HANDS ON YOUR HEAD! GET DOWN! DO NOT RESIST! I SAID - GIT DOWN!!!

I am spending the next two weeks at...
Police academy. No, not the movie set, there are no humorous guys making silly sound effects and hi-jinks - (well, not yet at least). I am not actually attending police academy classes, rather I am attending classes to for the juvenile incarceration system - my new job as a counselor at Maple Lane School. I sure am learning a lot, today I learned all about the origin, development, and current legal process of the juvenile justice system. We practiced learning about the legal process from arrest to institution for youth using mock cases, and learned about different the juvenile legal system is from the adult. I have mixed emotions about what I am learning however, I sometimes feel excited that I can master the knowledge about these systems, and see all the future employment opportunities I could pursue in working with at-risk-youth, but I also get discouraged when I see HOW and WHY certain joints, facets, areas, of this system consistently fail, leading to increased juvenile criminal activity and recidivism.
All I know for now is this; I only have the best interests of the community, my youth, and the greater of society, in my heart when I go to work every day. The boys I work with need to change their ways to have successful free adult lives, I will keep working so long as I believe that in my own small way - I may someday effect positive change.
And all I know about police academy: It sure is weird to see hundreds of cops in full uniform, pointing fake guns and yelling "get out of the car" over and over again in front of my dormitory each day when I go to breakfast. When the militaristic, hyper-vigilant, strict social norms surrounding bear too heavily on my free spirit - I just keep reminding myself, "I am a counselor - not an officer. Let someone else carry a gun, I'll just keep my heart on my sleeve."