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When I was a child my parents got divorced.  I didn’t understand then what that meant, but I do understand now and it was for the best.  It was during these years of my life that I decided to be who I am today.  After entering this class and gaining more of an understanding on the hero’s journey, I now realize how this applies to my life.

I want you to take a journey with me into my life, and see what I’ve done and hopefully give you an idea of where I am going.  This journey has not been an easy one for me, and I have a feeling it’s not going to get any easier.  So please stay focused and pay attention, this should be interesting to say the least.

When I was five, I remember living on the east 23^rd block of Erie, PA, and my father came home late after being at the bar.  When he came into the apartment, he and my mother starting arguing (cannot remember what about); so he started throwing stuff and breaking her ceramic keepsakes.  After he was done smashing the ceramics he went into the hallway and passed out.  I went over to him and sat on his back and tried to wake him up to no avail.  I might have only been three but I feel that I had some understanding that I didn’t not want to end up like this.

When I was nine, I remember staying with my Great Grandmother (At this point my parents were divorced and my father had custody every weekend) on the 500 block of Erie, and my father once again coming home from the bar.  Only this time when he came into the house, he had two black eyes, and broken nose, and a fat lip.  Apparently, he got into a fight with another drunk at the bar, the reason was never told to me.  Again, after seeing my father in this shape, I felt I didn’t want to act in this manner and wanted to stay away from alcohol.

When I was eleven, I was taken to hunting camp with my father and my uncles.  During the night they decided to play cards while drinking.  After a couple hours and quite a lot of alcohol, an argument erupted and words were exchanged.  I remember very clearly having to run and hide under a bed because coffee tables were being thrown.  I sat under the bed for what seemed like an hour, crying, and wondering why family would act this way towards each other.

When I was fifteen, I watched my friends decide to experiment with drugs and alcohol.  For some it was the most fun they could have.  For others it was the best feeling they wanted to keep.  I was always asked to go to the parties, to go and have “fun,” but I never understood why in order to have fun drugs and alcohol needed to be involved.

I guess at this point in my life and leading up to it, this is my call to adventure.  The first step in the hero’s journey for me was I realized that I wanted to help people.  I wanted to help them realize that the certain things they were doing might not be good for them or for others.  I knew I wanted to be involved in the betterment of people.  What though was I suppose to do?  At fifteen years old my options were kind of limited, so my refusal to my call (the second step), was I entered into a vocation technical school for computer information systems.

It wasn’t until my junior year in high school when I realized that I wanted to join the military. Because I wanted to help people, the quickest way for me to do so was through the military.  I felt that if I was serving, that was my way of protecting everyone.  So I went to a recruiter and signed up for the delayed entry program.  This would mean that I’m agreeing to join the military upon graduating from high school.

Here is the next step of my heroic journey, crossing the first threshold.  When I graduated from high school, I went to Buffalo, NY for MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station).  It was here that I swore and oath to protect this country and the people within.  There was no turning back now.  I flew from Buffalo, NY to San Antonio, TX for basic training at Lackland Air Force Base.  After basic training I went on to my technical training school at Sheppard Air Force base in Wichita Falls, TX, where I learned how to maintain aircraft fuel systems.  From here I went to my duty location at Pope A.F.B, Fayetteville, NC.

After a few months of getting used to the base, and meeting new people, I decided to try and get involved on base.  So I joined my shops intramural basketball league.  Unfortunately during one of the games I ended up tearing my ACL and meniscus.    The doctor told me, “Healing happens in thirds, 1/3 of people need surgery, 1/3 of people can heal by therapy, and the other third heal and don’t do anything.”  I then spent seven months in physical therapy to try and heal.  It was during this time that I was in my “belly of the whale” moment.  I felt alone, the people I thought were my friends were only looking out for themselves.  Those who were my friends were twelve hours away back home.  So it seemed I was stuck in this situation with no way out.  Money was an issue also, being young and having money I was under the impression that I could spend as much as I wanted because I was guaranteed a pay check.  So just to sum up my belly of the whale situation, I’m stuck with a busted knee and in debt more than I am making, with no friends or family to help out.  The base I was at wasn’t exactly the greatest either, there was a reason it was called “no hope pope.”  I didn’t know how much more I could take.  I really wanted to go to college and get a degree and come back in the military as an officer.  I still wanted to use the military as a way of helping people.

As I thought I would be stuck here forever, an unexpected thing happened.  The United States Air Force was cutting back its forces.  They were first removing people who had negative records and then were accepting volunteers.  They called this their force shaping program.  This was my chance to get out of this situation and start over.  I realized that I can get out and go to college full time, get my degree and come back as an officer and hopefully do more.  Naturally I didn’t really think of the financial problems I’ve already attained from a little over a year in the military.  A new truck and a small loan were the least of my worries, or so I thought, but I was out and ready to start classes.

Financial troubles prevented me from starting classes right away.  My truck was costing me $350.00 a month plus another $200.00 for insurance, that small loan was another $111.00 a month, and my father decided to start charging me rent at $200.00 a month.  So each month I owed around $861.00 per month give or take a few dollars and I didn’t have a job yet.  Eventually I had to make a choice on what to pay and what not to pay.  I had to pay rent I needed a place to stay.  I could afford to pay the small loan, and it had the highest interest so the quicker I pay it the better.  So I had to stop paying for my truck, I just couldn’t afford it.  Needless to say the bank came and took it away from me.  This would be the start of my road of trials.

My next step, the run in with the Goddess and temptress happen to be the same woman.  I met her my first semester at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, three years after I got out of the military.  She really helped me get to where I am now.  Always pushing me to get back on my feet, I would not have been able to get out of debt and back on track without her help.  I thought she was the one, I thought I was done looking.  We were together for three years, I tried to give her everything I could, but I guess it wasn’t enough.  She broke my heart.  The reason I feel she was both my Goddess and my temptress, is because I acted like she was.  I gave her all of myself, and it got me nothing in return.  I stopped hanging out with friends, and family, I tried to do everything with her.  She was the one I wanted to be with, and couldn’t be without.  It wasn’t until we broke up that I realized I focused more on her then I did myself.  I strayed from my path, and didn’t worry about what I was doing.  That’s why I am down here now at Indiana University of Pennsylvania; I’m here to continue on my path.  I needed to get away from my Goddess, my temptress, so I can focus on my future, my path.

Over the years, I watched my father slowing decrease in his drinking.  It also changed drastically when he was diagnosed with diabetes.  As I’ve matured, I feel the relationship that I now have with my father has become one of respect and understanding.  I feel that what I’ve done so far, between my finances and military, there is new respect received.  With my goals I have for my future, he understands what I am trying to do with my life, and in turn respects me for my choices.  I also respect him now more than before with the choices he has made to get to where he is now, and hopefully this will not change in the future.  This is my atonement with the father.

I’m not so sure that I’ve reached my apotheosis or ultimate boon stage of my journey as of now.  I’m still young and have much more to experience.  I can say though that through my journeys so far, I have acquired a wealth of knowledge that I could pass on to my little brother and sister, and hopefully others willing to listen.  But to say that I’ve discovered the purpose of life and myself and I’m able to share these ideas with the rest of the world would be a lie.  I hope one day I am able to discover the purpose of life and myself and to share this wealth of knowledge would be something I would instill in possibly my children, or the generations below me.  I have a lot more time to accomplish these tasks, and I feel that when I do, I will be more than willing to share this information with others.

My eyes have been opened to what I have done and accomplished throughout my journey so far.  I’m excited to see where my path takes me, and those who I will encounter along the way.  I look forward to the journey.