Blog#6

The value of a college education is important for many reasons.  For me, the value of a college education means being self-reliant and being able to provide for my children in turn giving them a better life.  To other people college is important in order work in a field that they are passionate about, or working toward living the American dream. 

Not everyone should attend college; college is not for everyone.  Some people choose to take a different path and that is okay, though it may be more difficult to be successful.  A person needs to be ready for college when they decide that that is the path they want to take.  They need to know that going to college is what they really want, keep their eye on the big picture, and be prepared to stick it out when the going gets tough.

A liberal arts education should certainly be a part of all higher education.  Liberal arts such as communication, and writing are used in almost every career and everyday life. Therefore it is important to know how to write and communicate well if being successful in a career is desired. 

College is way too expensive for most Americans.  I do not know the exact reasons why, that is a good question.  I think the government takes advantage of students going to college.  Though college is expensive, there are many resources to help lighten the costs that come with continuing education. 

I have never been the school type.  I have never enjoyed it, never been good at it, and it never has come easy to me.  However, going to college and getting a degree means the world to me, it is something that I want very badly.  Getting a degree is the difference between being stuck where I am now, being codependent on others, and being independent and not needing assistance from anyone.  I want to show my children that I am a hard worker and be someone that they should look up to.  I love my children very much and if going to school could give them a better life, I will do it and I will do it well.  

Blog #5           A Cultural Event

When I was 17 I joined the National Guard, shortly after I enlisted I was sent to Fort Jackson, South Carolina to attend basic training.  I remember being on a big bus full of people of all different races and religions.  I had never seen so many different kinds of people before.

Being from Helena, Montana I was not used to such different people.  People who were not white or Native American stuck out like a sore thumb in Helena.  I had always thought people with tan skin tone that spoke Spanish as their first language were without a doubt from Mexico.  On the bus I think I accidentally offended a girl who fit that description because I assumed that she was from Mexico and she was actually from Guatemala. 

 I had never been around many black people, my friend Jamie (who I graduated with) was black, but there was nothing really different about her.  I do not recall ever meeting an Asian, Middle Easterner, or really anyone else from the million races in the world.  I had realized that I was in fact sheltered, and that the culture shock was about to be a rude awakening.

I stepped off of the bus to all of these drill sergeants yelling “toe the line privates!” All of the Drill Sergeant’s looked different but not one of them was white. As these angry people were yelling at me and everyone else I heard many different accents.

 It wasn't long after I stood on the line that I had a short tan skinned male drill sergeant and a big black female drill sergeant screaming in my face.  The drill sergeants immediately made us get into the push up position while yelling “you don’t know what you got your selves into” and “you’re going to wish that you were never born, your mine now!”

They made us do many different exercises, keeping their promises to make us wish that we had never been born.  My heart was pounding and I wanted to cry, I was scared. 

That was my first experience with others outside of my own race and honestly I was not too thrilled.  I had wondered how someone could be so mean and if they were always this mean. I was wondering what I had gotten myself into and wanted to turn right around and head back to my sheltered little town in Montana.

The weeks passed buy in this hell that I had for some reason signed up for, but mid-way I had started to adapt.  I made a few friends of all different races and all indeed different values and upbringings than I.  We were all each other had and we had to stick together and make it through.  I soon realized that it wasn't the race that made someone mean, it was the title of Drill Sergeant.

I have met many wonderful people throughout my career in the Guard and going to different training in different states.  I am friends with a lot of them on Facebook and keep in touch with a few of them regularly.  I am happy to have had this experience even though I would not do it again even if someone paid me. 

Blog #4 A Current Event

Methamphetamine is an extremely dangerous and addicting drug that affects many communities throughout the United States and is an issue among the teen community as well.  Meth does not only affect the user but also affects innocent people, including children because of the paranoia affect it has on its user and unsafe environment in which Meth is made.  Statistics show that 13 million people in the United States are regular methamphetamine users and 4.5% of high school seniors have admitted to using meth at least once.

Meth is not a new drug; it was created in Japan in the 1900s.  The usage of the powerful drug became heavily used during WWII to keep soldiers awake longer to complete their missions.  Not long after, the drug became available to the public and was used as a prescription to fight illnesses such as depression.  Soon after, the drug was used by athletes and college students for the same reason it had been used in WWII by the Japanese.   The United States eventually made Meth illegal and is presently available all over the country mostly due to Mexican drug cartels smuggling it into the United States.

            Methamphetamine use and addiction needs to be stopped and children of our society should never come in contact with meth let alone become users.  Although there are some great programs for methamphetamine awareness and the number of users has significantly dropped over the past few years, there is still room for improvement.  The best fight against the war on drugs is education, and it should be mandatory that children learn about drugs, meth in particular, in school.  By learning what is going into their bodies, and learning how to say no when peer pressured, the number of high school meth users will drop.  In high school I was an active participant in an organization called the Montana Meth Project. The Montana Meth Project has done a tremendous job of getting the message across to teens by television, radio, billboards, newspaper, and the Internet.  The organization does a great job of getting teens involved in the movement. The Montana Meth Project is the largest advertiser in Montana and their messages reach 70-90% of teens 3-5 times per week.  In 2005 Montana ranked number 5 in the nation for meth use.  Since their campaign launched, meth use declined 67% among the teen population.  If every community did what the Montana Meth Project does there would be hardly any teens abusing this dangerous drug.

Post 3: My Favorite Activity

My favorite activity by far is spending time with my kids.  With that being said, my favorite activity to do with my children is taking them camping, hiking, and fishing.  In the summer I like to get my whole family together, go to a remote location, Throw my small children in my hiking pack or jogging stroller and go catch some fish. My favorite place to go has always been up Dog Creek, maybe because that is where I caught my first fish as a young girl.  My family has a small cabin up there and the view is so breath taking, I remember spending a lot of time there when I was young and I want my children to have the same fond memories as me.   I have not had a chance to share these adventures with my son who is only 6 months old but I cannot wait to bring him along when it gets a little warmer outside.

I have taken both of my children fishing and I love seeing the look of pure joy and excitement when we catch a fish.  My daughter thinks fish are the most amazing creatures, she points and says “sheeee momma sheee!” (Which is how she says fishy.)

Last summer I lived in California and I would put my daughter in her pack and take her for hikes around our house or walks on the beach.  She loved, and still loves being out side on my back and being outside.  I used my hiking pack while I was pregnant with my son too.  I remember the sadness the day I tried to clip the waist strap on, and it wouldn’t fit because my belly was too big.

Being outdoors and enjoying my children are hobbies that my parents shared with me, and that I share with my children.  I hope that my children one day share these experiences with their children as well. 

Post #2

• ·         Boot Camp
• ·         Advanced Individual Training
• ·         My Wedding Day
• ·         Giving Birth to My Children
• ·         Driving From Montana to Washington D.C.
• ·         Living in Washington D.C.
• ·         Living on Camp Pendleton
• ·         Driving Down the Coast of California to Mexico
• ·         Saying Goodbye to My Uncle Roger
• ·         My husband and I’s story

I have many great memories but the one that I am going to write about is how I met and married my husband.   

I was 16 years old and still trying to find myself, I had tried all sorts of activities from choir to track and field.  My sophomore year of high school I was a cheerleader and also a part of a club called Skills USA.  Skills USA is a club for students interested in a vocational field.  The club was made up of aspiring carpenters, mechanics, welders, and machinists; every year students from the club would compete to see who the best was, the winners from the school competition went on to compete at the state competition that was held in Havre every year.   I was a welder, a goofy kid named Brandon, who was in the auto body contest, and a handful of others were chosen to compete at state that year.  

Brandon caught my eye right away, I was so amazed by his outgoing personality and his ability to make everyone laugh, and he also had a little rebellious side that I did not mind.  The whole weekend we were away we flirted by childishly making fun of each other and awkward eye contact.  I was heartbroken the day our trip was over I knew I would probably not see him much once we got back home.  Brandon was a senior, two years older than I, and we did not have any classes together.    I figured he would probably forget all about me and our little “romance” was at its end.

The night we got home from our competition, my phone wrung and it was Brandon on the other line my heart dropped to my stomach, and you bet I was smiling from ear to ear.  We ended up talking for hours and at the very end of our conversation he worked up the courage to ask me to prom, of course I said yes, and that is where our story began.  We were inseparable from that point on and spent the whole summer together.  I have never had so much fun in my life, causing all sorts of mischief (innocent of course).

Brandon had ended up winning a full ride scholarship to Wyo-tech, one of the best automotive colleges in the country, by winning first place at the competition we had been at.  That dreadful day came that we had to say goodbye and go our separate ways.  He went off to experience college life and I still had two more years of high school left, and I had never been so depressed in my life.  Brandon was my first love and I did not know what I was going to do without his presence.  My mom tried making me feel better by saying “if it is meant to be, it will happen” meaning if Brandon and I were meant to be together forever it would happen on its own.  I was convinced that he was “the one” and that I would in fact marry him someday. 

At first we talked often, but as time will have it, over the months we gradually talked less and less.  I never forgot about him though and we never stopped talking completely.

After I graduated high school, I joined the National Guard.  I had completed my basic training in South Carolina and then I had to attend advanced individual training which was in Maryland.  I had heard that Brandon had also joined the military after he finished college, except he decided to join the Marine Corps and go active duty. 

I had not been at my AIT in Maryland long before I received an out of the blue phone call from Brandon.  I told him where I was for training, and he was shocked when he found out that he was only stationed about an hour from where I was.  I told him that he should come see me one weekend, and he did.  We ended up having such a great day together, reminiscing about old times and what we both had been up to in the meantime. He had me twitter pated yet again. 

Once again, it was time to say our goodbyes and I had felt that horrible feeling of my heart dropping into my stomach.  I got into my cab and went back to base and he got in his car and went back to Washington D.C. to his base. 

From that day on we talked every single day.  I eventually graduated from training and came back home and Brandon still had years left in Washington D.C.  I wished that I didn't love him and I hated that he had such a huge effect on me.  I thought that there is no way this long distance relationship would work and thought about stopping our conversations.  Then of course, Brandon decided that he would come back for Thanks Giving for two weeks and requested that I spend the whole time with him.  I did as he asked and had yet another wonderful time, I had met his whole family and they were so warm and loving.  I was falling deeper and deeper.

The next thing I know I am packing up all of my belongings into my little VW beetle and moving across the country to be with my first love, my high school sweetheart. On August 25, 2012 I did marry Brandon, my mother was right, “ If something is meant to be, it will happen.”  

Post 1

Big Fish

Big Fish is an exciting movie about a father telling tall tales to his son about his life.  Some of the stories include a big fish who stole his wedding ring, an old witch who has a glass eye that when looked into shows how a person will die, a giant, and a perfect town that no one ever left.  The son enjoys hearing about his father’s stories as a young boy but eventually grows tired of them.  As the son grows older, he and his father quit talking because he feels as if he does not know any real facts about his father.  In the end, his father is on his death bed and all he wants is for his son to make up a tall tale of how he passes.  This film is truly inspirational and connects to many important values in life such as family tradition, love, and the outlook on life.

Since having children of my own, I have noticed myself exaggerating my voice and body language when talking to them.  In a small way, I feel like my children see me in the same light as the young son saw his father.  The father said, “A man tells his stories so many times that he becomes the stories. They live on after him. And in that way, he becomes immortal.”  If only I was able to see my life events in such a manner, how fascinating would that be? To become immortal, in a sense, to the people I love most in life.

I love reading short stories, poems, and quotes and thinking about how they relate to me or my life.  Sometimes I will find one that is so impressionable I get goose bumps and almost feel as if the author wrote it for me. This film is chock-full of inspirational sayings and puns that I absolutely enjoyed and, therefore, may have also influenced why this film was so powerful.