Summer 2012 Newsletter - LaGuardia Community College - CUNY

guess by seeing his daughter lying on the side walk with her left leg broken. I made the phone call
to the Post Office (as a Letter Carrier) and told my supervisor that I had an accident and would
not be coming in.
I got to the hospital and they took x-rays. The doctor said that I had an open wound fracture.
Then he explained that I broke my fibular and tibia. It took a few days to get surgery. My son
came over from the military on emergency leave to see me. I felt very vulnerable. Being a very
independent person I did not feel good about myself.
Meanwhile, I had been renting my first floor apartment to a lady with her two sons when she
decided not to pay rent. She told me that she was having financial problems. I tried to explain to
her that I was not working because of the accident and needed her income for my mortgage.
This went on for several months until I realized that she was not going to pay the rent. I had to
take her to court. It took a good nine months to get her evicted.
After all this I had to live on credit cards; I was so discouraged. I went to see the doctor on September
2001 thinking that he was going to remove the cast when he told me that I would need
another surgery because my bone shifted. I was so devastated with that news that my dad decided
to leave to Puerto Rico because he felt overwhelmed with what was happening to me. The
doctor performed the other surgery; this time he put two metal plates with 14 screws. It took
me one year and six months to heal from that awful fall.
This experience changed my life by making me more sensitive to disabled and elderly people. It
gives me a different approach on how to see life. Some people take life for granted and others
take advantage of it. In today’s society we need to be careful about who we can trust and not be
naïve because there are lots of wolves.
“That Student” (Anonymous)
The boy scouts taught me how to be an individual, in the Army I developed into a leader, and I
learned how to be a team player from my rugby coach. Unfortunately no one prepared me for
the most challenging and life changing role I am faced with. When it was announced that I was
going to be a parent, a mixture of emotions swept over me. Although the thoughts of having a
"daddy's little girl" or "that’s my boy" moments were so exciting, I struggled with the idea of raising
a child at that current stage in my life; I was practically still raising myself.
Tu Vakarau ena Vei Gauna “Always Prepared” ― Motto of the Fiji Boy Scouts Association
I didn't have the typical 9 to 5 job or was anywhere remotely close to living an American dream.
I was a 25 year old part time soldier who travelled a lot for either training or real world missions.
On the civilian side I worked in the private sector of the security industry as a tactical
firearm instructor, which consisted of its own time consuming agenda. Obviously this was going
to call for some serious time management skills once a child was added to my life's equation, it
became apparent that some serious decision making was going to have to take place. As the
months began to add up pulling the due date closer, like a chain reaction my anxiety levels increased,
pushing me closer to that red panic button. My short and long-term goals, even my routine
day dreams didn't seem practical anymore when I factored in a child; my views on nearly
everything I did or planned to do instantly change. Going forward I would have to consider my
family and how it will impact their lives. Unfortunately because my experiences and skill sets
were very specific, many options of having an alternative lifestyle were not available to me. So
the decision was made to remain in uniform a bit longer, until I figured out a winning game plan. I
was not prepared for this new chapter in my life.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the
one most responsive to change.” ― Charles Darwin an English Naturalist (1809 -
1882)
Many people will state that they have experienced change in their lives, one way or another due
to a defining moment. I simply like to view change in one’s life as a form of evolutionary adapted-
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