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Life started over for Georgia Maher on Aug. 28, 2006.
Before then, Maher -- with 283 pounds packed onto her 5-foot-7-inch frame -- was working at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport as a checked baggage screener for the Transportation Security Administration.
It wasn't exactly her dream job.
Maher, now 37, said she had always aspired to be a police officer. She was awed by officers' moral character and willingness to perform a role so vital to the function of society. But while she carried enough weight to make her general health and mobility an issue, taking on such a challenging physical career wasn't feasible, Maher said.
But everything changed on that day in August when Maher underwent gastric bypass surgery. Within 10 months, she had dropped 120 pounds.
"Once you experience something that profound ... your previous life is over. What are you gonna do with life No. 2?" Maher said Wednesday, just hours before she was set to graduate from the Central Texas Police Academy at the Texas A&M University Riverside Campus.
"I thought, 'What's stopping you now?'"
Maher was among nearly two dozen cadets who graduated last week from the course run by the Texas Engineering Extension Service, which is part of the Texas A&M System.
The cadets had spent 17 weeks going through classroom and field instruction, gaining the equivalent of 20 college hours, said Lee Santo, training manager for the police academy.
The students spend the majority of their time in the classroom, learning the penal code, search and seizure laws and criminal procedure, as well as alcoholic beverage, health and safety and traffic codes, among other things.
"It's nonstop from the minute they sit down in the chair on the first day of class," Santo said.
As the course draws to a close, the students begin to implement what they've learned through field practice, Santo said. They learn defensive tactics, undergo weapons training and take driving courses. While on the campus, they are "dispatched" to real-world scenarios such as disputes and loud parties, he said.
And if they end up taking just one thing from the course, Santo said, he hopes that it is honesty. A dishonest police officer destroys public faith in law enforcement, he said.
"Anybody that graduates after 17 weeks has earned it," he said, noting that 22 of the 23 original members of the class graduated Wednesday. "They worked hard to get through it. It's pretty intense. For some people, it's been the toughest thing they've ever done."
Cody Chandler was living in nearby Huntsville with his 18-month-old son, Aidan, when he decided to enroll in the police academy.
Chandler met his wife, Andrea, while the two were serving in the Army. Chandler, 24, was discharged in 2006, but his wife, 27, remains enlisted and recently returned to the U.S. after a lengthy tour in Iraq.
The past year hasn't been easy for the pair. He enrolled in emergency medical technician school in Huntsville, but it became too difficult to continue as a single dad, he said. When he learned about the police academy in Bryan-College Station, where his family lives, he thought he would give it a shot.
"I've got a whole new respect for moms," he said, smiling.
Chandler and his wife were able to talk daily, and the police cadet even took advantage of a webcam to show off to his wife the weight he lost during the physical training. His wife and son helped push him to complete the course, he said.
"I definitely wanted to see it through, but there were definitely parts when it was getting long and tiring," said Chandler, who now is looking for law enforcement jobs in the Huntsville area. "It's been a challenge, but I feel like I've learned a lot. Challenging, but definitely fulfilling."
On Wednesday, cadets trickled out of the classroom and began to pace the halls, hoping to compare grades on the state licensing exam they had just completed. All but a couple passed, Santo said, explaining that cadets have 180 days and three tries at the test. A failing grade does not keep a cadet from graduating, but it does prevent him or her from obtaining a peace officer license.
Many classmates, as relief washed across their faces, made their way to a small break room, where they joked and talked about the agencies where they would work.
Maher held onto her scores as she wandered the halls. Hired as a Bryan police recruit, she would get no break. She was sworn in that afternoon and was scheduled to begin field training the following day.
The previous 17 weeks, she said, taught her to depend on others and have faith in her colleagues. But more important, she said, the training had given her faith in herself. The intensive physical training made her ache every night, but, she said, she didn't let it faze her. She loved every minute of the workout simply because she could do it, she said.
"If you set your mind to a goal, you can do it," she said. "You just have to have the determination and drive to do it, and the commitment."
• Holly Huffman's e-mail address is holly.huffman@theeagle.com.
