Final Reflection

Final Reflection

Throughout this semester in English composition I had successfully written four major essays as they were assigned to me. The first paper I wrote was on the struggles of growing up in a military home and how being a part of a military family shaped me into the person that I am. Following that assignment, I had the opportunity to develop a rhetorical analysis, which I had never done before and struggled with quite a bit. I chose to analyze a makeup Ad for this assignment, explaining to my audience what the photo meant, going beyond the image itself. I also wrote essays on clinical psychologists and on President Trump’s plan to defund Planned Parenthood. After each essay, I was assigned a reflective essay. These included the topics of each essay, things I may have struggled with, and things I felt strongly about. The reflective essays helped me grow a lot as a writer and allowed me to develop skills that I didn’t have before entering this class.

When I began taking this course back in August, I didn’t know much about writing or what made a good writer. Writing seemed so simple to me, but this was because I wasn’t following all the guidelines and rules I was supposed to. As the semester went on, and the more I wrote, the more I understood about being a successful writer. I was taught where to appropriately place commas, which was something I'd struggled with for a very long time. I had learned how to properly cite my sources, and the importance of giving credit to those whose work I was borrowing. I finally understood what it meant to connect with my audience through my work, and why it’s so important. I learned how to value myself as a writer, and how to take pride in my work. This class allowed me how to open up and understand the differences between others and their styles of writing. There were a lot of concepts that were confusing to me before, that were starting to come together and make sense.

If there was one thing that made me feel most proud, I'd have to say it would be the editing process within each project. When writing an essay, it’s easy to make mistakes. It’s normal to have errors, misspellings, run-on sentences, to repeat yourself, or to run out of things to say. I did all of these things way too often. However, it was within the editing process that I found myself making the most progress. I wasn’t just editing the papers I had written, I was allowing myself to fix mistakes I was making as a writer. I was allowing myself to learn, to grow. I think that’s one of the most important concepts to grasp, that it’s not how perfect your writing is, but what you take from your writing and how much you improve.

Nobody really likes to talk about their struggles when it comes to writing, but we all have them. Some people have trouble sitting down and researching a specific topic, while others may struggle when it comes to getting their thoughts out on paper. For me, I found that allowing my peers to look over my work and give me their thoughts and opinions was most difficult. Sometimes it can be hard allowing others to give you constructive criticism on your own writing. You may had spent hours writing a paper that you thought deserved an A, while somebody else thought it deserved a D. This part of the writing process may be painful, but I learned how important it was. I taught myself to value the opinions of those around me rather than taking offense to them.

Overall, I ran into many struggles and successes within my English classes. I learned a lot from my peers, myself, and my instructor. I’m a different writer, a stronger writer. I’m much more confident when it comes to my work. I’m more open to learning new ideas and allowing myself to grow. These are all things that I plan to take with me onto my English course next semester. I’m proud of the progress I have made, and I cannot wait to continue to learn and improve.

We Can't Afford to Defund Planned Parenthood

Through this project, I learned how to properly cite my sources, and the importance of giving credit to those whose work I was borrowing. I finally understood what it meant to connect with my audience through my work, and why it’s so important. I learned how to value myself as a writer, and how to take pride in my work.

I hope you enjoy this research-based composition.

Defunding Planned Parenthood

Defunding Planned Parenthood has recently become a huge controversial issue in the United States. President Trump’s proposal to cut federal funding has caused major problems and plenty of conversation between pro-life advocates and those who rely on Planned Parenthood for affordable health care. Budget cuts may seem like a good idea to some. However, taking away Planned Parenthood means taking away services such as free std screenings, cancer screenings, emergency contraception, LGBT services, abortion services, and general health care. As a woman especially, the importance of Planned Parenthood is understood, and taking away such services could be extremely unreasonable and leave many with no alternative.

Many people don’t seem to fully understand what Planned Parenthood really does for their patients, which could be one of the main reasons why so many pro-life advocates are rooting for Trump’s proposal. It is true that abortion services are provided to those who do not wish to follow through with their pregnancy. However, according to “Keep Funding Planned Parenthood” written by Anthony Barrasso, abortion services only take up about 3% of their services provided. While std testing and treatment takes up 41%, emergency contraception takes up another 34%, cancer screenings take up 9%, and other health services take up about 10%. This just goes to show that the main topic of discussion here shouldn’t even be about abortion. We should be questioning why so many individuals want to see all these other services taken away from those in need. These health centers are providing birth control to nearly 2 million people a year. As well as preforming over 320,000 breast exams, and 295,000 pap tests. Taking away Planned Parenthood could mean making it nearly impossible for millions of people to get the affordable health care they need.

Although many have chosen to side with Trump, there are those who genuinely care and want to see Planned Parenthood stay in business. Senator Brown being one of them. As Brown recently told the New York Times, he believes “Planned Parenthood cuts have gone too far”. He also states that he does in fact support family planning and health care services for women (Steinhauer). Brown has argued that their needs to be some kind of compromise, a way to meet in the middle, without taking away all these services completely, and he’s right. There’s got to be a way to please everyone. If budget cuts need to be made, do it in a way that will not put the lives of millions of people at risk. The idea that taking away affordable health care completely is a good idea because abortion is frowned upon by a few is absurd. There is a much bigger picture here.

So, let’s think about this realistically for a minute. A lot of people who rely on Planned Parenthood for quality health care, are those who cannot afford much else. So, what will be the outcome of taking away the only form of health care millions of people turn to? Pro-life advocates want to make these changes to cancel out abortion. To take away a mother’s right. However, making these changes will not cause abortion rates to drop. There will probably be a steady rise in at-home abortions, which is very dangerous and probably not very sanitary. Why would we take away a woman’s right to abort her child in a safe environment if that’s the route she chooses to take? Nobody should have the right to choose what a woman can or cannot do with her body, especially when it comes to pregnancy.

Now think about the fact that defunding Planned Parenthood would take away free std screenings and treatment. This may not seem like the biggest issue; however, sexually transmitted diseases have become a huge problem all around the world. It is important that men and women of all ages get tested when they feel necessary, and in a place where they can feel safe, comfortable, and where they can afford the care they need. The inability to see a doctor for such reasons could result in transmitting the infection to other sex partners. Even worse, the longer a person goes untreated, the more likely they are to deal with long term complications. Complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and infertility. This could easily be avoided with something as simple as a free testing service.

How about cancer screenings? Just like a std screening, it is important to get tested regularly to catch the disease early on. Something as life threatening as cancer, should be taken a little more seriously. How about emergency contraception? Or LGBT services? It’s clear that Planned Parenthood has done a lot more than just provide general health care. They have become a community. A place where anyone could turn to. They’ve made it clear that they don’t care who you are or how much money you may have in your wallet. They want to help, they want to provide quality service. They want you to feel safe and welcome, and we need more places like this around the world.

Obviously, there are many reasons why budget cuts may not be such a great idea, so why is it up for discussion in the first place? This would be because 85 anti-abortion groups have signed a letter stating that the family planning money should go elsewhere, to somewhere other than Planned Parenthood. Approximately 41 senators and 153 representatives have also written letters to the Department of Health and Human services, stating they feel the exact same way (Sullivan). Many of these groups seem to believe that Planned Parenthood is one of the largest abortion chains in the nation, which simply isn’t true. Until it is understood that Planned Parenthood is much more than just an abortion clinic, this topic will continue to spark a debate.

There hasn’t just been a couple of debates over this issue, though. There have been multiple rallies. People on both sides are angry. There are those angry that Planned Parenthood exists in the first place, and there are those who are angry because of the fact that men and women everywhere are choosing to vote to pass a law allowing other people to dictate what they can and cannot do with their bodies. What if you were one of the few who didn’t have many other options, would you still want to defund Planned Parenthood? What if we forgot about the 3% who use their abortion services and remember those who have relied on these health services for years? What if we thought about the millions of people that have had their lives saved by a cancer screening or a free std test? Would it make a difference? What if we chose to have a little sympathy for the ones who need it? What kind of difference would it make if we chose to see things from someone else’s point of view for once?

Other than those who just disagree with the idea of abortion, there are many who believe that Planned Parenthood is simply failing as an organization. Or at least that’s what Roman tells all in his article titled “The Bad Business of Planned Parenthood”. Roman believes that the business is facing serious financial difficulties and is having trouble keeping customers. Roman also states that Planned Parenthood may feel threatened by abstinence-only safe education programs. Meaning, abstinence could take the place of contraception and adoption could take the place of abortion. Which could potentially put Planned Parenthood out of business in the long run.

Although there are many who would agree to defund Planned Parenthood all together, these health centers have provided many services throughout the years to those who may not have been able to afford care anywhere else. Taking away these funds would do a lot more than just shut down these buildings and take away beneficial services. Budget cuts would result in many going without the health care they need, it would mean women getting unsafe abortions feeling like they had no other option, it would make it a lot harder for minorities and low-income families to stay healthy, it would take away an education from young men and women, it may even allow infections to go undetected. Nothing good could from taking these services away from those in need, and that’s what we need to think about the next time we try to take away someone’s only way to affordable health care.

Works Cited

Rovner, Julie. “What Does Trump's Proposal to Cut Planned Parenthood Funds Mean?” NPR, NPR, 18 May 2018, www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/05/18/612445385/what-does-trumps-proposal-to-cut-planned-parenthood-funds-mean. Accessed on Nov. 4, 2018.

Steinhauer, Jennifer. “Brown Says Planned Parenthood Cuts Go 'Too Far'.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 Mar. 2011, thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/brown-says-planned-parenthood-cuts-go-too-far/. Accessed on Nov. 4, 2018

Sullivan, Peter. “Anti-Abortion Groups Call on Trump to Cut Planned Parenthood off from Family Planning Grants.” TheHill, 1 May 2018, thehill.com/policy/healthcare/385678-anti-abortion-groups-call-on-trump-to-cut-planned-parenthood-off-from. Accessed on Nov. 4, 2018.

North, Anna. “Opinion | What Planned Parenthood Really Does.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Dec. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2016/03/19/opinion/what-planned-parenthood-really-does.html. Accessed Nov. 4, 2018.

Parenthood, Planned. “The Impact of Defunding Planned Parenthood.” Planned Parenthood Action Fund, www.istandwithpp.org/defund-defined/impact-defunding-planned-parenthood. Accessed Nov. 5, 2018.

Roman, Mauricio. “The Bad Business of Planned Parenthood.” The Bad Business of Planned Parenthood Virtue Online – The Voice for Global Orthodox Anglicanism, www.virtueonline.org/bad-business-planned-parenthood. Accessed Nov. 5, 2018.

Barrasso, Anthony. Keep Funding Planned Parenthood. 2015, scienceaces.wordpress.com/2015/08/13/keep-funding-planned-parenthood/. Accessed Nov. 12, 2018.

What is a Clinical Psychologist?

For our third project in English Composition, we had the opportunity to choose any topic or object we wanted to research and turn it into an informative paper. I chose to write about clinical psychologists, the history behind the profession, and why it’s important today.

The hardest part about this project for me was doing the research. I think this is because the internet has so much information, whether it be true or false. I didn’t like the fact that I had to find information about my topic, and then site where I got it from. I felt this way because I ran into so many websites that seemed reliable but weren’t. However, I realized that I was learning along the way. Understanding how to properly research a specific topic and give credit to those whose work you may be using is important. I may have struggled in the beginning, but I was teaching myself along the way, and that’s what I found most important. 

Clinical Psychology

What is a psychologist? If you were to look up the definition in a dictionary, you’ll read that a psychologist is an “expert of specialist in psychology”. However, someone who chooses to take on this profession is much more than that. Someone who chooses a career in psychology wants to understand how the human mind works, how it functions. It takes someone who has a big heart, the drive to help others, the patience to work long hours, and the motivation to endure years and years of school to take on such a profession.

According to “Applied Psychology”, written by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, clinical psychology became a profession in the United States back in the 1880’s, and wasn’t until 1896 that the first psychological clinic was opened at the University of Pennsylvania by a man named Lightner Witmer. Witmer began doing experiments on children who may have had mental disabilities, children who had struggled to focus or learn in school. He gave these children mental and physical examinations and depending upon his results, decided where to go from there. His main goal was to lead children to overcome learning disabilities. Although it has been said that many have forgotten about Witmer and his achievements, he was the first person to use the term “clinical psychology” (“Lightner Witmer and the Beginning of Clinical Psychology”). Witmer opened many doors and new ideas that we continue to explore today.

Everything a person does, the way they act, the way they think, their thoughts and beliefs, it’s all connected back to psychology. It’s all just science really. Not many people really understand the importance of psychology or how it’s used daily. Understanding how the mind works can help you in many ways. For example, building healthy relationships. When you can make sense of the way a person acts, or the reasoning behind their decisions, it makes building a relationship with that person much easier. Building self-confidence is another example. When you can understand the way your own mind works, and why you are the way that you are, you tend to grow more as a person. To understand more about the human mind, to understand more about those around us, we can make more sense of life.

A clinical psychology major typically spends anywhere from 5 to 8 years in school. This field of education requires a lot of dedication and is very time consuming. According to “Clinical Psychology Degrees and Job Growth”, most clinical psychologists have gone on to get their doctoral degrees, and many have spent a year or two taking an internship, which may or may not be required. On average, the median salary for a clinical psychologist is around $70,000. Of course, depending on your location, this average may change. It may seem like a lot of hard work, a lot of hours, and a lot of school, but at the end of the day it’s all worth it, and not just because of the money. A psychologist may not seem like an important career, but these people get to change the lives of individuals. They get to spend days, weeks, months, or even years getting to know people for who they are. More importantly, why they are who they are. They get the opportunity to help others with mental illnesses and lead them in healthy directions.

Clinical psychology is just one field of psychology. There are many different types of psychologist’s with different duties and responsibilities. A child psychologist is someone who specializes in treating children and adolescents. Community psychologists work to help solve community problems. A school psychologist is someone who works in the school and helps children academically or emotionally. Forensic psychologists work within the legal system, and so on and so forth. As you can see, there are many different types of psychologists. They all have different jobs, and they may have all studied different things, but they all have one main goal. They all want to help others, and that’s what makes this particular career so special.

Works Cited

“Clinical Psychology Degrees & Careers | How to Become a Clinical Psychologist.” How to Become, www.learnhowtobecome.org/psychologist/clinical-psychologist/. Accessed Oct. 22, 2018.

Baron, Jonathan. “Lightner Witmer and the Beginning of Clinical Psychology.” Lightner Witmer and the Beginning of Clinical Psychology, 2006, www.sas.upenn.edu/psych/history/witmertext.htm. Accessed Oct. 22, 2018

“Lightner Witmer: Clinical Psychology.” Psychology, www.all-about-psychology.com/lightner-witmer-clinical-psychology.html. Accessed Oct. 22, 2018.

Rough Draft of a Rhetorical Analysis

When I first started writing this essay, I had no idea what I was doing. I knew I had chosen an advertisement that looked familiar to me, and that I was supposed to write about what it meant. For two days I did nothing but stare at the image in confusion. To me a makeup ad had always been nothing more than a makeup ad. It was that simple. However, now I was supposed to think bigger, find a deeper meaning. This was a new concept for me. There was a lot of editing involved, a lot of writing and re-writing. I did plenty of reading aloud, erased a paragraph or two many times. 

Here is my rough draft. It is not very different from my polished draft.

Beauty Ad Campaign- I Am Perfected: A Rhetorical Analysis

A rhetorical analysis is not a summary. It is not a narrative essay, there isn’t a story that’s being told. It has nothing to do with one’s life, it is not an autobiography. A rhetorical analysis is used to persuade a particular audience. The author uses texts and/or images to urge the reader to understand a specific message the way it’s meant to be understood.

It’s no secret that being a woman in today’s day and age is tough. Or any day and age for that matter. Young or old, women constantly feel pressured. Pressured to be better role models, to be thinner, prettier, smarter, kinder, to be better wives, and good mothers. The list could go on. Social media, magazines, or even television has placed this idea in our heads that we aren’t good enough because we don’t look or act a certain way. You can’t open a magazine without seeing a model who weighs around 100 pounds and looks to be about a size 2- and those are the women we idolize. Those are the women we aspire to be like. Why? Why is it that we feel we need to paint our faces with layers of makeup and act like people we may not be, to feel beautiful? 

When I first took a look at this beauty ad campaign, all I noticed was what was being sold. “INTRODUCING COLOUR CORRECTING CREAM“, it says. I view makeup ads on a daily basis, it wasn’t something that was new to me. Then I took a second look. I read all the words, I looked at the models’ facial expression. The model looks so content. She looks like she feels beautiful, she was trying to look convincing. That’s when I realized that this ad had a much bigger purpose. Sure, the image itself is trying to advertise a specific brand of makeup. However, there is a much deeper meaning. ”I AM PERFECTED”, the ad states at the bottom left corner. ”GORGEOUS, FLAWLESS COVERAGE WHILE CARING FOR YOUR SKIN”, I also read. Great! Right? Every woman wants to feel like the woman featured in this campaign ad. Not only that, but I’m such plenty of women view this image and automatically assume all this information is true, without question. Without any sort of proof whatsoever.  When Max Factor created this campaign, I'm sure those thoughts were already in mind. He knew how easy it would be to create such a successful advertisement this way.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the main objective here, the main purpose of creating this image, was primarily for sales. It’s the way they’re trying to persuade their viewers to buy their products that really caught my attention. By convincing women that they can feel just as perfect as the model featured does. This goes back to the idea that women feel they need to live up to a certain standard, or look a certain way, to feel good enough. As if putting on makeup is going to change who you are as a person. As if all of a sudden you’re going to be “perfect” the minute you apply a layer of makeup to your skin. That’s what I took from this imagine.

It was obvious to me that the targeted audience here was all women. Being that most men don’t typically buy makeup or pay attention to ads such as this one. I was actually quite shocked after doing a little research of my own and reading about how efficient images such as this one can be, and how greatly they actually impact a woman’s life. Women all over the world are going to extreme measures and spending ridiculous amount of cash on products just like the one pictured, to live up to a certain image. Actually, according to [People.com], the average woman spends around $43.00 on just a single makeup trip alone. That averages to about $15,000 on beauty products in a lifetime. That’s more than enough money to buy a brand new car. How crazy is that? Woman are spending thousands of dollars to change the look of their appearance.

There are thousands of images just like this one that we view every day. Most of us don’t stop to think about the main purpose of such an ad. We see a photo of a pretty young woman, read about the makeup she has on, and we jump for joy. How exciting is it that we get to be just like a woman featured in a well worded advertisement? We have the opportunity to look just like she does, wear the same products she’s wearing. Gas stations, consignment stores, libraries, you can find these images any and everywhere. The one thing that blows my mind is how well they actually work! I’m just as guilty as every other woman, and I don’t think I've ever even realized or put much thought into it. I don’t even think twice about the amount of money I'm spending if it means I get to look a certain way because of a certain product.

I found this particular advertisement effective. I feel this way because of how incredibly easy it is to slap a pretty face and a couple encouraging words on a platform and have the ability to influence millions. It seems a little too easy to convince women that they “need” to buy these products. Advertisements like this one have been around for centuries, and they’re only getting more and more creative. Which is obviously necessary. I mean, without the help of these images, there would be much less of a profit made off of these products.

    Works Cited

Kratofil, Colleen. “Can You Guess How Much a Woman Spends on Makeup in Her Liftetime? (We Were Way Off!).” PEOPLE.com, Time Inc, 30 Mar. 2017, people.com/style/how-much-does-a-woman-spend-on-makeup/.

“Candice Swanepoel Max Factor Campaign.” Beauty Scene, 6 May 2013, www.beautyscene.net/makeup/candice-swanepoel-max-factor-campaign/.

This essay was difficult for me. It wasn’t until my peers had looked over my paper and gave me useful tips, that I felt successful. My paper wasn’t as terrible as I had thought! They had positive feedback for me. I struggled while writing my entire paper, but those I shared my paper with couldn’t even see that. I found a lot of comfort in that. I felt really accomplished.

Rhetorical Analysis of a Beauty Ad Campaign

For our second project, we were assigned to write a rhetorical analysis essay. I had never written an essay such as this one before, so this was new to me. I chose to write my paper on a makeup ad campaign, designed by Max Factor. The main idea of my essay was how these advertisements have a way of making women feel inferior, and how they urge women to try and live up to an image that isn’t obtainable. This essay was not an easy essay to write, but I like how challenging it was. I like the way I was forced to dig deeper and analyze an image that had a lot more meaning than what was shown at the surface. 

Beauty Ad Campaign- I Am Perfected: A Rhetorical Analysis

A rhetorical analysis is not a summary. It is not a narrative essay, there isn’t a story that’s being told. It has nothing to do with one’s life, it is not an autobiography. A rhetorical analysis is used to persuade a particular audience. The author uses texts and/or images to urge the reader to understand a specific message the way it’s meant to be understood.

It’s no secret that being a woman in today’s day and age is tough. Or any day and age for that matter. Young or old, women constantly feel pressured. Pressured to be better role models, to be thinner, prettier, smarter, kinder, to be better wives, and good mothers. The list could go on. Social media, magazines, or even television has placed this idea in our heads that we aren’t good enough because we don’t look or act a certain way. You can’t open a magazine without seeing a model who weighs around 100 pounds and looks to be about a size 2- and those are the women we idolize. Those are the women we aspire to be like. Why? Why is it that we feel we need to paint our faces with layers of makeup and act like people we may not be, to feel beautiful? Unfortunately, the Max Factor ad campaign is an example of how these advertisements have a way of making women feel flawed and imperfect, while these women are fighting to live up to an image that isn’t obtainable. 

    

 At first glance, all that’s noticed about this image is what’s being sold. ”Introducing colour correcting cream.”  it says. Makeup ads are viewed on a daily basis, this isn’t something new. After taking a second look, reading all the words, and studying the models’ facial expression, a lot more detail is noticed. The model looks content. She looks like she feels beautiful, it’s written all over her face. She was trying to look convincing. That’s when it’s realized that this ad has a much bigger purpose. Sure, the image itself is trying to advertise a specific brand of makeup. However, there is a much deeper meaning here. ”I am perfected,” as it states in the bottom left corner. ”Gorgeous, flawless coverage while caring for your skin.” Great! Right? Every woman wants to feel like the woman featured it this particular ad campaign. Not only that, but plenty of women would view this image and automatically assume all this information is true, without question. Without any sort of proof whatsoever. When Max Factor created this campaign, those thoughts were already in mind. He knew how easy it would be to create such successful advertisements this way.

There’s no doubt that the main objective here, the main purpose of creating this image, was primarily for sales. It’s the way they’re trying to persuade their viewers to buy their products that really catches the readers eye. By convincing women that they can feel just as perfect as the model featured does. This goes back to the idea that women feel they need to live up to a certain standard, or look a certain way, to feel good enough. As if putting on makeup is going to change who you are as a person. As if all of a sudden you’re going to be “perfect” the minute you apply a layer of makeup to your skin. That’s what should be taken from this imagine.

It’s obvious that the targeted audience here is all women. Being that most men don’t typically buy makeup or pay attention to ads such as this one. It was actually quite shocking after doing a little research and discovering how efficient images such as this one can be, and how greatly they actually impact a woman’s life. Women all over the world are going to extreme measures and spending ridiculous amount of cash on products just like the one pictured, to live up to a certain image. Actually, according to recent research, the average woman spends around $43.00 on a single makeup trip alone. That averages to about $15,000 on beauty products in a lifetime (People.com). That’s more than enough money to buy a brand new car. How crazy is that? Woman are spending thousands of dollars to change the look of their appearance.

There are thousands of images just like this one that we view every day. Most of us don’t stop to think about the main purpose of such an ad. We see a photo of a pretty young woman, read about the makeup she has on, and we jump for joy. How exciting is it that we get to be just like a woman featured in a well worded advertisement? We have the opportunity to look just like she does, wear the same products she’s wearing. Gas stations, consignment stores, libraries, these images can be seen any and everywhere. The one thing that’s especially mind blowing is how well these this tactic actually works! Women all over the world are buying into these beauty campaigns, and allowing them to change how they view themselves.

This particular advertisement is effective. This is because of how incredibly easy it is to slap a pretty face and a couple encouraging words on a platform and have the ability to influence millions, while selling their products at the same time. It seems a little too easy to convince women that they “need” to buy these products. Advertisements like this one have been around for centuries, and they’re only getting more and more creative. Which is obviously necessary. Meaning, without the help of these images, there would be much less of a profit made off of these products.

    Works Cited

Kratofil, Colleen. “Can You Guess How Much a Woman Spends on Makeup in Her Liftetime? (We Were Way Off!).” PEOPLE.com, Time Inc, 30 Mar. 2017, people.com/style/how-much-does-a-woman-spend-on-makeup/.

“Candice Swanepoel Max Factor Campaign.” Beauty Scene, 6 May 2013, www.beautyscene.net/makeup/candice-swanepoel-max-factor-campaign/.

A Military Life, my Literacy Narrative

For my first project I chose to write about the struggles of being in a military family and how it impacted me throughout middle school and high school. I chose to write about this topic because it’s something that took a huge toll on my life. It’s what shaped me into the person that I am. I wanted to share my story because I wanted others to understand how different life may be for others who don’t always get to finish where they start.

A Military Life

Everyone struggles throughout middle school and high school. We leave our single classroom, nap filled lives, and we walk into what may seem like a whole new world. We walk down longer halls, we deal with more drama, more assignments, a lack of sleep and, just a tad bit more chaos. We are officially teenagers, and we start what people call the “best years of our lives”. For some, that may be exactly what it turns out to be. But for me it was a whole different story.

Most people will never understand what growing up in a military home is like. They may never get to experience living in more than one house, or more than one state. A lot of people don’t know the feeling of being yanked from one school to another. Introducing yourself to new people, then trying to keep them as far away as possible, because you knew the drill. With every hello, came another goodbye.

I can’t remember the sandy beaches of California. Even though, according to my birth certificate, that’s where I come from. I was only three years old when we left, I couldn’t tell you what street I lived on or what my house looked like. I would call California the beginning of a long journey. Clayton, Oklahoma was our next stop. A town so small it could fit in your back yard. I despised the south. I was a city girl trapped in a town filled with nothing but southern accents and fried food. It wouldn’t last long though, I knew our next move was coming soon. And the drive to Virginia was beautiful, long, but beautiful. My whole life felt like one big road trip. Then came Oregon and Washington. I had never seen so much rain in my entire life. Driving anywhere meant driving towards the mountains, what a sight to see right? I was content, I was happy. I was told this was where we would retire. That’s what they always said, though. It was never actually true. In fact, I can remember the exact night my step father called me and my siblings into his bedroom, three years later. I knew that whatever he had to tell us, was going to upset me. I could tell by the look on his face. I didn’t want to know, I didn’t want him to tell me that we had to leave, I had finally felt like I had a home. Then he said it, I remember his words exactly, “We’re moving back to Virginia”. I ran to my room, I slammed my door, and I cried. I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to start over again, but I didn’t have a choice. In a couple months I’d be back on the road to Virginia, attending a new school, in a new home, surrounded by people that I didn’t know. It felt like my whole world was constantly crumbling around me. However, all my problems were just beginning, and I had no idea the new challenges I would face.

It was the first day of my sophomore year of high school, and I was already being called down to the guidance counselor’s office to discuss problems with my new schedule. “You aren’t yet able to take sophomore English, or History”, she said to me. I was being forced to retake freshman classes due to my credits not being able to transfer. I had never felt so angry, at the school, at my parents, at the world. It didn’t feel fair, it never felt fair. But it was my life, I was used to the complications. I remember walking to my History class that day, and sitting next to a girl with beautiful, long, brown hair. Her name was Bailey, and as it turned out, she was a sophomore too. She had also come from a military family, and coincidently we were both placed in the same freshman course for the same exact reason. Suddenly, I didn’t feel so alone. I felt like I was understood for the first time in my life. For a split second, my life didn’t seem all that bad. As the weeks went on, I began to realize how hard the year was going to be for me. I was behind in every one of my classes. They were learning things that I had never been taught. I knew I was going to have to go the extra mile just to pass. That is exactly what I did. I’m not going to lie, high school was challenging, and at times I wanted to give up. I just wanted to feel like a normal high school kid, but this was my normal. 

Through all the struggles, all the loss, the adventures, the moves, the friends, the different schools, I had learned how to adapt to anything. I had seen more than most people will see in a lifetime, in just a matter of years. I had the opportunity to meet people from all different backgrounds, military and non-military. The Army built me into the person that I am. I am stronger and more disciplined, I’m more open minded and optimistic. I have more respect for those who serve, and for their families. I have a greater sense of responsibility. I am a lot more mature and understanding than most young women. I am forever grateful for the life I was given, no matter how difficult. I am the person I am today, due to everything I went through. I take pride in who I have become. Today, I am a young college student, working a full time job, living in my own apartment, enjoying a life that I’ve built for myself. In just a matter of weeks, my family will start their next journey to North Carolina, and leave me behind for the first time in my life. Their adventures will continue, but the life that I've started has just begun.