I don’t enjoy teaching, but I enjoy being a teacher.
I don’t enjoy creating lesson plans. I don’t enjoy testing students. I don’t enjoy teaching mathematics, though I don’t dislike it either.
I became a teacher because I love people. I love getting to know people intimately. I find every individual to be absolutely fascinating and worth getting to know deeply. I dislike superficial relationships in which everyone appears to be a product of a cookie cutter mold, though I know they’re more than that.
I enjoy the fact that as a teacher, I am an adult who can tell when a child is going through a rough time and can do something about it. I enjoy the fact that as a teacher, I can create a plan for a student to succeed not only in my class, but also in his or her schedule of classes for this year and beyond. I enjoy the fact that as a teacher, I can influence children to become better students, but most importantly, better individuals, as men and women of character.
This Veteran’s Day is the 10th year in which I celebrate it as a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and I’ve come to a similar conclusion about being a veteran.
I didn’t enjoy soldiering. But I enjoyed being a soldier.
I didn’t enjoy the long marches. I didn’t enjoy being called unawares with a 48 hour notice to war as a teenager. I didn’t enjoy some of the things I’ve seen and the places I’ve been to. Some of that still affects me to this day.
I became a soldier for many reasons. When people ask me what made me join the military and I know that we don’t have a lot of time to chat, I often tell them that I did it to pay for college. But that was an afterthought when I signed up within days of eligibility as a 17 year old Junior in High School.
One of the two primary reasons I joined the Army was because my brother did. I remember picking him up at the airport as a Freshman in High School, right after he had finished his basic training at Ft. Sill, OK. Something was different about him. He had become a man. When I saw him, I knew that’s what I wanted for myself. So when I turned 17, I called the recruiter and told him that I wanted to go to Army basic training to become a man like my brother.
The other primary reason I joined was because I wanted to serve this country. When I was a 9 year old immigrant, I was in a bicycle accident and my ventral hernia was impaled. Though I was not yet a US citizen, this country paid for my surgery since my family didn’t have the financial resources. I always felt very grateful and indebted to this country for that. I believed then, as I believe now, that they had no reason to take care of me without expecting anything in return. But they did. I became very patriotic and loyal to America since that incident.
I enjoyed being a soldier because it taught me a lot. I enjoyed learning about the world; to date, I’ve been to over 30 countries and it all started with the military. I enjoyed learning to be a man; I was treated so well by the Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces, and the French Foreign Legion that I still remember the kindness and generosity they showed without expecting anything in return to people like me whom I wouldn’t place anywhere near their pedestal, and the same kindness is how I would like to be remembered if people think of me as a man. I enjoyed learning a lot about life; I saw and experienced things in Africa that I never thought I’d see or experience, and I made a promise to God one night that if I make it back in one piece I would never live to regret another day… and I never have. And I enjoyed learning about what it means to be a brother; what it’s like for a platoon of brothers to give and receive emotional support and thousands of dollars without batting an eye or thinking much of it. I could not have made it through without them, and they have said the same of me.
One of the things I did not enjoy was developing a service-connected disability during my time in the war zone. But one thing that I enjoy now because of that is the continued health benefits that comes with that disability.
About 6 months ago before I moved from NYC, I developed some pain in my lower abdomen, in the same place that I was impaled during the bicycle accident some 20 years ago, the same incident that motivated me to join the military. I can only liken it to having a sharp razor slice me up from the inside. Sometimes, I couldn’t sneeze without feeling as though my intestines were going to be ripped out. Sometimes, I couldn’t stand for more than 20 minutes before the pain overtook me. And sometimes, I couldn’t even sit without pain either.
I went to the Veteran’s Hospital. I saw a physician. I saw a surgeon. I saw a physician again. I went to the ER. Pain seemed to indicate a hernia. I got a CT scan. Nothing came up. For months, I was frustrated at the prognosis of never having a possible solution. The symptoms continue to this day.
A few weeks ago, the Veterans Hospital authorized me to see a pain specialist. Any pain specialist I wanted to go see in the nation, all for free because I was a veteran with a service-connected disability during my time in a combat zone, even though this pain I am now feeling has nothing to do with my particular military disability.
The Veterans Affairs got me connected to one of the best pain specialists in Charlotte. He’s seen symptoms like this before, and he came up with a course of action. An MRI is in order, as is a shot for a temporary block of my Ilioinguinal and Iliohypogastric nerves. For the first time in 6 months, I feel hopeful of a future without excruciating pain. And this country insists that I pay nothing for it, yet again.
I served this country because it was good to me. This country continues to be good to me because I served.
On Veteran’s Days, I do not wish to be thanked. It would be a gross understatement to say that I did absolutely nothing heroic. And I think almost all veterans would say that they were just doing their job; I know that my platoon would say that. We are proud for having served. It was an honor to serve with such great brothers for such a great country.
Instead, I want to do the thanking on this Veteran’s Day. Thank you for giving me the honor of serving. Thank you for teaching me how a man should think and act. Thank you for taking care of me without asking for anything in return.
And I hope that one day, my students will mature as men and women and learn to do what you’ve taught me to do as a veteran, to serve people with kindness and generosity without expecting anything in return.