WEBVTT 00:06.240 --> 00:08.390 Here you are . You're selected as one 00:08.390 --> 00:11.330 of the 100 to realist in front of the 00:11.330 --> 00:14.590 capital and you're going back home . Uh 00:14.600 --> 00:16.940 huh . Tell me about that . What's going 00:16.940 --> 00:17.940 through your mind 00:31.040 --> 00:33.440 made it , I mean you've done that set 00:33.440 --> 00:37.330 goals for yourself that I 00:37.330 --> 00:38.660 made it . 00:41.160 --> 00:44.700 Yes , you're right . A 00:44.710 --> 00:48.260 father , right ? 00:49.040 --> 00:51.830 Just go back to your work hard , 00:51.930 --> 00:54.880 something for your records . Yeah . Mm 00:54.880 --> 00:58.140 hmm . That's , it's important . You 00:58.140 --> 01:00.307 really get out of like what you put in 01:00.307 --> 01:02.140 maybe not , maybe early . Pretty 01:02.140 --> 01:04.710 eventually you get to where you get it 01:04.710 --> 01:07.150 back 01:07.840 --> 01:09.880 shock and that's 01:09.880 --> 01:13.830 it . So here is scheduled for 01:13.840 --> 01:15.840 my husband except they got divorced 01:15.840 --> 01:17.860 when I was 14 and um , 01:20.240 --> 01:22.700 I had to kind of figure out what was 01:22.700 --> 01:25.460 going to do at that point . I went from , 01:28.340 --> 01:31.150 yeah , have to help I guess 01:33.040 --> 01:36.370 for years and with that comes a fair 01:36.370 --> 01:38.592 amount of getting yourself in trouble . 01:38.592 --> 01:39.260 Um , 01:43.340 --> 01:45.760 ended up , I can scrub group homes too 01:46.640 --> 01:49.050 jail or whatever wrapped up in the 01:49.050 --> 01:51.050 court system . And I just knew that 01:51.050 --> 01:53.106 that wasn't going to be my long term 01:53.106 --> 01:54.550 point because it was just 01:57.140 --> 02:01.050 wasn't me I guess . And so 02:03.940 --> 02:07.810 is that kind of dribble on , how did I 02:07.810 --> 02:09.977 don't know how to even tell this story 02:09.977 --> 02:12.750 because I don't even talk about it . Um , 02:17.240 --> 02:20.950 while I lived in one group problem , 02:23.040 --> 02:25.900 I kept hitting correct to just over and 02:25.900 --> 02:27.844 over and over for just the dumbest 02:27.844 --> 02:30.410 stuff either assault , fighting , not 02:30.410 --> 02:32.577 coming home to the group home one time 02:32.577 --> 02:34.299 then you run away and all that 02:34.299 --> 02:35.966 ridiculous stuff , but I kept 02:35.966 --> 02:37.910 repetitive getting arrested by the 02:37.910 --> 02:40.220 police because I guess it was her 02:40.220 --> 02:41.220 jurisdiction 02:45.640 --> 02:49.290 and christmas is coming . And so 02:49.290 --> 02:52.620 she at the administration , that group 02:52.620 --> 02:54.810 home . Okay . So she doesn't get in 02:54.810 --> 02:57.180 trouble . All correct me keep getting 02:57.180 --> 02:59.236 arrested on christmas for not coming 02:59.236 --> 03:01.513 back , why don't you just come with me ? 03:01.940 --> 03:05.150 And so they said okay 03:08.140 --> 03:10.418 and she ended up being a foster mother . 03:18.740 --> 03:20.240 Did she faithfully again , 03:23.840 --> 03:26.230 my mom , her ideals are different . She 03:26.240 --> 03:28.730 grew up in a different generation . She 03:28.740 --> 03:30.710 thought it would be yes if I got 03:30.710 --> 03:32.900 married and did that whole thing and 03:32.910 --> 03:34.910 you know , there is someone to take 03:34.910 --> 03:37.132 care of me , so on and so forth . And I 03:37.132 --> 03:40.760 just , that wasn't me , but 03:41.240 --> 03:44.450 a friend of a family friend , um 03:45.340 --> 03:49.020 agree to get married so that I could be 03:49.020 --> 03:51.242 emancipated and I would get out of that 03:51.242 --> 03:53.353 part of the juvenile justice system . 03:53.353 --> 03:55.850 So my mom signed the papers , um , 03:56.740 --> 03:58.907 giving me consent to get married and I 03:58.907 --> 04:00.907 got married and I joined the army a 04:00.907 --> 04:03.100 couple weeks later , you're my senior 04:03.100 --> 04:05.322 high school . This was , I was a senior 04:05.322 --> 04:08.520 at this point . So , um , I joined the 04:08.530 --> 04:11.100 army and that's what I've been ever 04:11.100 --> 04:15.010 since . Oh , I've had some text 04:15.020 --> 04:17.400 that I was not prepared for that . I 04:17.400 --> 04:19.511 just didn't want to do . I was a punk 04:19.511 --> 04:21.678 kid I guess and I didn't want to go to 04:21.678 --> 04:23.789 class , didn't want to take this test 04:23.789 --> 04:25.900 and they announced on the loudspeaker 04:25.900 --> 04:27.844 that they're given as Babin room , 04:27.844 --> 04:29.956 whatever and if you're interested you 04:29.956 --> 04:32.289 can go your be excused from class to go . 04:32.289 --> 04:31.980 And I was like , that's what I'm 04:31.980 --> 04:34.313 standing up for , that's what I'm doing . 04:34.313 --> 04:36.970 I'm not going to class . And I went and 04:36.980 --> 04:40.860 um and this is before I 04:40.860 --> 04:42.916 came to my Tiffany , I'm joining the 04:42.916 --> 04:44.916 army , but I went up there and they 04:44.916 --> 04:46.860 were recruited from the army , Air 04:46.860 --> 04:48.916 Force , Marines Navy and they're all 04:48.916 --> 04:50.916 there and they're in their class at 04:50.916 --> 04:53.138 uniforms and there were no women , they 04:53.138 --> 04:55.249 were all men . But that was OK , that 04:55.249 --> 04:57.082 wasn't a big deal . But the army 04:57.082 --> 04:59.530 recruiter , of course , he talked to me , 04:59.530 --> 05:01.752 he gave me a business card and he asked 05:01.752 --> 05:03.863 me where I was there and I was like , 05:03.863 --> 05:05.863 because I don't want to collect and 05:05.863 --> 05:08.086 he's like , well that's not good enough 05:08.086 --> 05:10.197 reason , you know ? And he was he was 05:10.197 --> 05:12.363 just he wasn't a big stuff . The guy , 05:12.363 --> 05:14.419 he was real and he was like , that's 05:14.419 --> 05:16.419 not a good enough reason . The only 05:16.419 --> 05:16.020 thing just might be a thing for you , 05:16.020 --> 05:18.131 blah blah blah . So I took that class 05:18.131 --> 05:20.020 and I didn't think anything of it 05:20.020 --> 05:22.242 because I got out of class in my life , 05:22.242 --> 05:24.409 went on and then he called me and told 05:24.409 --> 05:24.280 me , hey , you can pick whatever drop 05:24.280 --> 05:26.890 you want you did well come and see me . 05:26.900 --> 05:29.122 I'm like , yeah , yeah , yeah . Had the 05:29.122 --> 05:31.289 streets to run . I didn't have time to 05:31.289 --> 05:33.456 go into a recruiter , but he persisted 05:33.456 --> 05:35.567 and it just paid off . He got me into 05:35.567 --> 05:37.511 his office and he set me down , he 05:37.511 --> 05:39.860 showed me his taste up is Elliot . I'm 05:39.860 --> 05:42.490 like , I definitely he's back because 05:42.490 --> 05:44.546 at that point I'm still , you know , 05:44.546 --> 05:46.712 taking care of myself essentially or , 05:46.712 --> 05:48.934 you know , living off of other people , 05:48.934 --> 05:51.320 which was , I guess all you can do , 05:51.320 --> 05:53.550 you're not really old enough to work . 05:54.340 --> 05:58.220 Um , and he took me through all the 05:58.220 --> 06:00.850 processes . He did absolutely . He held 06:00.850 --> 06:02.739 my hand , it took him through the 06:02.739 --> 06:06.500 processing . I'm glad , I'm 06:06.500 --> 06:09.690 glad that he persisted . And I think 06:09.690 --> 06:11.579 that's why I'm wearing because of 06:11.579 --> 06:14.520 people in my life didn't persist . I 06:14.520 --> 06:16.950 chose to be a 91 kg , which was the 06:16.950 --> 06:19.870 medical lab techs , but I was still a 06:19.870 --> 06:22.037 punk kid . So I went to basic training 06:22.037 --> 06:25.360 and Got My Fair Share , Article 15 . 06:26.240 --> 06:28.462 Gotten a fair amount of trouble because 06:29.740 --> 06:31.851 I don't know . It's just , that's the 06:31.851 --> 06:33.760 way I was . It kind of happened 06:33.760 --> 06:36.370 gradually . I got tired of getting in 06:36.370 --> 06:38.540 trouble after , after it turned them 06:38.540 --> 06:41.030 out , get in trouble . Just get old and 06:41.030 --> 06:43.140 dumb . It's like , okay , really 06:43.150 --> 06:45.330 getting to open it and you know , the 06:45.330 --> 06:47.219 art and they'll take your money , 06:47.219 --> 06:49.386 they'll take your mike and I got tired 06:49.386 --> 06:51.552 of giving my right back because I felt 06:51.552 --> 06:54.610 like I'd worked so hard to get my to it 06:54.610 --> 06:57.370 to get it taken away from me . And you 06:57.370 --> 07:00.460 know , that was those are the lessons 07:00.460 --> 07:03.380 you learned the hard way , but you 07:03.380 --> 07:05.658 learn them when you learn the hard way , 07:05.658 --> 07:07.491 you learn this forever . So I've 07:07.491 --> 07:10.520 learned them forever I think . Um and 07:10.520 --> 07:12.798 I've had wonderful , wonderful mentors . 07:12.798 --> 07:15.270 My platoon sergeant when I got to fort 07:15.270 --> 07:18.220 Stewart , we're still in contact to 07:18.220 --> 07:22.060 this day . He's absolutely wonderful . 07:22.740 --> 07:24.962 That's look , you want to be a punk kid 07:24.962 --> 07:27.220 by guess what ? This is the army and 07:27.220 --> 07:29.220 the army does and let's just get it 07:29.220 --> 07:31.360 together . Um 07:31.370 --> 07:34.780 I've never been afraid apart 07:34.780 --> 07:37.160 work and I think that's what God has 07:37.160 --> 07:39.310 gotten me through . You can be a punk 07:39.310 --> 07:41.366 kid , but you do your job well , you 07:41.366 --> 07:43.366 get a little bit of flag and so you 07:43.366 --> 07:45.800 learn to do your job even better to 07:45.800 --> 07:48.022 give yourself that little bit of a plan 07:48.022 --> 07:50.244 to make up for the things that are just 07:50.244 --> 07:52.522 organic tea that you can't . I love it . 07:52.522 --> 07:55.520 I love it . I do a big payoff for me . 07:55.530 --> 07:57.752 I'm not going to work like this is what 07:57.752 --> 07:59.974 I worked hard for and this is what I've 07:59.974 --> 08:02.197 made all the sacrifices . My family has 08:02.197 --> 08:04.419 made , all the sacrifices for that drug 08:04.419 --> 08:06.474 my daughter all over the country for 08:06.474 --> 08:10.350 now . I have it like that's good . What 08:10.350 --> 08:13.750 made you decide texas ? Nothing , 08:13.760 --> 08:16.880 nothing . It could have . I didn't care 08:16.880 --> 08:19.440 where it was . I just needed to go 08:19.450 --> 08:21.720 somewhere where I could look cheaper 08:21.720 --> 08:23.831 and the things that you need to texas 08:23.831 --> 08:26.660 the web , you know , I found to be 08:26.660 --> 08:30.560 untrue later , but my naive um 08:30.640 --> 08:33.610 evaluation of the situation you can get 08:33.610 --> 08:35.777 cold in texas . So I don't have to buy 08:35.777 --> 08:38.110 one and close . I'm going to save money . 08:38.340 --> 08:42.020 Um , texas texas is the 08:42.020 --> 08:44.880 country so you know , it'll be cheaper 08:44.890 --> 08:46.890 anywhere I go , it'll be fine . You 08:46.890 --> 08:49.960 know ? So I mean just those things that 08:49.960 --> 08:53.790 I used things you need a 08:53.790 --> 08:57.740 taxi . So you never know what 08:57.740 --> 08:59.962 little things you do . They have a huge 08:59.962 --> 09:03.320 impact on somebody else . I guess . I 09:03.320 --> 09:06.190 just hope that something I know that I 09:06.190 --> 09:09.610 do or I've done has an impact on 09:09.620 --> 09:12.810 somebody else . Then I paid for 09:12.810 --> 09:15.660 it . Okay . 09:16.040 --> 09:19.310 I try my best 09:19.320 --> 09:22.440 to lead by example to seek out the 09:22.450 --> 09:24.650 people that 09:27.440 --> 09:29.718 people that other people don't want to . 09:29.718 --> 09:32.760 People have it with because I wasn't 09:32.760 --> 09:36.560 perfect . And I think I turned out okay . 09:39.440 --> 09:41.250 So I am , 09:43.540 --> 09:44.540 yeah , 09:47.440 --> 09:49.662 I definitely , like I said , definitely 09:49.662 --> 09:51.718 hope there's something that I do and 09:51.718 --> 09:54.600 say one day let somebody know that 09:54.610 --> 09:56.832 you're , you're still worth it . You're 09:56.832 --> 09:59.054 okay . You're gonna be all right . Just 09:59.054 --> 10:01.160 anything . Anything is possible . 10:02.240 --> 10:05.350 Anything . And I , I believe that 10:06.040 --> 10:08.750 only because I've lived it . Okay . 10:10.840 --> 10:14.840 I think I would rather have the 10:14.840 --> 10:17.550 recruiter in my school than a drug 10:17.550 --> 10:20.460 dealer with a pimp or the gangster . 10:22.540 --> 10:26.150 The more positive and professional 10:26.150 --> 10:29.150 people that our Children are exposed to , 10:29.210 --> 10:31.710 the better the chance they see a doctor 10:31.710 --> 10:33.599 walking around the school and his 10:33.599 --> 10:35.710 throat . They might not be a doctor , 10:35.710 --> 10:39.500 but that ain't . I could he did it . I 10:39.500 --> 10:41.490 think there's a lot to be said for 10:41.500 --> 10:43.500 having the recruiters in the school 10:43.500 --> 10:47.250 because yeah mm . 10:48.940 --> 10:52.550 Yeah yeah they definitely need to be 10:52.550 --> 10:54.494 there , they definitely need to be 10:54.494 --> 10:56.661 there . I was in R . O . T . C . I got 10:56.661 --> 10:59.050 an asset ROTC . I felt flat out ROTC 10:59.440 --> 11:01.496 because I want to keep to put on the 11:01.496 --> 11:03.770 uniform . I was not wearing that every 11:03.770 --> 11:06.100 Tuesday , it just did not go with who I 11:06.100 --> 11:09.280 was and I wasn't staying after school 11:09.280 --> 11:12.210 to practice drill because I had to wear 11:12.210 --> 11:15.420 off to go , you know something else to 11:15.420 --> 11:18.860 do failed download Pc 11:19.440 --> 11:23.250 and to see a recruiter had a 11:23.250 --> 11:26.760 young face that you know , no our 11:26.760 --> 11:29.190 language because young people , every 11:29.190 --> 11:31.412 generation of Children kinda have their 11:31.412 --> 11:33.190 own language now it's just text 11:33.190 --> 11:35.460 messages but I mean he 11:37.140 --> 11:39.500 he was just normal , he wasn't this big 11:39.500 --> 11:42.160 scary army drill sergeant guy and you 11:42.160 --> 11:44.327 know he wasn't someone that was trying 11:44.327 --> 11:46.950 to be a , he was just normal and he was 11:46.960 --> 11:49.480 successful and it did something for me 11:49.480 --> 11:51.500 to see that he drove a nice car and 11:51.510 --> 11:54.950 that I saw his paycheck and I saw what 11:54.950 --> 11:56.950 kind of watch you wore , you know , 11:56.950 --> 11:59.850 just normal stuff like that . Just 11:59.850 --> 12:02.590 normal everyday stuff just made sense 12:02.600 --> 12:05.780 to me . It's like yep I need to be able 12:05.780 --> 12:09.740 to do that , that's what I mean so they 12:09.740 --> 12:12.840 have a place there and like I said 12:12.850 --> 12:14.961 until we can figure out a way to stop 12:14.961 --> 12:17.128 letting the Gangsters and drug dealers 12:17.128 --> 12:19.239 and all of that and the pump kids and 12:19.239 --> 12:21.350 schools , they need , they need that 12:22.040 --> 12:24.262 because if you're gonna fight something 12:24.262 --> 12:26.484 or not , why not ? It be your country . 12:32.940 --> 12:36.250 And she is a wonderful example when it 12:36.250 --> 12:38.980 comes to military , entire army 12:38.980 --> 12:42.380 standards . She is um 12:42.390 --> 12:46.250 such a good example . She's good , 12:46.250 --> 12:48.417 she's great to have around . She comes 12:48.417 --> 12:50.306 fully prepared and she's teaching 12:50.306 --> 12:52.920 classes . She is very successful with 12:52.930 --> 12:56.680 her petite tas and she's a role model 12:56.690 --> 13:00.120 down excited for , I'm happy 13:00.120 --> 13:01.760 for I really am .