...To really understand the significance of how the military has molded me into the Sailor that I am today, I must reveal first some insight into the person I was before I left for basic training. When I graduated from high school in 2000 I was indestructibly ready to take on anything that came my way. I had managed to have had a somewhat decent unsheltered life in that my parents provided a warm and loving environment for my siblings and myself. We experienced all of the normal trials and tribulations as any of the other kids that grew up in the neighborhood with us. After graduating from high school in South Eastern Georgia, I wanted to get out of the small town of Sylvania and go see the world. I had originally planned to take a year or so off to figure out exactly what it was that I wanted to do with my life. My dad did not like that at all, but my mother was super excited. After being out of school for just a few months I began to get bored with bouncing from city to city. What was I going to do? Then right out of the blue it came to me. I wanted to see the world not just the cities on my bucket list. So I decided to go see a Navy recruiter. I swear that recruiter must have seen me coming from a mile away! I did not have the first clue of what I was doing, and the only thing that I can remember about this guy was that he did not look like Navy material and his last name was Rudolf like the reindeer. So as I begin to sign my life away to the Navy panic began to...
Words: 1138 - Pages: 5
...THE DAILY DESIDERATUM On a lazy Sunday afternoon , I got off the bus and walked up to a small cottage with peeling paint and faded curtains . A voice behind me asked “ Are you looking for somebody “?......... I flinched at the voice that broke the stillness of the environs . I turned around nervously and was shocked to see her “Grandma , what are you doing here ? And that too on a Sunday?” . Grandma has always been a home bound person, specially so after grandpa’s demise and never ventured out to meet people . “Well , That is a story . But what would bring you here ?” . She asked . her wrinkles twitching a bit surprisedly . “That is also a story . But you have to tell me yours first “. Her then pleasent face became pale for a second . Clutching the walking stick with both hands , she moved towards a worn out bench at the side and beckoned to me . I sat next to her , all ears to take in everything that she has got to say . But all I saw was her eyes fixed on the distant vastness . So it was easy to interpret what it was about . I took the initiative . “ So, who was he ? “ . Grandma gave a sly smile . Yes . So that was it . That was indeed an admissible grin . I convinced myself . “He was my penfriend . And he died yesterday...around this time” . I stared at her , quite confused at seeing her emotionless face that still didn’t break the focus.”I know why you stare at me that way . I have been an invisible friend to him for 30 years “. I let out a loud gasp . ”30 years ? ...
Words: 1554 - Pages: 7
...A Devil’s Touch 0600 hrs 37 min and 56 sec PRESENT DAY The dust settled and all I could see were the people who were always there for me, the people who picked me back up whenever I was down. There was one thing missing from their faces: Life. Their broken bodies were scattered here and there but nonetheless they were not moving. A blood curling scream erupted from my mouth but no one else was there to listen to it except me. I had caused this; I had claimed the lives of all my friends. I knew that they were not going to come back or talk to me or go for a movie with me. I just knew that this was the end. But still even in my denial I could make out the voice in my head saying...”They brought this on themselves, don’t torture yourself for it”. I wanted to crawl into a hole and rot in there for all eternity, but no matter how far I ran I realized that what had happened could never ever be changed. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I could only see an ashen, terrified face covered tears. It all began like this…. 6 hrs 38 min and 3 sec BACK I was running shirtless with my hands flailing above me screaming Whoooo!! I had lost my mind (yes I was drunk) and had no clue what was going around me. All I knew that I was having fun and I didn’t care what would happen. I heard laughter around me but one laugh caught my attention and in a second I knew that this night was going to be a blast. “I have an amazing girl-friend, what could go wrong?!” I said. What I didn’t know that...
Words: 1733 - Pages: 7
...Complimentary Sample Summary Made To Stick Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die THE SUMMARY Some stories stick with us forever. Long after we hear them, we could easily re-tell them. A lot of Aesop’s fables are like that: The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg, etc. We are all familiar with the opposite experience—reading an article that we can’t remember five minutes after we have finished, or listening to a lecture that leaves our brain as quickly as it enters. They are the opposite of “sticky.” Why do some ideas succeed while others fail? How do we nurture our ideas so they’ll succeed in the world? Many of us struggle with how to communicate ideas effectively, how to get our ideas to make a difference. This book is about how to do just that. In researching successful, “sticky” stories, six principles emerged. Sticky ideas shared certain traits that made them more likely to succeed. This doesn’t mean that there is a formula that guarantees success, but it does mean it is possible to greatly improve our odds. The six principles are: About the Authors Chip Heath is a professor of organizational behavior in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. Dan Heath is a consultant to the Policy Programs at the Aspen Institute. A former researcher at Harvard Business School, he is a co-founder of Thinkwell, an innovative newmedia textbook company. Published by Leaders Book Summaries. 872 New Britton Rd, Carol Stream, IL 60188 No part of this...
Words: 6548 - Pages: 27
...Fresh from a convent Sarah Winter was starry-eyed at the thought of what lay ahead of her-a trip, her first ever abroad to the. West Indies, and a challenging job as governess to three children-the nephew and nieces of Jason de Cordova, who more or less ruled the island Where Sarah was going. But had she only known, the children were going to the least of her problems. She had never before had to face the overwhelming attraction of a man-certainly not one like Jason de Cordova. But Jason was a married man ,and he intended to stay that way... CHAPTER ONE THE pearly, early morning light stole like a wraith across the island, lifting the wreaths of mist from the trees, and, as the sun rose higher, gilding the fleecy clouds with a golden glow. Jason had seen many such sunrises, but they never failed to move him by their complete detachment from the toils and rigours of the world they so beautifully illuminated. Leaning against his balcony rail, he saw the shadows disappear among the palms that fringed the coral beach, and the white-surfed breakers that creamed on the sand sparkled iridescently. This was the time of day he liked best, when everything was fresh and unspoilt, and for a few hours at least, before Irena awoke, he was free from the sound of her hysterical recriminations. He looked inland, over the fields of waving sugar cane, the brightness of the crop interspersed here and there by the dark brown thatched roofs of the huts belonging to the plantation workers. Beyond...
Words: 75991 - Pages: 304
...| I Helped Make Him. He Is Perfect. | The Best Day of My Life | Jimmy Johnson 7/20/2013 | We awoke that morning like we have ever other day . We got out of bed wiped the sleep from our eyes and slowly made our way to the kitchen. I asked my wife if she wanted to go get some breakfast, knowing she didn’t want to cook and neither did I. “Sure”, my wife Catherine said. “Alright, let’s get dress and Ill load up the car and we will go.” I told her. We decided on just going to Big Boy’s because it was on the way. We ordered our food and made small talk while we waited for it to be brought to the table. “Do you think when our baby boy is born you will cry?” Catherine asked. I looked at her with a smile on my face and told her, “You know I don’t cry. Not that there is nothing wrong with that. I just don’t get emotional like that.” “I figure you would say that. Well I am probably going to cry just so you know”, she said back to me and then smiled. “I know you will, it’s going to be a great day.” Our food arrived and we sat there and ate. We were making more small talk both knowing that later that day she would be in labor, and it wasn’t going to be fun for her. Walking into the hospital knowing that in roughly 24 hours I would be responsible for another human beings life really hadn’t sunk in yet. My wife and I decided a week earlier after carefully consideration from her doctor that she would undergo a procedure to induce labor. As...
Words: 1015 - Pages: 5
...”Big Brother isn’t watching you” Russell Brand Growing up as a Londoner (or an Essex boy as he corrects it to), Russell Brand, who is now in exile, as he puts it, in nonetheless ‘the city of Angels’, Los Angeles, is concerned about the incidents happening in his home country. In the commentary “Big Brother isn’t watching you” he appears very critical towards the politicians ruling the country of which he was born and raised, because of their lack of understanding towards the young people on the margins of society. Based on the recent events, where several riots have taken place in suburban London, he is asking the only legitimately question, he can: “Why is this happening?”. Throughout the commentary he endeavours this specific question. This includes reflections of his own childhood and growing up as a young adult, lacking direction and better things to do. And because of his lack of political insight, he is not trying to find a concrete solution, but either way finds, that the solution is concerning spirituality, as he quotes Gandhi: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” He therefore draws the conclusion, that if ‘we want to live in a society where people feel included, we must include them’. Right from the beginning we sense a critical style of writing. The writer, Russell Brand, is especially critical towards the politicians, such as the Prime Minister David Cameron and the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who had to return from their beloved holidays...
Words: 985 - Pages: 4
...Individual Assignment Week 4 Jamilah Gaston OI/361 October 14, 2013 Bruce Hunter Mental Model/Mindset Paper Over the years, AAA Transportation has pride itself on transporting the finest wholesale produce in Waukegan, WI. Recently however, we have decided to expand our services and not only offer wholesale produce but potentially add nonperishable items to our delivery services. With this option, we expand our delivery area to not only within this small city but to the entire state and even potentially deliver to the states which surround. Adding nonperishable items would also benefit our existing customers by giving them more food options to choose from. Thus, bringing in more profit. This could be one of our best ideas yet. While I am sure that this new idea may pose a few questions and spark up some doubtful conversation to some of our employees who are used to our current way of business. However, I can assure you all that this expansion will be beneficial. Now, I am fully aware that one’s mental model/mindset can be described as; “beliefs, ideas, images, and verbal descriptions that we consciously or unconsciously form from our experiences and which (when formed) guide our thoughts and actions within narrow channels. These representations of perceived reality explain cause and effect to us, and lead us to expect certain results, give meaning to events, and predispose us to behave in certain ways. Although mental models provide internal stability in a world of...
Words: 1076 - Pages: 5
...September 2012 A startup is a company designed to grow fast. Being newly founded does not in itself make a company a startup. Nor is it necessary for a startup to work on technology, or take venture funding, or have some sort of "exit." The only essential thing is growth. Everything else we associate with startups follows from growth. If you want to start one it's important to understand that. Startups are so hard that you can't be pointed off to the side and hope to succeed. You have to know that growth is what you're after. The good news is, if you get growth, everything else tends to fall into place. Which means you can use growth like a compass to make almost every decision you face. Redwoods Let's start with a distinction that should be obvious but is often overlooked: not every newly founded company is a startup. Millions of companies are started every year in the US. Only a tiny fraction are startups. Most are service businesses—restaurants, barbershops, plumbers, and so on. These are not startups, except in a few unusual cases. A barbershop isn't designed to grow fast. Whereas a search engine, for example, is. When I say startups are designed to grow fast, I mean it in two senses. Partly I mean designed in the sense of intended, because most startups fail. But I also mean startups are different by nature, in the same way a redwood seedling has a different destiny from a bean sprout. That difference is why there's a distinct word, "startup," for companies...
Words: 5367 - Pages: 22
...Ok. First, I just want to say that I think it is so cool that you guys have this awesome forum. I’ve never had a good reason to post in it before, but, well, I’m in Mr. McMurtry’s 10th grade honors English class (go me), and our half-year fiction project is due just before winter break, which is coming up. Ok. So, before you read this, you should know that I already asked Mr. McMurtry if I could write my fiction project in an experimental science fiction style and make lots of horrible, malicious, false, and hateful blood libels against the Mormons, and he asked what I had in mind, and I told him that I thought it could be cool to write a story that consisted entirely of a War between Mormons and Scientologists and Atheist Texan Cowboys in the Future, and he said that would be fine. I knew he’d let me do it, as his homosexuality is a well known fact to the student body, and therefore his concomitant openness to avant-guard art and literature and experimentation and stuff like that. Not like the other English teacher, Ms. Nichols, who is the sort of totally sexless spinster that makes her students write poems about Jesus, which I’m pretty sure is fucking illegal, although I’m sure nobody in this hick town cares. God and Football, all the way. Ok, so, then I didn’t do any work on it at all until last night. We had to do a one-page outline a few weeks ago, which is so stupid, so I did it on the bus and I have no idea what I wrote, so last night I just started over from scratch...
Words: 27507 - Pages: 111
...Childhood’s End Arthur C. Clarke The opinions expressed in this book are not those of the author I EARTH AND THE OVERLORDS Chapter 1 The volcano that had reared Taratua up from the Pacific depths had been sleeping now for half a million years. Yet in a little while, thought Reinhold, the island would be bathed with fires fiercer than any that had attended its birth. He glanced towards the launching site, and his gaze climbed the pyramid of scaffolding that still surrounded the “Columbus”. Two hundred feet above the ground, the ship’s prow was catching the last rays of the descending sun. This was one of the last nights it would ever know; soon it would be floating in the eternal sunshine of space. It was quiet here beneath the palms, high up on the rocky spine of the island. The only sound from the Project was the occasional yammering of an air compressor or the faint shout of a workman. Reinhold had grown fond of these clustered palms; almost every evening he had come here to survey his little empire. It saddened him to think that they would be blasted to atoms when the “Columbus” rose in flame and fury to the stars. A mile beyond the reef, the “James Forrestal” had switched on her searchlights and was sweeping the dark waters. The sun had now vanished completely, and the swift tropical night was racing in from the east. Reinhold wondered, a little sardonically, if the carrier expected to find Russian...
Words: 71127 - Pages: 285
...Professor Mason | The Night Before Graduation | Descriptive essay | | Adrian | 1/29/2012 | | Midnight had struck as my friend Niki and I were walking on Apple Street. By this time the rain had been on its way, leaving the air with a warm and humid touch. A feeling of excitement entered my ears as I heard the faint of sound of music and laughter. I found myself walking at a faster pace along this dark, winding road. Not exactly sure what to expect for the night, I could only hope that it would lead to being something to remember forever. Upon arriving to the farm, I was in astonishment, almost like confusion. It seemed like everyone I had attended high school with was there. It was a sight I will never forget; it resembled a scene from a movie or a TV show. There were hundreds of kids just enjoying themselves at a crazy and wild party. As I proceeded to walk toward the voluptuous crowd of dancing and music, Niki said, “Time to get trashed”. With complete confusion, I turned to my left only to see her mixing some concoction. The smell of alcohol had always turned my stomach inside out, but for some reason on this night when she asked me if I would like some I said yes. With my first sip, I was immediately turned off. The taste was horrendously out of this world and on top of that it burned. Instantly, I gave the drink back to her along with a slew of complaints. “Ewwww Niki. That’s horrible. How on earth can you ever drink something like that?” She...
Words: 1190 - Pages: 5
...As a medical student I have many reasons to believe that I am not just another medical student often portrayed as a nerdy, focused, dedicated person. Here is my story of immense struggle, pain, humor and confusion. “Philosophy! Yes that’s what I want to do after finishing school!”- I announced with pride and an intellectual air, sensing almost a discovery of sorts, discovery of my true passion and interest based on my convictions, ideas and daily thought process. Studying for entrance seemed too much of a headache- with all the cramming involved and so much more! Moreover the idea of studying in a medical college didn’t fascinate me anymore. The reason why I opted for biology in the 11th grade was because I was planning on studying for the premedical tests but I was just 15 then, realizing that I didn’t want to become a doctor but a philosopher at 16 sounded plausible and reasonable to me. “What?” mom replied back, almost choosing to ignore what I had just said. “I want to do a course in philosophy,” I repeated myself. “Be serious! Anyway you can do whatever you want after you become a doctor,” mom said almost forcibly, so not interested in what I was putting across to her. “Umm, no but philosophy is what really interests me and I am pretty sure about that.” “You are ruining your life and ours too. What do you want to do? Mop the floors? You have taken up biology! Don’t talk like those art students! You are seeking escape from hard work. Nothing in this life comes easy....
Words: 3102 - Pages: 13
...La Immaculada Concepcion School High School Department Third Year Level November 5, 2012 BOOK REPORT IN ENGLISH Submitted to: Submitted by: Mr. Cristoff Sia LIMOS, Kamille E. III- St. Lucy of Light I. INTRODUCTION A. The Choice B. Nicholas Sparks *Nicholas Sparks was born on December 31, 1965, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Patrick Michael Sparks, a professor, and Jill Emma Marie (née Thoene) Sparks, a homemaker and an optometrist's assistant. He was the middle of three children, with an older brother Michael Earl "Micah" Sparks (1964) and a younger sister, Danielle "Dana" Sparks (1966–2000), who died at the age of 33. Sparks has said that she is the inspiration for the main character in his novel A Walk to Remember. Sparks was raised Roman Catholic and is of German, Czech, English and Irish ancestry. He and his wife are devout Catholics and are raising their children in the Catholic faith. His father was pursuing graduate studies, and the family moved a great deal, so by the time Sparks was...
Words: 4749 - Pages: 19
...MEG CABOT Pants on Fire One “Oh my God, what’s she doing here?” my best friend, Sidney van der Hoff, was asking, as I came up to the corner booth to hand out menus. Sidney wasn’t talking about me. She was glaring at someone at another table. But I couldn’t be bothered to look and see who Sidney was talking about, since my boyfriend, Seth, was sitting next to her, smiling up at me…that smile that’s been making girls’ insides melt since about the fifth grade, when we all started noticing Seth’s even white teeth and highly kissable lips. It still freaks me out that out of all the girls in school, I’m the one he picked to kiss with those lips. “Hey, babe,” Seth said to me, blinking his long, sexy eyelashes—the ones that I overheard my mom telling Sidney’s mom over the phone are totally wasted on a guy. He snaked an arm around my waist and gave me a squeeze. “Hi,” I said, a little breathlessly. Not just because of the squeeze, but because I had a twelve-top (Mrs. Hogarth’s ninety-seventh birthday party) that was running me ragged, refilling their iced tea glasses and such, so I was panting a little anyway. “How was the movie?” “Lame,” Sidney answered for everyone. “You didn’t miss anything. Lindsay should stick with red; blond does nothing for her. Seriously, though. What’s Morgan Castle doing here?” Sidney used the menu I’d just given her to point at a table over in Shaniqua’s section. “I mean, she’s got some nerve.” I started to say...
Words: 60371 - Pages: 242
