“America Is Another Name For Opportunity”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
I remember in my teenage years looking across the Atlantic Ocean in awe and admiring from a distance the land of opportunity. Freedom of choice, personal liberties, and the promises of capitalism were very alluring, and I somehow knew that one day I would move to the United States and do everything I could to make my own “American Dream” come true. After graduating high school, I chose to take a major leap of faith and move to the States, where I soon learned that the opportunities I read about truly did exist in abundance. It was such a breath of fresh air to be able to make dreams come true, to learn that the path from vision to reality was in fact simple, and to know that all it required was determination and focus. The opportunity was always there.
Within my first ten years of living in the States, I came to appreciate my new country and everything it has offered me, to include citizenship and a home for my son. I decided the only way I could repay my debt to this country and what it had provided me was to join the military as an active-duty Marine. The Marine Corps became my second family, and I was able to deeply identify with its core values of honor, courage, and commitment. During my military service, and my tenure as a financial manager, I learned the importance of serving, enforcing the principles our country stands for, and respecting public opinion in both internal and external affairs. As part of my self-improvement journey, I pursued a master’s degree in Public Policy, International Affairs with the goal of continuing to serve our country even after retirement from active-duty service. Post-retirement, I was offered yet another amazing opportunity, to work for Significance Inc., supporting the Department of Defense in its journey of achieving a clean audit opinion and its transition to a new financial system. Both pursuits share a common goal: the modernization of the DoD that will enable improved efficiencies in a complex and ever-changing environment, considering new emerging global threats. No small task, yet I am happy to embark on this innovative journey as part of an amazing company, whose culture focuses on its people and values teamwork.
I am blessed and honored to be able to celebrate this 4th of July in our country’s capital, amongst the living memory and monuments of our founding fathers, looking at our amazing country and understanding its value to the rest of the world. We are the one and only symbol of light, hope, freedom, and opportunity in this world.