It has been been a goal of mine to attend the United States Naval Academy after visiting Annapolis with my grandparents in 2012. Since visiting the Naval Academy I knew that I wanted to serve America with the utmost honor and integrity. The Naval Academy Summer Seminar would give me the ability to hone my leadership skills and give me valuable experience that I could use as a Navy Midshipman and throughout life. This summer experience is an opportunity of a lifetime because it will allow me to understand and benefit from the mental and physical challenges the academy provides. Challenging myself at the Naval Academy Summer Seminar would be greatly beneficial for me because I will have the confidence and skills to make decisions
From within, the Navy’s bureaucracy is seldom questioned. Understandably, its culture largely influences the life of a midshipman at the Naval Academy. The experience in Annapolis is anchored in four years of stringent academic and fitness requirements; the latter is emphasized for its importance in leading during times of harsh conditions. While the Academy expects its 4,576 midshipmen to excel physically, for 172 years it did not provide an optimal foundation upon which to do so. An official, longstanding policy has never been established to allow midshipmen to leave the small, enclosed campus through convenient gates located near the dormitory to conduct exercise, largely reducing the student body’s morale.
Time is the most valuable and limited resource on this planet. It can be wasted, but never recovered. For this reason, I have always aimed for the stars with my aspirations, and my career in addition to my academic goals are no less optimistic. It was almost eleven years ago now, when I first laid my gaze upon the Naval Academy for the first time. I visited Annapolis with my family and grandfather, who attended the academy in the 1950s after being nominated by Congressman Peter Frelinghuysen.
From the time I was born I have been surrounded by sports. My dad tells me that while my mother was giving birth he was watching the Major League Baseball all star game and she made him turn it off. My middle name is Brenden, named after the now retired hall-of-famer, left wing, Brendan Shanahan. I can remember being in love with sports for all my life. For birthday parties when I was younger I would have all of my friends come over and we would play pick up baseball games.
I discovered my place in January of 2015. I was competing in a boys twelve and under single gender Junior Team Tennis tournament. It took place in an indoor tennis facility called Folkes/Stevens tennis center in Old Dominion University. I was representing Green Spring Racket Club of Maryland for sectionals, playing against the rest of the Mid-Atlantic region. Once I step on the court, I realized I have found what truly makes me happy.
Attending a military academy and becoming an officer in the military have been my biggest life goals for quite some time. The following essay will discuss why I desire to be an officer in the military, where I developed an interest in attending a service academy, and key strengths That make me stand out from other potential candidates, as well as the single most difficult challenge I will have to overcome in preparation for academy life. I have a desire to be an officer in the military because my demonstrated ability to lead a team, show initiative, and make important decisions, while being physically and mentally fit would be put to good use in an environment I am most comfortable in.
An event that transitioned me from being a child to moving up into adulthood would be when I got my first job. I say this because now I get to make my own money and spend it how I want to spend it. Before, I always needed to ask my parents for money so I can go to places I wanted to go but after getting a job it showed me that now I needed to work, and earn, my paycheck rather than it just being given to me. When I began earning money it gave me a slight perspective of how my parents had to earn their money to get things they wanted along with my other siblings and me. When I had my own spending money I immediately wanted to begin paying for my wants and needs, just to experience what it was like having that sort of responsibility.
I resonated with the last paragraph in chapter four. Pue writes, “Christian leaders are people of vision. Mentors can help leaders understand and clarify God’s vision for their life and act as a check to draw them back into scripture…” (100). I recently struggled with the concept I was trying to develop for my writing project. I knew that there was an element missing, there was something that I was doing wrong
Knowing my capability to reach a goal, drives me to change. I had announced at work one day I was going to start weight watchers. A coworker scoffed and said, you will never do it. His lack of faith, motivated a 30 pound weight loss. I decided to make the change and then acted on it.
Unfortionally at the age of four I lost my mother and my father had to take care of three children by himself. My dad was a great parent who did not have lots of time to dedicate to his children when he was always working. For that reason at an early age I did not have anybody who encourage me to read. When I started school I always struggled in reading because my first language was Spanish and it was hard for me to start to learn a new language at six years of age. I was always in an ELD class for people who had a hard time with reading and writing.
The most interesting part that I took away with the readings was the fact that there is a name for that super awkward time when the universe seems to be surrounding you, the frequency illusion. I had no idea that illusion was something that had been scientifically studied. I find that rather fascinating. Looking through the Wikipedia page, the first consequence, finance, struck a chord with me. My husband is currently attending classes at the Carlson School of Business Management at the University of Minnesota.
“Number four is seventeen, five is false, and six is true.” my teacher drones on. We are going over our tests that we took yesterday. She is telling us the answers so we can see what we did wrong and if she made any mistakes. On my paper, number five I answered ‘true’
I never imagined my life would turn out this way. Seven years old everything felt seamless. I was blessed with two parents who adored me, two older siblings who would do anything for me. I did not see any trace of a dead end road. By the time I was nine I realized everything in my life was changing, my family was not genuinely a family to any further extent.
Most people aren't aware, but the 2015 club deck almost did not come to fruition. Let me explain... Back in mid-July (2015), I received a phone call from Tom Dawson around supper time. He informed me that Jackson Robinson, who agreed to design the 2015 deck, was backing out of the project for personal reasons. To make matters worse, the deadline to turn in all the artwork for the deck was eight days away. Finding another artist would be highly unlikely, and very difficult.
Growing up, I never went through a divorce with my parents and for that I am grateful. However, my life has never been the “typical home” where mom and dad were happily married. In fact, I never had any of that. From before I was even born, my mother and father were separated. However, I do not know if I would have chosen to grow up any differently.
