My First Defining Moment

This dawned on me a few years ago when our eldest, Carson, was heading to a lacrosse summer camp at the Naval Academy when we lived in Maryland.

He wanted to be a better lacrosse player and wanted to sign up for this week-long camp at my alma-mater.  I remembered when I was a Midshipman there that they would have high-school kids show up at different times during the summer for various sports camps and seminars, so this was familiar to me.  They would spend a week living in the same rooms that we lived in during the academic year since the majority of the student body was out on summer vacations and training cruises…

Anyway, as we were driving Carson up to Annapolis, we could tell he was getting visibly more nervous.  I asked him what was wrong since I thought he would be excited and knew a couple other boys that were going to be in camp with him.  He said something to the effect that he had never been away from home for longer than a couple days and this was the first time he would be “on his own.”  He was 16 and a half at the time.

I told him that there was nothing to worry about and proceeded to tell him the story of myself when I left home.  I was about a year older than he was at the time…heading to the same place, the Naval Academy, but instead for a week long camp it was to begin my indoctrination into the military life and college.  For me, it was 1992 and I didn’t have a cell phone, my parents didn’t have e-mail, and I knew nobody.

I arrived 2 weeks early due to some clerical error in my airline tickets that had me flying from the Philippines to Baltimore during a mass exodus from Subic Bay Naval Base prior to the base being shut down.  I basically had nothing except the clothes on my back, a duffel bag full of clothes and my dad’s credit card that he said I could use for “emergencies.” 

I flew half way around the globe and landed in Baltimore, MD with no clue how to get to the Academy.  I hailed a cab and asked him to bring me to the school and an hour later, I was walking toward the Main Office where I was told that I was waaaaaay too early to report for Plebe Summer.  Luckily a Lieutenant on duty asked me if I had a credit card and he could take me to a hotel out in town where I could stay for the next week or so until I was allowed to check in.

He drove me out into town on his lunch break and I checked in to the Holiday Inn next to the Annapolis mall.  I decided this was one of the “emergencies” my dad talked about so I basically lived off his credit card until I was allowed to come back to the Academy to get a room to sleep in.  I did this on my own, without talking to my parents…remember, no cell phone..hell, my parents didn’t even have a phone in their house in the Philippines.  And I knew NOBODY local!!  And I was only 17!!

I survived my first defining moment where I had to “adult.”  So I related this to Carson and hoped it would ease his mind as we only lived a couple hours away..he had a cell phone…and he had friends that would be in the camp with him.  He seemed relaxed and called us a couple times during the camp and had a great time being away!

I never realized that the moment where I left my parents would be a defining moment for me.  It seemed like more of me just living life, but in hindsight it definitely showed the kind of attitude I have for life as far as rolling with the punches and not throwing my hands up in the air whenever something doesn’t go my way.  I’m sure there are a few other defining moments of my life and as I recall them, I’ll tell you about them.

Until then, what moments in your life showcase your attitude and how you have handled adverse situations?  I think those are the moments that really show us who we are.