WEBVTT

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(light electronic music)

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^- My name is Gabriel Molina.

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^I work for Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services.

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^I am an environmental technician.

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I've been overseas twice over the last three to four years

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as a volunteer,

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just wanting a challenge, meeting new folks.

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For me, the best part is to learn,

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just acquire knowledge through new machinery, processes,

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and overall see what our military is capable of.

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This was in Kuwait,

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Kuwait back in '09, 2010,

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and so the thing going through my mind was that, you know,

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the challenge was the heat,

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on top of that, the 12 hour days,

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on top of that were the clash of the culture, the people.

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I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

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I just figured it's a job just like here in the States,

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it'll be a nice warehouse or whatnot, you know,

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and getting there, just getting off the plane,

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the heat itself, it just kinda,

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the first thing that came to my mind was like,

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what'd I get myself into?

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My mother's from the desert

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and born down in the south of North America,

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and I've been to where she was born,

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and there are 120 degrees, and people survive

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so for myself, I had to kinda change the way I dress.

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They say watch your battle buddy,

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always walk around with a cold beverage

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or just stay hydrated,

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and at the same time,

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you have to talk to people and be positive,

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because of, yeah, just the elements.

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So, for myself, was just, overall, you know,

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my folks did it at a younger age than I was,

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and I'm getting paid for this,

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so I figured, hey, I gotta give it my 100%.

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(chuckles)

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Resilience, to me, means

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coming, bouncing back from an event or such a trauma,

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to overcome, oversee, just press on through

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to something positive and better

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and just show I guess my peers

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of you could make it through a challenge.