Is The Grass Really Greener?

I have some exciting news to announce. 

After working for nine years at Idaho State Police and working for the State of Idaho for fourteen years, I have been offered and accepted employment with the Nampa Police Department.

This whole process started back in March.  I attended training at Nampa PD when the center manager, Carmen, announced they were hiring two dispatchers.  I’ve never really explored other dispatch agencies but for some reason this information seemed to swirl around in my brain.  I toured the center and made an appointment to observe.  I’ve never dispatched for 911-Emergency before so it was quite intimidating.  The dispatchers were awesome and I enjoyed listening to different types of calls.  I even listened to two 911 calls and several 911 hang-up calls, which we called the number back.  There is so much to learn in a 911 center and I am really excited for this change.

The application, testing, and background process was rough.  There were days I doubted myself and days I was in tears.  I was told when I applied that regardless of the outcome of the job that I would learn and grow through the process.  That is the truth! 

I can now add psychology testing to my list of life events.  Two weeks ago I met with a psychologist and answered over 800 true and false questions (on a bubble sheet).  The counseling session with the psychologist was defiantly interesting.  I also had to complete a drug test, a full medical evaluation, and a polygraph.  It was a lot of work and thankfully I have a new job opportunity waiting for me.

My last day with ISP will be July 25^th.  I am eager to start this new phase.

I have to thank Kenyon for all his support during this process.  It isn’t an easy decision to up-root our lives because I decided I want to shift my career focus at the age of 35.  It also means putting travel on the back burner until the fall of 2016.  He is a great guy and I am lucky he is my partner.  My family and friends have also been so very supportive.  I am very lucky indeed.

I’m not sure if the grass is greener on the other side, but a $3/hour raise sure make that grass look pretty green.  Time will tell but I suspect I’ll be happy with this new venture.  My time at ISP has been wonderful (ups and downs included) and I’ve met so many wonderful employees.