***
Mini background story before I get to the actual post....for those of you that read this and have no idea who "my Minions" are or why their grades are important to me...
I work at NOSC OKC and the Oklahoma City area Sea Cadet program uses our building for their drills. Their drill weekends usually match up with our drill weekends so there are smallish children running around the building in modified Navy uniforms all weekend long. I am the Sea Cadet Liaison at the NOSC which means that I am the buffer between the Sea Cadet program and Big Navy. If they need something they ask me and I take it to my chain of command and try to make it happen.
I call the Cadets my Minions. The Cadets call me their Honey Badger. It works.
In order to have a place in the Sea Cadet program each Minion must keep their grades up. If they don't....they are no longer able to be in the Sea Cadets and therefore....no longer able to be a Minion. I like Minions. Minions help me keep my sanity during drill. The more Minions I have the happier I am and I do not want to lose any because they can't get their grades up.
Mini background story complete..... On to the real purpose of this post.
***
Dear Minions,
You have had numerous people yelling at you, preaching to you and pleading with you about getting your grades up. I am not just talking to those of you with failing grades...I am talking to everyone. (Even if you have a B...that B could be an A.)
I have told you that I will help you with your classes and I mean that. I am not the best in some areas but I know how to use my resources to find someone or something that will help you understand something you can't do well. Some of you have taken me up on that offer and trust me...as good as it makes you feel to finally "get" something....it makes me feel even better knowing that I helped you.
I was number 17 in my class of 146 at the end of my junior year. I fought with everything in my power to get to the top twenty. I do not have natural brain ninja abilities like some of my friends. Some of my friends didn't have to study or try in school and they came out with straight A's. It was frustrating at times to spend hours studying for an exam and get an 88 when they didn't study at all and got a 98.
In my school district the top 18 girls and top two boys in the junior class were in the Daisy Chain. The Daisy Chain is a tradition where the members pick a billion and a half daisies and attach them to these ancient ropes then carry them into the graduation ceremony of the class ahead of them. My motivation to get to the top 18 girls in my class was the fact I wanted to be on the Daisy Chain. It may be a silly reason to work so hard but that was my reason. College opportunities, job opportunities etc were on my radar too....but that Daisy Chain is the one reason I fought so hard.
As I said before...good grades did not come naturally to me. I was an A student in most of my classes and got Bs in a few others. Math and chemistry were two classes that I just didn't understand. In fifth grade I got a 77 in math on my final report card. That was the only C I ever received and I literally bawled and begged my teacher to tell me how to sign up for summer school. He laughed at me and told me to go enjoy my summer vacation.
I am not saying you all have to be straight A students. I get that for some of you school doesn't come easy. I am saying that you all need to find something that motivates you to do whatever you have to do the best you are able to do. If that means requesting extra help and staying after school.... do it (I did...I spent a month of my 9th grade year going back to my 8th grade math teacher after school because I just didn't understand what the crap my 9th grade teacher was trying to teach). If that means swallowing your pride and asking a friend that understands the material better than you do for help...do it (I did... Admitting to a friend that they are smarter than you might not be easy but it is better in the long run). If that means telling the Honey Badger that you do need her to help you...do it (I might not be able to tell you how to do it because there are plenty of things I don't remember but I will find out how to do it or find someone else that can help you).
Pride is a very strong thing. Even now I can be too proud to admit that I need help. I HATE asking for help but if it is going to help me reach a goal I have I will (reluctantly) swallow my pride, blush six shades of lobster, and admit that I am not able to do it on my own.
My motivation to get into the Daisy Chain helped me in more ways than just getting on the Daisy Chain. I applied to two colleges when I was a senior. Only two. My dream school (Michigan State) and a back up (SUNY Geneseo).... I received a letter from Michigan State roughly three weeks after I sent in my application and it said, "Congratulations! We are happy to offer you a place in our Fall 2004 semester..."
If I hadn't busted my butt to be able to put flowers on a rope I might not have been accepted to MSU.
So.... I have a "motivating offer" for you all... If you can all get your grades up by the end of the school year I will do something for you. Minimum is to get them up to the standards the program says you have to have but if you have a B in a class....strive for a B+ or an A. Help each other get there. If you are good at math and you know a fellow Minion is failing....help them. If you are good at history find someone that isn't and help them. If you are struggling in a class reach out and see who is doing well and ask them for help.
Be a team....fight for and with each other.
I hate it when I am the center of attention. I hate having eyes on me and I get super embarrassed. I will do just about ANYTHING to ensure I am NOT the center of attention. So here is my offer. You all do whatever it takes to get your grades up and I will gladly put myself into a situation I strive to avoid and I will make sure hundreds of people see me...
I will dress like a total idiot... Bright colors, stupid wig...whatever. I will have a radio blasting crazy music and I will make a sign that says, "I told my Minions I would do this if they got their grades up." I will take my sign, my music and my idiotic attire and I will dance and stroll around the shopping center on 29th street promoting the Sea Cadet Program.
Even the thought of doing that makes me want to throw up a little.... but I am willing to do it if you are willing to work hard to make me do it.
So....tell me.... am I gonna do it?
~Honey Badger
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
The post where I....whatever....just read it....
This is the first post I am writing directly into the blog without first typing it into a word document and then copying it here. My whole blog description of "Rachelese" really applies here...
When 9/11 happened and the towers came down and the Pentagon was burning and a field in Pennsylvania had plane parts and body parts and luggage with the memories of the people that owned them burning in the grass..... I was in tenth grade. I wrote the following a few weeks after it happened. I was 15...
"America the beautiful. For liberty and justice for all. United we stand. In God we trust. These are all sayings Americans live by, the sayings into which Americans put their faith and hope. After the recent attacks on our nation, these sayings are said with a certain determination. It's as if a few simple words can strengthen the weakened spirits of Americans and fill our hearts with hope.
The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon made Americans stumble but we will not fall. The hatred and determination of those responsible are not half as strong as the love and determination Americans have. America is internally divided by racial, social and political issues. It may take a few buildings to fall for us to come together, but when we do, we come together hard. With a force that should intimidate anyone that tries to do anything to America. We have become an angry mob of bees protecting our hive from intruders. We will protect America at all costs, just as bees protect their hive. More lives may be lost, but the people responsible will pay. We will make America free from fear and injustice. The thousands of people that lost their lives in the September 11th attack will be honored.
America. Land of the free and home of the brave."
After 9/11 the country banded together.... I don't think I heard the words "Republican" and "Democrat" until halfway through 2003.
Is it gonna take another attack on American soil for everyone (including the politicians) to wake the hell up and prioritize what is important enough to bicker about????
Seriously. I have friends that I love dearly....I get on Facebook and this person posts this about that and it is way Democrat.... I scroll down and that person posts that about this and it is way Republican....
I am in no way, shape or form knocking the beliefs anyone has.....I myself have strong ideas and values....and some are "Republican" and some are "Democrat". Example..... Marry whomever you want to...if you are a woman and you want to marry a woman...I think you should and I think you should have the same rights to benefits and what not that I have being married to a man....however, if anyone tries to take away my right to have guns in my house we are gonna have some issues.
Do you want to know who I voted for the last election? I didn't. I didn't vote. If I had I probably would have done a write in vote or whatever and voted for Midnight as president with Mooshie as her vice. Their first action as leaders would have been Beggin' Strips for all.
Seriously though....why should I vote when it isn't gonna matter anyway. Before anyone gets all "But Rachel...you are in the military...you shouldn't say these things".... I am not saying anything in this post that is knocking my boss. I am not saying anything about him that can be considered bad. I am not saying anything about anyone specific at all. I am, however, saying that those with the money make the calls and after the electoral votes are counted....we have no real say in what happens in this country. We like to think we do....but we don't.
We are blind. We are sleeping. I choose to be blind and sleeping because it hurts less than being informed but not able to do a damn thing about it. I choose to purposefully be uninformed and ignore the news and ignore what is going on around me because A) if I do...it will piss me off B) the job I chose to do says I can't speak out or partake in activities against certain things and if I inform myself...I might care too much about some things to keep my mouth shut. C) a combination of A and B ...and D).....if I am ignorant and stay in LaLa Land...somehow that makes me feel better.
Don't judge me for that..... don't judge me for staying in LaLa Land... with all the way left side stuff you see and the way right side stuff you see...how do you even know which is the "right" stuff? How do you know the opinion you have or the things you choose to believe are "correct"? What makes them "correct" or "right"...because so-n-so said so or this religion said so or you had a soup and a salad at lunch so it has to be true?
Sometimes people at work ask me "What do you think about yadda yadda blah blah overseas whatnots mclalala" and I give them a blank stare and they judge me because I am uniformed and wearing a uniform...
I wear the uniform because of what I wrote when I was 15 years old. I didn't join the military right out of high school like some people did...I didn't join because of 9/11. I joined because I am a damn American and I want to protect my homeland from whatever might threaten us.... But lately it seems that a lot of what threatens us is our own internal division and I can't fix that. It makes me sad.
It makes me very sad.
America. Land of the free and home of the brave....... please?
Keep livin' the American dream,
~Turtle
When 9/11 happened and the towers came down and the Pentagon was burning and a field in Pennsylvania had plane parts and body parts and luggage with the memories of the people that owned them burning in the grass..... I was in tenth grade. I wrote the following a few weeks after it happened. I was 15...
"America the beautiful. For liberty and justice for all. United we stand. In God we trust. These are all sayings Americans live by, the sayings into which Americans put their faith and hope. After the recent attacks on our nation, these sayings are said with a certain determination. It's as if a few simple words can strengthen the weakened spirits of Americans and fill our hearts with hope.
The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon made Americans stumble but we will not fall. The hatred and determination of those responsible are not half as strong as the love and determination Americans have. America is internally divided by racial, social and political issues. It may take a few buildings to fall for us to come together, but when we do, we come together hard. With a force that should intimidate anyone that tries to do anything to America. We have become an angry mob of bees protecting our hive from intruders. We will protect America at all costs, just as bees protect their hive. More lives may be lost, but the people responsible will pay. We will make America free from fear and injustice. The thousands of people that lost their lives in the September 11th attack will be honored.
America. Land of the free and home of the brave."
After 9/11 the country banded together.... I don't think I heard the words "Republican" and "Democrat" until halfway through 2003.
Is it gonna take another attack on American soil for everyone (including the politicians) to wake the hell up and prioritize what is important enough to bicker about????
Seriously. I have friends that I love dearly....I get on Facebook and this person posts this about that and it is way Democrat.... I scroll down and that person posts that about this and it is way Republican....
I am in no way, shape or form knocking the beliefs anyone has.....I myself have strong ideas and values....and some are "Republican" and some are "Democrat". Example..... Marry whomever you want to...if you are a woman and you want to marry a woman...I think you should and I think you should have the same rights to benefits and what not that I have being married to a man....however, if anyone tries to take away my right to have guns in my house we are gonna have some issues.
Do you want to know who I voted for the last election? I didn't. I didn't vote. If I had I probably would have done a write in vote or whatever and voted for Midnight as president with Mooshie as her vice. Their first action as leaders would have been Beggin' Strips for all.
Seriously though....why should I vote when it isn't gonna matter anyway. Before anyone gets all "But Rachel...you are in the military...you shouldn't say these things".... I am not saying anything in this post that is knocking my boss. I am not saying anything about him that can be considered bad. I am not saying anything about anyone specific at all. I am, however, saying that those with the money make the calls and after the electoral votes are counted....we have no real say in what happens in this country. We like to think we do....but we don't.
We are blind. We are sleeping. I choose to be blind and sleeping because it hurts less than being informed but not able to do a damn thing about it. I choose to purposefully be uninformed and ignore the news and ignore what is going on around me because A) if I do...it will piss me off B) the job I chose to do says I can't speak out or partake in activities against certain things and if I inform myself...I might care too much about some things to keep my mouth shut. C) a combination of A and B ...and D).....if I am ignorant and stay in LaLa Land...somehow that makes me feel better.
Don't judge me for that..... don't judge me for staying in LaLa Land... with all the way left side stuff you see and the way right side stuff you see...how do you even know which is the "right" stuff? How do you know the opinion you have or the things you choose to believe are "correct"? What makes them "correct" or "right"...because so-n-so said so or this religion said so or you had a soup and a salad at lunch so it has to be true?
Sometimes people at work ask me "What do you think about yadda yadda blah blah overseas whatnots mclalala" and I give them a blank stare and they judge me because I am uniformed and wearing a uniform...
I wear the uniform because of what I wrote when I was 15 years old. I didn't join the military right out of high school like some people did...I didn't join because of 9/11. I joined because I am a damn American and I want to protect my homeland from whatever might threaten us.... But lately it seems that a lot of what threatens us is our own internal division and I can't fix that. It makes me sad.
It makes me very sad.
America. Land of the free and home of the brave....... please?
Keep livin' the American dream,
~Turtle
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)