I was born in Lima, Peru and am the oldest of three children. Coming to this country was hard on my parents because I know they sacrificed a lot for me. My mother always told me, “we came here for you, you need to succeed.� After graduating high school in June of 2006, I decided to try a little bit of college. I attended John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio and decided it was not for me. On December 26, 2006 I was on an island called Parris Island, SC and my career as a Marine began. Notice how I didn’t say I was a supply technician, a cook or an administrative clerk, no my title is Marine. And I pride myself of that title. I am currently stationed in Joint Base Myer Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia. I volunteered to deploy since my unit is a none-deployable station. I left my daughter who was 17 months at the time and my husband on September 11, 2010. Deploying by yourself is very different, I was alone. I took the flight by myself, arrived at Kuwait, and waited by myself for any space available on a flight to take me to Afghanistan. I was nervous, scared, anxious and inpatient. I finally arrived in Afghanistan where I was an individual Augment with MARCENT. I worked with a great staff who never made me feel alone because we all had families back home and we all understood that. My military occupational specialty (MOS) is 3043 which is a supply administrative clerk. Needless to say, I didn’t really do many supply related things. We worked with the army a lot and I gained a great sense of respect for the soldiers. I kept myself as busy as possible. I didn’t want to think about home because it just made me sad. So I taught zumba, volunteered with mortuary affairs and the hospital, and of course hit the gym. Every Saturdays we had ‘salsa’ night and let me tell you…I looked forward to those four to five hours of nothing but Latin music. To share that culture with the other nations made my heart fill with pride as well as feeling like I was at home for those brief moments. Then the alarms would go off and we knew we were getting mortared and the reality hits that we are in a war zone again. Then another ramp ceremony the next day to honor and see a fallen hero get on the plane to take him home makes you value and appreciate everything you have. When I got moved from Kandahar to Kabul it was a change. I was driving outside the wire everyday, and everyday you had to live with the fear if that vehicle next to you was going to explode…but I was driving with Army soldiers and you think I showed any fear…no! I’m a Marine! After a mission, we were returning to our compound, where I was involved in a motor vehicle accident. I was driving and received most of the impact. I felt fine but I guess it was my adrenaline hitting in, I didn’t feel anything until the next day. I was walking to work like normal and all of a sudden I felt like I was going to faint, I called my SSgt, and he picked me up and took me to the hospital. One thing I am thankful for is my personal protective equipment, because I think my Kevlar saved my life. They said I had some arterial bleeding on the front of my brain and began suffering from syncope episodes. They medevaced me to Germany where I was admitted for a week, and on December 24, 2010 they told me “you’re going back to the states.� I was put on a bird along with other wounded warriors to be flown back to the states. It was a bittersweet moment for me because one second I was in Afghanistan the next I was gone. When we landed they took us to the National Naval Hospital in Bethesda where I was greeted by my parents, siblings, husband and my beautiful daughter. I was home. On that plane were two Marines, I don’t know their names. I just knew their legs were blown off by an IED…another reality that even though I was home…they are still fighting a war. Semper Fi.