This hat represents the time that I spent in the Air Force as a flight line mechanic. While I did not have this particular hat for my whole time in service, because of uniform changes a few years before I separated, it was something that I had on me at all times. I wore it because of regulation, and to protect myself from the elements as I worked outside each day and outside during deployments. I am not a hat wearer and am one of those who believes hats create hair loss, making wearing it something I hated yet had to do. As a mechanic, I did not care about my uniform looking pretty at all times, as shown by the amount of filth on the hat. This hat is my constant reminder of countless hours of manual labor and why I sought higher education; so I will never have to wear it again.
Comic Books
While these particular comic books are not my favorite, they represent my love for comics and one of the only hobbies that I have kept since I was a kid. I started reading comic books in middle school and carried that through high school. Upon joining the military, my collection of about 500 was lost in a flood that destroyed the storage unit they were located in. At the time it did not bother me because insurance covered them and I was just joining the military, so I had other matters on my mind. These two books are ones that managed to survive the damage. Looking back, the collection that was lost is something that I cannot replace, but wish that I still had as I later resumed my hobby of reading and collecting. Every time I look at the surviving comics, I remember the days that I would spend organizing and documenting my collection. Depending on how I felt, sometimes I would organize by titles or publication date. Unfortunately, all the books that had any value were destroyed and I would be lucky to get cover price for the ones that survived. It is common for people to think that comic books are for kids and I disagree with that. 3/4s of comics today are aimed at older teens. Being my one and only love from childhood, comics mean so much to me as it has been the one constant in my life.
The Stand
As a kid I never read books and in truth, I hated reading. While I was an avid reader of comic books as a kid, I never made the transition or jumped into books. I would like to credit the fact that I hated reading with the amount of novels that I disliked in school that were mandatory reads. Looking back, I never read something that I wanted to read. One day on a deployment, I was sitting around with nothing to do and because of the particular deployment, it was slow as it was a FOB that didn’t need my certain mechanic skills that much. There was a bookshelf in the shop with books that people left for others to read and one day I decided to take a look. I saw The Stand, and decided to give it a try. The description on the back seemed interesting. I couldn’t put the book down after starting it quickly became the first book that I read on my own. After this book, I would go on to read countless other books. My newly found love for reading stemmed from reading this book; something that I read simply because I wanted to. This has helped shape my rationale for being a teacher as well as spark my interest in pursuing English. To be successful as a teacher, I feel that I will have to recall why I hated reading and what later made me love it and transcribe this to kids before they completely shrug off reading.
Point Break
This is my favorite movie and one that I watch on a regular basis (every few months or so). Everyone has a favorite movie or book and I think that it says a lot about who they are as a person and what they look for in entertainment. While I don’t care to ever learn to surf, skydive, or become adrenaline junkie bank robbers, this film reminds me that life is not just black and white situations, something that I would later learn about literature. There is not always an easy decision to make and that decisions we make can affect the whole rest of our life. Like good literature, good films also prompt watchers to ask questions beyond the film. I look at this movie and ask myself why characters did what they did. This same question can be said about characters in literature. Before I liked analyzing and reading further into literature, I was doing it in this film and did not even know it.
Fireplace Remodel
I do not consider myself handy when it comes to household projects. I still don’t. I purchased a house that was built in the ‘40s and it had some elements that were clearly out of date. I wanted to update them, mostly the fireplace as it was old, had no room for electronic equipment and had an outlet in the mantle, making wire management very difficult and ugly. I always hear the phrase that “if you apply yourself, you can do anything”. After completing this project, I feel that I can do anything I apply myself to. I got a bid for remodeling the fireplace, which came to about 5,000$. That was more than I was willing to spend, so I decided to do it myself. I researched and learned through Google how to do everything that I would need to know how to do. I did it with basic household tools and items from Home Depot for about 800$. It was hard work, but it paid off in the end. Every time I see the fireplace, I think about how I did it all and find it hard to believe that I did it from scratch and designed it myself. I took the leap and I succeeded. This success not only shows that applying myself really does work, but it took the fear of uncertainty out of doing something that is unfamiliar. This experience translates into other aspects of my life as well. Now I can do something that I have never done before. Whether it’s undertaking a new household project or trying out a new idea as a teaching candidate, I know that just applying and trying is 95% of the battle.
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