“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

His entire life, senior Mason Moncrief’s answer has been the same: “I want to be a firefighter.”

Mason is one of two Hebron students enrolled in the TECC West Firefighting and EMT Program. The class is a two-year program which covers skills needed to go into the field and allows students to earn certifications in order to enter the field right out of high school. 

“I kept checking boxes of what I’d want in a career, and I saw that the program at TECC West was available to me, and I thought I’d give it a shot,” Mason said. “The fire service felt really interesting to me, so I decided to continue along that path. I’ve just kept growing along that career field.”

The class is split between two sections: the first year and a half focuses on firefighting skills and knowledge of the field, and the second part focuses on the medical side of the profession.

“Finding a career that I could make a discernible impact in was really hard, because I never, ever want to be sitting in a cubicle,” Mason said. “That sounds awful. I need something I can do with my hands, and being the first Band-Aid to help people sounds great.”

There are seven students enrolled in the program; two are from Hebron. The other Hebron student, senior Brandon Birkinsha, has been a friend of Mason’s since their freshman year, and also works outside of school with Mason.

“We didn’t  know that we were both signing up for the class,” Birkinsha said. “It was nice to know that there was going to be someone who I knew going into the class.”

Most of Mason’s family, including his dad Dakota Moncrief, work in education or are service-oriented in their professions. Dakota said Mason has always been adventurous and active and just like everyone else in the Moncrief family, thrives off work. 

“Mason [has a passion for helping people] and is a very driven and independent individual,” Dakota said. “He’s always had that independent, adventurous problem-solving nature. From working on cars, to family members who are sick, to being there to listen when somebody needs to talk: he does it in all walks of life. It’s not just a school or academic or a firefighter thing.”

The class is a combination of both physical and mental exercises. The exercises range from learning about how to handle hazardous materials from a textbook to wearing and carrying over 60 pounds of equipment during drills. One of Mason’s favorite activities was when the group cut open a car to practice extrication in the case of an accident.

“The active part of [the class] is my favorite,” Mason said. “It’s a lot of getting used to your gear, because it’s like having a second skin and getting used to the physical aspect of the job. Putting to use the skills that we’ve learned is a lot of fun, because there’s only so much you can learn in the book.” 

Mason was also a member of the band, is a boy scout and works a part-time job, while dealing with the workload of the firefighting class. 

“Balancing work and fun is hard,” Mason said. “Whenever I have time, I reach out to friends [to] have fun and keep myself sane. I’ve also always had my family there to be my backbone and support me through all of my endeavors.” 

Mason earned Fire 1, Fire 2, Hazmat awareness and Hazmat operations certifications, and is working with the rest of the class to get his EMT certifications. Birkinsha said the class is very close knit and often help each other study through the course. 

“If I didn’t know something in the class, I could go to [Mason] and ask him — we help each other study,” Birkinsha said. “He’s helpful to almost everyone in the class, because he just knows so much [and] reads it more than everyone else. His work ethic is very admirable in general, because he works hard in everything that he does.”

Though it is possible for students to get a job as a firefighter straight out of the program, Mason plans to go to Hardin-Simmons University. He is uncertain what he wants to major in but said he wants a degree to fall back on while continuing to fuel his passion to help people.

“My passion to help is a big part of it,” Mason said. “In the fire service there’s endless growth — you never stop learning. There’s always routes you can take to grow, to learn new things. Being able to strive to grow myself and [my] knowledge is a big part of [my life.]”