There are many things that I have accomplished in my time here in this realm. One thing that I am proud to have had a chance to do is actually something that I had not even thought that I would be able to do. This was being able to become a firefighter, or fireman to those who aren\u2019t down<\/u> with PC speech<\/u>. <\/p>\n
I don\u2019t exactly call this an accomplishment for a few reasons. One reason is that being a firefighter was a childhood dream of mine. Since I was little I wanted to be a fireman ever since I had won a contest to spend a day with the local fire department. It was one of the best days of my life. <\/p>\n
After that, near graduation age I took a test called the ASVAB. The ASVAB stands for Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. It is basically like an IQ test. I took it mostly because I would get to leave school early and go play. I never thought much of the test, and forgot about it. A week or so later I received postcards from all military branches. Since I had had family members who had served in the United States Navy, I decided to respond only to the USN. However, on the postcard there were several career fields in which to check your interests. I chose to check the OTHER box and write \u2018firefighter\u2019 in the available space, all the while thinking that they would leave me alone and that would be that. <\/p>\n
A few weeks after I sent the postcard, and forgot about it, I received a phone call from a recruiter. He said that they were impressed with my scores and wanted to talk to me about my future. I just figured that they said this to everyone, but agreed to talk to them anyway, as it would afford me another day off from school. I went there and, long story short<\/u>, they asked me to take one more test just to ensure that my previous score was not a fluke<\/u>. I took another test and actually did better than the first test. <\/p>\n
The recruiters then proceeded to try and talk me into several other jobs such as radar technician, several communication fields, and encryption. I proceeded to tell the recruiters that I wanted firefighting or nothing. At this time I was going to high school in the morning and college in the evenings. I was only 16 so, needless to say, I was too young to sign the enlistment papers by myself. In the United States you must be 18 years of age to be able to sign paperwork without a parent or a guardian. After some time convincing my mother that this was what I wanted to do, they signed the paperwork required for me. <\/p>\n
All of my time as a firefighter in the United States Navy was spent on a variety of ships, where I not only trained thousands of members in the art of firefighting, but also led the teams on several hazardous missions, with stories that will be saved for future essays. Anyway, I continued as a firefighter as long as I was able to. <\/p>\n
Wrapping up this story quickly, I was diagnosed with a physical problem that requires constant care from a physician. I have no regrets save one: my body would not allow me to continue until I retired like I wanted to do.<\/p>\n
Kevin<\/p>\n
<\/br>
\nVocabulary<\/b><\/p>\n
down (adj.) - used to say that one understands or approves of something
\nPC speech (phr.) Politically Correct speech; newer words used to not offend others
\nlong story short (idiom) - introducing a short version of, or simply the conclusion of, a story.
\nfluke (n) - a one-time event that probably can\u2019t be done again; pure luck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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