Photo By Sgt. Levi Schultz | Staff Sgt. Alfredo Newball grew up in Southside Jamaica Queens and through influential...... read more read more
Subscribe
>It has always been viewed upon that if you were not an athlete, a musician, or from a rich family in my neighborhood then you could not amount to success. Many people choose to stay there because of their heritage or they believe that there is no way out.
>For me, I had to put my feet forward and show my family that you can do whatever you want. Growing up and watching my mother, who has now retired from New York City Hospital as a health administrative worker after 40 years, taught me that if you work for it you can have a better lifestyle.
>September 11, 2001. That day will always be remembered, not just for me but for everyone, in-and-out of uniform. I wanted to be a part of history, to see if I could make a change as part of the nation’s response force. We knew that an act of war was going to be declared; it was only a matter of when.
>Follow current events, always; you have to know what is happening in the world. You can’t just be blind to what is going on because certain things can affect you even if you’re not aware of them. You won’t be able to always handle everything at that moment in time but you need to be up to date.
>Everyone has someone that inspires them; everyone usually says their mother, father or children. I’d say the next generation inspires me; it’s going to be hard to be there for them and leave a legacy behind to express my inspiration with a generation I don’t even have familiarization with. It’s important because they influence me and my actions and I influence theirs.
>My uncle also inspires me because he learned how to live and breathe all 24 hours of a day. He lived every day to the fullest. That was an acquired gift to his children and to our family. He served in the Army during WWII.
>My English teacher taught me the importance of walking your own path. Your path is your own accomplishment; no one forced you to do it, it’s something you believe in. It became his own passion to become an English professor and he did it; no one stopped him, instead he grew from those around him.
>Education is always continuous. The youngest and the oldest, we can all learn from someone.
>Writing has always been a hobby of mine. It was something that I grew into over a period of time. You can always write about what your day was like. Those memories can be recorded in a journal that you can look back on.
>My first introduction to writing was with a pen-pal in elementary school. I remember, I received an award writing about peace and how countries should work together past their differences when I was in the fifth grade. From time to time, I still keep a journal but everything is so fast pace I tend to keep it written down in my head.
>When someone reads, they can relate to the hardships and shared experiences of the author and learn how to better tackle their problems.
>I have a sister, little brother who is 26 years old as well as an older who is 42 years old right now. I’m trying to catch up my older brother, it’s not easy. With our age gap we share different decades.
>My older brother was the first one who showed me a path of success. Everything he’s given is a contribution to the family.
>Time is something you can never get back. It’s something you can share together every day, but you can never buy it back and you can only live it once. For my brother he felt that the contributions he did working was a payback for the work that my father did to support our family.
>I listen to a lot of music from my mother’s time period, from when she was growing up, as well as music from my father’s heritage as well. He is from Panama and knowing more of his heritage, his lifestyle and what his family has become brings me closer to my roots.
>My siblings call me a soldier. I always tell them that I’m a Marine. They see that I have a love for my work; in the same way I see that love in my brother for his career path. He’s been a sanitation worker for 15 years and is looking towards retirement; meanwhile on the same page my little brother is starting a career as a train operator for the city.
>While my siblings and I never followed the same path, we have always held the same moral goals. The best thing that my brothers and I had in common was love for our family; some things never change. The greatest motivation for me has always been my family.
| Date Taken: | 11.18.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 11.18.2015 14:13 |
| Story ID: | 182265 |
| Location: | TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA, US |
| Hometown: | JAMAICA, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 339 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, What I've Learned: Alfredo Newball, by Sgt Levi Schultz, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT