Quentin Herd Gail Richard Composition 1 Connection Essay Lesson Learnt I wish I could come to you and write

about a heart warming experience but thats not my story. t one point in time all I !new "rom growing up in r!ansas is that li"e is a "ight# down and dirty all out brawl to sur$i$e. In with that growing up loo!ing around at the people and li"e that has been portrayed thru media# school# and e$erything else used to in"luence the minds o" the people. I as well bought into the social norms. I was suppose to be a hard headed# thuggish# %uic! tempered# person who didn&t want nothing out in li"e brother. In with that same mind"rame I got my sel" caught up in all types o" cra'y situations but this time I would ne$er be the same. E$erybody !nows that being in the (a$y you are targeted by the ladies cause o" the bene"its you can bring. I guess my shipmate didn&t get the memo and got himsel" caught up in some nonsense be"ore we le"t with his girl"riend and a couple o" brothers# she claimed to be her cousins. nyone who !nows me !new that I didn&t care about nothing# wasnt trying to hear it# and always at the ready to threw down at the slightest hint o" a con"rontation# I&m down with it. )o he comes to me pleading his case about how he trying to get out o" the situation he got himsel" into. * ll I need you to do is help me get my clothes out the house and watch my bac! in case they pop up*# Cool I got you. (ow in that same breathe I ta!e a loo! o$er at my other shipmate and the loo! that came across his "ace by the time I got out the words *I got you#* was li!e he was

"oreshadowing what was to come. +rom the loo! in his eye I should o" !nown better but me and my untouchable "rame o" mind went ahead anyway. ,ig mista!e. -e arri$ed at the complex where he stayed and the coast was clear. Hear me now# you should o" seen how "ast my peoples was mo$ing. I mean he got e$erything except "or the !itchen sin!. .o my !nowledge I thought we was good to go until he stop at the "ront o""ice to see how or i" he could brea! his lease. Let me as! you a %uestion# now tell me who in they right mind would ha$e got a apartment and put a womans name on a lease who cant e$en pay her own cell phone bill. -hile he is explaining the situation with the manager the girl"riend and her *cousins* dri$e by headed up to the apartment we /ust le"t. .he manager say she want brea! the lease unless both parties are in agreement to bac! out the lease. Her recommendation to him is to go bac! up to the apartment and try to ma!e amense with the girl"riend to get out the lease. -hy she say that0 (ow be"ore I go on let me add this he has hung out with the dudes a couple o" times and possessed $ital !nowledge that they had in possession a couple o" pistols with them at one point or another. )o tell me why he got us out there na!ed with no protection. .hroughout are na$y experience we were trained to practice and crit%ue e$ery situation using 1R2# 1perational Ris! 2anagement. -here was the training then3 s we get up the bloc! where the apartment is at# it seemed as though they !new we where coming. .hey were already outside posted. 2e being the man I was# I was ready "or the "ight. -e pull up and be"ore I could get my car in par! my peoples has already /umped out the car and s%uared up with one o" them. I !new there would be at least two# bad math I was o"" by one so who you guess gets to ta!e on the two. 4ou&$e

guessed it# it was I. .hrough the scu""le I notice the girl"riend separating my peoples and hers. t that same time the two I was going at it with bac!ed down. .hin!ing it&s o$er I go to my peoples# the cousin seen me coming he bac!ed o"". (ow the girl"riend standing between us and them trying to !eep us "rom going bac! at it# you !now it didn&t wor! round two. ,ut this time it was two on two# the main dude who s%uared up with my peoples at "irst slipped out the "ight. (ow I&m hearing the girl"riend screaming *no# no put it down# dont do it.* s I swing my head to the right to see whats going on I see this pretty all blac! sawed o"" pistol grip pump being un$eiled out o" the trun!. -ithout thin!ing I say *+am watch out#* I push my peoples out the way and tell him to run. 2e being a dummy and my I dont gi$e a damn attitude has me starring down the barrel o" a mean shotty body. (ow not "rom being scared or a"raid but more o" a sense o" I dont ha$e nothing to lose# i" you gone do it# do it %uit wasting time. .han! God he seen it another way# as i stood there staring down and tempting death the 2an abo$e granted me "a$or. )omehow# the clown couldn&t coc! the shotty it was /aming# matter o" "act it /ammed twice be"ore a $oice whispered in my ear *Run.... (ow0* s I turned to run# my car was right behind me. Coming up with a %uic! decision I decided to /ump it. s I made my way o$er I heard as the shotgun goes o"" # some people say you dont "eel it when you get shot it dont hurt due to ner$es and the shoc! "actor in all. +or me It was more li!e you don&t "eel pain intially but /ust as you can "eel the warmth o" the sun on your "ace# I "elt the buc!shot blast thru my arm. It wasn&t until I got down the street that a bystander brought it to my attention that I was bleeding. .he crucial part o" it is you don&t "eel pain until you notice you hurt. It was the most excruciating pain I&$e e$er "elt# my "orearm loc!ed up "rom the muscle contracting on the inside. .he bystander leads me to the "ront

o""ice I cant sit til I&m all o$er the place bleeding# cussing# punching walls. 1h# that shit hurt0 .he things I get mysel" into. .he moral o" this story is don&t put to much o" what you see on t.$.# hear in music# or seeing what other people are doing in"luence your way o" thin!ing !eep your on mind. +ollowing the stereotypes o" the world can lead you down roads you ne$er thought you would be in. .he real is what 5aul wrote in Romans 1676 *8o not be con"ormed to this world# but be trans"ormed by the renewal o" your mind.* 1nly i" I !new what I !now now maybe li"e would be di""erent whose to say# lets /ust say lesson learnt. 5eace