memory I have 03:21.662 --> 03:23.884 of working here was getting sworn in on 03:23.884 --> 03:25.884 my first day . Um , you know , with 03:25.884 --> 03:27.940 both shifts lined up and standing in 03:27.940 --> 03:30.051 front of a flag and taking the oath . 03:30.051 --> 03:31.884 Um , there's , there's no better 03:31.884 --> 03:34.107 feeling . Uh , it's just something that 03:34.107 --> 03:36.162 you've worked for and worked towards 03:36.162 --> 03:38.273 for so long in your life whenever you 03:38.273 --> 03:40.440 officially become a firefighter , it's 03:40.440 --> 03:39.559 a , it's an amazing feeling . It's 03:39.570 --> 03:40.110 awesome .