Homework 10/3

When i was a child i dreamed of enlisting in the Military. Any branch honestly.I have a picture of me dressed up like a mini soldier and I went through several years of a cadet program which was meant to feel disciplinary like the Army. Throughout my childhood, by my authority figures and friends, I was encouraged to do so. It often caught people by surprise as “it’s not usual for a girl” to have such a dream. Everybody thought it was such a brave idea and I always wondered why it was so shocking for others to hear. Through my cadet program, I was surrounded by people who served or planned on serving in the military. I learned a lot of history and knowledge that is crucial to potential recruits. I was told how it felt from a first-hand perspective and I genuinely craved the adrenaline that soldiers must have to carry out their duty. I wanted to go through all the physical training and learn what it felt like to “serve and protect”. I often felt and still catch myself feeling overlooked by people I sacrificed a lot for so I guess I just wanted to be somebody’s hero. My curiosity shifted once I started realizing how much society hates and disregards women for just about anything they do. I used to tune into the news and remember seeing a story where a female soldier Vanessa Guillen spoke out to her family about feeling uncomfortable and being sexually assaulted by one of her higher-ups while being deployed. According to the New York Times, “Her remains were found dismembered and burned. Specialist Guillén’s family has alleged that she was sexually harassed before she was killed, drawing outrage from many and calls from activists for systematic changes in how the military handles reports of sexual harassment and assault.” I felt sick to my stomach hearing about her story and all the other women whose stories go unheard. I first hand would observe the comment section on Tiktok of women serving the military which were usually full of hate while they were mostly referred to as “Barrack Bunnies” According to Quora “A barracks bunny is someone (usually female) that sleeps with other soldiers during off-duty hours” Even while fighting for most of these ungrateful disgusting assholes lives Women are still belittled and sexualized in the eyes of these losers. I would bring this up to my educators when we spoke of Jobs you don’t usually see women do and they all didn’t argue with my concerns. We came to the terms that course you are at risk of any type of danger anywhere you go, it’s a scary world, but it’s even more saddening and sickening when you are putting your life on the line for a country and being abused and spoken down upon by those who you are risking and giving up your life and freedom for. I appreciated the fact that my educators didn’t sugarcoat it for me or give their own biased opinion, they saw where I was coming from and why it was important. That ultimately shifted how I viewed my decision to enlist or not. I never really lost interest I’m just too cautious and refuse to give up my life for a society that will chew me up and spit me out every chance they get. Seeing all the homeless veterans on the street opened my eyes to how this country will use you until you are useless to them and I refuse to be another crash dummy for them. I keep my dream in my heart from a distance honestly. I still have the ambition for wanting to help people in need and I do plan on being the change I wanna see in the world by helping one person at a time. I strive to participate in many nonprofit events and even just regularly help out on the streets when I can. I just want to help people because with everything that we all go through in our individual lives it’s easy to forget we are all just people trying to make it through the day and that isn’t how it shouldn’t be. Everybody should be able to live their life in peace and I want to be a part of why it becomes easier to do so, so until then I will continue to have the passion and will to contribute in any possible way I can.

Gabriella Leon