the instruction below. will upload sample with attachments.We have looked at arguments presented through personal narrative and description that present journeys, turning points, struggles, revelations, understandings, etc. For this short essay (25pts) essay, you are to write an essay in the form of a personal narrative or description. The topic is your choice, but you might think of looking at a journey, turning point, struggle, revelation, understanding, etc. Regardless of the form you choose or what you choose to write about, your essay must present some kind of argument (as we’ve seen n our readings). This essay should be approximately 2 pages, double-spaced pages (yes, this is a short essay. Since this should be written in the form of a personal narrative or a description, it does not have to follow a “traditional” essay structure. Be creative and have fun.NOTE: Often when we write about a journey that we’ve been through, we focus so much on the struggle that we barely even address the depth of the growth and learning. Please understand that the key to this essay is showing your transition and how you were able to grow, change and learn. That is what makes the true argument.
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A Childhood Unraveled
My childhood started out well with the typically American family story. I had two loving
parents, two older brothers, one cat and one dog. My brothers loved having a younger sister to
boss around and seemed to take delight torturing their little sister whenever possible. I have
always thought of this as the stereotypical family. My parents were raised strictly Catholic and
married in the Catholic Church. They raised their children in the same fashion and followed by
example. We attended church every Sunday, all three of us children participated in youth group
events and we all believed what we were taught in our youth ministry classes each week.
Through these teachings I learned that divorce was not tolerated and that marriage in the church
was an eternal commitment. More so, marriage vows were considered sacred and taken very
seriously. Any infringement upon the vows taken at marriage was a sin and inexcusable.
When I was 14 years old my parents told my brothers and I that they were in the process
of getting a divorce. They chose to break the news to me on the way home from the airport after
a school trip to Florida. When I left for Florida my family was intact so imagine my shock when
I returned home to find that my mom had already moved out of the house. I could not
understand how my parents could have been married for 20 years and then suddenly act as if
those vows never happened. They had both been active members in the church community but
this all came to an end. No longer would we attend Sunday Mass together as a family nor would
I be able to refer back to my parents’ marriage for reference on how to live my own life.
Looking back now I remember them fighting but it never seemed like anything more than what
normal married couples seemed to do and I never imagined that they would take steps to end
their marriage. After all, how could they just end their relationship of 20 years?
Throughout their divorce I chose to ignore most of what was happening around me. I
stayed out of my parents’ disagreements and we rarely spoke of what was taking place. It was as
if it could not hurt me or change my life. In the end it probably changed my life more than I
wanted to admit. Shuttling back and forth between two homes, having my parents argue over
who would pay for my education or buy me a car when I began to drive. Since I was the only
child still underage I was the ultimate pawn in their ongoing battle. To make matters worse both
parents remarried soon after the divorce and I loved both of my step parents immensely and
wanted nothing more than to keep the peace between all the parties. Even today I find myself
editing my speech to make my dad feel more comfortable. I feel that my parents should have
been the ones to reassure me that none of this was my fault, but instead I still tip-toe around the
divorce when I am with my parents.
It was very tiresome not being able to fully express my feelings for fear of upsetting my
parents. Knowing this I chose to keep the feelings to myself. It was after many years of being
in the middle of my parents’ disagreements about the divorce and my dad’s constant negative
remarks about my mother that I realized this was not my battle and it had nothing to do with me
or my behavior. I learned to ignore the snide remarks and in many cases ask my parents to
refrain from making negative comments about each other in my presence. During this time I was
adamant that I would never travel down the road to marriage. Why would I subject myself or
any possible children to that misery? In addition my Catholic beliefs would remind me that
marriage was permanent and I never wanted to risk going against everything I believed and was
taught growing up. For so many years it seemed easier to just forgo marriage altogether. Even
when I was with the man who has become my husband for more than four years, I stood firm that
marriage was not for me. How could I go through with something that may not last? As my
relationship grew stronger I began to realize that my life did not have to follow my parent’s lives
and that I could get married. My husband and I even chose to get married in the Catholic
Church, something I would have never expected only a few years earlier.
People often ask about what finally changed my mind but there is no single answer. It
was part growing up, part my husband’s insistence that I was different from my parents but most
of all I credit my grandparents. They have been married for more than 65 years and proved to
me that I could make an honest effort to marry and make my relationship last. Not every
marriage has to have the same ending as my parents. I could get married and with a lot of hard
work make it last. After almost nine years I am still blissfully happy and grateful that I put my
parents’ issues and failures behind me to make a wonderful life for myself and my husband. One
thing my parents’ divorce taught me was that marriage is hard work and you have to work at it
every day. I will always view my parents’ marriage as an example of how I can make my
relationship better not as what they did wrong.
Abandoning Santa
The Fourth of July, a time for food, fireworks, and Christmas shopping. But who the hell
does their Christmas shopping in July? “You have to start early if you want to get the best
toys,” my mother would say to my siblings and me once we had discovered the true identity of
Santa Claus. Fast forward to the present where all I hear leading up to Christmas Day is, “Have
you started your shopping”, “Have you gotten everyone on your list?” To be quite honest, the
only things on my check list consist of trying to prevent myself from pulling out my hair while I
try not to slam my head against the nearest table or wall. This is why people today are in denial
about Christmas, because it really has become the most overhyped holiday to date.
The emphasis on bringing the family together is one of the crucial elements of the
holidays, but only on the surface. Underneath the warm smiles and hugs though lie the
repressed memories of Christmases past. “It’s so nice to have the family together,” my father
would say to everyone. While in the other room my mother would be mumbling to me, “When
are these people going to leave already?” It has always amazed me how many people say they
can’t act, yet put them in front of family and you could hardly tell if they were genuinely
overjoyed to see them, or plotting to strangle Uncle Ted from across the dinner table.
Miraculously the visits come to an end and not a moment too soon for some. Everyone is
thanking each other for everything and promising to visit again soon, but not too soon that the
Valium or scotch hasn’t kicked in. To think we make it through one Christmas only to count
down to the next one which is only 364 days away.
Alert anyone that the holiday season is upon us, and their immediate reaction would be
that they need to hit the malls for the season’s “It” toy or electronic. And for what? The
following week the model you purchased is out of date and thus out of style. Or worse the
people you did shop for last year can’t even recall what you gave them, or that you gave them
anything at all. As in case with my mother, “You gave me that?” “I thought your brother or
sister did.” Sometimes I think a stack of brightly colored Post-its would have been more useful
to her. Well there always is this year to test that theory out. And what exactly is up with the
giving of fruitcakes? Nobody likes them let alone stomach them. A fruitcake is like a STD,
everyone’s gotten one at least once in their life. Once you’ve been given it, you’re on the
lookout to see who you’ll pass it onto next. I guess it’s just the no-brain gift you present to
those you forgot to shop for on Christmas Eve.
Christmas is celebrated towards the end of December, but the race leading up to it
seems to kick off just before Halloween. We can thank Corporate America for that adjustment.
The sooner they can get the consumer thinking about the holidays, the more money they can
get out of us back in October, and all the way leading up to Christmas. And hey, it’s okay if
come January our bills for Christmas are ten times higher than usual, as long as we celebrated it
in style. We’ll be in style alright. All the way down to the collection’s agency to cough up what
is due. The sad thing is most people over spend every year during the holidays even though we
say we’ve made a list and are going to be sticking to it. Oddly enough we get everything on our
list and then some. People are always quick to respond saying, “It was worth it to see the look
on their faces.” Well what about the look on your face when you get January’s credit card bill?
You’re probably in awe as well, but for how much you owe instead of whom got you what. So
don’t worry if you didn’t get Billy or Susie the $200 dollar toy, they will get over it. And most
likely by sometime the following week after Christmas be begging for something completely
different.
So when the holidays do come speeding around the corner, just step back and take a
deep breath. Do some yoga or some meditation too while you’re at it. You might even
reconsider if you want to go through the hassles of this festive time we call the holidays.
Consider if you forgo the holidays and gave your wallet a break. Not only would that little voice
in your head be silenced for a bit, but you could find some peace and relaxation other than
sneaking into the liquor cabinet for it.
Stay In School
Military Recruiters are the best salespeople out there. They promise you the world if you join their
branch of service, and something about them makes their word seem like gold. Once you sign that
contract, you sign your life away. They call you every weekend before you leave for basic training, just to
make sure you’re alright and staying out of trouble. Some recruiters even try to get their recruits to
leave early for basic training because it lessens the chance of the recruits having a change of heart. For
me, I was hooked into the incessant phone calls and peer pressure. I was told to pick 3 reasons why I
wanted to join, out of a stack of 20 characteristics written on blocks. The three characteristics chosen
were: challenge, leadership, and pride. I couldn’t find the “they pay for school”, “Dad said you can’t do
it”, and “friend needed a referral to pick up rank” in that stack. In any case, the Marine Corps gave me
everything I expected, but made me see how important it is to get my bachelor’s degree. After three
years of serving in the Marine Corps I learned a couple of critical lessons being on the bottom of the
totem pole (in the rank structure). These lessons include:
1. Never show anyone how well you can accomplish a task, because they always want more.
2. Never volunteer for anything, instead wait to be “voluntold”.
3. Lay low and avoid being the center of attention.
4. You’re going to get deployed.
5. Finish school as soon as possible because you’re getting deployed again.
6. Be flexible to change, change is inevitable.
Starting from the top of the list, your work is never done until you are told or until you screw up.
While I was training in Virginia Beach one of my fellow marines made an impression giving the
intelligence brief to the officers. Briefing officers was nerve wrecking to some, but to him they were just
another person who yells if you screwed up. After leaving his good impression on the officers, he was
the designated “briefer” which seemed awful. While everyone else was on their free time enjoying
themselves at the recreation center, the “briefer” was making sure he knew the information he would
be briefing for the next day. This process went on throughout the whole 3 months of training.
When a Corporal or Sergeant asks for 3 marines, it is wise not to raise your hand because either 3
other morons will raise theirs, or 3 others will get picked. This is a daily routine in the lives of the lower
ranks. In Iraq we had 50 gallon drums that everyone went to the bathroom in. It was bad enough that
you had flies tossing your salad every time you had to go, but was worse for those poor marines chosen
to burn the excrement at the end of the day. I learned early on in the deployment not to fall for the “I
need three marines who know how to drive a stick-shift” or “I need three marines who know how to
fight”, because those three marines were burning feces.
If your name becomes famous early on a deployment, you’re done for. For every task that needs to
be accomplished, your name will be called out. Only until someone accidently shoots a 5.56mm round
negligently out of their M-16, loses serialized gear, or falls asleep on post; you will hear your name for
every working party. By the end of the deployment, you will be volunteering for every annoying task
there is in hope that it keeps you from being one of the three saps burning feces.
For anyone who joins the Marine Corps thinking they won’t get deployed, getting lucked out of a
deployment, or believing the recruiter when they say you won’t get deployed for a while; you will be the
first to go. I was naïve once and believed all three of these things because when I got to my unit, there
were marines who were nearing the end of their 6 year contract whom haven’t once deployed. About 2
months after settling down at my unit in San Bruno, CA; there was rumor that 3 Intel Marines were
getting activated for deployment. Luckily for me, there were 6 Intel marines in our shop. It started out as
three volunteers and a month later ended up as all six of us going.
Upon my return to the states, after a traumatizing life experience, I learned that the being ordered
what to do is degrading. Especially when these persons giving the orders have no college education and
military life is their only option. I’ve come to the conclusion that the sooner I get my degree, the sooner I
can get a real job and not have to worry about becoming those “lifers” (a person who stays in the
military until retirement), whose joy comes from others’ misery. From this experience, I was excited to
get back into school and move on with my life. Recent rumors are spreading that more Intel marines are
getting activated for Afghanistan. Unfortunately, 3 of our new joins deployed to Iraq and the Intel shop
is left with the same 6 that returned from Iraq.
Nothing in the Marine Corps is ever set in stone; unless it is your 3 meals and your paycheck.
Although school is my number one priority, I have to be flexible to squeeze in another deployment if
called upon. A great example of change is before our deployment we were told that we would be going
to Fallujah. All of the maps we ordered, all of our briefs, and terrain studies were done for Fallujah. The
Intel Marines nearly memorized the map of the city along with the routes, only to find out 1 week
before leaving the states that we were going to Haditha.
Although there were some rough days in the Marine Corps and I probably wouldn’t enlist again
if I could do it all over again, I don’t regret my decision. All the lessons learned from my enlistment is
critical in the person I’ve become. The 5 others I’ve deployed with have become very close friends, due
to similar hardships, and I would take a bullet for any of them. Now that I am moving up on the totem
pole, I can pass along these key lessons to those who come to my unit with the look of “my recruiter lied
to me” written on their faces. Soon they will realize that burning feces is a life changing experience.
Nothing makes you appreciate a good education more than fecal matter in your nostrils.
…
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