Richland
CHRONICLE Vol. XLIII Issue 13 November 22, 2016
Sixth time is a charm: T’ducks NatiOnal Champs again www.RichlandStudentMedia.com
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November 22, 2016
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Tru Grit Thunderducks national champs
Bring out the confetti, lots of Gatorade and Queen’s greatest hits: Richland’s men’s soccer team has brought home the NJCAA Division III National Championship for the sixth time. It has been nine years since Richland’s men’s soccer has seen the national crown. This season was magisterial for the Thunderducks. Players from different countries, each with his own artistry, became one very quickly with tremendous performances all season. Finishing in third place last year against Camden County College, the Thunderducks went out on top as champions this year against the same squad. The T-Ducks started the season at 9-0 before losing two straight to Tyler and San Jacinto, then came back to win the remaining games of the regular season. In the 16 games that the T-Ducks won, eight were shutouts and their opponents never scored more than two goals. Well-balanced indeed, these guys were powerful on both ends of the field. Richland headed to Chicagoland for the districts and scored a combined total of seven goals to win the District C Championship. On the return home to Dallas, the Thunderducks and head coach Sean Worley had just one thing in mind... winning the national title. These men were confident and ready to represent Richland before the rest of the country in the National Championship Series in Herkimer, N.Y. As the top seed and the only school that wasn’t from the Northeast, Richland players knew what was ahead of them. More importantly, the other seven schools saw fear … in themselves. With a three-goal shutout against Bergen College, in the quarterfinals and another three-goal shutout against Genesee College, in the semis, the Thunderducks made it to the championship game, going against the Camden County College Cougars . The scene was set for what could have been a three-game sweep against the Northeast schools. The first half belonged to the T-Ducks as forward Sergio Lara kicked in the two goals at the 25 and 31 minute marks, both assisted by midfielder Mikkel Rohde Pedersen. In the first goal, Lara blew past a Camden defender and goaltender leaving both Cougars on their backs as Lara fired it in. In the second half, Richland forward David Fragua scored a goal at the 66-minute mark assisted by defender Nathan Thompson. Seventy-six minutes into the game, it was the captain’s turn as Rhode Pedersen hammered the final nail in the coffin unassisted. The championship game’s big number was four. The Thunderducks scored four goals and the Cougars scored four … yellow cards. As the public address announcer counted down the final seconds, you can hear the Richland bench on NJCAA TV chanting, “Olé” several times. Head coach Sean Worley, assistant coach Raul Herrera along with the reserves are
Photos courtesy Emily Woudenberg/Sports Information Director, Herkimer College
Coaches Herrera, Worley and the trophy.
Tournament MVP Mikkel Rohde Pederson, 14, drives the ball against Camden County.
all embracing each other as Richland achieved their goals. And with that it was final, in the books. In the words of the late great Mark Holtz, “HELLO WIN COLUMN!” But in this case, it was, “HELLO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!” Richland shut out Camden, 4-0 to win the school’s sixth NJCAA National Championship, their first since 2007. All six titles were coached by Sean Worley. In 21 seasons, Worley has produced several winning seasons against the NJCAA’s top 10
teams, regional and district titles among them, runner-ups, third place finishes, not to mention six national crowns. In addition to his success before coming to Richland, Worley has a hall of fame résumé that our school should be is proud of. He finishes the season just one win away from 300. Queen’s “We Are The Champions” was played at Herkimer’s Wehrum Stadium and you can believe that song will be played back home. After years of close calls and heartbreaking upsets, this is the year the Thunder-
ducks prevailed again. Worley taught these men how to soar to success as a team. When opponents mess with one duck, they’re messing with the entire flock. The T-Ducks kept trash from entering their nets and came back with sharp-shooting goals. We always do it big in Texas especially at Richland. We are proud of their success. The nineyear drought is over. Let the celebration begin. Here’s to the men’s soccer team, national champs again. Congratulations!
The Thunderducks pose with their national championship trophy after beating Camden County 4-0 in the final.
November 22, 2016
ENTERTAINMENT 3
Building bridges: American as pumpkin pie AHLAM AL MAHROOQ Staff Writer
Trinity Fellowship Church shared a free Thanksgiving dinner with international students at Richland as part of its outreach program, Taste of Thanksgiving. They are building relationships with the international community through a campus ministry called International Students Inc. Bridges. “It’s a unique opportunity to invite international students to some unique American cultural events including Thanksgiving,” said
pastor Keith Hileman. The church has been hosting Taste of Thanksgiving for about four years. After the meal, church members introduce the students to families from the church and invite them to their houses for Thanksgiving Day, which they see as being a good way to build relationships and share experiences. The church focuses on Richland students, but everyone is welcome. The number of students who participate varies year to year. Around 30 students usually attend the event. The church brings the international students together to teach them about American
culture and why Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s also an opportunity for the church members to learn about other cultures. The Thanksgiving meal was American food that included turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, beans and apple pie for dessert. The ladies who cooked the meal are volunteers and serve the food with enthusiasm. The church also serves inexpensive meals on Wednesdays. At $4, it might be the cheapest meal in town. Trinity Fellowship Church hopes the international students are benefiting from the events and look forward to working on other events with the ISI Bridges program.
Trot like a turkey FERNANDO RODRIGUEZ Staff Writer
Staff photos Gary Bowers
Members of Trinity Fellowship Church’s International Student Inc. Bridges bring a Thanksgiving dinner experience to international students.
For those looking to spend Thanksgiving Texas-style, coach Bill Neal is inviting the Richland community to spend the holiday on his ranch. Neal owns a 50-acre ranch south of Canton, about 75-miles from Dallas. He and his wife Donna will provide a nice Thanksgiving meal for those who come. He asks that visitors arrive around noon. Dinner will be served around 1 p.m. Neal said about 10 to 20 folks usually come, some from different countries. On his ranch, cows, horses, donkeys, goats, chickens, dog and cats roam around. He’s requesting that anyone who would like to participate call his office at 972-2386267 or 903-479-3568 before Nov. 24.
—Joyce Jackson
Cowboys ready for Thanksgiving
Dak Prescott’s interaction with his new backup wasn’t much different after Tony Romo’s heartfelt speech that conceded the Cowboys’ starting job to the rookie quarterback. Dallas coach Jason Garrett talked matterof-factly to the 36-year-old about being No. 2 for the first time since Garrett joined the staff in 2007. And tight end Jason Witten, Romo’s best friend on the team, wasn’t sure what to make of all the fuss. While the outside world spent two days pondering Romo’s retirement or relocation — sometimes both — the Cowboys had another couple of workdays in a regular week. “I think that was more for y’all than for
RichlandStudentMedia.com
Texas Thanksgiving
On Tuesday, Nov. 22, Richland will host its 43rd annual Turkey Trot. Participants can chose the three-mile run or the twomile walk. This free event begins at 12:30 p.m. from the south side of the gym. All participants get a free Thunderduck Tshirt. A drawing for door prizes begins at 1:15 p.m. For more information, contact John Stanson by phone at 972-238-6266 or email at jstanson@dcccd.edu. The Dallas YMCA hosts its 49th annual Turkey Trot. The event includes a 5K fun run/walk and an eight-mile run. The event takes place Thursday, Nov. 24 at 9 a.m. in front of Dallas City Hall. To register or for more information, visit online at www.thetrot.org.
Image Associated Press
me or for this team,” Prescott said Wednesday, a day after Romo said the 23-year-old had earned the right to keep the job that Romo took from Drew Bledsoe in the middle of the 2006 season. “We know each other, how we feel about the situation. He’s been a great leader, a great model for me to look up to and watch every day. So I’m not surprised.” Prescott will start Thanksgiving Day when the Cowboys take on the Washington Redskins at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. Game time is 3:30 p.m. on Fox. Read more online at www.RichlandStudentMedia.com —Associated Press
4 REVIEW
November 22, 2016 `
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
Thanksgiving Flicks I know a lot of people love “Miracle on 34th Street,” but I am not a big fan, so listed below are my five turkey day treats:
RICKY MILLER Entertainment Editor
For all intents and purposes, author J.K. Rowling’s “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” is a prequel in the Potter universe. Returning to helm the movie is director David Yates, who did an amazing job with the last two Harry Potter entries, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 1” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2.” I have to say, I liked this movie from the get-go. I’m not one to judge how great the “Harry Potter” movies were, but the franchise was solid all the way through. I would give the majority of them a grade of an A- or higher. Even the sub-par “Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets” entry was still a fun ride and romp to a fictional world usually reserved for the printed page. Eddie Redmayne, who won a Best Actor Oscar for 2014’s “The Theory of Everything,” headlines this tale in which his Newt Scamander character is visiting the Big Apple to arrange safe passage for some other-worldly creatures. Scamander is trying to place his creatures in an alternate universe where they will not be harmed. Dan Fogler’s Jacob Kawoski spends Image courtesy warnerbros.co.uk his time working at a can factory. He is a good man and seems pure at heart. Kawoski has aspirations of opening his own exotic bakery, but the banker refuses him a loan, crushing his dreams to no end. Kawoski’s interaction with Queenie (Alison Sudol) is easily one of the more subtle touches in a big and grand spectacle. The nemesis in “Fantastic Beasts” is Colin Farrell’s Percival Graves, who has no time for the shenanigans occurring in his precious city. He is fighting Scamander and does not waver on his position to ban him from planet earth. What is also interesting is that Albus Dumbledore’s name is mentioned, but the Hogwarts headmaster is never seen. Another reference from the Potter franchise is the mention of muggles (aka “not-magic folk”) in lore and banter. Also amazing is the grand score from composer James Newton Howard. Every single frame of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” has a purpose. It does not wasting time with Image courtesy wired.com small talk or forgettable dialogue.
RichlandStudentMedia.com
Grade: A+
“Rules Don’t Apply” — Warren Beatty returns to the large screen after a 15year sabbatical in acting and directing. This tale is about Howard Hughes and his involvement with a plethora of women, including Lilly Collins’ Martha Marbey. Also stars Annette Bening, Matthew Broderick, Martin Sheen and Alden Ehrenreich.
C+
“Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986)
Michael Caine won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, but he did not show at Oscar time because he was earning a paycheck. Engaging flick finds him pining after Barbara Hershey’s Lee, one of the sisters.
A
“A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” (1986) One can’t go wrong with this tale that finds Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Woodstock finding the meaning of the holiday, pumpkin pie included.
A-
“Scent of a Woman” (1992) This slightly overstated tale won Al Pacino an Oscar for playing a blind lieutenant colonel who gives an amazing speech to save his friend and caregiver, Charlie Simms (Chris O’Donnell). A young Philip Seymour Hoffman is one of Charlie’s supposed friends in the tale.
B-
“Home for the Holidays” (1995) A pre-“Iron Man” Robert Downey Jr. is part of this ensemble that finds Holly Hunter’s return home in this engaging turkey tale directed by Jodie Foster. Great ensemble piece has a fun Charles Durning, a cool Dylan McDermott and the underrated David Straithairn.
B+
“Planes, Trains and Automobiles” (1987)
A lot of people love this movie, but like “Home Alone” it is just sappy and obnoxious. Steve Martin and John Candy take the ultimate road trip in this story. Not a big hit per se, but it has gained an audience through past years. Directed by John Hughes.
C-
Also memorable were the Pauly Shore-led “Son-in-Law” (1993) (C+), Holly Hunter-led “Pieces of April” (2003) (B), the Steven Spielberg-produced “The Prince of Egypt” (1996) (B-), Ang Lee’s “The Ice Storm” (1997) (A-) and the Hughes-written “Dutch” (1991) (D-).
“Loving” — Based on a true story, this film looks at the lives of a black woman, Mildred (Ruth Negga), and a white man, Richard (Joel Eggerton), who are legally married and encounter oppression in the small town of Central Point, Virginia in 1958. With Michael Shannon. A-
“Trolls” — An enjoyable kid-friendly tale about trolls and their nemesis – the Burgens, who do not like the happy-go-lucky trolls. For a Burgen, eating a troll is a tasty treat. Featuring the voices of Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake.
C+
“Arrival”
— Director Dennis Villanueve crafts an intriguing tale that is part “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and part “A.I.” (Artificial Intelligence). Amy Adams specializes in languages and agrees to help the government when they come knocking. With Jeremy Renner and Oscar-winner, Forest AWhitaker.
“Doctor Strange” — Intriguing and enjoyable, this Marvel entry finds neurosurgeon (Stephen Strange) weaving an enthralling tableau in this original story. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role, with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Rachel McAdams —Ricky Miller A-
REVIEW 5
November 22, 2016
Author celebrates Dallas anniversary with a book on founder ALY RODRIGUES Staff Writer
Dallas is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. and home to more than 1 million people. The month of November is its 175th anniversary, yet its history is still unknown to many. The origin of the name Dallas is uncertain. There are lots of theories about how the name was chosen, but nothing official. John Neely Bryan, an Indian trader, lawyer and farmer, is credited with founding the city in 1841.
Richland adjunct history professor Steven R. Butler has been researching, writing and lecturing about the city of Dallas for 25 years. His recently published book, “John Neely Bryan: The Father of Dallas,” tells the story of the city’s founder. Butler first became interested in Bryan’s life story in 1991 when Dallas celebrated its 150year anniversary. Butler has worked on the book for more 25 years. Previous biographies about Bryan are incomplete, so Butler decided to gather information from other books including “Destiny in Dallas” by Shirley Seifert, “Founding Father” by Jimmy Clay and “Neely Brown: Founder of Dallas” by Lucy C. Trent. “No one has done a complete book about him. The book is as much about the people who wrote about him as about him,” said Butler From 1985 to 1991 Butler portrayed Bryan in the “Lone Star Adventures” live history series for schools and libraries. He wrote a book back in 1991 that, in his opinion, he could have done better. So in 2006 he restarted his research about the subject and rewrote it. In of the theories he encountered Dallas was founded by six men. Butler said, “I certainly wouldn’t even classify them as founders, because these are guys who came here. Maybe they helped build a log cabin and then they moved on. The difference between them and Bryan is, he stayed. He came and stayed and helped get the town established.” Bryan’s past is definitely full of mystery and
Image courtesy: Steven R. Butler
Steven R. Butler in front of the controversial cabin located in downtown Dallas. unconfirmed facts. Some may even surprise For those who want to learn more about the
people. According to Butler’s book, it’s very likely that the log cabin in downtown never belonged to Bryan. That and many other details of Bryan’s life are still open for discussion.
founder of Dallas and its history, a copy of the book is available in the Richland library, or it’s available for purchase at: Amazon.com.
JOYCE JACKSON Copy Editor
A loud gunshot cracked through the air of the Arena Theater the night of Nov. 15, followed by a crazed young man, who ran and pointed a gun at one of the audience members. Nobody freaked out though. It was all part of the preview performance of Theresa Rebeck’s comedy, “The Understudy,” directed by drama professor Gregory Lush, on stage Nov. 15-19. This 90-minute comedy began with a bare stage and one lone light until Will Frederick charged onto the stage with a prop gun in his humbling role as Harry, one of the actors rehearsing for a Broadway production of Franz Kafka’s “The Castle.” Portraying the down-on-his-luck actor who failed at getting his ideal role in an action movie, Frederick could not have been better suited for the role of Harry in Rebeck’s playwithin-a-play. His main competition as an understudy is the egotistical Jake, a good-looking young actor played by Raeid Makhamreh, who mistakes Harry for a janitor. That sets off the awkward competition between the actors as they try to rehearse scenes. The ongoing rivalry between them kept the audience thoroughly amused throughout the play. Once Harry spouts off that Jake has no talent, the conflict deepens until stage manager Roxanne takes charge. Raven Lanuza-Brown
Staff photo Maria Etetere
Will Frederick,left, Raven Lanuza-Brown and Raeid Makhamreh after the play.
had the stressful role of following the script and refereeing the competing actors. She gave a strong performance, showing her frustration when one thing after another goes wrong in rehearsal. The three-member cast, Frederick, Makhamreh and Lanuza-Brown, are all Richland drama students.
In one scene, Jake tries to get serious and explain to Harry how in “The Castle” there’s a kind of “existential overlap” with the text, and how it helps to “have a sense of the universe,” according to Kafka,” but Harry just doesn’t get it. There, Roxanne’s orders to the control booth with an unseen technical crew member
named Laura, and things go completely awry. She calls for no music or lights. Instead, music and lights appear. Not a single technical order of Roxanne’s production goes as she wants it. In addition, Harry and Roxanne have a dismal past. He dumped her two weeks before their wedding and she never lets him forget it. Her wedding dress still hangs in her closet. In one humorous scene that adds to Roxanne’s misery, Harry and Jake sit at a table chatting and eating the two bananas which are supposed to be props. In another, the prop gun gets lost and the frazzled Roxanne finds it under some Jake’s used underwear. In her frustration, she complains that there are no women in the Kafka play. What made this production of “The Understudy” so successful, in addition to the student cast, is the exciting dialogue between the characters. The comedy ends with the three of them coming together, doing a little dance with some snowflakes falling on them. In this light-hearted comedy, the message is, we all live in a ludicrous world but we just try to make the best the best of it. Lush, who has read all of Kafka’s works and has been a huge fan since childhood, said that in Kafka’s world, “everybody is in a state of existential crisis.” “They have no control over what is going on in their lives,” he said. “They feel like they’re just being led along this road and have no real choices. The characters in ‘The Understudy’ are facing the same thing.”
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‘The Understudy’: Light-hearted comedy wreaks havoc
6 CAMPUS
November 22, 2016
Getting good advice for free
because we have other campuses,” said Ford. Advisers will assure that you are on the right track. Lindsay Blair, a volunteer student at the OfStaff Writer fice of Student Life, is one of many Richland With the fall semester winding down and students who benefit from academic advising. registration for the spring semester soon to Advising benefits students in many ways. be under way, it’s time for Richland students According to Blair, it helps students save time, to visit with their academic advisers. money and offers a road to compleThe Richland academic advising tion so students can earn their deteam is designed to help students gree in a timely manner. keep track of their degree plans, It can also be customized for make sure that they register for each individual student. Blair bethe correct classes and assist them lieves that advising can provide a in transferring to two or four-year plan that is personalized to meet universities. Their mission is to each student’s individual goals and offer students the best pathway to a needs. successful college and professional Students can make an appointcareer. ment with personal advisers Advising is essential for every through email or visit the advising student who should meet with their office in Thunderduck Hall. Priacademic advisers once or twice ority registration begins Tuesday, each year. Nov. 22 and continues through Jan. “It is important so you can stay 11, 2017. The advising offices are on top of the latest dates,” said open Monday to Thursday 8a.m. to academic adviser John Ford. “If 7p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 you’re in a full term class you need p.m. Staff photo Thu Nguyen to know when your last drop date is During high traffic times, the offor your refund; different dates if Adviser Steven Levine discusses a degree plan with Maisha Khan. fice will be open later and with ceryou want a full refund or the differtain hours on Saturday. Sometimes registration can be confusing. ent levels of refunds.” Students must be signed in 30 minutes in Richland offers a variety of class options, Without advising assistance, you might including full and flex term classes, six-week advance, or one hour in advance if they have waste time and money by taking unneces- and eight-week classes. “Students need to a grade point average (GPA) below a 2.0. Adsary classes or classes on the wrong academic be mindful that they register in the proper ditional information is available online at: richtrack. For example, students wanting to drop class and make sure they register at Richland landcollege.edu/advising.
THU NGUYEN
a class can just go online and drop it, but they won’t know how it affects their academic status. This is especially important for international students who must complete at least 12 credit hours each semester. It’s also important to know the drop policy and deadlines, which can effect possible refunds and grade-point averages.
Garland campus $1 million richer
CHASSEDY JOHNSON
RichlandStudentMedia.com
Staff Writer
The Texas Workforce recently expanded the possibilities at Richland College’s Garland Campus in a big way. They presented the workforce training-focused campus with a $1,323,233 Skills Development Fund grant that will contribute to the training of 213 new hires and about 437 employees at RealPage, Inc. Employees will have the option of 39 courses offered over a period of 18 months. Thirteen new IT courses will be included totaling 26,200 hours of training for RealPage employees. Nicole Reed is Skills Development Fund grant and corporate liaison for the Richland Garland Campus. “We are very pleased to be working with RealPage, in addition to fulfilling our mission to serve the business community by developing lifelong learners through workforce training,” she said. RealPage, Inc. is a leading provider of software solutions for real estate property management. RealPage, Inc is relocating its headquarters to Richardson, Texas and anticipates hiring 600 new employees with a projected 2000 hires by 2018. For more information visit: www.Richlandcollege.edu/garland-campus.
Richland
CHRONICLE STUDENT MEDIA LEADERS Entertainment Editor Copy Editor Design Editor
Ricky Miller Joyce Jackson
Isai Diaz
ON THE COVER
Staff illustration Isai Diaz Ball with photo outside
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STUDENT MEDIA STAFF Ibraheem Al Taha Tru Armstrong John Berry Gary Bowers Andrew Castillo Maria Etetere Jorge Gomez Sarah Hammond Chassedy Johnson Ahlam M. Al Mahrooq
Ashley Martin Sarah McGee Rachel McIntosh Thu Nguyen Jorge Perez Henry Pham Aly Rodrigues Fernando Rodriguez Katherine Spurger
STUDENT MEDIA ADVISERS Erica Edwards
David Goodloe
Jack Fletcher
Tim Jones
Meg Fullwood
Larry Ratliff
REMAINING ISSUE DATES December 6
December 13
AWARDS ACP Pacemaker Winner, 2016 CMA Two-Year Radio Station of the Year 2015 ACP Best of Show Award 2015 ACP Photo Excellence Award 2015 CMA Newspaper of the Year Finalist, 2014 1st Place – TCCJA Overall General Excellence, 2014 2nd Place – Pinnacle College Media Award, 2014 1st Place – TIPA Sweepstakes, 2005 3rd Place – TIPA Online, 2005 & 2006 ACP Pacemaker Winner, 2000, 2001, 2007 ACP Pacemaker Finalist, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007 ACP Online Pacemaker finalist, 2007, 2008 Over 270 Texas college journalism awards since 2000
CONTACT INFORMATION
El Paso Hall, Room E020, 12800 Abrams Rd., Dallas 75243 Newsroom: 972-238-6079; richlandchronicle@gmail.com Advertising: 972-238-6068 Email: Advertise@dcccd.edu Fax: 972-238-6037
Staff meetings Fall semester: Monday and Wednesday at 2 p.m. in E020 Letter Policy Letters to the editor may be edited for space. They will be edited for spelling, grammar and malicious or libelous statements. Letters must be the work of the writer and must be signed. For identification and verification purposes, letters also must include the writer’s classification (grade level), full name, address and telephone number, although address and telephone number will not be published. Editorial Policy The Chronicle is the official student-produced newspaper of Richland College. Editorials, cartoons, columns and letters are the opinions of individual students and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other individual student writers, editors, advisers or the college administration. © Richland Chronicle 2016
November 22, 2016
Through a veteran’s eyes CHASSEDY JOHNSON Staff Writer
Upcoming Events All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated.
Today 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Ongoing food and coat drive with donation boxes around campus hosted by Phi Theta Kappa For more information call 972-238-6929
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Image courtesy: “Sgt. P”
Iraq war veteran, “Sgt. P” talks about her service and battle with PTSD after the war.
a medical discharge for her service. Her own PTSD caused her to contemplate suicide and battle with the mental casualties of war. “I isolated myself for about four or five years from everybody. It’s hard. You think about suicide. You have flashbacks and you get depressed. Over the last four or five years, I’ve gained almost 200 pounds from just sitting in the house, not being able to go out and interact with people. Overall, it is like selfdestruction.” Civilians celebrate, yet it seems as if they don’t understand what is really being sacrificed. She fights a war at home every day. At night, she has nightmares and flashbacks that hold her captive until morning. Yet people don’t know about that side of our heroes. “I have this recurring dream that my daughter is one of the kids over there in Iraq and I have to kill her. The military taught us to kill, kill, kill and when we come back over here we have to turn that switch off. They don’t teach us that.” “Sgt. P” realizes that she is home physically, but mentally the adjustments have not been completed. “There are days I just don’t feel like being bothered, like the average person, but on those days, I am more focused on getting my head space out of that kill mode,” she said. The cost of war rises as she speaks. Just recently another soldier she knew lost his battle with PTSD in a murder-suicide. One must wonder if there’s any amount of gratitude adequate to convey the nation’s appreciation for all the victories and sacrifices. “We don’t understand why civilians are so [profanity deleted] ungrateful!,” she said. “Sgt. P” admits that country was not her reason for going into the Army. She viewed it as an opportunity to get out of the “‘hood” because she didn’t want to be another statistic. She gave her all for a cause that left her wondering if time serving in Iraq was in vain. “They told us it was terrorists, terrorists, terrorists, but only 1 percent were actually trying to kill us because they did not want us there! They liked it the way it was, but that’s not how it was portrayed in the media. There were no weapons of mass destruction and it
wasn’t about bin Laden. It was always about money.” Going forward as we observe Veterans Day and Thanksgiving, we should consider the veterans who can’t enjoy the festivities due to PTSD. Some are grieving for those lost in battle and others are overwhelmed by the memories of combat. “Right now, I am in a battle to understand. Was my time in service in Iraq in vain? At the end of the day I love my battle buddies. My battle buddies are my family. We have faced hell over there in Iraq and we faced hell coming back home.” She maneuvers through turmoil with prayer and a support system that consists of her daughter, mother and a few close friends. “Sgt. P” takes it day to day. Although it has been hard, she says it has been better in the last few years. “Sgt. P” is on 100 percent disability with a mental disability. At the end of Veterans Day and all the honorable gestures that accompany it, she may have mixed emotions and celebrate differently than some. No matter the cost, one thing is clear for her. “If I was called tomorrow, to go back into the Army and if my battle buddies went back, I would definitely go back and I wouldn’t think twice about it. Even after all that.” It is for those like her and those who served with her that we honor veterans each year.
University visit : The University of Texas at Dallas Transfer Center
12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Richland Guitar Ensemble Fannin Performance Hall, Room F102
7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Richland Guitar Ensemble concert : “Stringtopia”
Fannin Performance Hall, Room F102
November 22 - Prirority registration - current students Nov. 24-27: Thanksgiving Holiday – campus closed Nov. 28: Regular registration – new students
Tuesday Nov. 29 12:30 - 1:30 p.m Richland String Orchestra and chamber ensembles Fannin Performance Hall, Room F102
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For 98 years, we’ve celebrated our veterans, honored those who served in the U.S. armed forces and fought in our wars. This month, we celebrate with parades, free haircuts, free food and other tokens of our appreciation. Seems like a fun time, until you remember that some of our soldiers never made it home. Children lost fathers and mothers, and parents lost their precious children. Some who made it back home were not in one complete piece. One who wishes to remain anonymous, we’ll call her “Sgt. P,” a mother and U.S. Army veteran, finds it hard to see the appreciation in the party. To her and many other vets, it seems false. She spent six and a half years in the U.S. Army. “I was a gunner on the 50-cal,” she said. In her convoy, she had the sole responsibility of getting her unit back home. “My job was to eliminate the threat. If there was a threat to our convoy my job was to keep my men and women alive at all cost.” Thankfully, she and her unit did make it back home. They did so with our liberties as U.S. citizens intact, giving us a reason to celebrate our civilian lives. The joy for those who have known military life intimately seems different though. “Veterans Day and Memorial Day are two of the hardest days of the year for me,” she said, “because it gives me time to reflect on my time in service. A part of me feels like that time was in vain.” Although she executed her job with much success and everyone in her unit came home, returning home has proven to be a different story mentally. “When I got back home, I started having nightmares and flashbacks of Iraq. While I was doing the things that I was doing over there it never crossed my mind that I would have to come home and face those things that I did to those people. My job and sole purpose was to keep my men alive and bring them back home.” Some civilians celebrate war. Here at home, we see it as a victory because our loved ones return and we can go on with our lives seemingly uninterrupted. We have our freedom. We have our rights. At what cost though? Six and a half years proved to be a high price for “Sgt. P” and her unit. She reflects on how the war followed them home mentally. “I brought them back home, but some have passed away due to suicide from PTSD,” she said. Every day in the U.S. 22 veterans take their lives as a result of PTSD. It is often hard for them to talk about it or get outside help. “We do a battle buddy check, but when you’re in that state of the PTSD, you isolate yourself and you can’t do anything with someone that’s isolating themselves,” she said. “Sgt. P” is speaking from experience. She was called to deploy a second time but received
COMMUNITY 7
8
November 22, 2016
Happy Holidays
‘Tis the season to rejoice ... and study
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