LAS VEGAS – Any important dream or goal that must be delayed can have serious negative effects. It was not the case for second lieutenant Maninder Matharu (pronounced m ae th uh r oo); one of the Army’s newly commissioned Dentist.
He wanted to be a Soldier, prior to becoming a Dentist, but it didn’t happen. Now, his commissioning is the opposite of what Langston Hughes’ poem “A Dream Deferred” described. “I always wanted to do the Army, before I even decided to be a dentist,” Matharu said. Once he enrolled into dental school, he never thought about Army again, thinking it was something he could never do. Then, he discovered that a colleague signed up for the Medical/Dental Student Stipend Program (MDSSP), Matharu said he knew “it was something I had to do.”
With the MDSSP, “for every six months [of getting] a stipend, I will doing a full year of service as a Reservist,” according to Matharu. “I’m only doing this for two years, so it’s not as much money as I could’ve gotten for four years, but the experience with the Army is what I’m looking forward to.” The program provides a monthly stipend of more than $2,000 for medical students currently attending medical school and they incur a service obligation.
Matharu sees joining the US Army Reserves as a stepping stone to make sure the Army’s a good fit. The 2nd Lt. views his service “like interning before you really do the real thing….” While he’s enjoying, so far, Matharu has considered going full-time active duty. He was commissioned in May by the Associate Dean of Admissions and Student Affairs, Dr. Christine Ancajas, a US Army Reserve lieutenant colonel, and the first person he met upon arriving at UNLV Dental School. “She’s been helping me with Dental School from the day I came here to interview,” he said. “So it was really nice to have her be the one to commission me and swear me in.”
What’s unique about Matharu joining the Army is that as a Sikh; he sports a turban and beard. Because of this, he had to apply for and was granted a waiver for a religious exception to policy. According to the Army Times, “Army Secretary Mark Esper laid out new processes for allowing religious soldiers to wear distinguishing symbols….” Matharu understands and appreciates the legacy set before him being one of a handful of Sikh in the Army. “…In life when you look like less than 1 percent of the population everything you do, even if it’s good or negative, people put that bias,” he believes.
“Being a good person is at the core of every single branch of the military, where ever you go, and I think I have those values instilled with me,” he said. “I’m grateful.” As a child, Matharu was taught to make sure you make a good impression on people for the next guy or woman who looks like him. It’s these values of honor, dignity, respect and others that mimic the Army’s values. He said that his reason for “joining the army… is to let other people know that they can do this to and let the rest of the world…we’re Americans too.”
The Las Vegas Medical Recruiting Station posted photos of 2nd Lt. Matharu’s commissioning on Facebook where it reached his family on the east coast. “So it surprised me that it got that many shares because a lot of people I didn’t know like shared and then somehow it traveled from Vegas to Virginia and then all my family knew about it,” he explained.
The dream or life goal of a human being is central to what makes the human a valuable member of society. That’s what 2nd Lt. Maninder Matharu has always wanted to be, a guardian of freedom and the American way of life. He’s proud to be and American Soldier.
| Date Taken: | 06.04.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 06.04.2019 10:40 |
| Story ID: | 325274 |
| Location: | LSAS VEGAS, NV, US |
| Web Views: | 101 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, A dream realized, rather than deferred, by Jaison Bloom, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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