The Libertarian – November 2019

Thanksgiving will be in just a few weeks time. November is all about being grateful, thankful and being blessed for what you have and those around you. Here in USDF, we appreciate all our members and are blessed to be having each of you around! ♡

For a special project, OPA needs you to open your heart and show your love to all your loved ones in USDF. It’s time to reflect on what makes them great and why we all love to have this member around.

On Thanksgiving Day, your submissions will be shared to all of USDF to show your love to one another. Several responses will be selected to be published in the November issue of the Libertarian as well.

Click on the button below to submit a form and show your gratitude towards anyone in USDF.

“Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you.”

Arnold Palmer

Thanksgiving Graphics!

I would like to take you on a past adventure which took place when I first was a member of USDF. This journey will take us to the magical land of BHNCOs, but we first must start at the beginning to where it all began!

I was such a young lad back in the year of 2017. I sadly had left USDF earlier that year, but yet I decided I would give USDF a second chance. Being a wee lad had both limitations to my knowledge, but yet lots of experience ahead of me. The time had come for a new SgtMajMC to be crowned over the Marines. At this time, I wasn’t a part of the Marines, but of the Air Force. I decided I would try my best and send in an EOI for the position.

The time came around for who would be announced as the SgtMajMC. I was nervous. My teeth were chattering, my hands sweating, and my body light due to my anxiety wondering if I was picked. ‘Ping!’ My slack notification sound went off. I opened my phone and it was from those in charge of choosing the next SgtMajMC. I received the answer to my questions, ‘You have been accepted as the new SgtMajMC. Congrats.’ I was super excited and proud that I was able to become the next SgtMajMC. I have finally been able to be a part of these amazing BHNCOs.

It was all I ever dreamed of and more, but yet it was a whole lot of work and it drove me up the walls. All these demons around me decided to attack me and make me a vulnerable target for anyone to attack. I was scared and felt alone as if none of my members of my council truly cared about me. Sadly, I only served a two to three week term. It felt like I was defeated despite I just landed my dream position at USDF.

Years later though, coming back to USDF had me thinking about my time as BHNCO. Despite I felt defeated, I was able to come back and be a better and stronger person because of it. All in all, it was an achievement I was able to achieve in my time at USDF. Even though I thought I had failed, in reality I didn’t. I was very about.respected by others in my work at USDF and the short term I was able to serve. During my short time, I was able to receive awards for being a part of the Marines Council and later the Army Council. I am happy to be able to look back at these and remember all the good times I had back then. I now know I can do anything I put my mind to. If I don’t get picked, it’s not the end of the world. It would be a great achievement for me for at least trying my best.

In the end, an achievement can be anything for you. You can always have a dream at holding a command position and I, myself, work my way towards achieving that. We all have strength to do the impossible and become something we dream.

There are no words left to describe her happiness. It had taken her twelve weeks to even understand what her potential really was. This kind of success didn’t just happen to anyone, and it was a difficult feat to obtain. Re-collecting back to her time as a recruit, she couldn’t help, but dance gleefully at Club NX. There was no way she wouldn’t become a Chief Warrant Officer.

Her final exam was no more than a week ago, and she felt good about the results. Not because she knew that passing this exam was a sure-fire way she’d be promoted, but because it was one of the most difficult things she had taken in her entire career thus far. The exam wasn’t the only challenging thing along the way. Although the training she attended was all rather easy in comparison, there seemed as though there was no shortage of them. To this day FEATs {H}, {M}, and {S} continue to haunt her with their longevity and tediousness.

USDFgirl19 was nothing more than your ordinary girl. She wasn’t miss popular, and she wasn’t infamous either. People were rather indifferent about her. So a majority of her time climbing ranks were spent focused on how she could build up her knowledge and her portfolio in order to relate more to those who vaguely knew her name. Opening her inbox of letters, she crossed her fingers, wondering if this was the letter that would welcome her warmly into the ranks of CWO-hood.

Of course, her promotion was something she looked forward to. However, in the blink of an eye, she was promoted at the awards show. Her name somewhere buried under congratulations and good job. it was more monumental to receive a more personal letter with her name on it to congratulate her. For some odd reason it felt like it was more real now. More concrete.

As she looked at the letter, her eyes lit up and her cheeks grew raw from smiling. Finally. She felt like she was apart of some exclusive club. Giving herself a monumental pat on the back, she made sure that the first thing she did was read all of the linked pages for further information on how she would progress now that she was a CWO.

I’ve been looking forward to the articles that are published in this November issue of the Libertarian ever since we settled on the general theme: Being grateful by celebrating our achievements and what we’re thankful for. Reading articles on achieved positions and how these changed the experience of our members, made me think of something else, an achievement that can’t be touched. With Stress Awareness Day coming up on the 6th of November, I’d like to share a story about my biggest achievement so far: Beating bad mental health.

During my main education, I was required to complete an internship at an organization in my future field of work. However, instead of working side by side with an experienced member, 5 interns were assigned to a single worker. This meant we had to do all the work by ourselves, with very little guidance or feedback in a working field we weren’t that familiar with. Still wanting to complete everything in a close-to-perfect manner, you can imagine the stress building up over time. Throughout the year, I was mentally drained but somehow managed to make it through (kinda) and graduated my education.

With a blank agenda after summer break, I thought it would be a great idea to “take it easy for a bit”. Instead of immediately working 5 days a week, I would stick with 2 days in a new side job and have all the time in the world to relax again. At least, that was the plan if I hadn’t underestimated my new side job, big time. While the last bits of my mental energy were drained, I went through the weeks as a ghost. I didn’t know the date, day of the week or what was going on around me.

After a few weeks, I resembled a zombie so much, so that I forgot about a very special day to me. It went by and I felt nothing, I didn’t even notice the day passing. When I found out 2 days later, I was crushed. My friends had been saying I wasn’t doing well for over a year now, but this moment made me realize how bad it had gotten. I had no mental health left.

After speaking with the doctors, I was diagnosed with a burnout. They called this minor, well, I don’t want to envision what a big burnout would look like! For several months I had no energy whatsoever, no emotions, no drive, barely aware of my surroundings. With some professional help, I was finally able to understand WHY I was in this big empty zone of “nothing”. I started to recognize the dispositional patterns that have always been a part of my life and figured out the most effective way for me to cope with these challenges. When I slowly started to feel like myself again, my eye caught an advertisement for an informal side job. This wasn’t just any job, it was THE job that had been on my mind for years!

In the end, I was able to slowly increase my work load until I was able to work 5 full days again at the side job I had been dreaming about. At this moment, it feels like my burnout is already in the background again, but I will always be conscious of it. This period has changed the way I look at myself and the world around me, the things I learned during this period will continue to influence my every decision. By being aware of my mental health and recognizing what causes me stress, I was able to beat bad mental health.

And so can you.

What is the race to motivation and how does one achieve it? Is it simple? Motivation is key here at USDF and in real life. I see a whole lot of people leave, because of demotivation and I am one who has left before, because of it. Each day we have people in our lives and on habbo, who push us to become better and be more open and motivated. Below are people who help be become better.

There have been people in my life who have been there for me and will continue to be there in my mind. I have two people in mind who push me to become better. First would be SMA Oaui! She is someone I have been able to be open with and become better acquainted with. She does many great things now for the Army council and branch. Her work makes me want to strive each day to become as hardworking as her.

My second motivator would be 2d Lt samjustme. She is currently my CO in journalism for OPA. She has been able to get me to talk more openly about my ideas. As I watch her work, I realize I too can become a great member of the OPA Journalism Roster. I have so much potential in me and sometimes it takes others to see it. She has seen it through my work and writings, which strive me to do more and more each month. Being a part of OPA has been a huge blessing this time around, because people are more friendly with each other.

All in all, more people motivate me each day, but these two heroes would be top out of them all. I encourage you to never give up and find that person/friend who will help you no matter what. They can see what you are capable of and will help you on your journey in USDF. I have been in your shoes as well and have felt demotivated at times, but for some reason, certain good energy comes from USDF and always pulls me to come back. I’ll invite you this day, if you ever need anyone to talk to or need a friend, you can come to me. I’ll be there for you!

Since it’s conception in 1621, there was always one tradition that Americans would celebrate gluttony every year without judgment. Celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November every year, Thanksgiving is a holiday that is meant to give thanks for the food that was collected at the end of the harvest season If you’re a millennial, it’s a holiday to overindulge in Nana’s famous potato salad and then retreat to the comforts of your bed for the entirety of the day.

For those that don’t celebrate Thanksgiving Day, it may be quite confusing to understand what the history is behind it (yes! there is a history).

The Mayflower left Plymouth, England in September of 1620. On it was 102 passengers looking to discover a new world (or steal it). After a horrific embarrassment that lasted two months, they finally made land and began to establish a village across the Massachusetts Bay. Most of the colonists stayed on the ship through winter where they suffered many contagious diseases, and also scurvy. By the time spring rolled around, only half of the colonists made survived long enough to see their first spring in the New World. Eventually, they began to harvest with help from Native Americans.

By November of 1621, after the first successful corn harvest, there was a three-day celebratory feast. During this time Colonists would hunt wild turkeys. Since turkeys were large enough to feed a full table of hungry people, it became a rather popular choice of meal. This became known as America’s first Thanksgiving. They soon became more common and started to become annual events. The first President of the United States, George Washington, the first national Thanksgiving in 1789. However, it wasn’t officially a holiday until about 1863 when Lincoln was president.

Although there are many historical roots surrounding Thanksgiving and many other cultural interpretations, in modern time, Thanksgiving is now known as a day for families and friends to get together for a special meal, volunteer at food drives to give free dinners to the less fortunate, attend parades, and catch up on football season. What are your plans for this holiday season?

Starter

Okay, I’ll be honest with you. “Sweetheart’s Eggs” isn’t a thing, I made it up. Where I come from, we call this dish “糖心蛋”, which directly translates to “sugar heart egg”. This is more of a Taiwanese comfort food that gets added to all sorts of things, mainly rice and noodles.

Must-have Ingredients:
– Eggs (as many as you like)
– Soy sauce
– Ziploc bag (or similar)

Optional Ingredients:
– Mirin
– Sake

There are many variations to this recipe, such as adding beetroot, but here’s the way my family makes it!

Must-have Ingredients:
– Tomatoes
– Potatoes
– Onions
– Carrots

Optional Ingredients:
– Corn

Soup

Main Dish

This is nowhere near the perfect pot-sticker recipe. This is a basic easy-to-make recipe. Legend says that potstickers were invented when an imperial court chef accidentally burnt the bottom of his dumplings! In a rush, he decides to serve it to the court as his new special creation. To his surprise, everyone loved it, and these pot-stickers are still being made today.

Must-have Ingredients:
– Pre-made dumpling dough
– Ground pork
– Chives
– Mushrooms (bigger the better)

In my home, rice is always implied as a dish, which is why I didn’t include the recipe for rice. If you’re wondering how 3 dishes can fill your stomach, it can! Our dinner today consists of filling ingredients, such as potatoes and carrots. Along with rice, there’s no way you won’t be full! Well, those were some of my favorite Chinese-styled Thanksgiving recipes. I tried my best to keep the recipes simple and easy to make, so I hope you’ll give some of these a try. Let me know how it goes!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Since the early 50’s, the day after Thanksgiving has always been the largest and most profitable day of the year. It’s the day that marks the beginning of Christmas shopping and the whole idea of being thankful generates this need to show appreciation by buying goods. The name Black Friday originated from the Philadelphia Police and was labelled ‘black’ to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic that filled the streets and stores. It later turned into a positive word where ‘black’ was used to represent profit and red as losses by accountants. Retailers and other individuals embedded into the economy adopted this positive outlook on Black Friday. It has since spread all around the world to become a day people take off work just to be a part off, however, there’s nothing quite like spending Black Friday in New York City.

In 2014 I graduated high school and went to America for a month to experience the “American Dream”. My one-month-experience landed me in New York City on one of the busiest days of the year, where I jumped into a yellow cab and headed towards the Strip. Long lines of people filled the sidewalks spilling onto the streets. The smell of bagels, hot dogs and morning coffee wafted through the air. The excitement and anticipation created a heavy atmosphere, then the doors finally opened and Black Friday had begun.

Waves of people filled each store as they clambered over one another, fighting over materialistic things. That ‘store scent’, which made everything smell new and expensive, dissipated to be replaced by sweat and body heat that made me regret wearing thermal clothing. That didn’t stop me, because once I saw those dollar signs, I was just like everyone else.

There was no such thing as personal space, my face was pressed against a strangers back as I became wedged between bodies, absorbed into the mass. I lost my sense of direction and prayed I’d make it out alive. As the crowd moved, I was lifted off my feet and carried around the store. Items disappeared at an exponential rate, money was flung left, right and center, and all you could see was the look of greed in people’s eyes. I escaped the store with a bit of luck and headed to the next, completing this routine repetitively.

I saw smart people with trolleys and even smarter people with runners who took the bags from buyers, putting them straight into the car, so the items owners could continue shopping without a burden. By midday, most things were gone, but as the day dragged out, discount values started increasing till there was almost nothing left. Stores were stripped bare to become empty shells of themselves. People were exhausted from their hard days exercise and finally settled back into the usual pace of New York City.

My day proved to be fruitful and when I finally checked my credit card history, my heart sank, and I felt the wallet hangover set in. There’s no rhythm to shopping or impulse buying on Black Friday, no window shopping or leisurely browse. It’s first in, first served and even then, it’s a fight to the death. The dangers of discounts make you lose track of your spending, the urgency and competition for most items creates the mindset that this is your last chance. Everyone loves Black Friday for the hype, discounts, long weekend and profitable exchange. What I loved most, was waiting all year for the clothes, shoes, handbags and makeup that I wanted, so I could treat myself to an early Christmas present. Cause who doesn’t love to spoil themselves with great discounts?

2019 has been a wild ride for the USDF and it’s not over yet! So we can only wait for the exciting upcoming events and achievements. Today we are going to be focusing on 3 main achievements that have taken place in 2019.

She said, “I live by that quote because it motivates me to keep trying and to keep doing, regardless of the results. As humans, we are always bound to face failures, but what we do afterward is more important. There are many times in USDF and in real life that I have failed. Small things like relationships and friendships to bigger things like job interviews. However, each failure did not stop me and I kept trying for new opportunities. That’s how I came to where I am today!”

I found inspiration in her will to keep fighting through her trials and tribulations to overcome what she viewed as failures. Thinking deeper about this quote myself and Captain Pikasyu’s interpretation, I couldn’t help but feel as though learning from your mistakes and knowing how to grow into something positive and fruitful is truly the most desired route to take in life. How else would you expect good things to happen? I often feel as though the only way to get through something is to go through it instead of avoiding it. Things in life don’t end in failure unless you want them to.