WEBVTT

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(up beat)

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- First name Daniel, last name Dippolito.

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- [Interviewer] Junior?

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- One, five, eight infantry alpha company.

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- Corporal.

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- So I decided to compete
in the best word competition

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because it pushed me
to be a better soldier,

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any of the skills or tasks
that I was not good at,

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or I simply just didn't know,

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it pushed me to learn those
and become better at those.

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So it was an excuse for me
to become a better soldier.

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And it motivated me to
learn all the skills

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and all the little details
that I needed to learn.

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It was a challenge.

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I love a challenge and
as something different.

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So what it takes for
all those little things

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to come together, main thing is hard work,

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working hard every day, putting
in the time and the hours,

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making sure that for one,

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I'm practicing everything perfectly.

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Something I was told was a
practice makes permanent,

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perfect practice makes perfect.

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So making sure I'm doing
it right from the get go

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and practicing things
over a long period of time

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and not just trying to
shove all the information

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into my head a day or two
before the competition,

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making sure that I'm getting those reps in

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and I'm getting a lot of
good, perfect reps in,

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and I'm understanding the
concepts and I'm doing them often

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over a long period of time,

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as opposed to just the day or two before

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I test myself or day two
before the competition,

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I typically would retain all
that information a lot better.

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If I do it over a long period of time.

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Something that I've learned
is for one everybody's human,

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including myself.

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So I did not think that I was going to win

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the competition at all.

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I was really surprised
when I won regionals

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and I was even more surprised
when I went nationals.

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So, that's mainly because I thought

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everybody else is better than me.

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And I think they are better
than me and a lot of other

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areas, but I was the most
consistent across the board.

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So for one,

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I have the ability to exceed
or excel in whatever I do,

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because all these people that
I thought were a lot better

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and a lot higher of a level than myself,

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they got there the same
way that I got here.

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And that's just working
hard and just mastering

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the basics and taking good mentorship

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and guidance from those around them.

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And like I said, you know,

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while I'm competing or while I'm training

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being really well rounded,
being a Jack of all trades,

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instead of just being a master one,

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that's how I won the competition,

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was getting a lot of wins
or a lot of high scores

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and a lot of different
areas and not necessarily

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just mastering one or two things.

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So practicing a lot of the
skills and tasks that I wasn't

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good at and make sure I'm
focusing on my weakness because

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everyone likes to train their
strengths and everyone likes

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to live in their comfort zone.

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But doing the things that
we really don't like doing

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and make sure I'm not weak
or deficient in any area

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was really something I
focused on, and it paid off.

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If you're thinking about competing,

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I'd say, go for it.

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I mean, the worst thing
that can happen is,

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you challenge yourself.

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You know, yourself better as a soldier,

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you get to know more people,

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get your name and your face out there.

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Best thing that can happen, is you win

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and you get to go to different
army school of your choice

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and you get to compete higher

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and you challenge yourself even more.

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Just want to thank family and
friends and mentors around me.

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They they're really
the ones who guided me,

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directed me and really made
me the soldier who I am.

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I put in a lot of hard work,

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but if I'm not focusing
in the right direction

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and having that guidance,

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it was a really big, important part.

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So I just want to thank family,

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friends and mentors around me.

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(up beat)