I am a senior in college and will be graduating spring this year, it is incredibly nerve-racking for me to imagine what I will encounter in the "real world" when I do graduate. However, I already understand what it means to work and how hard it is to make ends meet. I work nearly 40 hours a week as a cook making minimum wage and I am also a full time student; it is difficult to live from paycheck to paycheck. I do this to earn as much money as I can so that I can pay for my necessities and not depend on student loans or my parents to pay for everything. I am proud of what I do but I know I would not be able to have gone to school without my parents' help, and for that I am eternally grateful. My parents raised me to be a strong, smart and independent thinking man; they gave me freedom where I deserved it and intervened when necessary. I know that they did their absolute best and personally I couldn't have asked for anything better. Thank you Mom and Dad.
I grew up in a small rural town and I learned what it really means to live; as a small child I was able to roam my back yard and catch frogs and snakes, play in the mud, climb trees and even get hurt sometimes...earn those scars. But children today don't do that - they don't go out and appreciate what God has given us here on Earth - they sit in front of the TV or the computer and waste away. I know from my own personal experience that video games are awesome, and I do not claim that they are bad, but I do think that it is absolutely necessary for children at a young age to get out and enjoy life, figure things out for themselves and not depend so much on others. Sure, not everyone is blessed to have a backyard that they can explore, I understand that, but I argue that that is why our Government set aside so many parks and recreation areas. Go there and enjoy them! They are yours to enjoy and I know your kids will love it if they were allowed to run around a small creek and flip over rocks to see what they can find, I sure did.
Now I am not just writing to whine about kids needing to go outside and have fun, I promise. As I grew older the outdoors become more than just a playground, they become something I wanted to understand and wanted to enjoy more thoroughly. So I joined the Boy Scouts of America (Which, by the way, was one of the best decisions of my life.) I joined a small Cub Scout Troop and made a few close friends, some that I knew from school and some new ones. This troop then led me to a Boy Scout Troop in my local township and when my patrol joined we nearly doubled the size of the Troop. It was a very small close knit group to say the least. I believe that I was blessed by this, within my patrol I recognized something very special; I made a few very close friends, most of which I still consider close friends today, on top of that was the leadership. My Dad and my friends Dads were the cornerstone to my Boy Scouting experience. They took that small Troop with little direction and turned it into one of the leading Troops in the State! We were all so proud to be Scouts, we won ribbons and medals, we helped people with volunteer projects and we were all incredibly resourceful. We learned how to live off the land, we learned everything from how to identify flora and fauna, to how to build a fire when it was raining. We canoed, camped, hiked, sailed, caved and climbed, shot guns and bows. It was everything a boy could have asked for. At least back then that was what boys wanted to do. We never brought electronic devices to camp, I never even had a cell phone until I was a sophomore in high school and even then I was only able to call my parents and home phone from it because that was why I had it. But that is beside the point. Scouting was a huge factor in the shaping of my life. I lived by and still live by the Scout Law and Oath. To this day I am grateful to my Dad and the other leaders of my Troop, without them I would have never experienced America and Scouting the way I did. Without them, I would not be an Eagle Scout! Thank you so much!
Scouting was just the beginning though, I learned how to live from Scouting, how to enjoy and love nature. High school taught me to stand up for myself and be a man.When I was a freshman I was a scrawny little guy with glasses, I was very shy and had never even imagined talking to a girl. That all changed when I joined the wrestling team. I had been playing sports my entire life, baseball, basketball, soccer, you name it. Wrestling was not like any other sport I had ever done, and I am not talking about the whole rolling around with another guy on a mat, wrestling put me up against another guy who weighed the same as I did and said, "Who is the better, stronger man?" Winner takes all kind of thing, there was no place for losers. You can say that you tried, or whatever, but at the end of the third period the winner was very clear, unless the match ended before that of course. I do not claim to be an amazing wrestler but I sure learned how to be my own person from the sport. My coaches during my high school wrestling seasons dominated my life, they taught me how to wrestle, they whipped my butt into shape...the best shape I have ever been in, too...They were very important to how I managed and lived my life. They taught me a different kind of respect from what I learned in scouting or from my parents, a respect that is only learned in wrestling. When you bust your ass every day with a select group of guys and they all know that you are the leader of the team you learn a certain respect, whether you are that leader or not. I was that person my senior year in high school; it was by far the most influential sports season of my entire life. You may win something on a team and feel accomplished, but when you win something on your own...man does that feel good. I tell you what, when you pin a guy in a wrestling match it gives you a high that you will never be able to copy...ever. Wrestling showed me a side of myself that I never knew existed, I found out that I had a fire inside me that burned through the toughest of times and I know it still burns today especially in these tough times. Wrestling was one of the most important experiences of my life, without it I would never have become the man I am today...I appreciate everything all my coaches and assistant coaches did to help me along...Thank you.
I graduated high school with a lot of things under my belt, Eagle Scout, athlete, leader, student all that nonsense. What lay ahead of me was something new..something I had never imagined too be so different. College. Everyone says how much they loved college and how awesome it was, or how fun it was. They never tell you what they learned the most from college. You see, college has taught me how to manage my personal life as well as my professional life. Being a student and a working person is not easy by any means and if you add a girlfriend into the mix it sure makes it difficult. I find myself sleeping whenever I have the chance. I work as a cook at a small bar and grill and up until recently I have merely been a cook. I was just promoted to assistant manager, a well-deserved promotion in my book; I worked my ass off every day I was at the restaurant and sometimes I would have to bring a change of clothes to class just so I could go directly to work afterward. I trained almost every other cook that is employed there, and my manager tells me every time I work with him how happy he is that I work for the restaurant. According to him, I am worth at least three cooks; little does he know that in reality he is the only reason I still work there. The guy is awesome - he treats all the other cooks as they should be treated, and he gives everyone their fair shot. He is the reason I got the promotion. On top of the stress I deal with while working, I attend class everyday, some classes are very interesting and some not so much. I think my least favorite part about college is some of the professors. There are professors here that are so liberal and so outspoken that it seems all I ever hear about in class is their political rhetoric. They make jokes about conservative people to make points in class, they bash people like Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh because they believe that BS the media feeds them. I find it very unfortunate that many of the students in these classes are not strong enough to realize what is happening. They fall right into the trap these teachers lay out for them. It is almost as if they are brainwashed. I could go into details about every one of these teachers but I am sure this post is already long enough. My final influence here at college has been my beloved girl friend. She cares for me so much and treats me so well, it sure makes me happy to know there are good people out there. I don't want this to seem like some kind of mushy gushy love letter to her because she deserves every praise I give to her. She helps me manage my time between work and class, helps me with my homework when I need it, lets me sleep when I need it, which is awesome by the way! When I am stressed out at work she shows up and gives me a hug or drops off some coffee or other drink that I like. The girl is a Godsend if you ask me! I am blessed to have her. College sure would not have been the same without these people in my life, I am very lucky.
I hope that you enjoyed my story, it is very long I know but I wrote it as best I could. Each of the people I talk about are my heroes, they make up who I am and without them I would not be where I am at today. I know that everyone has someone they can appreciate, someone who has helped them out and those are the heroes who make this country great. America is in a time of need, a time of hardship and troubles, this is her time to shine. Let all the heroes of this country stand up and defend her here today! What our country stands for is to great to just give up. I was born in the USA and I sure as hell plan on dying here, no one or no thing will take my country from me! God Bless the United States of America!
Thank you
Phil
