SIB Officer Fulfills His Father’s Wish…
By: Chief Fred Maas

To many people it came easy, maybe it came at the regular time or possibly it wasn’t that big a deal after all. But when it is all said and done, the fact that a person finally attains their college degree, it can be one of the most rewarding and self-fulfilling accomplishments of their lifetime.

Whether the struggle was due to finances, balancing schedules or other activities or the mere challenge of the academic curriculum, in the end the struggle and challenge is satisfied and gratified by the onion-skinned certificate of diploma that reads: Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science.

In the most recent case of one of our own Sunny Isles Beach officers, it had an added flavor of successfully fulfilling his deceased father’s dying wish: to finish college and obtain your degree. And that is what Sgt. Ray Atesiano did recently. He did it for himself, he did it for his dad. Ray’s father passed away several years ago but not before asking his son to promise he would finish college. Ray, like so many others made a promise that he soon put on the back burner and truthfully wasn’t sure he could keep. But then driven by the reminder of his father’s request, whom he simply worshipped he vowed to go back and finish up.

The other day, he proudly entered my office and displayed his college diploma, Bachelor of Arts from Union Institute and University. He did it the tough way by balancing a full time job and attending class in the evenings or on weekends. But in the end, the goal was realized and the promise fulfilled. And somehow, his accomplishment put a smile on my face, not only for him but it made me realize and remember what I had long forgotten: how blessed I was to have attained that goal and simply forgotten whose dreams it had fulfilled.

There are a number of officers currently in college programs to finish their college education. We encourage each of them to endure no matter what the struggle or challenge; because in the end they will have accomplished something that no one can ever take away.

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