I entered back into school that spring and had a hard time adjusting back to academic life. I found myself lost and having trouble concentrating. Not more than a few months ago I was being shot at. Not more than a few months ago an IED blew up the Humvee behind me in a convoy; My window was down. All I could think about is how nobody in the classroom could imagine what we had been through and now I was right back in school as if none of it ever happened. After a few quarters I started to get some traction in school again. My girlfriend, who I had met when I got home from Iraq ended up moving over and going to school with me and she was a great influence. I realized that I couldn’t get upset about being behind in college because I had some real life experiences to show for it. I knew it was time to buckle down and finish my college career because you never know how long you have before your next deployment. As it turned out I got few more terms completed before I found out that I would be sent oversees again, this time to Africa as part of a peacekeeping defense force. So I again dropped out of school. This time however I decided to take a leap of faith before I left. I asked my now wife to marry me, she said yes. We eloped right before I departed for North Carolina for training. As it turned out I had a streak of good luck. She had said yes, and now I was being sent home from North Carolina because I didn’t have enough time left on my six year contract to send me to Africa for a year. I was able to come home to my wife. Over the next six months they kept me at Fort Lewis to help with training and we were able to save enough money to move to a great apartment in downtown Tacoma.

            When I was younger I was never that interested in school. Now I am out of the Marine Corps and I have a beautiful wife and a great apartment. I have seen different parts of the world and experienced a lot of things for someone my age. Over these last six years I have grown a lot as a person. I have never wanted to go to school so bad in my life. I want to graduate and make something of myself. I want to prove I can do it. I want to show that these last few years have been great for me and haven’t been wasted. I want to show everyone what I can do. This is my attitude now.