My First Essay

My First Day at My Job

One of the things I wanted to do when I left the military was to make sure I am financially stable. A popular strategy that was told to me was to advertise yourself by any means necessary. Advertising myself had to include: hand carrying resumes to potential employers, making frequent trips to the Department of Labor in my town seeking employment, searching newspaper ads for job fairs in the local area and /or around the state, and searching the World Wide Web for the type of job that I am qualified for. With all these tips, I was able to find my current job at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Georgia as an Electronics Technician. There were several factors that lead me on the path to pursue this job and eventually, my first day on the job.

One of the factors, as previously discussed, was my home life. Like many home lives, it had its good times and its pitfalls. I was a boy growing up in a man's time waiting on the day that I would become a man. I grew in a small town called Dudley which is about 45 miles southeast of Macon, Georgia. I lived with my grandparents in a double-wide trailer that sits on about 2 acres of land surrounded by pine trees with sticky leaves on them. There were pecan trees too. All around me were wooded areas, green fields where the cows live. There were also different flowers that you could smell for miles all around the area. If you sniff too much, you might smell something that you might not find very pleasant. As a kid, I liked to read my fair share of books. I remember a book that I checked out from school for a book report was "A Tale of Two Cities". Reading that book, like countless other thereafter, gave me a sense of actually being a part of the story. You would actually feel enchantment and great joy all at the same time as if you are one with this book. Besides reading, I was very curious about a lot of other things.

I remember, at one point in time, the very first radio that I owned. I would often think about a popular song by LL Cool J when he said “I can't live without my radio". I think the name of that song was called "Radio". One day, I decided to open up my radio and see what it would look like on the inside. I guess it was a combination of boredom and curiosity all at the same time. Either way, I was determined to see what made this radio tick. When I opened it up, I saw a lot of strange pieces of equipment that I did not understand. I wanted to ask one of the adults to help me identify the components inside the radio. Then, I was thinking that might not be such a good idea because of questions from them such as: “Why did you do that?" or “What on earth were you thinking?". My family, in a sense, would not understand my curiosity or yearning to learn new things.

Another factor involved in pursuing my current career was determining:"Where I would get the training to do the job?” During my senior year in high school, I was a teenager with a lot on his mind. The typical questions of a teenager include: "Do I want to go to college?”If so, which one? "Do I want to join the military?" After a great deal of thought, I decided to join the military. I proceeded to see a recruiter for the United States Army right after graduation from high school. A couple of months later, after signing my life away, I was on my way to a training center right outside of Columbia, South Carolina.

If you ever served in the military in any capacity, then you would understand the brutal hardships endured during your stay in Basic Training (otherwise known as "Boot Camp"). Being in Basic Training for two months was like being in the worst place that you would never want to go in your life. You are constantly being harassed by a man that would stay in your face day in and day out. This person would do this just because he could (or at least that is the daily lie that he told me). The good news is that when you leave that place, you would forever be a changed person for good or bad. My next destination, after Basic Training, was A.I.T. (Advanced Individual Training) school. The school, at the time that I went, was in Augusta, Georgia on a base called Fort Gordon.

While at Fort Gordon, I was able to acquire the electronic skills necessary to advance myself to the next level. During my travels in the military, whether it is the beaches of the Dominican Republic or in the United States, I found out that hard work and perseverance were the key factors in pursuit of my current job position. On June 18th 2001, I reported to building number 624 on Robins Air Force Base. In this building, I would be given access to the facility in which I will be working. After getting access to the facility, I would have to wait until someone come down to the Visitor Control Center and escort me to my work area. That someone would either my supervisor or someone from my work area to walk me inside. Once I get inside the facility, I walked around and met my fellow co-workers. Afterwards, I would have a face to face conversation with my new boss. I have to admit, despite all the paperwork I had to fill out, that it was a pretty, interesting first day on the job.