Senior Taylor Everett attended the first ever Future Agents in Training Program held by the Norfolk FBI. The Norfolk FBI Field Office partnered with the Norfolk FBI’s Citizens Academy Alumni Association to put on the Future Agents in Training Program (FAIT) this past August.

The program is open to all 16 through 18- year-olds who live on the East Coast. In order to gain entrance into the program, students have to endure a long application process, maintain a 4.0 GPA, write three essays, and receive a recommendation letter from someone involved with the program. Once accepted, the former applicants become trainees and are offered the opportunity to participate in several real-life training events.

“Since it was such a respectable program, I was so excited when I found out I got in,” Everett said.

Community Outreach Specialist Vanessa Torres led the FBI Training Program and gave the future agents a week to remember.

“Something interesting happened every day. My favorite day was when we got to use the virtual reality headset to reenact real-life shooting situations between criminals and police. We also got to see a canine demonstration, blow up a watermelon, and see the case-briefing of the Boston Marathon Bombing.” Everett said.

Trainees spent most of their time at the FBI field office in Norfolk and over the first few days of training, students were able to dress up in SWAT outfits, look inside SWAT vehicles, and use drones. Throughout the training, students were able to visit the Chesapeake shooting range at the police academy, as well as spend time with officers at the Norfolk Police Station.

Finally, the trainees “graduated” at Chesapeake City Hall.

“It was an eye-opening experience. It immersed me in the FBI culture, and helped me understand what to look forward to for my career,” Everett said.