Dedication: My Mom
After high school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I was really lost. I knew I wanted to make something of myself. My dad was in the Navy and I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world. When I was 18, I decided to join the Army National Guard. After I joined, I went to Basic Training. I was very lonely and faced many challenges. I gave it everything I had and I graduated from Bootcamp. During the hard times, I wanted to give up many times. I stayed strong and accomplished what I had set out to do. A couple years after I joined, I was deployed. I was really scared of not coming home to my family and friends. I faced many fears. When I was on the deployment, I was homesick and faced many more challenges that I did at Basic Training. There were times that I didn’t know that I would survive the deployment. I always had to have my guard up. I fought hard to stay alive. I knew my friends and family were waiting for me to come back to them. They sent me many letters and cards that helped me make it through. At that stage in my life, I had so many goals and dreams that I have not accomplished yet. I had sleepless nights and never knew what the next moment would bring. I fought hard to come home. Even though it was difficult, I gave it everything I had, and finally was able to make it home to my friends and family that missed me so much.