1. Bryan Birdsall
11/4/15
About Me
Growing up wasn’t easy with all my siblings, especially when you have two older
brothers who think getting in trouble and hurting their little brother was fun. I went through 1st-
8th with my mom, step dad, two older brothers, and my two sisters. Then my 9th grade year I
moved in with my dad, then I only had my step mom, my step brother and my dad. It was a big
change especially moving schools, and going into high school. Back to my brother always
wanting to get in trouble, I was always tagging along and seeing what they were doing. I knew it
was bad and I tried for the most part to stay away from it. Growing up watching all the bad
things they did it made me want to go into the profession I am currently in college for studying.
A police officer. After moving in with my dad, I started to become accustom to being spoiled. I
always got what I asked for and always got to hang out with my friends. But once I could drive
and could make money for myself to get everything I wanted such as, video games, dates, and
car stuff I took the first chance I got. I started working at dairy queen my 10th grade year and
stayed there all the way up until I moved down to Indy for IUPUI. The summer before college I
knew money was going to be tight and I wanted to live a fun life in college and not worry too
much about money, so I started work with my dad making 10 dollars in hour. That summer
before college was not as fun as I imaged. I worked 60-70 hour weeks back and forth threw dairy
queen 25-30 hours and the job with my dad for 40. When summer became to wind down I
became more and more excited about school. Now I am almost done with my first semester as a
freshman and am loving college. I have recently realized $6,000 was not going to last me all year
so I got a job with my friend Mike I met in college at discount tire. So now my priorities involve

2. school, girlfriend, work, and dog. I now live in a 1 bedroom apartment with my girlfriend and
puppy. They are for sure the most meaningful things in my life right now. Family back home and
school are a close second. I know for sure that it would be hard without my girlfriend and family
to get through college as easy as I am. I would like to say with all my experiences my personality
has changed to make me always happy, childish, talkative, and sometimes even rude. Moving
farther into my career as a law enforcement officer I would like to try and drop the last trait.
One of the best things that has happened in my freshman year would be the SPEA bridge
program. SPEA Bridge was for all the criminal justice majors and closely related majors. This
keeps you with student who may share the same dream as you and keep you focused on your
goals more. A lot of incoming freshman look at bridge and see that they have to come two weeks
early to school, they think no way. I saw it and looked at it as me starting off with a head start. I
then signed up and am forever grateful I did. The two weeks was basically getting you
introduced of what professors expect and getting to know some professors, and student we would
spend the first semester with. It was a fun and great getting to know people before campus, so the
first day was easier on me. Also with the SPEA bridge program you are signed up to take a
toastmasters class at a prison. I know what you all might think, security guards, orange jump
suits, mean guys. The prison we went to was IREF, a level 1 re-intuition facility. The men were
dressed as if they had access to the same stores as me, and the politeness of a grandma. They
were very nice and welcoming for us students. After a couple meetings with the residents from
IREF I realized that they were just like me and got the biases out of my head of prisoners. Most
even have better grammar than me. They have taught me that the stereotype of prisoners are
wrong and they are people to. It has been a great learning opportunity and I would advise anyone
to take it no matter what your career would be. Proceeding through college I will definitely grow

3. as a person, a friend, and a studier. College is not much harder than high school, it just you have
to study and do assignments outside of class. The few things that have helped me through
college thus far is definitely my professors, my friends and my girlfriend. Without the professors
being so easy going, the attitude of wanting to help and teach me, and the approachability the
classes would be ten times harder. My friends have helped me get my mind off of school and
work. They help me just have fun, and enjoy college. My girlfriend has done it all. She has
helped me get through school work, real live problems, being supportive on everything, and
having fun. I know I can always count on things to help me as I move through college. After
making it almost through my first semester of college I have two main goals in mind. One would
be to get about a 3.5 my freshman year. I know it will be hard for me but I will put forth the
effort and try my hardest to do so. My other goal for college is to graduate as an undergrad and
pursue my profession of being a patrol man. As working my job, I want to continue to go to
school to complete my masters. I want to get my master in criminal justice. I know with doing so
it will open many doors for me in my future as I move through different spots in the criminal
justice system. After stating a few facts about me, and what has made me who I am I hope you
have a better understanding of who I am.