Let me begin by stating I do not like much writing about myself when given as a task, especially for a letter grade. It puts a great demand on my abilities to discuss myself to complete strangers without the constant wonder if I will be judged or looked over. It is not in my desire to neither stand out in the crowd, nor is it my desire to not make even the smallest impact on those who may read my story. With that said, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rachael. I am married to a wonderful man, Christopher, who currently serves our nation in the United States Army as a First Lieutenant. He is less than two months away from coming home from a yearlong deployment to Iraq. We currently live in Hawaii and have a 23-week-old daughter, Aurelia Keala.
My husband and I met in the Army ROTC program at the University of Memphis where I was working on a degree in nursing and had planned on going into the Army. We started dating just before Cinco de Mayo of 2007 and were married by November that same year! The day after we said our “I dos” he left to join his unit in Hawaii while I stayed in Memphis to finish out the fall semester at the Loewenberg School of Nursing and ROTC. I had every intention to transfer both nursing schools and ROTC programs in Hawaii in the spring, and did just about everything I could to do so. I joined my husband here at the end of December to embark on our new life together as husband and wife.
Hawaii is beautiful. It is lush, tropical, colorful, and full of clean air and stunning views. I began a semester at Hawaii Pacific University in the spring, but could not transfer directly into the nursing program, as I had originally hoped and planned. Upon discussion with the advisers there, it would be another 40 credit hours before I could. I was terribly disappointed, because I had worked so hard to get into the nursing program at the University of Memphis, and I felt I had just thrown all that hard work away. I could have stuck it through; however, it would have cost me approximately $60,000 to complete a degree at HPU, without assistance from ROTC, because that completely fell through the cracks as well. Add that onto what I have already spent on school would put me in the hole close to $100,000 for a bachelor’s degree. I could not justify the cost for a newly married couple, but I also knew I could not leave him here in Hawaii alone while I went back to Tennessee to finish the nursing degree there and ROTC program. There was also an issue in the time it would take to complete the degree and the time we would have to leave Hawaii. It was quite a blow to our plans. It took me a while to get over it and figure out what it was I was going to do. Christopher, bless his heart, was very supportive and took a lot of the wrath that ensued. It finally came to pass that I would just change directions, and I am so glad I did so.
My husband suggested I finish out a degree at the University of Memphis through RODP. This is where I am now. I am six more away from a Bachelor’s of Liberal Studies, majoring in interdisciplinary studies with concentrations in Psychology and Health Studies. I am taking three of those classes this semester, two in the spring and one next summer. With this decision, we also decided to start our family. We are now proud parents of a bright, beautiful and happy baby girl.
It has been a struggle being a single parent for the past five months, but unbelievably worth it. I have the privilege of being a stay-at-home mother and love that I get to see her develop, grow and learn every day. I have friends whose babies were born around the same time, and yet they have had to go back to work. I just cannot imagine having to leave my baby with another person day after day. I count my blessings that I get this rare opportunity to spend quality time with my little girl. Both of my parents were in the Air Force when I was born, and I was in daycare from very early on in my life until I was in my tween years.
Aurelia Keala is pretty much my life right now. Aurelia is her first name, and was named so after my grandmother. It is a Latin name meaning “golden.” Keala is her middle name, and is a Hawaiian name meaning “the path.” Christopher was fortunate enough to make home for her birth. We had planned on his R&R during the two weeks we were expecting her. I chuckle now, but at the time it was nerve-racking waiting for her to come while he was home. She was a week late, we almost had to get induced, and Christopher had to get emergency leave so that he could be here for the first week after she was born, as I needed the help and he needed the time with his daughter before returning to the hot, arid, war territory of Iraq. Being alone with a newborn has proven to be both trying and rewarding. The first month was the hardest with each succeeding month getting easier. I think in part because I have grown more confident as a mother and have discovered ways to cope and handle the stress. I believe I am blessed with a relatively easy baby, who at four months was sleeping through the night and at five months is quite independent. I must reiterate just how amazed I am at her development! She is already rolling over with ease and has begun to low-crawl and has for the past few days improved her crawling abilities.
Having a baby around will prove interesting as we progress through this semester. All the classes I am taking tie into learning and behavior. When I think of all the fields of psychology, I think of all the studies done with children and their capacity to learn at such an alarming rate. Of course, this is because it is so important for them to make sense of their world in order to not only surviving, but to thrive in it. Memory is such a physical component of their lives. It starts with simple muscle control, sights, smells, tastes and touches. Humans were designed with the innate ability to learn and retain information from the moment they were conceived. Take for example, an infant’s rooting reflex. It is there as a biological necessity to take in nourishment for survival and growth, but as a newborn is exposed to its mother or caregiver, whether breastfed or bottle-fed, they quickly learn the smells and face of the person feeding them. They quickly learn that the person feeding them is essential for their survival. From that moment on, a person is constantly exploring and learning about the world in which they live and how to survive in it.
I am excited for this semester; although, it will be a daunting task to keep up with a growing baby, housework, and all the requirements all these classes are demanding of me. I look forward to my husband coming home from Iraq sometime before Thanksgiving, and right now, I need to go play with my child, who has discovered her toy box and has emptied it all over the floor and is commencing to crawl inside of it. What an amazing day this is!
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