On this Veteran's Day weekend: to the men and women who chose to serve, Thank you!
Earlier this year I was asked to photograph Mr. Christian D. Minor at his pinning ceremony and also had the privilege of capturing the man in the uniform.
As I thought about the images and what they would look like before the session, I thought of my own father and his military career. I wasn’t a typical military brat. I didn’t travel with my father nor experience him leaving to go into combat; I can’t speak to those experiences. What I can speak to, is how my father’s training and structure affected my own life.
Much of my discipline and work ethic comes from having him as a dad. Venturing into the depths of my father’s
mind one would think would be my first source. But knowing that memory can be fleeting for a man with dementia, I decided to ask someone I knew that is not a veteran but is active duty.
Seeing Christian, who I have known since we were kids embark on a journey such as becoming an officer in the military, made me curious.
Some of the questions I asked him during our phone interview, delved into what I know of him and how the current social dynamics of our time have impacted his decisions and journey.
The interview lasts a little under 25 minutes, but it opened my eyes to the challenges one faces in search of purpose or even stepping into purpose.
I started the interview by asking about a quote on his cake from his pinning ceremony. The statement read as a strong message. I wondered was it a message to him and from whom?
1. A quote on your celebratory cake was “Success is not an option it’s mandatory” Where did that quote come from?
It comes from me growing up and seeing where I come from, what my family had to go through and everything. It came from one of my favorite motivational speakers. Mr. Eric Thomas, his favorite quote is, you got to succeed as bad as you want to breathe. And once I heard that I just decided to make up my own thing. And that's when I came up with success it's not an option, it's mandatory. On my going away for basic training, I had a party and that was on the invitation. That was 13 years ago; success is not an option, it's mandatory. So that's something that whenever I feel like I can't go and do, do, do anything or when I know that I can do better and do my best instead of settling to be mediocre, I won't settle for nothing but the best. Whatever I got to do; stay long hours, work the hardest and everything I'm going to do it to be successful. No one determines my success but me.
2. Who inspired your decision to join the military? Can you tell me about their service? Such as rank and work detail.
My uncle, sergeant first class (SFC) Inester Harris influenced my decision to join the National Guard because he told me that it'll teach me how to be a man and indeed it did. The military saved my life. It helped me put me in a position that I am today. I don't have to pay school debt because of the military.
3. Tell me a little about your personal background outside of the military. I would like to know about your family and their background.
Both my dad and grandfather were carpenters. My dad chose early on to start working with my grandfather doing millwork at Scanlon-Taylor (Millwork) company down off of West Street. My granddaddy, I remember going out in the field working, pulling purple hull peas and greens and all that stuff like that. I didn't understand it as a little boy, but he was teaching me somethings that I use today. Everything that he instilled in me from hard work ethic. He always told me a lazy man will have a hard life. Every time I wanted something as a little kid, my daddy used to tell me that money don't grow on trees if you want it, work for it. I can't tell you what, you can't do with your money. But I can tell you what I ain't gonna do with my money. So that's what instilled the hard work ethic in me. My mother got an associate degree. I think I'm the first one leading the way.
4. What is your educational background before and after joining the military?
I didn't start college right after high school. Besides the high school diploma, that was it. I started college when I was 22 years old. I got an associate of arts degree. I got my LPN diploma. I have my ADN (associate degree nursing.) I have my BSN (Bachelor of science and nursing.) And I'm currently in school for my psychiatric nurse practitioner.
5. What keeps you motivated?
What keeps me motivated is I take it personal. When I was in high school, I graduated with a 2.1 GPA. That's not good; that's barely passing. And I'll never forget I wrote Ole Miss, to tell them that I wanted to go to college. But at the time my ACT score was a 16, that means I didn't even meet the requirements to take remedial courses. Basically, they told me that I'm not smart enough in a letter form to come to Ole Miss. Fast forward, 13 years later here I am in nurse practitioner school at Ole Miss. Nine times out of 10 I am in the top 10 of my class right now.
6. Which branch of the military are you serving in?
I'm in the Mississippi Army National Guard. I am commissioned in the US Army Nurse Corps
7. Tell me about that experience from enlisting thru basic training. I am curious to know what mental, physical, and emotional challenges your faced.
Basic training back then was real basic training. It broke you down physically and mentally, and they built you back up physically and mentally. If you were a boy when you went to basic training, you came back a man. Basic training then was the best training I'd been to since I've been in the military. I recommend it for everybody because I think everybody needs it. It was a strange process, from the gas chambers to doing low crawling, thru barbed wires over your head, your legs and all that. So, they teach you how to survive; that's where I get my survivor skills from. They gave me everything that I needed plus more. The military was a struggle when I first got in, but I stuck with it and so far, 13 years later, it's still working for me.
8. What made you choose nursing?
I chose nursing because of my mama. September 11, 2001, I was a little kid about 11 years old, my mama was in a bad car accident; she almost lost her life. My mama was disabled and bed bound. I had to nurse my mama back to health with the home health nurse. So that's where my love with nursing came from. Seeing them, the home health nurses come out. For my mother, it seemed like the nurses did more than the actually doctor. That's how I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I was good at it. It was a natural thing to me to take care of people.
9. After basic training and you returned home did you receive the support you were needing to help you transition from your experience.
I didn't go right to school. I started working for Pepsi Brown Bottling Group. I'll never forget I was stocking as a merchandiser at the Kroger on I-55 and the Mississippi Army National Guard Head Education counselor at the time, Mr. Leonard Bode, saw me working. I was stocking sodas and merchandise capacity. He recognized my face from when I applied for tuition assistance to go to college. He told me, be at his office tomorrow morning because you are better than this. And once he told me that I never looked back, he asked me what I want to go to school for? I told him nursing, and he made sure that I've been sticking with it every day.
10. I know any time you go thru something life changing you develop relationships with those who are going thru it with you whether that is someone who helped you and mentored you or a fellow service member. Tell me about a person or persons that you developed a relationship with and how has that relationship transformed from your enlistment to now. (?)
I have a couple of people that I know that has been with me from the beginning. Majority of the people went on to do other things in life or didn’t make it. Some of them got out and started families and some of them just got in to get what they needed and got out. Some of the people that I started with like Sergeant Mario Jackson, both of us are still good friends today and we still work together today.
Majority of the people that I got in with that are warrant officers now, they see me as a medical officer. The person that was on my commission board, Lieutenant Colonel Birmingham, was actually my commander at 171 when I got in aviation back in 2010. He was a captain then and he recognized me. He was shocked when we went to the board for commissioning for my direct commission. He said, man, you a nurse? I said, yeah, I said in nurse practitioner school now. He knew I grew up in South Jackson. That was surprising to him that somebody from that area “is doing that good.”
11. Did any of the people you listed have an effect on your leadership style?
The most influential person on my leadership is SFC Peter Earl. His leadership style was always boots on the ground. We don't leave until you can get the job done, work, work, work. We don't take no excuses; we are going to do it or we ain't. But one thing about it, if you don't want to do this, please get out the uniform and vacate the premises. This is not a job; this is a calling. If you ain't in love with it, don't do it. So, I'll tell you it's personal to me!
12. What are three valuable lessons you would like readers to know?
Three valuable lessons: Success is not an option, it's mandatory. The presence is not the future, and your attitude will determine your longitude.
13. What book or tools would you recommend to others that helped you in your journey?
a. When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe The Secret to Success - Kindle edition by Thomas, Eric. Self-Help Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
14. Currently you are 1st Lieutenant, what’s next? Captain and psychiatric nurse practitioner.
As I thanked Lt. Minor for agreeing to do this interview, I immediately became excited about the direction I was planning to take this blog post. I researched many of the questions and entered with an optimistic frame of mind in hopes to allow the "subject" to really shine thru. It can be difficult to convey tone and inferred hope thru an interview that is written. What many of these questions don’t convey is how his experiences affected him. While speaking with him, I could hear the reverence and passion for his past, present, and the forging of his future. The challenges one faces in search of purpose or even stepping into purpose, can often seem more daunting than the actual goal itself. Luke 6:46-49 speaks of a man building his house on a solid foundation. Christian's foundation is his faith, his family, and the self-assuredness to be who he is called to be.
To listen to how one man who chose not to accept the odds but to embrace the possibilities of his future through his choice of service is inspiring. I hope this blog and gallery from Christian's pinning ceremony can inspire you too.
Click on the image below to checkout Christian's Pinning Ceremony that was held at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, MS
The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.
~Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
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