I Was Almost a Complete Failure...But Wasn't

My days in high school were pretty uneventful.  I tried to do the absolute least amount possible to get by. I had to work to pay my car insurance after a few brushes with the law over driving without a license before I was old enough to get my driver's license. I worked at McDonald's, mostly because I had friends that worked there as well. I hated going to school.  My parents had divorced when I was younger and my father passed away when I was 12.  I started to get involved in drinking and drugs at an early age; things were not looking good for my future. 

One day in high school the local Army recruiter brought in a parachute demonstration team and a Chinook helicopter to do a demo at my high school.  We were allowed to tour the helicopter after it landed and talk with the crew.  I thought it was pretty neat at the time.  I went on a vacation over the summer and when I came back my mom told me the Army recruiter had been calling for me when I was gone.  I thought back to that day with the helicopter.  I said, "Hey, let's give this guy a call and see what that's all about."  I called the recruiter back and asked if I could come down and talk (I later found out pretty much NO ONE does that. They have to chase kids down!)  He was waiting outside for me when I got there.  It turned out he was a helicopter guy in the regular Army and told me all about the job.  I deicided that was something I could see myself doing and went the enxt week and joined the Army on the Delayed Entry Program.

Right away I quit doing any kind of drugs and started learning everything I could about the Army.  A year later I left for Basic Training and my Advanced Job Training.  I was initiaally stationed at Fort Campbell, KY and got assigned to a flight company where I became a Blackhawk Helicopter Crewchief.  

The Army gave me structure that I desperately needed.  Even in my job training I became Soldier of the Month twice. At Fort Campbell I was the Soldier of the Quarter for the largest Aviation Brigade in the free world.  I got promoted much faster than my peers.  Within 5 years I made the rank of Staff Sergeant and had 50 soldiers working for me and was responsible for nearly $100 Million worth of military equipment....at the age of 23. 

I got out of the Army at 24 and went to college at Penn State.  I graduated in 3 years, with a degree in Finance with honors as well as a minor in Business Law.  I missed being Magna Cum Laude by .02 points in my GPA (it was that one C in marketing, ironically enough.)  

All this from a kid who barely graduated high school.