-
Second Chances
October 4, 2010
Over the past week I have been wondering what to talk about… well, lets talk about chances- second chances. I am an MS 4 finishing my senior, and fifth, year of college- a fact that I am thankful for.
To keep the back story short I will tell you that three days after graduating High School my father turned his back on me and kicked me to the streets in the summer of 2006, where I proceeded to live for the entirety of the summer- an experience I have tried to forget; little is more demeaning to a mans self-worth than eating out of a dumpster and sleeping in a homeless shelter that was fraught with rape, assault, battery, in an area that was no stranger to the occasional stabbing. Determined to get out of the shelter I found a job working construction- with the goal of moving into an apartment before school started at the University of Southern Maine, where I had already enrolled full time and paid from my own pocket.
I moved into an apartment in Standish Maine, but kept my 70-hour a week construction job so I could afford a roof over my head- and keep food in my belly. But with taking two days off a week for school I could barely make a grocery bill of 20$ a week. I soon gave priority to my job over school, often skipping classes in favor of getting extra hours at work. I often described myself as always making my rent, but having to get extra hours for the internet bill I needed for class, which I never attended because I was too busy earning the money to pay the bill- Catch-22 taken to an extreme.
I also spent my Freshman year a surrogate parent for my roommates five year old son- my roommate who collected his state welfare every week, spent it all on narcotics and was never in a condition to be a parent. School became something I did when I could spare, not something I was dedicated to. At the end of my Freshman year at USM, I nearly flunked out- and was faced with a choice- to stay in Maine with my friends, everyone I knew, the closest thing I had to a “home”- or move in with my mom in New Hampshire, and give school a second shot. I chose the latter, and barely got accepted to the University of New Hampshire, Manchester, on a provisional Associates program- transferring with a 1.6 GPA from the classes I did pass at USM.
But I still had to find a way to pay for college. I had saved, begged, and borrowed enough for one semester of college- which I enrolled in, and enrolled in Air Force ROTC, in hopes of earning a scholarship, and fulfilling a life long dream of being a military officer like my parents. After another year I was dis-enrolled from the Air Force program, for medical reasons- and right next to the Air Force ROTC office, was the Army. I walked out one door, and entered another. I considered it a long-shot, and was ready to give up on college all together due to financial reasons.
To my surprise, not only had Army ROTC run my DODMERB file through and cleared me, but their scholarship officer was waiting for me to enter- offering me a full scholarship. I didn’t really think myself Army material at the time, but I signed anyway for the college. That was the day my past was erased- the day I was born again.
Army ROTC, and the promise of a commission as an Army officer became Me- it became how I described myself, how I looked at myself- not as a college student, but a future Officer in the U.S Army. It became my reason to wake up, my reason to work hard in school, my reason to be- and getting that Gold Bar became my purpose in life. Signing that scholarship, and raising my right hand and swearing an oath was the second chance I had hoped to get the moment I crossed the Piscataqua River bridge from Maine to New Hampshire.
If the Army had not offered me the chance to go to college, the chance to fulfill my dream of being a military officer I would not be in school right now. I would have a good GPA, andI would not be able to make the future I want for myself.
Thank You, Army ROTC, for giving me the chance to make something of myself.submitted by Cadet Charles Pearson on Oct 4 2010
Comments
-
Lt. Pearson- Congratulations. By now you have graduated into the ranks of Army Officers.
Your story is most inspiring; I came across it by chance, but I am certainly glad I did. Life is filled with spots of darkness, however light is never very far away. Once again, congratulations I hope life serves you well.
Reply
YWright
Feb 24, 2012 1:12 PM