Pocatello teen attends FBI youth leadership training
A Pocatello teenager got a once-in-a-lifetime chance when she was chosen as one of few to go to an FBI youth leadership training hosted by the FBI National Academy.
Fifteen-year-old Emma Schei has known what she wants to be since she was little.
“I want to be a police officer like my dad,” she said. “When I was little I was like, ‘Oh I want to do something cool. And being a police officer sounds so cool and that’s what I want to do.'”
Recently she took the first step toward that goal. She was chosen to go to the FBI youth leadership program in Quantico, Virgnia – at the FBI National Academy. Only 60 people both in the U.S. and some international, are chosen for the program.
Emma Schei was the only person chosen to represent both Idaho and Montana.
“They said, this whole experience is going to put you out of your comfort zone,” Emma Schei said.
And it did. Emma Schei said she put in hundreds of hours of physical exercise to get ready for it.
Over the nine days she was there, Emma Schei said they did a lot of physical training and had a wide variety of classes to educate them.
Some of the classes included bad leadership and what can be learned from bad leaders and their tactics. She also had a class on human trafficking – and one on the ins and outs of social media.
Emma Schei said it really taught her a lot and was a great experience.
“It helped prepare me for life,” she described. “I mean, like I keep saying, I was just kind of thrown out into the world and not a lot of people get to go all the way across the country by themselves. I was prepared to just be thrown into the world and have these different situations come at me and be able to analyze them. And just meeting these people and communicating and meeting new people and I’m not good at that – i’m not good at making new friends. And this – you had to socialize with these people so it was good.”
“It’ll be a cornerstone for her,” said Roger Schei, Emma’s dad. “It’ll be something that she’ll remember for the rest of her life. It’s something that will leave long-lasting memories. it’ll leave definite life lessons – it did for me.”
Her dad is chief deputy with the Pocatello Police Department and he too is a graduate from the FBI National Academy.
When asked how he felt about one of his daughters following in his footsteps, he said he’s just happy she wants to do something and have a positive influence.
“It’s a great thing and right now we’re having trouble recruiting law enforcement officers,” Roger Schei said. “It’s a scary time for law enforcement and it’s dangerous and it makes me a little nervous but all I can do is teach her the best I can and give her the tools in the toolbox that she’ll need to be successful.”
Emma Schei completed her training and got a certificate at her graduation ceremony, where her dad was able to watch.
“I’m very proud of her, very humbled she was chosen to go,” Roger Schei said.
For completing the hard physical fitness part of the training, he also got her yellow FBI brick. Now her and her dad have a matching set – both brick and paper.
Emma Schei said after finishing high school, she plans to go to college and pursue both of her passions: criminal justice and music. She said she then plans to go to POST academy training and start her career in law enforcement.
