Anders Nilback decided early in life that he would become a police officer, but his education was postponed – by 22 years. When he graduates in a few years as a 60-year-old, he will have the title of one of Sweden’s oldest newly graduated police officers. The journey towards becoming a police officer began as a 23-year-old, in 1998. Anders Nilback had applied to the police academy and been accepted. But due to an accident, he was temporarily refused and the start date was postponed. Then life flowed on and Anders started working on other things. He received another offer to start studying to become a police officer but declined. – But in the back of my mind there was always the thought of what life would look like if I became a police officer, he says. During his professional life, Anders has since worked with marketing and sales of daily goods. In 2020, however, life took a new turn. The Polar bread factory burned down and Anders worked at a subsidiary company. This resulted in him becoming unemployed. – I had to go home and think about life a bit, he says. Classmates with an average age of 25 Anders realized that it was not so easy to get a job at his age and he says that he had lost the spark a little. With inspiration from Anders’ spinning leader and support from his wife, he therefore applied to the police academy at the age of 58 – and got in. Today, 25 years after Anders was supposed to start the police academy for the first time, he is now sitting in the school desk. In his class, the average age is 25 years and he tells how it is noticeable both theoretically and physically, but mostly physically. – When you have life experience, you might compensate. I am a different person today than I was then, since then things are more or less positive, says Anders Nilback.
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