Growing up watching her mom in law enforcement, Amerie Cavazos developed an interest in that job field. Cavazos was given an opportunity to be apart of the Public Health Service.

“My mom loves that I joined,” Cavazos said. “It keeps me busy.”

Cavazos joined the service on Sept 25, 2018. The U.S. Public Health Service Junior Commissioned Officer Student Training and Extern Program allows students to gain valuable professional experience.

“I didn’t learn about the Public Health Service until the end of my freshman year,” Cavazos said. “My ROTC (O’Connor) instructor was the one to inform me about it.

Cavazos is a member of post 761. In that post, they practice scenarios that real police officers would be involved in, physically train and do volunteer work.

“Sometimes my post and I hang out with each other if we have the time,” Cavazos said. “Even on the days that we don’t have any training, we meet up to do extra physical training.”

There are multiple stations in San Antonio that participate in the public service corps and many others across the state of Texas.

“I went to one of the stations one day, and then got an interview and was accepted,” Cavazos said. “I am hoping to one day be stationed at a San Antonio station for an actual job.”

San Antonio has been considered one of the hardest Police Academy’s in the state of Texas.

“Since I want to become a police officer this is an amazing experience,” Cavazos said. “Hopefully I can learn more about what I will need when I go to the academy.”