Later on down the road in college Journalism classes I would learn about a communication theory called "Penetration Theory." It involves getting to know someone a bit a time over a period of time. It is not rocket science. We all do it without thinking about it. In kind, I found myself getting into college a little bit at a time.
Taking bad memories from my half-hearted attempt at a semester of college in a university setting after I got out of the Army in the 1970s, 20 years later in the 1990s I was determined to not going down the same strategy plan. My middle-age college endeavor would start at Madison Area Technical College as apposed to a university. It started with an Emergency Medical Technician class. From that experience I veered into a Nursing Assistant class. People don't realise these vocational jobs only require a three to five credit technical school college class. After finishing both programs in the fall of 1995, I signed up for the Fire Fighter Academy for the spring semester of 1996. It was seven credits so it took up enough of my day I decided to add another class in the mix. I signed up for a two-credit Lifeguard training class held in the huge campus aquatic center. My plunge into public safety and health trades had began...at 40 years old. I was usually the oldest person in all my classes...by 20 years. All these fields required physical dexterity skills as well as book skill.
I remember struggling a bit with some fire academy training. Once my right leg got stuck in a ladder as my team was practicing attacking a roof fire. An instructor came to my rescue and always made sure I was the team member on the roof and not on the ladder. I was stunned by their empathy. They could have really made life hard on me, but they were always looking out for their old student.
The lifeguard training took its toll on me as well. We had no swimming pool at my high school back in the day, so most of us kids veered toward other sports. I passed all my skills requirements, but make no mistake, at 40 years old my ass was thoroughly kicked at the end of each day. I was again stunned when it became evident that my young classmates had not the least interest in my age differential. If they did have a beef with me, they were the best actors at hiding it I have ever encountered. The lifeguard instructor always sidled up to me to chat, apparently feeling some kinship considering I was a year or so older than her and worked with an ambulance service.
Health and medial related classes were so foreign to my past work history, I was enamored with the bottomless pit of new information. After knocking down the two spring challenges I got the grand idea to sign up for the Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) program. In the mean time in the summer I signed up for a couple of basic computer classes.
The stage was set after my early success with the aforementioned classes. I was accepted in the three-semester LPN program for the fall of 1996. The wheels were turning in my head as to where to take my small victories. I was working in the fields I had trained. I volunteered with an ambulance service, I worked at an Alzheimer's center, and I lifegurarded in the mornings.
And, to make the pain of changing careers less painful, the back story traveling along with my college era was a developing robust greater national economy .
Note: This blog "Jobs of Bob" Category does not list the jobs chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older job. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page for an ordered chronology.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Corporal Rachael Lorraine Hugo, 24, Madison, Wisconsin, died Friday, October 5, 2007 in Bayji, Iraq. She was killed when insurgents attacked her unit using an improvised explosive device and small arms fire. She was assigned to the 303rd Military Police Company, 97th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, U.S. Army Reserve, out of Jackson, Michigan. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted as a medic, Hugo received commendation for saving a sergeant's life while under fire in Iraq in February of 2007. At the time of her own death she was killed trying help injured soldiers after they were hit by an improvised explosive device and came under small-arms fire in Bayji, north of Baghdad. She had been in Iraq close to a year and was due to return home in November 2007.
The Web site iraqnam.blogspot.com using information via WISC-TV-3, noted Hugo was a 2001 graduate from Madison East High School, she was serving as a combat medic with the U.S. Army Reserve in Iraq since September 2006. She was just weeks away from returning home. Hugo was studying to be a nurse and had been accepted at Viterbo College in La Crosse.
The Web site iraq.pigstye.net a data base for military casualties, noted via information from the Wisconsin State Journal that Rachael took classes working toward her bachelor's degree in nursing and also worked as a home health aide for the La Crosse County Health Department. As a certified home health aide she would visit homebound patients to help with daily health needs. Hugo also was employed by Meriter Hospital in Madison as a nursing assistant in the hospital 's mobile unit.
The Web site obits.nj.com a data base for obituaries noted via information from the Associated Press that Hugo was apparently treating another soldier when she herself was killed. The site mentioned Rachael had been a cheerleader during her high school years. During her military duties she was known for volunteering and going out on missions. She had two years of nursing school remaining.
The Wisconsin State Journal Web site mentioned Rachael also helped care for her grandmother during an illness. Hugo's rank posthumously was changed from Specialist to Corporal to acknowledge her role in combat.
Rachael's biography posted on the Gunderson Funeral Home Web site said she was born on May 13, 1983. She enjoyed learning karate, gymnastics and cheerleading, and also taking up a jazz dance class for several years. The site went on to mention she made the Dean's list in her nursing program. At the time of her death Rachael was survived by her father Kermit Hugo; he mother Ruth Hugo; brother Scott Hugo; and, grandmother Carol Hugo. Rachael Hugo was the 81st Wisconsin military service person to be killed in Iraq since the spring of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
99,357 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,825 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,435 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1460 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
841 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
32,126 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
10,082 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
103 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
27 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
145 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org.
