Q: Who am I? A: I still have no idea, but I am working on it. Part 2

If you haven't read my introduction part 1, here it is.

OK, now where was I?

Oh yea, high school. High school was rarely something that challenged me, and I didn't give its value much credence at the time. I don't think that to be very rare among teenage kids. My entire school life I had done really well at doing enough to get by but never much more. In middle school I became so proficient at my dads signature that you still cant tell them apart. I had a LOT of "sick" days. High school was no different except I didn't need to write notes. I'd pass the classes I needed by whatever minimum criteria was required. In general I did zero homework, and attended all the tests. The rest of the classes were "optional" to me. The only class I ever failed that I needed to graduate was gym class my sophomore year. That teacher had a pretty strict attendance policy that I didn't understand until it was too late. 5 missed classes is an automatic failure. I had 5 missed classes in the first few weeks. After I found out there was no getting that back I missed all the rest, and made it up my junior year.

By my senior year I only needed 3.5 credits to get my diploma, but the school required that I be enrolled in a minimum of 6 credits worth. You can guess how that went. I remember the classes I actually attended though. My half credit was some sort of american government/politics type of class. This class is what got me out to do my first volunteering in the community. Looking back at it now, it was a pretty weak volunteer effort on my part but I remember the feeling it gave me and I'm convinced its a big part of the reason I continue to do volunteer work today. The 3 full credit classes were Physics, Chemistry and English. I loved these classes. I loved the content of the chemistry class, especially the labs. Physics always just clicked for me and putting the math to how real stuff works really opened my eyes to a lot of things. I never liked English class my whole life, except my senior year. Even then, it wasn't the class I liked, it was the teacher. He might be the first adult to ever "reach me" as an adolescent. When he spoke, I listened. That was rare. He was a kind, soft spoken older man who understood life in a way that was very refreshing to me. He was the first person I ever opened up to about my life, and he didn't judge. His name was Mr. Diyeso. My senior year was his last year at my school before he moved to North Carolina to work with under privileged kids. I remember we often analyzed parts from the book "Way of the Peaceful Warrior". I still think about this book from time to time. Mr. Diyeso changed my life, but that's a story for another day.

With all that said, I knew going to college wasn't going to be my thing. I've always done a bunch of research before making big decisions (I still do) and my sister was already in college so she was a good reference. She seemed to be doing fine, but she was always more scholarly than myself. I had taken a greyhound to her school to check it out a few times, and went to a few parties. The whole experience was a real blast except when my sister was cock-blocking her friends. The party life I could handle, but the rest of it wasn't going to work out. I was no where near mature enough to guide myself through that and I knew it, so I decided to join the military. After more research I had settled on either joining the Navy if they could make me a nuclear operator, or joining the Marines and being a human bullet and shrapnel shield (infantry). I was completely turned off to the Air Force only because I knew one Air Force person that I didn't respect as a human being. I was also turned off to the Army because they would not guarantee a job (you join and then roll the dice).

Little did I know the Navy recruiter got bonuses for enlisting Nukes, so when I walked in and said "I want to be a Nuke or I'm going to go next door and be a Marine" his eyes lit up with thoughts of that bonus money. His job was so easy that day. It was the Autumn before graduation and I was only 17 at the time, so I needed my parents consent. My Dad was home now so that was no problem, but I didn't really have a functional relationship with my Mom. I really wanted to punch my ticket out of Dodge and my recruiter really wanted his bonus, so instead of waiting to make it official after my birthday in March, we found my Mom and awkwardly asked her to sign me over to the government. That day I entered the Delayed Entry Program (DEP).

Several months later I graduated high school. I was scheduled to ship out a couple weeks after that. My girlfriends dad asked me not to go, offering that he and I would go into business together. I turned him down. I didn't know anything about a business, and by now I was so pumped to go and serve my country I don't think anything would have stopped me. I gave my notice at the doughnut shop. Said goodbye to my friends and family. I made my girlfriend cry as I told her I loved her for the first time on the mid August day I was shipping off.

As it happens to turn out, if you have had Mononucleosis recently it makes the navy doctors pretty uneasy. I got Mono the previous spring, and I was a mess. My throat swelled and I couldn't eat. I was only about 155 lbs (at 6' tall) before I got sick, but I went down to 125 lbs before I got treatment. I was skin and bones. I didn't have insurance. I didn't have money. I thought I would work my way through it but I was wrong. I lived on ensure nutrition shakes for weeks because I couldn't swallow anything solid. My girlfriend took care of me. She was a life saver (also true for that one time I broke both my arms). Anyway, the Navy sent me home because it hadn't been long enough since I was sick. They rescheduled my boot camp for November. When I came home that day everyone was very confused. The first thing I did was go to the doughnut shop because my girlfriend was working there. I probably ruined her shift. The manager was super cool. She really liked me and gave me a job back on the spot. So that was nice.

The next 3 months were pretty uninteresting. In November I went through the same song and dance again to ship out. I remember making a joke about getting it right this time. I did. November 20th 2001 was my first day enlisted in the United States Navy. It's a date I will never forget.

Shall we make this a 3 part piece? I think yes. I promise to sum the rest of it up in the 3rd installment!