Dear Reader

Dear Reader
My father was in a panic, he yelled down into the dark focsle, of the Fishing Vessel Jomel, “Get up here he said”. Despite the boat getting tossed up and down by the massive waves, my brother’s and I were in a deep sleep. The towline of the skiff, a smaller boat that we towed behind, had cut loose in the storm. The ten foot swells would surely roll it over and sink it in no time. We all jumped from our bunks, grabbed our pants, and raced into the galley frantically pulling our pants on. My dad told me to go up above and drive the boat. After timing the waves he jumped into the skiff that was smashing into the side of the big boat with every wave. He yelled for me to come get him; I put the boat in gear and swung around for a recovery. The boat stuck in gear and we rose up on a huge swell, the Jomel refusing to go into neutral climbed over the crest of the wave and began to drop over the other side, below us was my dad waving for me to stop, but I couldn’t. My dad dove to the deck and we crashed down onto him with ten tons of steel, which sent the small skiff flying into the darkness. For several minutes I couldn’t see the boat I thought I had killed my father. Finally I caught a glimpse of him and came along to retrieve him. This was just one of many experiences I had on my dad’s boat, as a kid, chasing salmon around Kodiak Island.

I came from the small town of Homer, Alaska, located at the end of the Kenai Peninsula. We were at the end of the road; there was only one way in and one way out. With the exception of a few villages, the nearest town, Soldotna, was two hours away and that’s where we had to go to shop for clothes and just about anything else we needed. My father was a Fisherman and my mother stayed home and raised four kids, three boys and a girl. I knew one day I had to leave this small town for a chance at a better future. I joined the Navy and spent eight years traveling the world, I did three deployments to the Persian Gulf and traveled up and down the west coast of North America from Mexico to Alaska. I did a lot of writing while I was in the Navy, we wrote e-mails to our families, personnel evaluations twice a year, we wrote in record books and request forms. Writing is like anything else it takes practice and I had lots of practice, but I needed more and this class has given me just that.

I’ve always wanted to sharpen up my writing skills, so I can write about my experiences on the boat, in the Navy, or the time I was nearly trampled by a moose. After digging through most of the degree programs offered by Everett Community College, I realized that English 101 was a basic requirement for all of them. I like writing and have always wanted to learn more about correct grammar, punctuation and sentence structure. Writing well is important in any field, whether it’s communicating with peers through e-mail, writing a letter to the town paper, or more formal business letter’s. It’s important that it’s done in a professional manner. I’m not sure what my career path will be, but I know that being able to write will be a necessity. This class has given me a lot of confidence in my writing, now I’m able to write clearly and I have a much better understanding of grammar and sentence structure than I did before.