Explain Your Motivation And Decision To

My motivation/decision to serve in the U.S. military (USN) came from two experiences. First, in 1994 my older brother was graduating from high school and hadn’t really prepared himself for what that meant. A navy recruiter came to our house and spoke about the opportunities that the navy offered. I know I listened more than my brother did. In the end, my brother decided that the military was not for him and went off to junior college in Florida. Second, in 1995 during my first year of high school the band took its annual spring trip. That year the trip consisted of visiting Baltimore Harbor, The Marine Barracks in Washington DC, Kings Dominion, and The United States Naval Academy. It was after taking that tour and finding out about the history of the statue of Tecumseh, and visiting the tomb of John Paul Jones that I knew I wanted to become a midshipman and one day, ENS Samuel. Unfortunately, my math SAT score was not strong enough to gain entrance to the Academy, but I spoke with a recruiter named Petty Officer Gray who assured me that there were other avenues for entrance to Naval Academy if I entered the navy through the enlisted ranks. All through my naval career I pushed to become a naval officer. I applied to the Naval Academy and (BOOST) Broaden Opportunity for Officer Selection Training at my first command. I was not chosen for either program and decided to focus on my education and apply for (OCS) Officer Candidate School after completing my bachelor’s degree. In 2007 while on deployment I started feeling extremely tired. I made it through deployment on the USS Iwo Jima, but a few months after we returned, I was diagnosed with (MS) Multiple Sclerosis. At that time I thought my career was over, but I was told that I could continue my career. Unfortunately I lost the orders that I really wanted to (WHCA) the White House Communications Agency. By 2008 after being on limited duty for a year, and getting back the movement in my left arm.