Just passed the firefighter's exam!!!

[dengeist]

Yeah, so I'm a teacher, but I've been considering it for a while now. Took the written part back in December and took the performance part today. And I passed!!! I'm really excited!!! I've seen people fail, and I was worried when my turn came up, but I made in through the obstacle course in a decent amount of time and the other events were cake.

I didn't say anything because I didn't want to jinx myself. But now that all of the preliminaries are done, I feel much more confident. Now I have to make it to October waiting, but man that was the best feeling in the world.

[meatwad]

Gratz!!!!

[dengeist]

Thanks Meat!

[LakeJay]

Congratulations! Best of luck.

[and1grad]

Congrats!

Obstacle course? Like American Gladiators? Awesome!

[CityGal]

Congrats. Hopefully it works out well.

[wordsmith]

Cool! I didn't know you were doing this!

You can't really be a career firefighter where I live, the fire protection districts are predominantly part-time/volunteer. There are a few full-timers, like the chief and assistant chiefs, but it's mostly volunteer fire protection districts out here.

[coll214]

Cool beans and Congratulations!

[Deavan]

Yeah, so I'm a teacher, but I've been considering it for a while now. Took the written part back in December and took the performance part today. And I passed!!! I'm really excited!!! I've seen people fail, and I was worried when my turn came up, but I made in through the obstacle course in a decent amount of time and the other events were cake.

I didn't say anything because I didn't want to jinx myself. But now that all of the preliminaries are done, I feel much more confident. Now I have to make it to October waiting, but man that was the best feeling in the world.



Congratulations and Thank you!

[ugarachel82]

Congrats! I've heard this is a rather tough physical test, so passing is quite an accomplishment. You should be proud of yourself. What are you going to do with it?

[meatwad]

Congrats!

Obstacle course? Like American Gladiators? Awesome!

Hello, I'm Mike Adamle. Next our firefighters will have to run up the stairs, pickup the weighted dummy, climb down the ladder with it, then traverse a tire run and make it across this balance beam...depositing their dummy safely onto a waiting stretcher. And all this while Inferno fires tennis balls at them with an air cannon.

[dengeist]

Congrats! I've heard this is a rather tough physical test, so passing is quite an accomplishment. You should be proud of yourself. What are you going to do with it?

It was extremely physically demanding. Climbing up and down those stairs wearing a 40 lb weight vest plus carrying a fifty lb bag over your shoulder twelve times was very difficult. It makes you extremely tired and your legs feel like noodles. Then there are five more tasks you have to do!!! One of them is dragging an 165 lb dummy 75 feet.

I intend to be a firefighter of course!

[wordsmith]

Why the switch, out of curiosity?

[meatwad]

Why the switch, out of curiosity?

To get chicks I'd imagine. :D

[dengeist]

Why the switch, out of curiosity?

Part of it is that "savior" thing we talked about once. Then there's the gypsy thing I have going, coupled with the fact that I never saw myself being a teacher forever and seeing people literally "stuck" in that field or not knowing what else they could do other than teach. Administration never appealed to me and taking classes to get my master's in child psychology is taking waaaaaay to long.

This way I can still sub when I feel like it and do some real lifesaving. Oh and still get my master's and go into child psychology. I have the experience.

[TinyDancer]

It was extremely physically demanding. Climbing up and down those stairs wearing a 40 lb weight vest plus carrying a fifty lb bag over your shoulder twelve times was very difficult. It makes you extremely tired and your legs feel like noodles. Then there are five more tasks you have to do!!! One of them is dragging an 165 lb dummy 75 feet.
Wow, I get winded crossing the street :rolleyes: . . . I'm impressed! Congrats!

[winneythepooh7]

Is this for the FDNY? My fiance went through all the hoops for that right before we met in '04. He finally got a letter about a month or so ago to come to begin the training or whatever the process is. For him, it's totally not worth it though anymore. His business is really hot right now and they'd only start at like $27K a year. He also didn't want to take orders from people younger then him after being in business for himself for so long. Totally different situation though...........I hope it works out for you! I am sure you will meet lotsa hottie women. I have a friend who goes around to all the firehouses in NYC asking for t-shirts representing their house (????!!!!!!)

[dengeist]

Is this for the FDNY? My fiance went through all the hoops for that right before we met in '04. He finally got a letter about a month or so ago to come to begin the training or whatever the process is. For him, it's totally not worth it though anymore. His business is really hot right now and they'd only start at like $27K a year. He also didn't want to take orders from people younger then him after being in business for himself for so long. Totally different situation though...........I hope it works out for you! I am sure you will meet lotsa hottie women. I have a friend who goes around to all the firehouses in NYC asking for t-shirts representing their house (????!!!!!!)

Nah, it's the NFD (Newark Fire Department) and it's a shame that the FDNY starts that low, but Newark isn't much better. I'd be taking a HUGE paycut (like 15k), but in the long run, I'd make more in five years than I'd make in twenty years of teaching with a master's degree.

Didn't really think about Fire groupies, but the thought puts a smile on my face. :evil:

[winneythepooh7]

Nah, it's the NFD (Newark Fire Department) and it's a shame that the FDNY starts that low, but Newark isn't much better. I'd be taking a HUGE paycut (like 15k), but in the long run, I'd make more in five years than I'd make in twenty years of teaching with a master's degree.

Didn't really think about Fire groupies, but the thought puts a smile on my face. :evil:

Yeah, I hear ya! His parents were trying to pressure him into doing it for the reasons you mention. It's just not his thing anymore though. His dad just retired from the NYPD and has wonderful perks and he's still pretty young!

[DwardOrangJC]

I just took the physical test last week for the Jersey City Fire Dept and also have to wait until october to hear anything. Dengeist What time did you get on the obstacle course? How well do you think your chances are for getting called for the first class? I will be taking a little bit of a pay cut at first, but the hours and benefits are what attracted me to the job.

[dengeist]

I just took the physical test last week for the Jersey City Fire Dept and also have to wait until october to hear anything. Dengeist What time did you get on the obstacle course? How well do you think your chances are for getting called for the first class? I will be taking a little bit of a pay cut at first, but the hours and benefits are what attracted me to the job.

Congrats to you too!!

I got a 3:18 on the O course, which from my understanding is pretty respectable. A guy that got a 2:56 failed the ladder climb, so I don't have to worry about him. I beat everybody out on the ladder climb and maze crawl, but unfortunately those two are pass/fail.

So yeah, I'm pretty hopeful about getting into the first class in Oct/Nov or December. The suspense from the wait is going to kill me, but I know I'm in.

[meatwad]

A friend of my buddy was going to be a Firefighter in Mass. He passed all the tests, but the city hadn't met it's minority quota, so he ended up joining the police department instead.

[DwardOrangJC]

I'm in the same boat as you. I trained with my own vest and ended up with a 3min01. I heard the same about pretty much getting the job with the first class. The wait is gonna kill me, but as long as I have a good summer I'll be happy knowing they're only gonna get better with all the time off I'm going to have in the summers to come. I just remembered you're a teacher so your summer is gonna be awesome anyway. Enjoy your weekend and Good LUCk!

Jersey City had that minority quota a while back and my uncle kept passing and not getting on because of it. I'm glad its based on physical fitness now, because anyone that wants the job will have to work for it.