In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

SPECIALIST CHANTAL OGALDEZ SPRING I sit on a stone bench in Bayswater Park, Queens, in the oppressive July heat. The burned-earth odor of weed mixes with the smoke of dripping fat from the burgers on one of the public grills. A vagrant pisses on a tree trunk not twenty feet away. A few small children, seemingly alone, run in and out of the sprinklers, and older kids play homicide on the handball court. The scorching sun sears my face and arms. The recruiter next to me keeps talking, determined to persuade me to join the Army. “Look around you,” he says. “Is this really how you want to live?” Homeless people wander aimlessly. Fifteen-year-old mothers push babies and toddlers back and forth in rusted grocery carts, back and forth, scanning the scene looking for a sucker to take care of their kids. The atmosphere is indeed glum. Sergeant Smith, bald with thick eyebrows, maintains a pleasant smile. After a long silence, I turn to look him in the eyes, which hold a mysterious pain of their own. These eyes got my attention the first time we met: brown, lifeless pools that unnerved me yet were as familiar as the view of my neighborhood from my bedroom window. His are the same eyes plastered on the faces of my friends, the people in my community, and, sadly enough, my own in the mirror. I break the spell of his gaze long enough to answer his question . “No,” I say with hesitation. “I want more for myself.” My stomach is a lump of anxiety weighted with guilt. I would be leaving my family in New York. To think of saying good-bye to my mom makes my veins feel frostbitten. I see her sweet face, the patient features that reflect my own. Will she resent me? Sergeant Smith capitalizes on my hesitation. His voice swells with urgency. “The ’hood don’t give a damn about you! There’s no future for you out here! The Army can open a whole new world to you!” His next words hit me like a bullet: “You don’t want to end up 1 2 SPRING like your family members, struggling to get by each and every day but not doing anything to change their lives.” This is true, I think. My cousin and her three children sleep on our floor because they have nowhere else to lay their heads. My aunt takes her grandkids to the hospital every few weeks to have the roaches pulled from their ears. My uncle drinks himself out of his mind. I must make a move. I look at the scene in the park. Hopelessness and despair mixed with rage. In two months I am on my way to Fort Jackson for basic training. Specialist Chantal Ogaldez, US Army, served in Afghanistan. mos: 92A Automated Logistical Specialist hometown: Far Rockaway, New York I have left the military and am now a certified medical assistant. I plan to pursue a career in nursing because I really love helping people. Specialist Chantal Ogaldez at work in the Technical Supply Office in an aviation hangar on Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, June 2009. (Courtesy of Specialist Chantal Ogaldez) ...

Share