In my senior year in high school I was told several stories about a certain family member of mine and how he was a firefighter. Neleigh Parks (my Great-Grandfather), a man I looked up to, was a volunteer firefighter. So that inspired me to become one. One day out of the blue I decided to approach my mother about it. She was very supportive of my decision to become a firefighter. It took a couple of months for me to gain the courage to actually go to the firehouse and talk to the people. I was curius to find out what it took to become one. After finding out such requirements I decided to persue it. So many people were proud of my decision to join. Most importantly proud of myself. Every third monday the fire department would have business meetings. These meetings a firehouse would vote on budgets, agendas, etc. Here they would also vote on prospects for the department. October of the year of 2009 was that fateful night. I was on the dockett for the membership board to vote on prospects. The whole night the probationarys and myself were stuck cleaning the engine bay. This involved sweeping, mopping, and surface cleaning. Two hours later every voting member came out. Shaking in nervousness and excitement I was waiting for an answer back. The chief of the department came out and approached me and gave me my verdict. "Congratulations probie" the chief said. In total shock I lit up a cigarette and said thank you to every voting member. With the meeting over and done with I walked home from the fire station. Noticing my mother who I had lived with was already asleep I decided to go straight to bed. I was quite tired so the rest was well needed. Once you become a probationary firefighter it is your job to learn the trade to the best of your ability. The wonderful thing about being a volunteer firefighter is the fact that you can attend class for free and not pay a single dime. The only thing you have to provide yourself is the transportation to your classes. The only thing in my case was I did not have that. Luckily for me one month later is that two probationary members signed up and I joined in with them. Classes were provided by the University of Maryland Fire and Recuse Institute. Classes usually lasted three and a half months depending on how many hours each class required. Each class was different. Classes were usually held at various fire departments. I received my Firefighter one certification on April 20, 2010. Of course I was able to go on calls while being enrolled in class to keep the application of the course fresh. I loved every part of the fire service especially when it came to the comradery of the people in it. It was like a second family. We would have dinner at the station and just have a good time and enjoy each other’s company. During our downtime we would wash the trucks and stuff like that to keep busy. Some of us had jobs or went to school. Juggling time was hard to do. There are many types of calls that I went on as a volunteer firefighter. There were your gas leaks, car crashes, downed trees, house fires, vehicle fires, even helping emergency medical technicians lift certain patients into the gurney. You also had to stay on your toes because you never knew when you were going to leave the firehouse for a call. Some of us decided to stay home and spend time with our families and go to the firehouse when there was a call. I was one of those people. I was either at a friend’s house or at my house. I was lucky enough to live right down the street to where I can just run to the station. The warm up exercise run warmed me up for anything that I was about to face knowing how physically demanding the job was. Snowstorms were fun to deal with because those were the times we got the most gas leaks and downed trees. Every time we had snowstorms we barely had a couple of minutes to rest. I was in a small town fire department so on normal weeks we were not that busy. During the winter months people loved to use their heaters a lot and neglect to turn them off when they don’t need them. So we were busy the most dealing with the gas leaks. We also got a lot of carbon monoxide detector calls due to the fact a lot of the house had the modern style construction and came standard with a carbon monoxide detector. During these snowstorms a lot of snow and ice would form on trees and cause them to fall over. Unfortunately they would also involve hitting power lines or blocking roads.