I was born in Sri Lanka, a small island torn by a civil war. As the violence grew, my parents decided to move us to the United States so we can have a better life. In 2001 my parents left everything they had to start a new life the United States. . I came from nothing. All Throughout my life, my parents worked hard to provide for my family so my brother and I can have a better future. Their sacrifice is what drives me every day. Their Sacrifice and hard work motivates me to work harder. I attended JROTC in my junior and senior year of high school. After high school I attended Northern Virginia Community college to pursue my associate degree in Computer Science. I was a full-time college student. Along with financial assistance, I worked in …show more content…
Last four years in the army I had very intense moments. Nothing is worse than a person being negative at those moments. I learned to have a more positive outlook on everything and do my best to keep soldiers moral up. My greatest fear is losing someone close to me. I have witness friends die of suicide, motorcycle accidents and natural causes. Life can change any time, I tend to live my life the best I can and Travel and experience different cultures. My most embarrassing moment came when I was put on the spot to teach a class for my company. I was never good at public speaking. Even Though I practiced hard, I froze up when the time came. I managed to pick myself up and finish the class. Over the years, I have conducted many training events and as a result I have gain my confidence in public …show more content…
Every Tuesday I have to brief to my superiors my schedule for when I’m going to service or repair weapons. I always lie on when I will get my work done. I give myself some extra days to complete the work. I understand that it’s morally wrong but I also know that I may run into obstacles or something important may come up. I managed my time proficiently so the whole battalion’s weapons are serviced on time without being delinquent. If I could change one thing in the past it would be finishing up college before I enlisted. I should have finished my Bachelor 's degree and enlisted as an officer. I do not regret my decision. The knowledge I have gained through the past four years will make me a better soldier. I will still earn my Bachelors and apply to become a Counter Intelligence Warrant Officer. I don’t believe there is one country which pose the biggest threat to the United States. Middle East been in turmoil for a long time. Most Middle Eastern countries lack structure. Tribes been fighting for power for years. No matter who we get rid of, there will always be a corrupt group taking over. As these group gain power, they will try to demoralize the west through terrorist
I remember the first time I came to America; I was 10 years old. Everything was exciting! From getting into an airplane, to viewing magnificent, huge buildings from a bird’s eye view in the plane. It was truly memorable. After staying few days at my mother’s house, my father and I wanted to see what Dallas looks like. But because my mother was working the whole day, it wasn’t convenient for her to show us the area except only on Sundays. Finally, we went out to the nearby mall with my mother. My father and I were astonished after looking at a variety of stores. But after looking at different stores, we were finally tired and hungry, so we went into McDonald’s. Not being familiar with fast food restaurants, we were curious to try American
I woke up every morning wishing I was home already. Instead, I woke up to Sergeant Red telling me to get up. He was not the greatest noncommissioned officer (NCO) but he taught me a lot about preparing myself mentally and physically for the worst outcomes. One thing he said that stayed with me was, “Hey man, when it is your time to go then it is your time to go.” Small words but they were honest words. In war you cannot dwell on the mission or any mistakes that you have made. All you can do is learn from them mistakes and try not to make them again. I do not consider myself a hero or superior to everyone else but I do find myself to be determined and dedicated. Every time we were being briefed on the next mission I looked around the room to see if everyone was ok. I looked for that one individual who was deep in his thoughts that he did not even pay attention to the brief. I would pull them to the side afterwards and just have casual conversations with them. Once we laughed and forgot about the mission we would look at each other and know exactly what the other person was thinking. “Are we about to go out there again?”, “Is this my time to go?”, or “Is this going to be the last time I see him?” We did not look at each other as friends; we looked at each other as brothers. Every time we prepared for a mission we helped each other to make sure everyone had the right equipment. We made sure that everyone’s weapon was
In the beginning of September 2005, disappointment and excitement revealed on my face when I boarded the plane to move to the United States of America. The feeling of leaving my families, friends, school, clothes, and culture in Cameroon presented a hardship for me on this journey. Of course, I anticipated this new life because it indicated a fresh start. I envisioned it resembling life in movies, where everything appeared to be simple and life was simply excellent. All things considered, I was heading off to the United States, known for the American dream. To me it meant that everyone is given equal opportunity to prosper, achieve a family, and attain a successful job as long as they are hardworking and determined. I felt exceptionally honored and blessed to have this open door since I realized that it was not provided to everybody. Coming to America denoted my transitioning on the grounds that I deserted my previous lifestyle in Cameroon, began a new chapter in my life once again, and finally became a much grateful individual.
And this has often times served me rather well. However, the most memorable and possible the most effective vicarious learning it seems has always come from those things my peers and counterparts have done wrong, and for which they faced group and public score and ridicule above and beyond simple and meaningful punishment as set down in the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) (military.com, 2016). Such incidents while rare have always remained memorable and relevant to me and have served to remind me that you simple do not want to be “that guy”. One such example of these memorable public shaming’s that served to teach all of us, who had to bear witness to it, was a calling out of the offenders by the commander in front of our formation. Wherein the commander proceeded to declare publicly the wrongs these men had done, steeling ammunition, and then explaining the how these selfish and petty acts had brought embarrassment on our entire Regiment. At which time the commander ripped every patch and emblem from their uniforms, symbolically casting them out of our tribe and down to the ranks of common soldiers. This was followed by weeks of extra-duty, supervised by the First Sergeant, for these men; in additional to the money garnished from their pay; before they received their reassignment orders and could get on with their lives. The less learned by our entire formation, and all who witnessed this public skeptical on that day, was; do not do wrong things period; like steeling valuable resource. And do not do such things for selfish motives. Or else you too may face the gauntlet of public shaming and ridicule; as you are formally cast out of our honorable tribe of
America, Almost every single person on earth has a dream of living in a country full of freedom, liberty, and opportunity. The United States has been providing these benefits ever since it was founded a few hundred years ago. So when I found out that my family would be coming to America, I had already started planning my future of growing up here. Just like any other person, I was feeling enthusiastic and a little nervous of leaving my native country and coming to America to start a better life. I was completely lost in my thoughts of happiness, that I became unaware of all the difficulties that my family and I would face once we step into our new lives. Among these difficulties were the change of language, change of system, and the variety of different cultures.
“No, I don’t want to go!” I cried. I just got the news that my big brother and I were going back to California. When I was around 4 years old, my family and I moved to California from the Philippines. But after four years living in America, my mother sent my big brother and I back to the Philippines. We lived in the Philippines for at least 3 years since we left California.
When I was assigned to write a paper about a moment, event, or even person, in my life that altered its course forever, ideas started to instantly pop into my head. The divorce of my parents, graduating high school, moving away and going to college; the choices were abundant. However, after giving it some further thought I realized that all of these other impactful moments in my life were in some way connected to, and to a certain extent even caused by, when I moved to America from Guatemala.
I’ve lived in Palestine the first eleven years of my life. I stayed there and went to school
Growing up in a different country can be quite challenging once you relocate to a different country. For me, coming to the United States was completely different and new. I was born here in Salinas, California but both raised here and in Mexico. At the age of one, I didn’t really know what went on with the world or just life itself, so I had no idea how different the U.S was from Mexico until I grew older. After I was born, my family and I went to live in Mexico to continue our life there. My hardworking parents always wanted my sister and I to have the best in anything. They worked hard to give us what we needed in order to have a decent life. Even though my parents were not born here in the U.S. they didn’t have to go through what most people
October 20, 2007, the day that I’m going to say goodbye to my hometown. I was born and raised in Philippines by my grandparents for sixteen years. It is heart-breaking to think that I will not see them anymore like how I used to. I was 16 years old, and it will be my first time to travel with my big brother in the airplane. Our trip from Philippines to Virginia is approximately about 18-20 hours. It is not a direct flight, so we have to change plane three times, and it is a long trip for us. I was crying the whole time when we were in the airplane. As soon as we reach our last destination which is the Washington D.C., we have no way of communicating with my mom and auntie because we have no cellphones. I was hesitant to
When I was seventeen I nervously traveled about 350 miles from my sleepy little home town of Freedom, Wyoming to the relatively enormous city of Boise, Idaho to go to the Military Entrance Processing Station. This wasn 't the first time I had been this far from home by myself, but it was the first time I was making adult decisions without my parents involvement. When it came time for me to choose my job in the army the counselors presented me with a long list that I qualified for. I got tired of scrolling and reading so I chose the first job that I actually understood. I returned home and excitedly told my parents that I would be an infantry soldier. My dad 's response to this might be considered a little less than heart warming “You dumb ass. Why didn 't you choose
A common saying in the military is “You get what you put into,” but for some service members this is not always true.
It was about two years ago when I arrived in United States of America, and I still remember the day when I left my native country, Honduras. As I recall, one day previous to my departure, I visited my relatives who live in San Pedro Sula. They were all very happy for me to see me except my grandmother Isabel. She looked sad; even though she tried to smile at all times when I was talking to her, I knew that deep inside of her, her heart was broken because of my departure the next morning. I remember that I even told her, “Grandma, do not worry about me, I’ll be fine. I promise that I will write you letters and send you pictures as much as possible.” Here reply was, “I know sweetie I know you will.” Suddenly after she said that I started to cry. For som...
My heart was pounding as I boarded my flight leaving the Bangkok International Airport. A flight attendant in a grey dress with a red bow draped over her shoulder announced; “Welcome aboard flight AA350 to the United States.” My journey began that day.
"The core of a soldier is moral discipline. It is intertwined with the discipline of physical and mental achievement. Total discipline overcomes adversity, and physical stamina draws on an inner strength that says drive on." - Former Sergeant Major of the Army William G. Bainbridge