I left off around the time I graduated from high school in my first post, and now I'm ready to continue. I actually started taking college courses my senior year of high school. I continued in college that summer with a dual attendance to Sandhills Community College and Fayetteville State University at Ft. Bragg location. I worked by butt off. I was exhausted by the end of the summer. I was being pushed hard by my dad. I was scheduled to go to the University of NC at Greensboro in the Fall.
My dad had no plans of helping me afford college. It was his belief that everything could be covered by financial aid. It wasn't. I moved in to on-campus housing at UNCG, and it wasn't long before I found out I had a balance due on my account. It had to get paid or I would be kicked out of school. Knowing my dad wasn't going to have a way to pay for it, I called my mom and asked for help. She applied for parental financial aid for me, so I could continue my freshman year.
I moved out of my dad's house with no warning at the end of my summer classes. I could not live there anymore. It was pure madness in that house. My boyfriend at the time, who was more than 10 years my senior, dropped me off at my mom's house. I stayed there for the couple of weeks until it was time to go to Greensboro. My step-grandparents loaned me a vehicle so I could drive to school. My first semester was horrible. I found out I was pregnant, and knew I couldn't keep a baby. I don't remember how I had the money, but I drove myself to Raleigh to have an abortion. Because it was far along, I could not take the pill, I had to have the surgical removal. I spent all day there, and drove myself back home. I wasn't supposed to be driving. My relationship with my boyfriend at the time had become abusive, and I didn't want to be attached to him for the rest of my life. I was only 18.
I tried to continue classes, but I was beyond depressed. I was grieving for my first pregnancy. I was grieving for the loss of a baby. I was grieving for my relationship that I had to leave. Eventually, though, I was able to complete the year. I decided to stay in Greensboro for the summer, even though I wouldn't be taking summer classes. I found a job working at a newly built Don Pablo's Mexican restaurant. I rented a room in an old house close to campus, and had 2 roommates I shared common areas with. One of my roommates I knew from living in the dorm. She lived a few doors down from my dorm room. She was going to work at an Italian restaurant for the summer. We would go out to the dance clubs on the weekends together, and stop at the Food Lion on the way home for black cherry ice cream and milk to make milkshakes. We were too young to drink, but boy were we hot and thirsty! We would dance for hours, and stay until the club closed.
I met my next boyfriend at the club. He gave me his number, and I eventually called him. That was the beginning to the longest relationship I have had to date. I wasn't going to be able to afford to go to college in the Fall. Financial aid just wasn't enough to cover all the expenses. I eventually moved in with my boyfriend, Nigel. He was born in Liberia, and his family moved to the United States fleeing from political uprising. He was very sweet and a gentleman. Looking back, I don't know why he was after me, he was also 10 years my senior. I was only 19.
My dad hated him from the first time he met him. He claimed that I was going to get AIDS and all kinds of madness. Nigel and I went through a lot together. We supported each other through our hard times. I felt like I had no where to go. Without him, I was homeless. I had no credit, no job, no higher education, no way to survive on my own. We shared years together.
In 2006, my brother, Mathew enlisted in the Army. I went to his basic training graduation with my "parents." I saw what he had become, and I was impressed. I was more than impressed, I was inspired. After returning home from Ft. Benning, GA, I decided to call his recruiter. We worked up a plan to get me started. He was based in Sanford, and I was living in Greensboro. I started exercising and tying to lose weight. I started preparing for the ASVAB. I went to MEPS and did what I thought was "ok" on the ASVAB. Sgt.McCord was thrilled! Hahahaha! I kept trying to train and watching what I was eating. It wasn't long before I was in-processing at MEPS in Raleigh, and signing my first enlistment contract. I was going to be a healthcare specialist in the U.S. Army. My dad wanted me to choose the Air Force or Navy, but I wanted to stick to what I knew.
Nigel was worried about me leaving. We agreed that we could get married and both join the military, and we would be placed together. So... before I left for basic training, we went to the courthouse and got married. What a mistake that was! I left for Ft. Leonard Wood, MO in August, 2006. That's where my dad went to basic training too. It was Hell on my body. I ended up with stress fractures in my hips and femurs, and on crutches for 6 weeks, about 1 week before graduation. I became a "holdover." Nigel was lost without me. Every week, I had 5 minutes of time on my cell phone on Sunday. He would cry and tell me I needed to quit. I couldn't take it, so I stopped calling him, and started calling my dad instead. I needed hope. I couldn't quit, I just couldn't. I had already gotten so far, and worked so hard. This was just the first training, I hadn't even gotten to my job training yet, or done my job! I outgrew Nigel very quickly being on my own. He began accusing me of cheating on him.
I was in basic training for 2 whole cycles of training. My dad likes to say I am the best trained soldier in the Army. I had to go to physical therapy. While I was there, one of my teeth got infected. I went to the dentist and they scheduled me in for surgery right away. The dentist asked me if I wanted my wisdom teeth removed at the same time (all of them) because one of them was the reason for the infection. My mouth was just too small to accommodate more teeth. Sure. So I had all 4 wisdom teeth removed at the same time, and was put on bedrest for a few days. Do you know what it's like to be on bedrest in basic training? Awful! You never know who is going to yell at you for doing what the doctor ordered. Nerve-racking is what it was.
I shipped out from Ft. Leonard Wood in February, 2007 to Ft. Sam Houston for AIT (Advanced Individual Training). There I did my combat medic training, and also got put on profile for stress fractures again. Physical therapy and crutches for 6 weeks again. I was put on a permanent profile and given the option to choose a job from the Army's most needed list. I chose Unit Supply Specialist. I was put on crutches 2 weeks before graduation this time.
While I was in training, I passed the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians exam, which made me a medic regardless of my lack of graduating. The last 2 weeks of training are held at the Brooke Army Medical Hospital and my peers actually shadowed medics while seeing patients.
I had actually put in a packet and been slotted a position at Airborne training in Ft. Benning, GA. It broke my heart, the same day I was put on crutches, was the same day I found out I had a position waiting for me, and I would no longer be able to go.
I shipped out to Ft. Lee , VA for Unit Supply Specialist training. I volunteered for Airborne School again. Again, I was slotted a position in class. This time, I would not be able to go because I had gotten a field grade Article 15 for going AWOL.
There are a lot of details I left out. I only have a limited amount of time each day to write my blog, and today I am running out of time. Sorry about that.
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