They Jacked Our Meat!

One day during the summer before our senior year of high school my friend, Wolfy, and I decided that we were going to go to Six Flags Magic Mountain. We didn't have any money but he had a season pass, a free friend pass and a free parking pass. Again, we had no money so before we made the hour long trip to the park we packed ourselves some sandwiches. We had just arrived at the park and were getting everything out of the car. I asked Wolfy, "Where'd you put the sandwiches?" He said, "No, where did you put the sandwiches?!" They were an hour away in Wolfy's kitchen! It was 10 am. The park wasn't closing until midnight, and we planned on staying the whole 14 hours! At about 3 pm our stomaches started churning... we were hungry! We started going into restaurants and asking for water cups. When they weren't looking we poured as much pink lemonade into our cups as we could! The sugar allowed us to function, but we were still in dire need of solid food. We stuck to our original plan of staying until midnight, despite our empty stomachs. The park started closing and we headed for the parking lot with the rest of the crowd. By this point we were moving ever so slowly. We just didn't have any energy left. We had just gotten to the parking area and started looking for our car... when I saw something shiny on the ground! My eyes immediately dilated. It was one of those plastic packagings that you would find at an Albertson's Bakery. I thought it was muffins, or something like unto it. I ran up to the plastic packaging. They weren't muffins. No, it was half of an albertson's chicken. Just sitting there. On the ground of the Six Flags parking lot. Never did a thought enter my mind to discourage me from eating it. We didn't even wait until we got to my car. As fast as we opened the packaging our fingers and lips were covered in chicken grease. We continued to walk to my car and literally devoured that half chicken. Now the distance between where we discovered our half chicken and my car was about 30 yards. As we were nearing completion of our chicken feast we heard a man's voice yell, "HEY! THEY JACKED OUR MEAT!" Wolfy and I looked at each other, scampered around my car in opposite directions, met on the other side and finished our chicken as fast as we could! We were literally shoving chicken in our faces. We licked our fingers the best we could and then bolted in the car for a quick get away. But OH NO! We left the headlights on the entire day! The battery was dead! We uttered some silent prayers hoping we weren't about to get beaten up. We didn't thankfully but we were the last car to leave the parking lot. So much for a quick get away! Our stomachs still weren't quite full. Between a coupon and 213 pennies we found in my car we were able to purchase 6 tacos at a Taco Bell and then made our way uneventfully home. It had been a long day.

19 year old boy

Eleven days after I graduated high school I found myself wondering what I had gotten myself into. I was in Marine Corps boot camp and I couldn't remember why I had signed on the dotted line to put myself in this position. Yet, here I was. Up to that point it was the hardest 13 weeks of my life. One of the few things that kept me pushing forward was knowing that this was only going to be a "part time job." After training I'd get to live my own life! Get a regular job, go to school, and just have the freedom that we've all come to take for granted. Ten days before the commencement of boot camp, however, the terrorist attacks of September 11th changed everything. I received notice after my training that I was being involuntarily activated for a minimum of 1 year, with a possible extension. I had to drop out of school and, most importantly, give up the freedom I was so excited to have once again! The first six months of my activation were miserable. I had just turned 19 and I wasn't use to this sort of life. I felt like I wasn't free to live my own life. Not to mention the verbal abuse, peppery spraying, gas chambering, forced marches, and freezing temperatures that needed to be endured. I had never been so down in my life. I didn't feel like I was progressing. I felt so stagnant. I don't know what it was, but something motivated me to snap out of my funk after six months. I told myself, "You have six more months... lets make the best of it!" Compared to the first 6 months of training, the latter 6 months were much harder. Still, with my newly acquired positive attitude, the last six months were amazing. Easily among the best six months I've ever had in my life. It was this positive attitude that motivated me to become the best Marine I could be, and ultimately kept me alive in Iraq.
I've learned so much from that experience. As miserable as I was, I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to go through that pain and suffering to learn that life lesson. Many of the people I know can vouch for me when I say it's difficult to catch me without a smile. There is always something to smile about... always! No matter how bad a situation might be, a reason to smile can always be found. That's simply the product of a lesson I learned as a little 19 year old boy.

My Pharmacy Essay

The manner in which I've worked towards many of my goals has elicited from many people the question, "How do you do it?" Accomplishing any worth while goal usually requires some sacrifice, and I've always been willing to make such sacrifices to accomplish the goals I've set for myself. After a while, however, it doesn't feel like your sacrificing anything at all. While in the Marines I made a goal of becoming the best Marine I could be. I knew that not only did my life depend on it, but the lives of many others depended on it as well. Knowing that my preparations had helped keep those around me alive, the sacrifice of attaining that level of preparation didn't seem like such a sacrifice. I imagine that a career in pharmacy is similar in that my preparation as a pharmacist may decide lives. It's this that will motivate me to be the best pharmacist I can be. It's a challenge that I met as a Marine and a challenge that I look forward to as a pharmacist.

When I was a child my family lived in Los Angeles, California. My parents couldn't afford to buy a home in the area so we moved several hours away to a place that was more affordable. My dad, however, continued to live in LA during the week and would only come home on the weekends. That was his sacrifice for a home and to get our family into a better neighborhood. That's a sacrifice I never want to have to make. Among the many things that motivate me to succeed, my motivation to never have to sacrifice time with my family trumps all others. The family unit works much better when the father is present. When I have a family of my own I don't want to have to compromise my time with them for anything, and that's my greatest driving force.

I have often pursued avenues to distinguish myself and to attain a certain level of prestige. One such avenue led me to join the United States Marine Corps. I learned many invaluable lessons in the Marines, but none so much perhaps as the lesson of hard work. Among other things the Marines are well known for being proficient at their jobs, no matter the work environment. They're able to accomplish this by often requiring more out of you during training than would normally be required in a typical scenario. My time serving in Iraq was no cake walk, but in comparison to the difficulty of the training it was easy. I expect pharmacy school to be similar and very much look forward to the vast amounts of knowledge and skill I will be able to obtain there.

I decided just prior to the Fall of '06 semester to change my major from history education to biology to pursue a career in pharmacy. As much as I enjoy history I've always enjoyed the sciences more. I've always enjoyed how the human body functions and how pharmaceuticals play a part in continued and extended human function. When I have completed pharmacy school I would like to work in either research or in a hospital. I feel I would be able to help people in those settings more so than in other settings.

I work at an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center for youth, and have been there for nearly four years. I've seen the adverse effects of ill advised decisions, and I take a certain amount of pride in knowing that I've set a good example for four years worth of kids coming in and out of the program.

My two most sought after feelings are those that accompany a worthy accomplishment and helping someone in need. I believe pharmacy school will give me ample opportunities to enjoy both said feelings. My love for learning is only trumped by my love of helping others. I've experienced many successes in my otherwise short life: winning various athletic competitions, scoring high on difficult examinations, defeating an opposing army, etc. While such accomplishments create a measure of joy, it is nonetheless short lived. However, memories of helping those in need linger over a much longer span of time. I can remember the specifics of leaving the necessities of a Thanksgiving feast at a neighbor's doorstep some 15 years ago much more vividly than I can recall many of my personal accomplishments, even if those personal accomplishments have taken place much more recently. Again, I believe a career in pharmacy will prove to be a major accomplishment in my life, and will also put me in a position to help others who stand in need, and that is something worth pursuing!

Tender Mercies

In one of Elder Bednar's first talks as a member of the 12 he spoke of the Tender Mercies of the Lord. Ever since then I've been able to identify such Tender Mercies in my own life that remind me how much my Father in Heaven loves me. Today was a rough day. Certainly a very emotionally draining day. To ease my mind I decided that I needed to go on a motorcycle ride. I wasn't sure where to go, I just knew I needed to go somewhere. I was planning on going on one of my usual routes, but felt like I needed to go up the canyon to do some thinking. I got to my destination and walked to a place where I knew I'd be alone. I thought, threw rocks, prayed and even sang. After spending about an hour there I started heading back towards my motorcycle. As I was doing so I noticed a familiar looking person walking towards me. It was a friend of mine. A friend who I really wanted to talk to. Perhaps I even needed to speak with him. I couldn't believe it! I was in shock! What were the odds of running into him? At that moment I was once again reminded how much my Heavenly Father loves me. I may not understand his plan, but He does love me. That's exactly what I needed. I walked up to my friend and told him how crazy it was to run into him. He answered saying maybe it wasn't so crazy after all. I think he was right.

Daily Armor

When one thinks of history's greatest battlefields the imagination is drawn to the pitched battles of Korea, Vietnam and World War II. In the three day battle of Gettysburg some 50,000 Americans lost their lives. Surely this has to be considered when discussing history's greatest battlefields, but it's not. The greatest battlefield takes place within our own minds between the forces of good and evil, everyday! An army's success is so dependent upon being well supplied. In my own experience, military planners hadn't expected us to move so swiftly towards Baghdad. We had basically outrun our supply chain and had to wait 2 days for our supplies to catch up before we could begin our northward march again. So it is too in the fight for our minds, or rather the battle for our wills. The better supplied we keep our mind the better protected in our daily battles we'll be. And just as an army would suffer the consequences of being supplied with bad rations, we too suffer the consequences of listening to profanity laced music and watching things that detract from the spirit. One of our enemy's battle plans is to corrupt the most fundamental units of society: the family. I work at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center for youth, and in the 4 years I've worked here it's become clear to me how brutally effective the corrupting of the family structure is as a battle plan. All the more reason to guard against it. I was recently reading an article on Fox news. It was more or less an audit of the major television networks and the shows they broadcast. I don't recall the exact figures but for every mention of marriage there were three mentions of the joys of promiscuity. Pornography is another way to corrupt the family. I had always known that it was a bad thing, but it wasn't until just recently that I saw just how destructive it can be. It breaks up families. I had always heard that it had, but it's different when it's happened to someone that you care about. It hits on a whole new level. Again, the greatest battles take place everyday within our own minds. Every morning we wake up Satan is ready to throw everything he has at you. If your not equally prepared, chances are you'll lose. And in this battlefield, if you lose you give up a lot more than a piece of land.

Your Mexican Auto Insurance Policy

At the conclusion of every summer I tell myself I'll never do summer school again. Yet, every summer I find myself in the same place. This has by far been my hardest summer ever, and after an extremely hectic week I can now breathe a sigh of relief knowing it's over. Before that sigh has so much as finished, however, I come to the realization that in 20 days I'll start all over again. I need to make the most out of those 20 days, so in a little less than 32 hours I'll be on my way to Mexico with the Charity Anywhere Foundation. I actually have no idea what I'm going to be doing down there, and it doesn't even matter to me. I'll be given the opportunity to serve those that stand in need of it. I've been so busy this summer doing what I've needed to do that I haven't had many opportunities to focus on and serve others, and I couldn't be more excited that I can finally take the focus off myself and and help those that stand in need. What a spiritual experience this is going to be!

The power of a friend

I have been blessed in so many many ways. Among the greatest of my blessings are the friends I've had the privilege of having. Friends that put your happiness even above their own, because they know that you being happy will make them happy. One night, a very long time ago, I was really upset about something and I needed someone there for me. I called up one of my best friends, Ben. When he picked up I wasn't even able to say anything. I just cried. Ben hung up the phone and a few moments later I heard the nearing 'thud thud thud' of someone running towards me. It was Ben. He didn't say anything and he didn't have to. Just being there was enough. On another occasion I was going through a very difficult time, yet was able to keep my difficulty a secret from just about everybody. One random night, however, my door bell rang. It was my friend, Mick. I hadn't seen him for a week or two and he had never really come to my house before so I thought it was a bit odd. In any case, he asked if I'd come out and take a walk with him. After we exchanged pleasantries I asked him to what I owed the pleasure of his visit. He said something to the effect of, "I actually don't know Adam. I just felt like you needed some help and wanted to make sure everything was alright." Even our innermost bottled up feelings are known by our Father in Heaven. I told Mick that everything was fine, and after that visit everything was. That visit did so much for me, and Mick didn't even know it. He just followed a prompting. Often times our prayers are answered through friends, and that was one such occasion where mine was.
Towards the end of high school I became really close to a family in my ward. I grew particularly attached to one of their sons, John. I could fill a book or two on all the crazy things we did! Last July I received a text message from my brother saying that he had heard John had died sometime that morning. I made a few phone calls. It was true. John was gone. I've always been exceptional around death. I had seen it more than a hundred times while serving in Iraq and it never phased me the least bit. Though, none of those hundred were a friend of mine. The few weeks leading up to the funeral I was ok. The emotions, however, flooded back when I went to the funeral. I, again, have been fine since the funeral and don't think of John all that often. For whatever reason I was talking to a friend about John recently and I started to get upset again about losing him. I wondered why. What I've come up with is that a friend, someone who puts your happiness even above theirs, is hard to come by. They're the ones that are so important to hang onto. Thankfully with the knowledge of the Gospel I know that I'll see him again, but it's still not easy to lose a friend. I'd be so much less of a person today without my friends. They are quite literally a blessing in one's life.