College wasn't right for me, so I joined the Marines. I was able to travel and avoid student loan debt.
I decided to join the Marines because I wanted to travel and didn't want to wait four years.
The Marines inspired me to be the person I am today, and it was the best option for me.
Growing up in Memphis meant choosing between limited paths. If you were tall and skinny, you played basketball. Short and husky meant football. I loved soccer, but was talked out of it early. I tried basketball, but I never made the teams. I also tried my hand at rap, but I knew it would never pay the bills.
Only two options were left for me: go to college or join the military.
College was the default option, but I never planned for it. I also didn't want to wait four years to make money.
When I took a step back, I realized all I wanted to do was travel and work. I asked myself: Why go to college when the military would let me do exactly that right now?
I spent months researching the military
The military offered adventure that college couldn't provide. The military appealed to me in ways college couldn't. I wanted structure and adventure, to serve something bigger while needing financial stability. College couldn't provide the experiences I craved.
I wanted to ride helicopters, drive military trucks, and shoot machine guns. I wanted to live like an action star. The military would pay for education while providing immediate income. College meant student loan debt while waiting four years.
When I finally decided on the military, I had to face the difficult choice of deciding which branch was right for me.
I created pro and con charts, analyzing myself first and then each of the military branches. I also interviewed recruiters, veterans, and retirees.
My decision narrowed down to the Marines or the Army. Unable to decide, I prayed for guidance.
That night, I dreamed of myself wearing the blue uniforms, marching with a rifle. When I woke up, I had my answer. The dream told me I was already a Marine.
Joining the military was one of the best decisions of my life
People in my life tried to dissuade me from joining the Marines, worried I'd be sent to the front lines.
But joining gave me the leg up I needed in life and let me live my childhood dreams. I got to be G.I. Joe in the real world.
The military introduced me to incredible people and changed my outlook on many things. For example, I didn't like kids before joining, but the service opened me up to them.
The Marines also helped me realize that my true dreams lay in travel. I would've never learned that if I stayed in the US on a college campus.
I'd planned to do 20 years, but I departed early because I wanted to pursue a nomadic lifestyle.
The military taught me I'm in control of my own life
Thanks to the military, I have no student loan debt, so I'm free financially.
With patience, initiative, and education, you can make anything happen. I had glimpses of this before the military, but service molded these traits in me.
My decision to join the military instead of attending college allowed me to become someone I never could have imagined.
It gave me the confidence to handle whatever life throws at me and showed me that the path that scares everyone else is often the path you're meant to take.
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San Francisco Chronicle
a day ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
A Mississippi monkey sanctuary helps veterans with PTSD find peace
PERKINSTON, Miss. (AP) — In the embrace of a cheerfully chittering spider monkey named Louie, an Army veteran who grappled for decades with post-traumatic stress disorder says he finally feels at peace. 'Being out here has brought a lot of faith back to me,' said John Richard. 'There's no feeling like it.' The bond began last fall when Richard was helping two married veterans set up the Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary, volunteering his time to build the enclosure that's now Louie's home in rural southeast Mississippi. During a recent visit, Louie quickly scampered up Richard's body, wrapping his arms and tail around him in a sort of hug. Richard, in turn, placed his hand on the primate's back and whispered sweetly until Louie disentangled himself and swung away. 'He's making his little sounds in my ear, and you know, he's always telling you, 'Oh, I love you,'' Richard said. ''I know you're OK. I know you're not going to hurt me.'' Richard said his connection with Louie helped more than any other PTSD treatment he received since being diagnosed more than 20 years ago. It's a similar story for the sanctuary's founder, April Stewart, an Air Force veteran who said she developed PTSD as a result of military sexual trauma. 'It was destroying my life. It was like a cancer,' she said. 'It was a trauma that was never properly healed.' Stewart's love of animals was a way to cope. She didn't necessarily set out to create a place of healing for veterans with PTSD, but that's what the sanctuary has become for some volunteers. 'By helping the primates learning to trust, we're also reteaching ourselves how to trust, and we're giving ourselves grace with people,' she said. Her 15-acre property, nestled amid woods and farmland, is filled with rescue dogs, two rather noisy geese and a black cat. It's also now home to three spider monkeys, two squirrel monkeys and two kinkajous, a tropical mammal that is closely related to raccoons. The sanctuary in the town of Perkinston, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) due north of the Gulf coast, includes three large enclosures for the different species. Each has a smaller, air-conditioned area and a large fenced-in outdoor zone, where the primates swing from platforms and lounge in the sun. Checking on the animals — changing their blankets, bringing food and water — is one of the first and last things Stewart does each day. However, she can't do it alone. She relies on a group of volunteers for help, including several other veterans, and hopes to open the sanctuary to the public next summer for guided educational tours. Stewart and her husband, also a veteran, decided to open the sanctuary in October after first rescuing and rehoming monkeys. With the help of two exotic-animal veterinarians, they formed a foundation that governs the sanctuary — which she said is the only primate sanctuary in Mississippi licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture — and ensures the animals will be cared for even when the Stewarts are no longer able to run it themselves. All the animals were once somebody's pet, but their owners eventually couldn't take care of them. Stewart stressed that primates do not make good or easy pets. They need lots of space and socialization, which is often difficult for families to provide. The sanctuary's goal is to provide as natural a habitat as possible for the animals, Stewart said, and bring them together with their own species. 'This is their family,' she said.
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College wasn't right for me, so I joined the Marines. I was able to travel and avoid student loan debt.
Growing up in Memphis, I felt like I had to choose between college and the military. I decided to join the Marines because I wanted to travel and didn't want to wait four years. The Marines inspired me to be the person I am today, and it was the best option for me. Growing up in Memphis meant choosing between limited paths. If you were tall and skinny, you played basketball. Short and husky meant football. I loved soccer, but was talked out of it early. I tried basketball, but I never made the teams. I also tried my hand at rap, but I knew it would never pay the bills. Only two options were left for me: go to college or join the military. College was the default option, but I never planned for it. I also didn't want to wait four years to make money. When I took a step back, I realized all I wanted to do was travel and work. I asked myself: Why go to college when the military would let me do exactly that right now? I spent months researching the military The military offered adventure that college couldn't provide. The military appealed to me in ways college couldn't. I wanted structure and adventure, to serve something bigger while needing financial stability. College couldn't provide the experiences I craved. I wanted to ride helicopters, drive military trucks, and shoot machine guns. I wanted to live like an action star. The military would pay for education while providing immediate income. College meant student loan debt while waiting four years. When I finally decided on the military, I had to face the difficult choice of deciding which branch was right for me. I created pro and con charts, analyzing myself first and then each of the military branches. I also interviewed recruiters, veterans, and retirees. My decision narrowed down to the Marines or the Army. Unable to decide, I prayed for guidance. That night, I dreamed of myself wearing the blue uniforms, marching with a rifle. When I woke up, I had my answer. The dream told me I was already a Marine. Joining the military was one of the best decisions of my life People in my life tried to dissuade me from joining the Marines, worried I'd be sent to the front lines. But joining gave me the leg up I needed in life and let me live my childhood dreams. I got to be G.I. Joe in the real world. The military introduced me to incredible people and changed my outlook on many things. For example, I didn't like kids before joining, but the service opened me up to them. The Marines also helped me realize that my true dreams lay in travel. I would've never learned that if I stayed in the US on a college campus. I'd planned to do 20 years, but I departed early because I wanted to pursue a nomadic lifestyle. The military taught me I'm in control of my own life Thanks to the military, I have no student loan debt, so I'm free financially. With patience, initiative, and education, you can make anything happen. I had glimpses of this before the military, but service molded these traits in me. My decision to join the military instead of attending college allowed me to become someone I never could have imagined. It gave me the confidence to handle whatever life throws at me and showed me that the path that scares everyone else is often the path you're meant to take.
