The Time I Became a Semper Fidelis All-American

English 101

Mrs. Logue

September 13th, 2017

The Time I Became a Semper Fidelis All-American

I never realized how blessed I am to live in this great country until I went to D.C. as a Semper Fidelis All-American. Not until a person has a relationship with one who serves for our country, or they serve themselves is he/she able to understand what all they truly do to protect us and make America the great country it is. At the end of my trip I realized that so many people are willing to defend this country for us, so I had to ask myself, “what am I doing?” It was not until after the trip was over that I realized, I could be doing more as a citizen to better this country.

The first day in D.C. going in, I knew more people than most because another boy from my small school also was selected; I did not feel comfortable at all being put in a room with 200 strangers. Being so used to California, Missouri it was a real culture shock with all the diversity around me. Later in the night we split up into teams, each team had around six kids, 6 mentors, and a Marine. I thought to myself, “wow these people are actually a little cooler than what I thought.” The Marine in my group was so funny and definitely was not the type of person I would usually associate myself with, but I am thankful I did. The first night, lieutenant sergeant Verice Bennett talked to us. He had received a silver star and another officer read the statement that discussed how he earned it. After hearing this I just started crying, it was so powerful and moving. I was standing in front of this hero, and I just wanted to thank him for everything he had done for this country. When it was finally my turn to talk to Sergeant Verice Bennett I wanted to say, “thank you for all your hard work and dedication to this country,” but instead I just cried and hugged him, apologizing for how emotional I was. At the end of the day I had never felt so moved and so truly blessed to be in this country, it finally clicked how really lucky I was.

The following day we went and toured Quantico. That was just another amazing opportunity that I was so thankful to experience. I got to see where the Marine Corps and Navy train. Everyone was able to go to their practice shooting range and try the guns which was a real highlight. We also tried to solve a problem on how we would attack the enemy with given circumstances and it was nothing but stressful. I believe that the Marine Corps is not for everyone after realizing I do not work well in stressful situations, which is what they have to deal with daily. Later, we went into the martial arts building and saw some people practice. Along with that there was so much artifacts from past wars that were just on display for one to see when they walked through the building. We went to the rubber pit, where soldiers would practice their moves. The man who invented the martial art program at Quantico, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph C. Shusko, showed us a few self defense moves. I actually let him demonstrate one on me. He pinched my chin, it felt worse than a bee sting. I was so intrigued by this man, he made me excited, he made me want to be in the