Photo By Sgt. Caitlyn Smoyer | Private 1st Class Li Ma, a finance specialist with the 24th Finance Management Support...... read more read more
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Li Ma, a Chinese native, arrived at Los Angeles International Airport, one of the largest and busiest international airports in the United States. It was her first trip to America, and her expectations were high, she said.
“I always wanted to come to the United States. It’s a very good country and it’s powerful.”
She was travelling from New Zealand, where she had spent three years in school, learning the English language and studying finance.
Being used to the beautiful, small, quiet country of New Zealand, Ma found herself overwhelmed by the amount of people in America.
“It’s quite different,” she said.
Her husband, who was her boyfriend at the time, was waiting to pick her up. He drove her to his home in San Diego, where she stayed to live with him. She watched the street signs as she rode through American streets for the first time, noticing how different they were from what she was accustomed to.
Her imagination had always played a scenario similar to the New York scene, but her first experience on the other side of the country revealed a much different picture.
“I cannot say it did not meet my expectations,” she said. “It was just different.”
Ma, now a private first class financial management technician with the 24th Finance Management Support Unit, Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade, joined the military to gain independence, continue her education and earn her citizenship.
Growing up in China, Ma had a strict upbringing, learning to follow the rules and make school a top priority. Her father was a policeman and her mother worked for the public health department.
As a child, the short-haired tomboy enjoyed playing sports and running around with the boys of the neighborhood, she said.
“My father bought me toy guns, and I didn’t have a lot of Barbies.”
By the time she was a teenager, life was focused around education. From 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and again from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily she attended school. There was no time for play and hardly any time for sleep.
She passed an examination after high school to enter the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. For four years Ma studied business before moving overseas for the first time in her life.
New Zealand became her new home at the age of 26, where she learned English and completed half of her degree in finance. She visited her home in China during the holiday season and met Jian, who later became her husband. He was also visiting China at the time, but lived in California, working as a biology researcher at the University of California, San Diego.
When Ma was 29 years old, she decided to move to the United States to be with Jian. Though she was unable to continue her education as quickly as she had hoped, and she did not like being unable to work, she did not give up.
She learned about the Army and her chance to earn a citizenship with the United States. About three years after her move, she enlisted to reclaim her independence.
Basic combat training was tough for Ma, she said. She experienced a large amount of culture shock along with a language barrier, but she enjoyed observing different kinds of people around her. While attending training for her chosen specialty, she received her naturalization certificate, driving her a step closer to her goals.
Though she has only been in the military for about eight months total, she has gained back her confidence, she said. She has enjoyed the lifestyle change of conducting physical training and being able to operate weapons systems that she normally would not be able to.
“It’s cool to be a Soldier!” she said, recalling the opportunities she’s had so far in the military. Shooting live rounds and driving military vehicles are just two of the things she has experienced in her short time.
“I feel like it means something when I wear this uniform,” she said. “I should have more responsibility.”
Enjoying her experience so far, Ma plans to stay in the military. In a few short months, when she reaches her first anniversary in the Army, she hopes to resume her civilian education, first earning her bachelor’s degree in finance and then moving on to her master’s. Aside from that, being the best Soldier she can be and learning as much as she can about her work are her top priorities in the Army.
“If I have a job, I’m going to try my best to do it perfectly. I want to be a professional and an expert regardless of my job.”
| Date Taken: | 09.30.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 10.04.2016 11:28 |
| Story ID: | 211257 |
| Location: | FORT STEWART, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 324 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, From culture shock to “Heart of the Rock”, by SGT Caitlyn Smoyer, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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