The Eccentric’s Metamorphosis: Embracing unswervingly Regimentary Life

By: P/T Francha C. Andrade

“Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.”
Newt Gingrich

Behind every dream are mere struggles and scuffles but above them are God’s beautiful purposes
in our lives. My dream of becoming part of one of the country’s noblest organization, Philippine National
Police came into my realization when I was in my 4th year in college that I had to comply with the internship
needed to graduate on such course. It was never my desire to take up Criminology because I would like
to take up Political Science instead and then proceed on taking up law, and then, by God’s grace, run for
a government position so I could serve others and be their voice. But then I started to see the common
denominator of law enforcer and politician, and that is public service. I then pursue the vocation of Public
Service by applying in Philippine National Police. But that sincere passion I have to walk to the pedestal of
public service wasn’t assurance of ingress to it. It was a bloody battle for aspirants like me to become a
member of the Philippine National Police, not just in the true battle field but also during application, hiring
and training process. From the moment I had to be away from home during the pnp application up to now
here in training school was one of the difficult decisions I had made for myself. Being away from family,
luxury of time and life, and even to my old self, whom was a happy-go-lucky one and has been used to
being recipient of things being handed graciously by people.

Deciding to leave all the things I’ve been used to in order to embrace the very unfamiliar way of
life of dying to myself so I could serve others was one of the most grueling actions I took upon thyself. It
has shadows of inevitable struggles and pains that I sometimes perceived many time as unbearable. I can
still remember vividly those times I experienced during the arduous battle in applying in PRO6. When I
had to wake up early, wait whole morning for further instructions, mingle with co-aspirants in the middle
of blazing heat of the sun and endless rain or both if you’re fortunate that day, when you have to look for
anything that could be seated upon by my gluteus maximus, when I had eaten the same food like ice
candy,siomai and etc. for the whole month and more, when all of us are making the Citymall Parola a
regular destination to ease the whole morning heat and exhaustion of waiting, when I had to budget the
money left, when I had to carry gallons of water every day to be used for bathing and washing of clothes,
when I had to endure not being able to watch tv and use the internet and etc. But these were surpassed
through my sheer determination, efforts and will to succeed plus my never ceasing faith in God. And by
the time my name was called by the R1, it was the sweetest sound I had ever heard for my whole life yet
it was also the scariest sound at the same time. This signifies the commencement of the true training.

All the fortunate 527 Dakila trainees were then turned over to Regional Training Center 6. That’s
when breaking period begun. Breaking period is the basic foundation of the training program in this
institution,consisting of different rigorous activities, deliberate teaching and orientation from the
Assistant Instructors. It was probably the hardest yet the most essential and interesting part being
trainees. Many adjustments were made by me in order to suit in to the regimented way of life. Tough it
may be at first but as it goes through, realization comes that every step is vital in moving into several more
steps. The first few weeks required so many adjustments. Getting me into things that I am not accustomed
to was so excruciatingly uneasy. I began to do things I wasn’t doing before like washing my clothes, eating
properly and swiftly, sitting erectly and etc. And also I began to see my body’s vulnerabilities when
exposed to strenuous activities with additional factors like bad weather, inadequacy of time and juggling
the extra-curricular activities to be done while complying with the regular activities of being a trainee like
physical activities and academic proficiency. In fact, I experienced a whole month duration of combination
of colds, cough and fever first time here in training school but still it did not impede me to push my limits.
But sadly, my body didn’t cooperate with my mind’s resolution of pushing myself into its limits. I was
rushed to the hospital because of episodes of epistaxis and chronic rhinosinusitis. It was first time to
experience to be brought there and at the same time, be operated to remove the cause of the
spontaneous bleeding of my nose that according to the doctor had already went to my lungs through my
throat. And also as I write this article at this very moment, I am three days discharge from the hospital
and has overcame all those things with the aid of our Almighty. Those hardships were just inceptions for
the transformation from being mediocre and typical into a capable individual who could make sustainable
development and initiate better changes when the time arrives of leaving this training school and go to
the real world of law enforcement.

Going through pain and this kind of struggle is truly a test of my determination and patience. It
reached the limits of my cognitive, affective, psychomotor domains on point of tolerance I could endure.
And also upon my acceptance of these things, I have as well sealed the challenge of being true woman
embracing the unfamiliar world of the vocation of Public Service I chose. That is, despite being away from
my home, I can now say that I can now handle and manage myself as independent person with
unparalleled discipline and character. I can also say that almost of my civilian antics was dissolved and
was gradually molded from a typical civilian into disciplined trainee by the various assistant instructors
and especially by the Regional Training Director, PSUPT. Vimellee Reveche Madrid. And as I look back on
my journey, a journey that started out with hesitant, tentative steps, I could see how far I have gone. I
know I have lots to learn from them and there might unforeseen storms, pressured situations, countless
trials, drastic changes and even it would turn out that I would experience again, spontaneous bleeding
from my nose, I will still be willing to learn more, work hard, prove my worth, face the challenges with
courage and determination and make our molders proud by the mirroring success of achieving the ideals
they instill unto me.