Madison Reynoldson’s journey to join Nebraska State’s finest began two years ago… at a gas station in Norfolk.

“I was a cashier. April 15th, I got robbed at gunpoint,” Reynoldson said.

“You always prepare for that to happen, but you never think it will. I know that when the cops showed up that night, I was pretty torn apart.”

On that terrifying night, Madison found much needed assurance from responding officers. And it was that encounter with police that shaped her mortal fear into a new resolve.

“The relief that I got when they showed up,” she said, “I want to provide that for other people.”

A year later, she floated the idea of joining the Nebraska State Patrol to her family, who were extremely supportive.

And January of this year is when she hit the ground running for 22 weeks of recruit training.

“It was a lot harder than I expected,” she said. “People kept telling me it would be difficult. It was para-military training.”

“I’m not prior military at all, so I went into it blind.”

The training was hard, but for her division, finding cohesion with total strangers was even harder.

“There was 18 of us in the beginning coming together from different parts of the state, and different backgrounds,” she said.

“That was probably the most difficult part, but it was the coolest part to see happen. It was a great experience. I wouldn’t take it back for anything.”

Madison received her badge on June 19th. She was officially a Trooper. The journey was intense, but extremely rewarding.

“It’s a really cool process,” she said. “You learn a lot about yourself, and about each other. It’s just a great experience for me.”

She has some well-deserved rest until July 8th. Then, she heads out to protect and serve as one of Troop B’s newest recruits.