Hurry up 18!

Speaking to other students in my grade, I have begun to realize that many of them have started their Capstone Projects. Internships and job shadows at hospitals, farms, elementary schools, or just having a job in general. I'm left feeling like I'm behind and that I won't be able to finish it. In the beginning of the school year, I was just planning on doing another service learning project that sort of related to the one I did my junior year. My group and I received donations from our community businesses, clubs, and friends and family. We sent them all over to Karote, a village in Afghanistan. We did this because we felt that the families there needed support due to them living in a third world country and a war zone. Our community partner even got us an interview with a native Afghan and he told us all about the culture, weather, etc. With my Capstone, however, I wanted to focus on military families instead. I was planning on starting a non-profit organization and getting donations and hosting fundraisers to get supplies that are generally needed and send care packages to the soldiers overseas and provide meals for their families during the holidays. I got this idea last year due to a few service men coming to my house on Thanksgiving with a full home cooked traditional Thanksgiving feast. I thought it would be a good idea to do this for all military families. But, as I was thinking more about it, I decided to focus on my future life more. My 4H adviser is married to a detective who is also a colonel in the military. Recently, he was looking for 18 year old kids so that he can use them in an undercover cop assignment. He asked me if I was 18 and I said not until mid-October. He told me to contact him when I turn 18 and he'll put me on the assignment list and I can go out with the policemen to complete the assignment. This changed my idea for my Capstone. In the future, I want a career in law enforcement and I decided that this is the perfect project for me. I contacted him today and he told me I can do more than just a few undercover assignments. I can also participate in ride-alongs, see how the jails operate, and he is even finding a way for me to get an internship with the police department. This is so exciting to me. I just wish that my 18th birthday came a little faster; only 11 more days!