Personal Narrative: The Start Of Something Better

We were told to get in rows and stand at the positon of attention, this was frightening. We were told to run to the bus from here, this is where I was split up with everyone I came with. The base was three hours away from the airport. On the bus ride over there I called and texted everyone I knew for three hours. I called Jed first, he could not talk long because he had a meeting, although I knew if I called my mom or Ayden they would both cry and that would make things harder on me. After I talked to Jed and he convinced me everything was ok after 20 minutes of me crying to him as if he could come pick me up and take me home. After this I texted Boone to be sure he made it on a shuttle, he did. Boone was on the Shuttle behind me. That was the last time I talked to him until the day after graduation. We made it to the reception building at nearly 11 o’clock and briefed until about one. We finally got to bed at 2, and we were woken up at 4:30 the following morning. During reception they checked our dental, blood type, eye sight, etc. this is where we received our uniforms, and most importantly where we met our first Drill Sergeants. In receptions Drill Sergeants are almost done with their contracts, they cannot make you preform corrective action, or give you RBIs, all they can do is get really close to you and scream as loud as they could. I was here for seven days, and then after those seven days were

The couple of months prior to leaving for boot camp, I was really motivated like most people. My brother had given me a lot of guidance on what boot camp was going to be like. Honestly when I got there, I wasn’t scared. I knew exactly what to do. Two days later I was sent to the hospital because my appendix was about to rupture and had to go into surgery immediately. I was at Paris Island an extra month. When I graduated, I loved being a Marine. Because I felt like I had already made a difference already. MCT, was similar, but I slowly started losing motivation. I was a dumb ass and wore my contacts and 3 days before I graduated I got dropped for pink eye in both eyes. Yes it was my fault and I sucked it up, but another month on Camp Geiger didn’t help. But still I was proud of being a Marine. MOS school went well. I was finally happy to be doing my job and being trained in my MOS. When I found out I was going to Cherry Point, I was furious. It kind of killed everything I had worked for, knowing I was going to the biggest POG base in the Marine Corps. After making fun of me for a while, my brother helped me out and got me back on

I feel that marines of all ranks should read this book. Near the end of boot camp, I remember my Drill Instructors telling my platoon about how terrible marines sometimes acted when they were clearly taught otherwise in boot camp. I remember them telling me that they wanted to be a Drill Instructor because they wanted to make a positive and long lasting impact on people. They also told us that no matter how hard they’ve trained and honed us in the way they wanted us to be, as soon as we leave, we would still be whoever we wanted to be, it would be our choice whether or not to keep those teachings with us. And they were right, I’ve met a lot of marines that have abandoned them. This book emphasizes on the importance of keeping our transformation, not only for our Marine Corps career but also for the good of our

Growing up with a father in the military, you move around a lot more than you would like to. I was born just east of St. Louis in a city called Shiloh in Illinois. When I was two years old my dad got the assignment to move to Hawaii. We spent seven great years in Hawaii, we had one of the greatest churches I have ever been to name New Hope. New Hope was a lot like Olivet's atmosphere, the people were always friendly and there always something to keep someone busy. I used to dance at church, I did hip-hop and interpretive dance, but you could never tell that from the way I look now.

I would like to share with you some of my experiences. I joined the military in 1996, after high school and I went directly to Marine boot camp. There I learned some of my most important personal values such as pride, perseverance, team work, and attention to detail. Marine Corps boot camp is an experience like no other I have had in the world and one I am immensely proud to have. I rose in the ranks quickly, I started as

I am Cadet 2LT Siomara Munoz. I have been in the JROTC program for four years. Four years ago when I first stepped foot onto this school, I had no idea how much JROTC would mean to me. My freshman year I met some of the coolest and most caring people that mentored me through the program. They taught me how to drill, march and all the basic commands one needed to know. I was very involved with football concessions and after school practices. JROTC taught me many life lessons that I will never forget. Through this I have become the best version of myself and a leader. There are many things that I would have

I was in MC JROTC for four years in high school I've seen a lot of my friends graduate and go to MCR the Paris Island and come back changed they come back with a sense of pride in who they are and what they represent and I wanted to be just like that so Throughout high school I pushed myself I became part of the drill team and the colors are commander I work to make a better today at court so the program will improve there were many challenges I face because I've learned that one of the hardest things to do is to lead a group of your own. But no matter what I made sure that any cadet under my charge was heading in the right direction one of my closest friends who are serving in the Marine Corps taught me that leadership is a lesson that never stops that there's always room to grow as a leader and I see that he was right

The moment I strolled into the Marine Corps recruiting office was the first time I experienced conformity without any reluctance. Which turned out to be absolutely shocking since I spent my teen years doing the opposite of what was expected from me. I understood by joining the military, I would need to conform my expectations and beliefs in order to successfully enter and exit the Corps.

My mindset was what other way to find out if the army life was for me, than to join as an Active Duty soldier? Being sheltered my whole life, I saw it as an opportunity for me to grow, and get to know the real world. Now, when I look back on my decision and see how much I have changed over the past ten months, I could not be any happier. I have learned so much from my Leadership, and I would not trade the experience I have gained for anything in the world.

They switched around my orders last minute and I found myself on USS Anchorage instead of a mountaintop. I had an amazing time on USS Anchorage; I spent time with EOD from different nations, Marines and later NASA scientists. The EOD were onboard for RIMPAC, and they took myself and a few other midshipmen out on one of their small boats to observe a mission. The Marines came aboard later for LA Fleet Week, and the NASA folk were practicing retrieving a space capsule. I got to line handle a capsule into the well deck of the ship, and it was harder than I expected. When I was not running around the ship, I practiced navigation and driving on the bridge. Towards the end of the cruise, one of my friends took the Conn and I took the helm without the OOD’s awareness. For a solid 30 seconds, two midshipmen were driving the 550 ft. ship (at the enlisted’s amusement) until the OOD came back from the bridge wing and kicked me off the helm. If we had more time, we might have tried to turn it 360 degrees. Overall, my experience on USS Anchorage convinced me to become a Surface Warfare Officer

I thought completing Marine Corps boot camp was my most cherished accomplishment, completing boot camp merely stood in the shadows of my last work up for my last deployment. I was holding the Bravo Squad Leader position. At this point in my Marine Corps career I obtained three combat oriented M.O.S.’ or jobs; however, there was little to no preparation for what I got myself into.

When I first joined the program my freshman year I didn’t think I would enjoy it. I assumed being in NJROTC would be like joining the real military. I actually dropped out of the program after my first year, but thankfully I decided to give it another try to find out what it was all about.

I joined the Marine Corps looking for a challenge. I wanted to open doors for a new career and longed to have a positive impact on the world around me. Looking back five years later, I realize I found all that I originally sought, but I’ve also found something profoundly satisfying and meaningful that I never knew I was missing.

I started to look at the navy different, because for me it looked that nobody care about what I think or what I want to achieve.The days passed and it was same days just different day. I woke up, ate and went to work. I no longer had a smile on my face and I did not want to be in the Navy anymore. After two years I got into trouble, not having someone to tell me what I have to do I got in trouble. I did not care what would happen, because I just wanted to do my time and go home close to my family and all my love ones.The captain of the ship gave me extra duty for two months, with two months half payment and a reduction of rank which means I had to wait another year to take the advancement exam. The worst that can happen to someone who just check in onboard is getting into trouble, and worse not being able to go home in Christmas time. Spending your day on the ship and watching how others can go out made me really sad and unsure about myself. It was a really sad experience for me. Then after two months I was finally able to go out and enjoy the day once again, but in my mind I kept the same mentality and the same goal just do my time and go

You were very fortunate to had already of had that rapport with your team members. Unfortunately, I got thrown into my position right out of MOS school because I had to replace a Staff NCO that was getting processed out of the Marines for stealing from the Battalion and trying to sell the items on EBay.