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Sierra McRay

Mrs. Buescher

Service Learning

December 6, 2019

UC Davis and The Military

For this assignment, I decided to tour the campus of UC Davis and meet up with a

Military recruiter. I firstly decided upon UC Davis because it was never really a school I had

really been interested in despite the fact I have family who went to the college. I’ve been there

many times before due to my family and even use to spend the night in the dorms. I’ve always

been aware of how large the campus was, but I wanted to give the college a real shot in

becoming an essential part of my future. As for meeting up with a military recruiter, I had always

told myself growing up I would never enlist. The idea of enlisting always came with images of

war and violence to me and nothing apart from that. I wanted to really open my eyes in both of

these areas and see what they both might potentially hold for me

First when I toured UC Davis, I realized I never took in how beautiful the campus really

was. It was enormous, even bigger now than when I was younger and spent the nights in the

dorm. I learned more about the majors they specialized in and became more familiar with all the

buildings and classes they offered. Whether from the gigantic cafeteria to the gym or to the

entertainment buildings, UC Davis undoubtedly had one of my favorite campuses out of all the

colleges I had toured. There were many people, and even more bikes, as we walked along the

college and ask questions. Though the campus is easily one of my favorites, I’m afraid that was
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the only thing that drew me to UC Davis. Their majors aren’t in the areas I specialize in and I

don’t want to attend a university simply because I think it’s beautiful. I’m grateful for the many

experiences and lessons it had brought my family, but unfortunately I can’t see it teaching me the

same things.

During the ASVAB, there was a lot of both simple and hard questions. I had previously

before taken practice quizzes of it that consisted of over one hundred questions. All of which I

excelled mainly in the basic math and paragraph comprehension part, but failed when it came to

mechanical comprehension, electronics information, and general science. This also ended up

showing after taking the actual ASVAB where I somehow did even worse on the Arithmetic

reasoning section. In all honesty, after taking the test, I reminded me once again why I felt like

the military wasn’t for me. Not just because of the test itself, but because of how little interest I

had towards it. The best part of the experience would probably be the military enlister I was able

to talk to. He was very friendly, in a disciplined type of way, and answered everything I had.

Afterwards, I signed up for a military exploration with my friend, Naomi, where we were

taken into actual ships. Inside, they showed us all sorts of things ranging from the captain's room

in the ship to the fascinating range of buttons that controls the ship itself. They even had a real

life simulator ship where everyone got on and the guide was able to control it. Though most parts

of the ship was a bit too claustrophobic for me, I am grateful for the experience that came along

with it. However, once again, I don’t see myself enlisting in the military ever throughout my life,

but I’m glad I got to see another side of it apart from just war. I just don’t want to join the

military due to the cool ships and benefits that come with it.
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In conclusion, I did learn much more about two things I would have never explored more

into otherwise. It was a fascinating trip and something I will never forget as I continue on.

Though it didn’t really change much of my mind when it comes to enlisting or going to UC

Davis, I’m glad I gave it a fair shot so I don’t have to regret not learning more about it later on in

life. I’m most likely am still going to pursue a career in digital design by going to a college near

LA and see where that path takes me in life.