More than a million viewers a week are tuning in to A&E’s gripping new reality series Behind Bars: Rookie Year, which goes inside the prison walls of the Penitentiary of New Mexico to document the lives of rookie correctional officers. Included in the freshman class is 20-year-old Ariel Montoya, who is unique among her co-stars because she is a she. And not only is she a woman, but she is a “small statured” woman with a very unintimidating voice and demeanor.
“She’s very small statured, very quiet, very timid,” Senior Training Officer Aaron Bell says of Ariel in the video clip below. “She definitely has a ‘deer in the headlights’ look. That’s why we pushed her a little bit more than normal to make sure that she is ready for the prison environment.”
“As a woman, sometimes…it’s a little more difficult,” Ariel admits, “because inmates think they can take advantage of us.” She says of her time in training, “All they kept telling me was that, ‘You better get rid of that smile! The inmates are going to give you s**t.'”
Here is an Ariel Montoya intro clip followed by a “Does she have what it takes” clip highlighting her time in training:
So did Ariel have what it took to become a corrections officer? Is she still working in the prison? According to her Twitter account, the answer is a definite “yes.”
“I am pulling for you to make it at PNM,” a fan tweeted on August 21. “Thanks! Still here lol,” Ariel replied.
Another fan tweeted that Ariel was “dope” and added that she watches the show with her son, who is a big Ariel fan. “Awh ☺️” Ariel tweeted back, “I’m still there! At the level 6 lol” In case you haven’t been watching the show (I’m addicted btw), Level 6 is the highest level and houses the most dangerous criminals.
When asked if she planned on staying at the job, Ariel replied, “maybe not 25 years but for awhile.”
And she had this conversation with another admirer:
Ariel also has some fun with her critics, often retweeting comments expressing doubts that she will be able to make it as a corrections officer. On August 14 she wrote, “I love all the doubt everybody has about me ?? but I wake up every day and do my job just fine. And my voice isn’t that squeaky ??”
Congratulations to Ariel Montoya for overcoming the odds and succeeding at her goal to become a corrections officer! You can keep up with her journey, as well as numerous other potentially not as successful aspiring COs, by tuning in to new episodes of Behind Bars: Rookie Year Thursday nights at 10/9c on A&E.
