AMH2020 student*
To begin with I want to explain why I believe service projects are a great idea. In today’s society most teens or young adults do not go outside of their comfort zones voluntarily. Even though there are short cuts and side routes that a service project can have; most people will go somewhat out of their way when asked to help someone. America needs more of this for sure, everyone in this beautiful country of ours are created equal and have equal rights. That is why I believe we should look out for each other and do more service projects on our own time instead of conducting a project for a grade.
Before attending Tallahassee Community College, I served four years in the Marines and it really has imbedded certain core values into my life and everyday routine. One of the core values that I practice every day is Commitment, this is one of the three Marine Corps Values and I truly believe this should be in every persons top ten values. Commitment is within everything I do; from doing homework to opening a door for a person at school this value gives back happiness when I practice it. If you are committed to a task you will be more likely to finish it faster with greater detail of appreciation or this value will make you feel like a better person at the end of the day because you put in the maximum amount of effort in the task. Today my main commitment is graduating college so I can become an Electrical Engineer As I progress thru each semester I have found that you have to be more committed to each class. The reason I want to be an engineer is so that I can help advance military technology. In the Marine Corps I was a Field Radio Operator/0621. While serving I personally used every type of Radio the United States Government owns, and they all had certain blemishes. As an engineer mastering in communications I want to tie my past skills into my work. The reason i want to do this is so our military can be more effective with command and control. The service project that I conducted directly correlates with my major.
By sending a care package to a military member while on deployment this provides he or she with a few items that could make life easier. Being an engineer that focuses on Military communications this could also help a Military member in the same, but more intense way.. If asked what is the most important piece of technology on the battle field any Marine will agree that is their radio; without a radio and a weapon you are nothing. In the military I hope one day my skills and commitment to advancing technology will make our United States Military more powerful and advanced than any other country on the planet.
For my service project I choose to do what I believed was the best prompt by far, and that was sending a care package to a military member deployed. To begin I really thought hard of how my deployments went and what items would have made life easier. Well after only about 5 minutes of thinking I thought of half of Walmart. After I thought of the stuff that was reasonably price I headed to Walmart to pick up enough items to fill a flat rate shipping box. I started off by going to the outdoor section to hunt down some flash lights. When I was in Korea in the woods a flash light was a must! Most remote camps don’t have power because your fireteam or company is only their for a night or two. So without a flashlight to find your way around the camp at night you might trip and end up crushing a Marine sleeping in his tent. After leaving this isle I headed to the health section to pick up some items that are a bit more important. The next series of items I selected were baby wipes for all cleaning purposes; and hand sanitizer. Without these items in the woods you would definitely get sick. To prevent these soldiers from getting sick I also got a big pack of tooth brushes and some tooth paste. Hygiene was always a big thing any place you are located while in the military. With the items that were included in my care package to Afghanistan I hope a few military members can rest easy at night knowing they are clean and ready for the next days task.
In conclusion, I am so glad I choose the care package option as my service project. I can relate to the living situations on a deployment and I can personally understand the stress and problems they are facing every day. This project has reminded me of my core values and how I should use them every chance I get. Sending a care package that hopefully improves one military members life also makes me feel like a better person because I know they are smiling when they see helpful things with their names on it in tough situations.
