CMC Grad, Soldier, and Blogger

Serving his country, doing us proud

I've been following a fellow stag's blog post-graduation. His name is Mordechai Sorkin CMC '05 and he's stationed in Afghanistan. His blog is a sober assessment of our involvement there. Unlike some on this campus that talk about real leadership, he lives it. In one of his posts, he talks about how some people at Claremont McKenna took umbrage at his decision to join up.

Anyway, before I joined I was excited that I had finally steered my life with a purpose that made me proud. Yet not everyone shared that view. I remember one day in particular, sitting in the Athenaeum at Claremont McKenna College, finishing my dinner and waiting for the evening's speaker to mount the podium. The woman who sat to my left must have been in her 60s, and we had only exchanged pleasantries throughout the majority of the meal. As I started my dessert, she asked—almost as an aside—about my post-graduation plans. I told her I was going to serve in the Army, and she looked up at me, aghast. Her surprise, however, was not due to the fact that our country was at war with violent and radical people. No, she just couldn't understand why I'd choose the Army, when she was certain I could have done so much more in the civilian world.

I, for one, am proud of you. Stay safe.