COLUMBUS - A Seneca East High School senior who says he wants to be a trooper in State Highway Patrol got a head start on his career path this summer.
Nathan Waldock, an Attica resident who attended Buckeye Boys State in June at Bowling Green State University, participated in the patrol's junior cadet program June 27-July 1 at the patrol's training academy in Columbus. He said he enjoyed the program.
"(I) wanted to stay," he said.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF WALDOCK FAMILY
Nathan Waldock, a Seneca East High School senior, stands next to a State Highway Patrol cruiser.
Zac Funkhouser of Upper Sandusky also participated in the program, according to a patrol release.
Waldock said he went into Buckeye Boys State knowing he was going to try to be part of the patrol there because that's what he wants to try to do for his career. He had to pass a test and became part of the unit at Buckeye Boys State.
Waldock said he met people from different backgrounds and areas of the state while a delegate at Buckeye Boys State.
"It was really fun," he said about the program.
He learned about the junior cadet program while at Buckeye Boys State, filled out an application and was interviewed. He said he thinks he found out he had been selected two days after applying, and he was happy to find out he was selected.
Waldock said participants mostly were delegates of Buckeye Boys State and Buckeye Girls State, and some were children of troopers. He said 37 people participated in the junior cadet program.
"That included guys and girls," he said.
Waldock said the program included learning about the academy and about being a trooper. Participants had classroom activities showing what troopers do, such as investigating a crash or dealing with intoxicated people. They had an hour of physical training at 6 a.m. and sometimes had it at night as well, he said.
"We ran (and did) push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, simple stuff," he said.
Waldock said he learned being a trooper is difficult. Even being selected to go to the academy is difficult, he said.
He said he is thinking he may attend Owens Community College to study criminal justice for two years and then try to enter the patrol's academy.
