We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elijah Busier a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Elijah , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the story behind how you got your first job in field that you currently practice in.
Becoming a firefighter was no easy task it’s a process and sometimes it can take years to finally meet your destination. It all started from a dream or I guess you can say a vision of the person I wanted to become and from that moment on I made my dream a reality. I remember the day I was sitting on the couch thinking where do I begin so I flipped open my lab-top and started searching, I came across the San Diego city fire website and read all about the process and steps I needed to take to achieve my goal. Soon after I go in touch with a firefighter that become my mentor and help me walk through each part of the process starting with signing up for fire academy with Miramar Fire Academy and beginning my Emergency Medical Training at National University. I was super busy the first two years of this process but once I completed the major parts of the process I began working as an intern with San Diego Fire Rescue, volunteering at the San Diego Fire Museum and applying for the written exam for San Diego Fire while on the side training for my CPAT. The written exam is the entry level before fire academy with the city and the CPAT is the physical agility test that proves you can handle the intense physical demand of the job. Once I made it through that phase I moved on to apply for jobs all over and with Calfire but little did I know I would end up a wildland firefighter. Six months later I received a call from Calfire asking if I would like a firefighter 1 position in El Cajon and of course I was so excited after almost three years to be picked up that fast by a department so, I said yes! Right before the summer on 2022 I started the wildland academy that was six weeks long. I had a few hiccups due to my size but I gave it my all and I started working for Calfire after the academy. I loved the fire lifestyle with my firefighters, captains, and Chiefs.. the lifestyle was addicting and the hard work we put in the wilderness fighting fires gave me a purpose, I felt like I was finally making a difference in the work I was doing out there and giving back to humanity. Trust when I say we had many hard days but pushing my self through my comfort zones made me realize how strong I really am. Wildland firefighting made me find my true passion when we would be flown out to the middle of no where fighting fires my favorite part become the helicopter ride mainly because when we got picked up after we controlled and contained the fire that ride home meant we got a hot shower, a good meal, and finally rest! Soon after, all I could dream about was being up in the sky looking down on this beautiful world and feeling freedom for the first time in my life. After that year with calfire I took a fire watch position with SDG&E to keep everyone safe when SDG&E would be working on the power lines and started taking classes on the side to work my way towards become a pilot. Then, the new chapter of my life began… looking back I remember going through all that fire training sweating and feeling my legs shake, remembering how I believed I would never make it standing 5’2 but some how I pushed through. I remember taking all those tests in class with my stomach in knots, not knowing if I would make it to another day, but again I persevered. I remember being on the grinder running skills and having that 75lb ladder an my shoulder, with my 95 pounds of gear and BA on my back, sweating to the point I thought I would pass out with the sun baking me in the early afternoon, and some how I pushed through all my insecurities and made it through three months of that training 5 days a week to finally walk up to my captain shake his hand and receive my completion certificate. That was one of the best moments in my life, I truly felt like I could do anything! If I never went through that process to become a firefighter, if I never pushed through the toughest moments in my life I would have never feel in love with the sky and becoming a pilot. I couldn’t be more proud and grateful that I had the honor to become a firefighter.
Elijah , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
A little about myself, my name is Elijah but I wasn’t born with that name… I was born a little premature baby girl and her name was Desiree. When I was fourteen years old I feel in love with my best friend that was a woman and coming from a small town that soon become the biggest struggle of my life. My family basically disowned me and I felt like I grew up alone but for some reason I never gave up, I just kept on pushing because I believed I had a place in this world. I went through my twenties struggling to find myself, moving all over California, and struggling with many destructive relationships but the second I decided to move to San Diego my whole life changed for the better. I moved to San Diego back in 2012 and this beautiful place inspired me to become the best version of myself. I started working out and finding pieces within myself, healing all the broken pieces I ignored for so long. Some people believe in a higher power well I believe that it comes from within us because from the moment I started to look in the mirror and tell myself I was worth it, I was worth love, and I was worth everything life could offer I to notice how things around me started to change. This wasn’t a fast process, this took years but as the years passed I grew into my skin and into the person I was meant to become. I even spent six years alone just to work on myself and in that six years I finally stopped lying to myself and started to transition into a man. When I made this decision it was not a spare of the moment thing, this was something I secretly thought about my whole life. I even remember when I was five or six years old I told my mom I wanted to be a boy, this is not what she wanted to hear and told me to stop thinking like that because I was confused. Later that summer I had my sister cut off all my hair, and made my dad buy me boy clothes. But unfortunately my parent thought it was a phase and forced me to be a girl to the point I thought I could never really be who I knew I was on the inside. Fast forward to 32 years old with my hands sweating as I called a psychologist to start the process of transitioning. Some people wait to long to become the person they were meant to be but this is the moment in my life when I finally started to live. Time was never really my strong suit because I decided to transition at the same time I was working on becoming a firefighter and to tell you the truth it was the hardest thing I think I will ever have to go through in my life.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I believe I had to build resilience from day one in my process of becoming a firefighter, I am not of the norm when people think of the typical firefighter. I stand 5’2 130lbs and I am transgender. When I decided to become a firefighter I was also transitioning at the same time so, people around me watched as my body changed and I had to take every part of what came with that process. Some people don’t understand, some judge, some lend a hand. I picked a conservative career because I believe everyone belongs and everyone should be given a chance. I had endless battles but I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and told myself I will never give up because I am paving the way for future generations.
If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?
Some people ask why put yourself through that? My answer is if I could go back I would probably pick the same path because I believe if we don’t challenge ourselves in this life then what is living for? We need to feel life’s failures, the moments of success, the heartbreak, and every emotion to truly understand what life is and what living is for. If we stay in comfort our whole life that’s not living. We need to feel the excitement of what a single moment can feel like, or what it can do. Even on my worst days I feel honored that I get to experience that feeling to know and understand, and work through the process because as my partner would say this bad moment will not last forever and in no time you won’t even remember it at all. Life is funny that way it can pull us to our extremes of happiness, and sadness but at the end of the day nothing lasts forever. So go for your dreams and goals because tomorrow is never promised.
Contact Info:
- Website: linktr.ee/elijahbsr
- Instagram: @elijah_busier
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/desiree.busier?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desiree-busier-546588152?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app