The Huntsville Item, Huntsville, TX

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March 13, 2010

A True Calling

HHS senior working toward career

By Matthew Jackson Staff Reporter

HUNTSVILLE — Over the next several weeks, a small group of Huntsville High School seniors will be spending time in the offices of the major public safety and criminal justice agencies in Walker County.

As part of the HHS Criminal Justice Internship Program, these students will put in hours at both the Huntsville and SHSU Police Departments, the Walker County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Prison Museum, the Huntsville Municipal Court and several other locations.

The objective of the program is to give the students hands-on experience with public safety professionals in the area. Though not all of the students will go on to public safety careers themselves, many of them have already committed to a life of service in the criminal justice system.

One of those committed students is 19-year-old Oscar Henriquez.

For many teenagers, high school is a time to find their niche, to figure out what they’re good it, and to determine a direction in their lives. For some, that direction comes later, in college. For Henriquez, the direction has been in place since he was 7, when a family tragedy inspired him to want to help others.

As Henriquez tells it, his family, including his four siblings, mother and stepfather, moved to Texas to “start a new life.” One night his stepfather, struggling with drugs and alcohol, attacked his mother with a knife.

When Henriquez’s older brother couldn’t stop the assault, Henriquez himself remembered his school lessons about what to do in such a situation.

“Being 7 and knowing what I had been taught in school, I called the cops,” Henriquez said.

It was later, when the police were at his home, that the feeling of comfort they brought inspired him.

“When I saw the cops at my house, I just felt so relieved to see them,” he said. “There was such joy. I wanted to help others like they had helped me.”

Henriquez resolved at a very early age to enter law enforcement. Today, he has decided specifically that he will work to become a Texas state trooper.

“I want to help a variety of people,” he said of his choice. “I don’t want to be in just one county or one city.”

After high school Henriquez plans to enlist in the U.S. Army Reserve, following in the footsteps of his brother, Juan Merlos, who is a United States Marine. He will use his time in the military to help fund a college education at Sam Houston State University.

But his education is not Henriquez’s only responsibility. He also works part time, and cares for his older brother Nelson, who has been diagnosed with both autism and bipolar disorder.

“The thing that keeps me pushing the most would have to be Nelson,” Henriquez said. “I’m going to be with him the rest of my life, and he’ll be with me the rest of his life. We’re two peas in a pod.”

Though it seems like a heavy load for a young man, Henriquez takes it all in stride, and draws inspiration from the hard work of his mother.

“She was a single mother and she raised five kids, and none of us have done anything wrong. We’re all good kids,” he said. “If she can do that for us, we can do anything.”

As he continues his internship, and looks forward at his own law enforcement goals, Henriquez says the most important lesson he has learned, one he will take with him the rest of his life, is respect for all.

“You have to treat people like people,” he said. “Just because you’re a cop doesn’t mean you’re above the law. You have to give people a chance.”

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