We often look for signs and inspiration for what we want to be when we grow up.

A student from New Jersey got her affirmation after surviving a life and death situation at school.

Sarah Bazzini, a senior from The Pascack Hills High School, was walking to class after lunch.

She was finishing the last bites of her food on the way when she found herself in an emergency.

A seemingly harmless French fry lodged in her throat. When she realized that it was not going down, she began to panic. Roaming the hallways at that moment was the high school’s security officer Roger Caron.

Caron was headed in Bazzini’s direction when he noticed the teen.

“I noticed Sarah didn’t seem right,” he said to CBS.

“She was stumbling a bit, moving very quickly. The closer I got I realized her color was off and she ran up to me and started giving me the choke signal. At that point I knew exactly what was wrong.”

Even in the busy hallways, Bazzini’s erratic and panicked movements stood out.

It was all Caron needed to see to jump into action.

Surveillance cameras show Caron stepping behind Bazzini and lifting her.

The Heimlich maneuver has been used and taught over the years as a way to save someone from choking. The maneuver uses abdominal thrusts to push out objects blocking the airways, much like the food that Bazzini was choking on.

Caron’s quick reaction comes naturally to him.

Before working at The Pascack Hills High School, he spent the majority of his career in law enforcement. He worked as a local cop for about 30 years before transitioning to his school post after retirement.

Staff members of the school and the students are trained in first-aid, especially in life-saving techniques. In one event, a student from West Jordan saved his choking friend after remembering what he has been taught in health class.

This time, however, it was Caron who was in the right place at the right time.

“It’s a wonderful feeling to know you can help somebody and that’s what I took away from this,” he said to the news outlet.

But it might not be the only thing that Caron helped Bazzini with.

In this life and death situation, Bazzini was affirmed with her lifelong dream – being a cop. After the event, the two have formed a special bond.

“She had asked me several questions about how to get involved in becoming a police officer and so it was very special to know that maybe I helped a future cop,” said Caron to ABC.

When asked what she wanted to do in the future, Bazzini only has this to say to ABC:

“I want to do what he does. Save lives every day,”

Bazzini is planning on taking criminal justice in the fall – ultimately realizing her fifth-grade dreams.

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Source: YouTube – CBS News, YouTube – FOX 13 News Utah, CBS, Johns Hopkins, ABC