"U.S.A., Land of Limitations?"

Nicholas Kristof

Reflection

This article made me think a lot about the way in which my Dad grew up and all of the obstacles he had to overcome in order to give me and my family the life that we have. My Dad grew up in a family that struggled to make ends meet and he barely attended school. He somehow managed to graduate high school with a 0.9 GPA. After he graduated he spent time taking classes at a community college but soon realized that school just wasn't for him. He decided to enlist in the U.S marine corps and it truly changed his life for the better. 

The military taught him discipline and how to follow rules. It taught him how to work hard and how to handle criticism. It even brought him to my Mom as they met when he was stationed in North Carolina. The military gave my Dad the skills to change his economic status. 

The whole time that I was reading this article I thought of my Dad's family and how he only got out of his situation because he joined the military and pushed himself to work hard. His brothers however, stayed in Michigan and still struggle. They live in almost identical ways to that of the ways in which they were raised, just like what this article discusses.

I agreed with a lot of the aspects of this article because I see it first hand when my family goes to Michigan to visit. I see the hardships and how my cousins are now going through the same thing as their parents. They don't know how to get out of the economic "hole" that they are in and they don't have the information or resources to dig themselves out.

I found an article below about how the military has positively affected people's lives and I thought it was interesting so I attached it below.

https://www.sunshinewhispers.com/military-service-changed-life/