Choice

        Studying, sitting in the comfort of an air conditioned classroom with an intelligent friendly teacher and clean students is much easier than studying, standing at attention, on a drill pad in the hot July heat of San Antonio, Texas, while in the Military, with a bunch of sweaty recruits and a drill Sergeant yelling at me.

          As a teenager growing up in New York City, in the 1970’s I couldn’t wait to leave there. I was much “cooler” than the average teen. I would look out the window of my classroom and think that I would rather be outside, traveling to far off places than sitting in this dilapidated school building, surrounded by barbed wire. The teachers there were just plain mean. I was informed many times that I wouldn’t amount to anything. The high school guidance counselor told me to try to get in the military, that it would give me the opportunity to travel and besides, the food was good.   So, a few months later I found myself standing on a drill pad in one of the hottest places on the planet Earth, standing at attention, with this crazy drill sergeant yelling at me.

          I found myself thinking that the teachers weren’t that mean, and that dilapidated school building surrounded by barbed wire seemed much nicer and safer than the old world war two barracks with no air conditioning in which I lived while I was being trained for war. The drill sergeant marched out to the middle of the drill pad in the 100 degree heat. He called us to attention. It was so hot my combat boots melted to the drill pad. It smelled like asphalt and an old high school gymnasium. I was trying not to lock my knees to prevent me from passing out. I wiggled my toes to increase the circulation to my feet. The drill sergeant yelled “I have the results of the written tests that qualify you for basic military training!” He stated that one person had scored 99 out of 100. Two people had scored 98. One person had scored 95. On and on he went reading off the scores, till he finally came to the lowest grade. He smirked one idiot scored 12 out of 100. We all knew who the idiot was. We had avoided him like the plague hoping his stupidity wouldn’t rub off on us. I never thought that getting the highest score was a bad thing, but now I did. The drill sergeant stared at me. He looked through my eyes, deep into my soul. He yelled at everyone to get out their notebooks. He had the first guy in line read the first sentence, “Welcome to basic military training.” Then he told us to write down that sentence in our notebooks. He had the next guy in line, read the next sentence and had us write it down. This went on for hours. I truly thought I might die from heat stroke, but I just kept on writing. I chose to persevere. The thought of giving up and returning to the hopeless situation in New York City was not an option. I had burnt all my bridges when I left. It would be a long time before I returned to New York City.

            It now seemed in our best interest to help the idiot pass the test so we wouldn’t have to stand in the sun all day “studying.” Over the next few weeks, the sergeant watched as I buddied up to Ralph who had been struggling with the test because he couldn’t read. Ralph was from New York as well and his situation was worse than mine. I tutored him night and day and he memorized the entire manual word for word. One day he finally passed the test that was administered to him verbally. The last day of training the drill sergeant came up to me and I snapped to attention. He stared at me again, looking deep into my soul. Then he said “Good job Harper!” Then he said  very sincerely “ you remember to keep your head down when they are shooting at you.” I smiled, something that was forbidden in boot camp. I thought that man was the smartest man I had ever met.

          Today, I am attending college studying for my Bachelor Of Science degree. The campus is beautiful. All the buildings are new with state of the art equipment. The climate control system is calculated perfectly for my maximum comfort. My peers are all friendly and clean. The professor is smart, kind, and very informative. The Academic and Career Enhancement Center is very helpful. They have tutors and instructors available to assist with all my academic needs. If I am stressed out, there is help available at the Student Veteran Resource Center. There are stress management services, mental health services, financial aid counseling, career services, and numerous general services available. There are many fun activities available. There are theatrical plays, live music, and informative seminars. The library is fully stocked with the latest text and information. There are numerous opportunities to volunteer in our communities. An example would be helping illiterate adults learn to read, something I am good at. The best of all is I have been afforded certain inalienable rights endowed by my creator that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.(US Declaration of Ind.)

          I look at my fellow students that don’t complete assignments exactly as the professor instructed or arrive late for class. I was trained to be the first to arrive and the last to leave if I want to succeed. I was taught to do the right thing and to concentrate on the task in front of me. I read a book entitled “The Greatest Miracle in the World,” that guided me to count my blessings, to proclaim my rarity, and to use wisely the power of choice. I see the student staring out the window thinking there is something better or easier out there and I think  just one afternoon with my drill sergeant would make this place seem like paradise.