There are many things in life that we can control – our DNA is not one of them. Each of us is born with a set of inherent traits that generally determine our physical stature, athletic ability, and overall cognition. This is written for those who may believe they just don’t have the “it” factor to make it in a department like Morningside.

What I would like to make abundantly clear is that our membership is full of ordinary people who have trained their minds and their bodies to do extraordinary things. At Morningside, we believe that there is potential to be great in every person that walks through our doors. And we want you to know, whether you’re a passing visitor to our site, or someone who seeks to walk amongst us, you have value and you have potential.

You just need to believe it.

The ability to perform in the fire service is not something that you are born with. It is not a trait in your DNA sequence, not something that can be quantified or easily identified. The ability to perform is the product of two things: first, it is the direct result of hard work. If you don’t work at your craft on a day-to-day basis, you will not be excellent. You likely won’t even be decent. You will just ~be~. Secondly, and more importantly, you must want to be great. If you are okay with being a substandard fireman, please, save us all the trouble and look elsewhere. Here, we are ambitious and driven. And that effects our bottom-line performance more than anything.

The MVFD (Powered by People)

What Morningside offers is the opportunity to be surrounded by people yearning to be excellent, and never-ending chances to put good work ethic to use. We push each other and hold each other accountable. This may seem intimidating for some, especially those just getting their feet wet in the fire service. But we want you to know that we believe in you. We believe that you too will learn what it takes to have the ability to perform, and that we will help you get there. Selfishly, we want you to be great so our department can continue to be staffed and run by great firemen. Selflessly, we want you to be great so that your impact on the world can be felt for the rest of your career, in whatever it is that you end up doing.

So, please, if you are interested in our department and our vision, put aside your preconceived notions of what it means to be at Morningside. We want nothing more than for every person who walks through the door to believe in themselves and the mission of the department. It is then that the ability to perform is learned and practiced.

Come get some.