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Opportunities for personal growth essay
Opportunities for personal growth essay
Opportunities for personal growth essay
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It was the beginning of June and I went to a Marine base for basic training . It was a challenging and stressful experience. There was a lot I didn't know about the military. The first thing that i learned arriving to CLC (cadet leadership challenge) was the military isn't fun and games. It was going to be a stressful and challenging but i knew i could do it. I know that it was just one short week but, this experience stays with me every single day. this was challenging, fun, and a great learning experience. My first morning i was in for a total wake up call literally! It was five in the morning and every one was peacefully sleeping and the cadres walked in yelling and banging on everything “WAKE UP WAKE UP LETS GO!”. I was so scared. After …show more content…
my rude awakening we had to run to the restrooms to brush our teeth they gave us thirty seconds. Then we would go leave our toothbrush and toothpaste in our dorms and run back outside for our morning P.T (PHYSICAL TRAINING). We would do push ups , sit ups , leg stretches and jumping jacks then it was time for our run. After PT we had chow which is breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout the day. After chow time we went out to drill for two hours man was I exhausted, but after we went on a field trip and I would take a nap there and back. Field trips were always the best time to nap. When we came back from our field trip we would go to chow time and then go clean our dorms for dorm inspections. At about 7 everyday we would have our sports day when we would compete against every flight. We would either play soccer, basketball, football, or relay races. After our lovely day of camp we would run to the showers to try to get more time because they would only give us two minutes. The whole week that I was there was one time that I got yelled at.
It was my first and last time that i got yelled at. This happened on the first day I arrived to camp pendleton. Everybody was in one line and the cadres would tell us in what squadrant we were assigned. When the cadre told me I didn't really hear her I just walked away that was the worst thing I could have done I didn't know where I was going. One cadre walked up to me yelling at me and asking me “WHERE ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE !?” I was so scared. I responded with “ I DON'T KNOW MAM!” oh my lord i almost cried three more cadres came up and were all yelling in my ear man did I miss my parents that day. I felt like leaving and quitting then and there. I didnt give up and I didn't quit . Why didn't i quit ?, because I thought of my dad, he wanted me to be strong and to have a strong mentality. So i kept my head up and kept going. I also plan on going to the military after high school so I knew I at least had to make it through graduation. So I kept in all the tears and kept my head up nice and proud. This whole experience was a total wake up call to me. It stays with me every single day. It was a challenging week that was a great learning experience. I plan on going back to camp this year for another great learning
experience.
I was at Fort Benning Georgia in August 1988 to attend jump school. I had done my basic training here four years earlier with Sgt. Smith who would be my black hat true instructor for airborne school. I was standing in formation at five in the morning. It was cold now, but Georgia has hot, humid daytime temperatures that were draining mentally and physically for a student from Northern California. I knew I wanted to be here even though there would be physical and mental stresses, challenges and the possibility of serious Injury. The students would be weeded out at every point. I did not want it to happen to me. During my four years in the Army, I learned that I like to be an independent, resourceful, goal oriented problem solver. In the infantry, I had to obey the orders and not think for myself. Uniformity in everything was demanded.
Being frozen with fear, that 's what I remember about first time being scolded by a non parental figure for the first time. It was back grade school, while visiting Florida over Thanksgiving break. My dad, stepmom, two half sisters and I were there to visit my step mom 's parents who had just retired down there. By not being related to my step mom and her parents, I thought I didn 't have to listen to them or be well behaved. Even though it was their house that we were using for the week. Throughout the vacation, I was a defiant little
I was kept in basic training for an additional five weeks. My optimistic outlook on the events taking place at the time were now as shattered as my hand, yet I still couldn't find it in me to quit. I did all that I could to make my hand recover as fast and efficiently as possible to get back and complete recruit training. The long weeks only made the stay in Cape May all the more difficult as I was known by every intimidating and angry instructor on regiment and was exposed to even more bizarre and grueling moments within the program. Eventually, I made it through and was off to my first unit in Galveston, TX. A week after my arrival I was subject to medical discharge do to a spontaneous back
Boot Camp Graduation! I remember seeing my moms face and, The tears rollind down her beautiful tan face. The way she looked at me when I read my speech. It wasn't just a speech. It was from the bottom of my heart, something I really ment.
I joined the Army National Guard while I was a senior in high school. I was tired of Bristol and my unfulfilling life in Tennessee. I could not wait to leave and go far away from home and see what other places had to offer. In August I left for Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, a basic training post. There were a five or six of us that left from Knoxville by van to get there. We arrived around midnight. As soon as we stepped out of the van we were ushered into a room like cattle. There was already over a hundred people sitting elbow-to-elbow on the floor. This room was extremely small and overcrowded, but I managed to wedge myself between two people. Someone was standing behind a counter telling that we could not have weapons, drugs, pornographic material, and things for gambling with. After that, the people in charge, drills sergeants started yelling at us and telling us to get up and run out of the building. They ran us to another building. This building had our beds in it. We were told to go upstairs, put our things on the bunks, and come back down. The drill sergeants said that we had one minute to accomplish this and that fifteen seconds of it had passed. All of us darted up the stairs, knocking each other down, trying to make it back down in time. All of us arrived back down stairs to the screaming of drill sergeants. They were saying, "Front leaning rest position move". Once the drill sergeants saw me they got really angry. I was just standing there because I did not know what front leaning rest position was. One of the drill sergeants came over and began to verbally assault me, yelling, "Are you deaf? I said, FRONT LEANING REST POSITION MOVE!" I told him I did not know what that was. He replied that it was the push-up position in a very unfriendly manner.
In November I had finished my sniper training. There was talk of being sent to Africa to help in the desert campaign during our graduation ceremony. I was never more nervous in my life. It was all becoming real; everything I worked for.
Every day of my life I have woken up to the sound of Reveille, and gone to bed listening to Taps. I have moved nine different times, know the feeling of having my dad deploy more than four times, and eating Thanksgiving dinner in a DEFAC is second-nature to me. Being an army child is a huge part of my life, however it does not define who I am; it has shaped how I view the world. Because of my life as a military child, I have determined that I am compelled to positively influence how others view life.
While attending college, September 11th happened. This was a huge eye opener for me, so I signed up for the Army and shipped to BCT/AIT in April of 2002. This is where I learned to become a Soldier and an Army Firefighter. I learned many skills during this period
I came home smelling of pine trees and campfires. I made so many memories and had so many new experiences in just a brief visit. It was unlike any camping experience I had been through before. In a way, it was life changing. I’m looking forward to exploring more of the Boundary Waters with others, and I hope to give them the same kind of experience I
Going into camp I knew we would be helping out a school and I did not think I would have fun or get anything out of the experience, but I was so wrong. Even when I was on my hands and knees stripping wax off a classroom floor, I was having a great time just knowing how much my work was helping Ms. Kim and Cody and everyday I looked forward to going back. We later found out that Cody was able to take a week long vacation because we got so much of his work done! After finding that out, I knew I had helped make a difference in Cody's life which made me feel so humble and honored that I could do that for him. During our work, Ms. Kim told us that around 70% of the Black Fox Elementary students live in poverty and cannot wait to come to school so they escape their troubles at home. Ms. Kim told us that those kids were going to be so excited to see how clean we got their school to be and I wish I could have seen their faces when they saw what we had done. I now look forward to volunteering and helping others because I know that I am making a difference in someone's life, which is a humbling and amazing feeling that I hope everyone can experience one
The thing is, if you give up, you will never forgive yourself in the future and you will regret it a lot. This is why I believe that if you just stay positive through tough situations, you will get through anything in life. There have been many times in my athletic career where I just wanted to give up and quit the sport. Whether it being basketball, football, track, or baseball. But, there was always something in the back of my mind that told me to keep thinking positive and to keep trying.
Each of us had learned something from that trip. For me, this experience has taught me what gratitude is, the impact a good attitude has, what a servant looks like, and really how the relationships we make with our life are the most important aspect of life. It was the summer after my freshman year of high school. Earlier in the year, my parents had decided that they wanted to go on a mission trip as a family and serve somewhere.
I grew up in a small town and after I graduated high school I wanted more in life than a 9 to 5 job; I wanted to see the world. I had a few friends that had joined the military and had come home to visit with exciting stories about their experiences. I noticed a change in a few of them; they seemed to walk a little taller, maybe act a bit more mature. This, along with the intrigue of life outside of my small town, drew me to consider joining the military. I met a recruiter in Lakeland Florida in July of 1989 and a few months later on September 26th I raised my right hand and took the Oath of Enlistment. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.
Being a soldier was a really tough life. In the end I hated doing the same thing day after day with no change in sight, I despised the leaders that didn 't take care of their subordinates, and most importantly, I couldn 't lead my soldiers from the front anymore. I 'll be the first one to say that joining the army was the best thing to happen to me. I have grown so much as a person and the lessons I learned are invaluable. In the end I realized the negative factors outweighed any possible benefit I might receive from continued service. It was time for me to
I remember the day that I left for boot camp. I was terrified. My stomach was queasy, my head was cloudy, and every time I imagined what was about to happen to me, I started to cry. It was an incredible leap I was about to take. The mental preparation was the most difficult part. I had no idea what to expect. I had heard many horror stories about the things that occur in Boot Cam...