Hello All.
Well here is my dodge ball story from the other day:
We were all playing dodge ball as a class basically like 20 on 20 dodge ball on 1 tennis court so we were jammed in there pretty good. Well being the competitor that I am, I'm going all out, throwing the ball as hard as I can. Well it was down to like maybe 5 or 6 guys on my team and 2 people on the other team 1 guy 1 girl. Well I thought enough was enough, so I grabbed a ball, ran at full speed from the back of the court, wound up and threw the ball as hard as I could at the girl. Well the ball was going for her straight on to probably right around the shoulders, well she ducked into the ball, it hit her in the side of the head, her glasses went flying and she went down in tears, well I just felt like the biggest jerk in all of the land, so I ran over to see if she was ok, because after that display the game was over she got up and shook it off. She was really cool about it though, saying that she ducked into the ball and wasn't mad so that was good, and as a gesture of good sportsmanship I bought her a 12 pack of her favorite pop. Well needless to say that from now on I will cool it when it comes to sports here in the Navy. Now by the way my whole class calls me the lady killer, and to update the score Jason - 2 and Ladies of class 0612B - 0 (Remember I ran one over while playing basketball a couple of weeks ago that also resulted in the end of that game).
Well on a more positive note, during my time in DEP (Delayed Entry Program) before joining the navy I had to write a paper on why I joined the Navy and I thought I would share it with you, so I hope you enjoy and would appreciate any feedback.
Although there has not been a draft in my lifetime, it was still a widely discussed topic growing up. Some people were adamant about being dodgers; I on the other hand never quite knew how I would react. I was never a ‘jump how high’ guy, I always questioned authority, and I really didn’t think that I was cut out for the armed forces. That all changed on September 11th, how could some maniac, for no reason, kill thousands of innocent people. I finally understood. I called a talk radio show when the draft was the conversation, and proudly stated that I would gladly go to Afghanistan if I were drafted. I was asked why I didn’t enlist. It was because I held a promising job in the IT field for a Fortune 500 company. I worked with friends who were my age, and we had potential to become the future of the company. Things were looking good, I had everything I needed at this stage of my life; I was young, had a house, about to get engaged, plenty of room for career growth.
After the down turn in the economy, and a SEC investigation into accounting inaccuracies by my company, there were layoffs and the job outlook was bleak. 2 years later and I dreaded going to work, feeling my life was wasting away, and I had nothing more to learn. I have a poster that says “When your child asks you what you did at work today, are you proud of your answer?” My answer is no, I am not proud. I can bring so much more to the table. I need a challenge, to feel that I am making contributions. I don’t want to wait around, trying to find something that may be worth while, just to end up in the same position I’m in now.
I don’t know why I thought about the US Navy, but I’m glad I did. At first it was about what the Navy can do for me, about what opportunities will be available. What kind of life will I be able to provide my family? Once I qualified for the Navy Nuclear power program, I was sold. What could be more exciting than working on an Air Craft Carrier or a Submarine’s nuclear reactor? After talking with my wife I decided to go for it, and joined the United States Navy.
It was a very selfish decision at first. It was about being able to say that I work on a nuclear reactor, about being proud of the challenging nature of a job, about giving my family a better life, not about defending my country or giving the citizens of my country a better life. It wasn’t until everybody asked me why I did it, why I would give up my house, my career, my family, that I realized that it’s more than those selfish reasons, it’s about doing my duty for my country. A country that gives me an opportunity to make something of myself, a country that gives me the freedom of speech and religion, a country that gives me life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, a country that is the best in the world.
-Jason
We were all playing dodge ball as a class basically like 20 on 20 dodge ball on 1 tennis court so we were jammed in there pretty good. Well being the competitor that I am, I'm going all out, throwing the ball as hard as I can. Well it was down to like maybe 5 or 6 guys on my team and 2 people on the other team 1 guy 1 girl. Well I thought enough was enough, so I grabbed a ball, ran at full speed from the back of the court, wound up and threw the ball as hard as I could at the girl. Well the ball was going for her straight on to probably right around the shoulders, well she ducked into the ball, it hit her in the side of the head, her glasses went flying and she went down in tears, well I just felt like the biggest jerk in all of the land, so I ran over to see if she was ok, because after that display the game was over she got up and shook it off. She was really cool about it though, saying that she ducked into the ball and wasn't mad so that was good, and as a gesture of good sportsmanship I bought her a 12 pack of her favorite pop. Well needless to say that from now on I will cool it when it comes to sports here in the Navy. Now by the way my whole class calls me the lady killer, and to update the score Jason - 2 and Ladies of class 0612B - 0 (Remember I ran one over while playing basketball a couple of weeks ago that also resulted in the end of that game).
Well on a more positive note, during my time in DEP (Delayed Entry Program) before joining the navy I had to write a paper on why I joined the Navy and I thought I would share it with you, so I hope you enjoy and would appreciate any feedback.
Although there has not been a draft in my lifetime, it was still a widely discussed topic growing up. Some people were adamant about being dodgers; I on the other hand never quite knew how I would react. I was never a ‘jump how high’ guy, I always questioned authority, and I really didn’t think that I was cut out for the armed forces. That all changed on September 11th, how could some maniac, for no reason, kill thousands of innocent people. I finally understood. I called a talk radio show when the draft was the conversation, and proudly stated that I would gladly go to Afghanistan if I were drafted. I was asked why I didn’t enlist. It was because I held a promising job in the IT field for a Fortune 500 company. I worked with friends who were my age, and we had potential to become the future of the company. Things were looking good, I had everything I needed at this stage of my life; I was young, had a house, about to get engaged, plenty of room for career growth.
After the down turn in the economy, and a SEC investigation into accounting inaccuracies by my company, there were layoffs and the job outlook was bleak. 2 years later and I dreaded going to work, feeling my life was wasting away, and I had nothing more to learn. I have a poster that says “When your child asks you what you did at work today, are you proud of your answer?” My answer is no, I am not proud. I can bring so much more to the table. I need a challenge, to feel that I am making contributions. I don’t want to wait around, trying to find something that may be worth while, just to end up in the same position I’m in now.
I don’t know why I thought about the US Navy, but I’m glad I did. At first it was about what the Navy can do for me, about what opportunities will be available. What kind of life will I be able to provide my family? Once I qualified for the Navy Nuclear power program, I was sold. What could be more exciting than working on an Air Craft Carrier or a Submarine’s nuclear reactor? After talking with my wife I decided to go for it, and joined the United States Navy.
It was a very selfish decision at first. It was about being able to say that I work on a nuclear reactor, about being proud of the challenging nature of a job, about giving my family a better life, not about defending my country or giving the citizens of my country a better life. It wasn’t until everybody asked me why I did it, why I would give up my house, my career, my family, that I realized that it’s more than those selfish reasons, it’s about doing my duty for my country. A country that gives me an opportunity to make something of myself, a country that gives me the freedom of speech and religion, a country that gives me life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, a country that is the best in the world.
-Jason
posted by Jason at 2/09/2006 09:31:00 PM
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