After September 11, Tanya Seldomridge, 18, wanted to do something to help in the war on terror. So she 1)enlisted in the military.
还记得美国9·11事件吗？能想起03年的美伊反恐战争吗？本期“花季故事”讲述了18岁的女孩塔尼娅·肖德姆米瑞想为自己国家在反恐战争中出一份力而参军的真实故事。
I
never thought I’d join the Army. No one else in my family ever has. As the
captain of my 2)cheerleading
squad, I figured I’d get a 3)scholarship
to college and have a good time. Even if I didn’t land a scholarship, money
wasn’t an issue — my parents always told me they’d pay for school. I also
had a career in mind: I wanted to be a nurse. That was my plan.
But
last year, as the war in Iraq continued, I started thinking that I should be
doing more for my country. All of the suffering that’s going on over there is
really 4)horrible, and I
wanted to help out. I live in a pretty small town — about 9000 people — and
a lot of kids here enter the military. I started thinking it might be a good
thing for me to do too. There’s an Army 5)recruiter
at my high school, and I talked to him about joining. He said I’d get to see
different parts of the world (I’d never been overseas, so I was excited about
that), meet tons of people and get good medical training. But most important,
I’d get to serve my country and protect us from harm.
I
decided to talk to my parents about my plan. Since I was under 18 at that point,
they’d need to sign a paper for me to enlist. They were pretty worried at
first. We are at war, and they were so afraid that I’d end up right in the
middle of a war zone. I won’t lie — the idea of going to Iraq scares me too.
But I’m prepared to die for my country, because at least I would have done
something important with my life.
With
my parents’ 6)blessing, I
enlisted last December, but I 7)delayed
my entry so that I could finish high school before going on active duty. While I
don’t regret my decision, sometimes it’s hard to hear my friends talk about
going off to college and all the fun they’re going to have. (Most of them were
pretty surprised when I told them I was joining the military.) Giving up
cheerleading was also tough. It’s been a part of my life for so long, and I
was even offered the chance to try out for a professional squad. But I know
that, in the long run, what I’m doing will give me 8)discipline
and strength that I could never get anywhere else.
I’m
really excited about starting basic training this summer at Fort Leonard Wood in
Missouri. I know it’s going to be intense, but I’m ready for it. What I’m
not looking forward to is leaving my family. I’ve never been away from my
parents for more than two weeks, so it’ll definitely take some time to get
used to. But I know that they’re really proud of me. That makes me feel really
good.
我从来没想过我会去参军。我的家人没有一个曾服役过。作为啦啦队队长，我想我可以拿到奖学金上大学，并且日子会过得很快乐。即使我拿不到奖学金，资金也不是问题—我的父母总是对我说，他们愿意帮我交学费。我的心中也有一个理想职业：我想当一名护士。那是我原来的计划。
但在去年，随着伊拉克的战火持续不断，我开始觉得我应该为自己的国家作出更多的贡献。战争带来的灾难真的很可怕，我想伸出援助之手。我住在一个人口稀少的小镇上—大约只有9000人—这里有许多孩子都加入了军队。我开始想这可能也是我可以做的一件好事。在我的高中里有一位征兵人员，我跟他聊了一下自己参军的想法。他说我会看到世界不同的地方（我从未到过国外，所以我对此很兴奋），认识许许多多的人，并得到良好的医疗培训。但最重要的是，我能为国效力和保护我的同胞免受伤害。
我决定跟父母谈一下自己的想法。因为我那时还未满18岁，所以父母要在文件上签名同意我参军。他们开始挺担心的。我们正在打仗，他们非常担心我会在战区中失去生命。老实说，去伊拉克服役的念头甚至吓了我自己一跳。但我已准备好为国牺牲，因为起码我这一生中曾做过意义重大的事情。
得到父母的祝福，去年12月我报名服役。但我推迟了报到时间，那样我就能完成高中学业后才去服役。尽管我对自己的决定没有后悔，但有时听到朋友们说起上大学后他们将会有多快乐的时候，我的心情挺难受的（他们当中很多人得知我要参军的消息后都感到很惊讶）。放弃啦啦队队长这一职务也很难受，它早已经成为我生活的一部分了，我甚至还得到了去一个专业啦啦队里参加选拔的机会。但我知道，从长远来看，我正从事的事情将给我磨炼与力量，这是我在其它地方所不能得到的。
这个夏天我将到密苏里州的里昂纳德·伍德营开始接受基本训练，对此我感到非常兴奋。我知道训练强度将会很大，但我已做好准备。我最不情愿的是要离开我的家人。我从未离开过父母超过两个星期，所以我肯定需要一些时间去适应。但我知道他们确实以我为荣，这让我感到无比高兴。
