Name: Cristina Gutowski
Hometown: Northampton, MA
Year: 2014
Major: Sociology and Anthropology
How did you get involved with firefighting at Colgate? “I saw it at the activities fair and thought it sounded really cool. Then I would go down to the station when they had their weekly trainings and try to get to know some of the students and the older members. After about a month, they had a meeting and voted me in.”
What does it involve? “Right now, I, along with nine other freshmen and sophomores from Colgate, are enrolled in a class that meets for about 12 hours a week in Morrisville. By February, we’ll be certified in Class A interior structure firefighting, which means that we’ll be legally allowed to enter burning buildings. Those trainings have so far involved practicing getting into and out of structures while using an air pack and with no visibility, as well as learning about different types of knots and basic life safety techniques for when things go wrong. We also have training every Wednesday night with the Hamilton Fire Department, which could be anything from obstacle courses to hitting a hydrant to power point presentations.”
What is your best memory from firefighting? “For me, the best part of being in the fire department is the sense that I have a family with the students there. We’re all very close, and many of use go down to the station daily to study, cook, watch tv, nap, or just hang out. My favorite memory of being at the station was during finals week last spring, because about 6 of us just about lived down there all week. We bought dumb games at the dollar store to play with in between studying and we cooked all of our meals or got take out together. We had a few calls, and we were all right there, ready to respond, and that’s always exciting.”
What is your funniest memory from firefighting? “Last year about 6 of us went out to pizza pub together and I and two of the other students ate one of their infamous death wings. It was the spiciest thing I’ve ever eaten, and the most painful. Worth it, though, it was hilarious.”
How could others get involved? “We just accepted 6 new students members, who are being trained in the fire fighter 1 course with me right now. The best time to get involved is at the beginning of the year, at the activities fair.”
Are you involved with anything else on campus? “I’m on the Women’s Rugby team, although I haven’t had time for it this semester because of this firefighting course in Morrisville. I’d like to get involved in other campus activities, but this one really does take up a lot of time and dedication. You definitely get out of it what you put in.”
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Colgate chapter.