What is my academic identity?  This is a difficult question for me to answer because where I have been, where I am now, and where I am going do not match up at all, and in retrospect, technology has played a factor in my academic decisions all along.  Growing up, my family did not own a computer until my senior year of high school. Up until this point, I had used word processors or gone to friends’ houses to complete any assignments that I needed the computer for.  I have always had a basic understanding of them, but never the desire to master them.  I believe that it is this lack of interest and exposure that has hindered any further understanding or desire to learn. As my senior year came to an end, I needed to decide quickly where I was going to attend college.  In the state of Texas, everyone who graduates in the top ten percent of their class is automatically accepted into the Texas schools.  I chose to go to Texas Tech University.  Do not be fooled by the name of this school, though, as it is not particularly a technical school. Since math has never come easy to me, so I knew that all technical majors were out of the question.  Because of my interest in athletics, I chose instead to major in pre-physical therapy.  During this time, I was also interested and heavily involved in Air
Force ROTC; I even earned an Air Force scholarship to study physical therapy. 
   After two years at Texas Tech, I applied and received an appointment to the prestigious United States Air Force Academy, one of the top engineering schools in the nation.  My motivation to accept my appointment was to get the best training possible to become an Air Force officer.  I was immediately faced with challenges upon my arrival.  I withstood the physical and military demands, but when it came to academics, I was out of my league.  Even though I had chosen to major in Foreign Area Studies with a minor in Arabic, I was still required to take such courses as computer science, engineering mechanics, and electrical engineering, all of which I could not understand.  After a year at the Academy, I chose to return to a university and once again do ROTC. I was already in the state of Colorado, and since my parents had moved up here the year before,
I chose to stay close to them until I got on my feet.
   Within a month I was enrolled here at the University of Colorado.  I am a psychology major, but I chose this major by default.  I already had three years of college under my belt, all science credits, so I knew I had to remain in the college of arts and sciences, and I had to graduate in two years.  I also knew from experience that I wanted to study as little technology as possible, so I chose the science of people and their brains.  I knew that this would give me an advantage in my future to have a greater understanding of people and why they do the things they do.
   Looking back, I realize that I have steered clear of anything technological for one main reason:  I do not understand technology; it simply baffles me.  In two months, I will enter into the Air Force.  This has always been a dream of mine.  The irony of this situation is that the Air Force is one of the most technologically advanced institutions in the world.  We have airplanes, helicopters, and satellites that are so good, that we are not even allowed to know how good they are. But my passion in life is not the technology that surrounds me; rather, it is the passion for being an American.  And I have chosen to go into the profession of arms to protect this country and this freedom that we have, even if it means facing and working with the technology that confuses me so much.  After all, it is this technology that enables us to defend and protect our country and our freedoms. And I am very, very thankful for that.