In the service of others

By Autana Hogan
Staff Writer

Last semester while I was trying to figure out what classes I was going to take, I wanted to find a class that would seem like fun and fill up time. As I looked over the schedule, it jumped out at me and the next thing I knew, I had signed up for Intro to Mass Communication.

On the first day of class, the professor tells us that we have to write an editorial for a grade. I’m thinking, “Great! I didn’t sign up for this.” I just wanted a cake class, not a class where I had to think. I know that sounds bad, but anyone who’s been in college can see where I’m coming from.

I moved on and thought to myself, “What do I know that I could write about?” It came to me easily. I would just write about the military or what people have told me they thought about the military. You see I served in the U.S. Navy for four years. While I was in, I would hear some people talk badly about the military. I was going to write about how we as Americans should appreciate what our service men and women do for us every day; how they should be commended for their sacrifice and honored for their abilities. I wanted to tell the world that what they were saying just ticked me off.

I used to think to myself, “Where do these people get off being like this? Don’t they realize what service members give up for them?” These people thought we had it just so good; free medical that was really bad, free housing that was condemned, a guaranteed paycheck on the first and the fifteenth of the month that was less than what most high school kids made at McDonald’s. Well, you get the picture of how things were then and still are now.

Now, my time in I wouldn’t give up for anything in the world. I met my husband in the Navy; I got college money and met friends that I would take a bullet for and vice versa. It was the easiest and hardest job I have had in my life so far. I wanted to say so much to anyone who would listen to me.

I also thought that this would be a really good subject to write about because of our involvement in Iraq. I wanted to tell everyone that we, the sailors and soldiers of America, are more than just the human equivalent of Kevlar. We are people, too, with feelings just like anyone else and we desire the same respect that anyone else would receive. Then something happened; we went to war and friends and family I have went over to fight the war. Then the fear of so much came into my head; the fear of my husband being called back and never seeing him again, the fear of my friends losing their lives, and more than just fears came to mind. I began to feel guilty about being here state-side in college instead of out at sea.

All of this may sound silly or really hit close to home, but I suspect that I’m not the only one who feels this way. I realized that maybe I shouldn’t be so self-absorbed; that there is more than just me and my feelings. I began to see that my perception of the average person was completely wrong. I also began to see that I should worry more about the people around me. There are more than just the guys over there; there are the families and friends back home hoping they come home soon, safe and alive. I began to see that there’s more than just me in the world. I needed to look outside my immediate “18-inch bubble” and see what else is out there and who I could help at this point in history while the world is thrown into complete uncertainty.

I know that the way I’ve gone about this is completely odd. I could have just told you from the very beginning that we should help everyone around us and not just the people in front of us. However, I thought I should start in telling you how I got to this realization to begin with; how I took a step back from where I was to see forward to where I should be. That this began as just another assignment for one class and became much more; how being self-interested can sometimes blind you from the big picture and sometimes you have to open yourself up to what can come along.

I now want to tell people how there is more than just what we have experienced in life. There is a world beyond what we just see in front of us. I know that I’ve learned so much in just a matter of nothing and I hope that when you finish reading this you, too, will be able to do what I have done and develop the ability to see everything and everyone around you and that you can touch and/or change their lives for the better. If every one of us just helped one person or just took the time to listen to someone, we all could make a difference and that difference could really change the world.

(Autana M. Hogan is a law major in Betsy Simnacher’s Mass Communications class.)