| Completing the academy qualified the 30 new graduates to take the state's peace officer certification exam, and many are heading straight into a regional job market that needs them. In Uvalde itself, they see a long path to rebuilding community trust but are not intimidated by it. "I know there were over 300 (officers) out there, but I wanted to be one of those people, to be out there to help them," said one of the graduates, Samantha Diaz, 33, a Uvalde Police Department dispatcher who was working on May 24. "I wish I was already certified at that point, to be out there and do what I needed to do." When she thinks about that day, tears stream down Diaz's face. She struggles to talk about it. For months, her job has required her to field countless phone calls from enraged people all over the country. The experience has only sharpened her goal of becoming a peace officer, which she has had since she was a young child. "It didn't scare me. It didn't stop me or hold me back or give me second thoughts," Diaz said. "I was more motivated to go (to the academy)." Read the full story here. | 
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