Stephen Johnson:
CLASS OF 1996
Lineville High SchoolClass of 1996
Lineville, AL
Stephen's Story
Life
Life---used to be in the fast lane, but I'm on a small island in the middle of the Pacific called Kwajalein. Very unique place. Slow paced, but highly important to the government and military in its applications.
Things have changed much since high school. West Point was a great experience, but it was the longest year and a half of my life. I think one year there ages you like 3-4 years, so it was a good way to grow up, in many aspects. I learned many things about myself, how to push myself beyond self-imposed limits, and how people from different places do, in fact, think differently. Mormons are weird, man. Anyway, left WP, hung out with a couple of cats from Lineville in a house in the middle of nowhere for about 6 months, and decided I was bumming around too much and enlisted in the Army. Joined the Signal Corps and dabbled with computers and telecommunications for a while. I went to Korea for a year, from 98-99, and it was outstanding. Learned how to party and had my 21st birthday while I was there(not that you needed to be 21 to drink in that place)! Made many great friends, got into as much shit as I could, and parted the place with sorrow. Next was Arizona for a while, and partied in Vegas for the turn of the millenium. Kissed many strippers and smoked a Cuban after midnight came, so a good time was had by all.
I left the Army from Arizona and hung around the Baltimore/DC area for a while with a buddy of mine from the military. Pretty good experience, although there are a lot of pretentious people there. Hell, I guess there are pretentious people everywhere, even in Clay County. I always laugh when I come home and see some 30 year old woman driving her husband's nice new Ford with her nose in the air. Guess you can be a snob anywhere.
Anyway, DC was cool but I was a bit far from family and wanted to hang with them. Came back closer to home, to Huntsville, and worked for the Space and Missile Defense Command for the past 3 years. Actually, I still work for Space and Missile Defense, which is what we do on my beautiful tropical island. I've been here a little over 6 months and who knows where I'm going from here? Wherever the wind takes me, I suppose---
School
Seriously, I turn 27 in less than a month and I can barely remember high school. I think it may be due to too much Mexican Tequila when I was in Arizona than any other thing, but it seems so long ago now. All the petty ways we thought about things and viewed one another. How annoying I was because it was the only way I knew to get girls' attention. How I dated/went steady/whatever with this one gal for three days, didn't ever even kiss her, but still thought she had the best ass in our class. How my mom dressed me up until about 10th grade until finally my older sisters took pity on me and introduced me to that amazing invention called the mall. High school---bleh
College
School. What happened to me and school? I don't know, it seems tougher to go back and keep at it as you get older. I will eventually get a degree, I mean, this is me and I've got to have a PHD in something before it's all said and done. Meanwhile I have a couple of computer certifications and my Top Secret clearance to make a little cash, so I'll go back to school when I've...Expand for more
got enough money in the bank to do it without loans. I'll be that pathetic 29 year old guy going to a college somewhere full-time with all the 18 year olds. Actually, I'll probably be the coolest guy on campus, what the hell am I saying. I'm currently studying for a certification known as CEH, or Certified Ethical Hacker. I saw that thing out there and knew I had to have it. To tell people that I'm not just a hacker, but I'm certified?! Well, certifications don't really mean crap, except a piece of paper like that pretty BS degree a lot of you have, but it sounds cool. Oh, and for crazy moments as stupid classmates suggests here--well, West Point was my only full-time college experience and our idea of a fun night was to sneak out after taps and go on 'spirit missions'. I guess the only thrill was that we could be caught by the MPs. Anyway, an example was the one time we went down into the tunnels below WP, went over to Thayer Hall, which was the main building for classes, and broke in through the service elevator. Then we put a huge banner on the floor of the foyer, denouncing the Syracuse Orangemen football team as we were playing them that weekend, and smashing oranges all over it. Oh those wild and crazy cadets know how to party! Whatever, once I decided to enlist in the military I learned how to party like I was a frat boy...
Workplace
Work life has always rocked. I've had a Top Secret clearance since 1999 and worked in positions which require such a clearance. I can't tell you what I do right now, while I'm sitting here typing this at work. Seriously. They do shoot missiles at us from California, I guess I can say that. Well, about 300 miles from us into the middle of the lagoon, but whatever...
Military
Military service, huh? First off kids, don't do it. I'm pretty sure our government has gone insane and I know from personal experience that they don't give a shit about the troops. I can say this becaue I went to West Point for a year and a half, saw it was a dog and pony show, and left. I then enlisted to see what that side was like and it was not much better. I watched my buddies get screwed out of their medical disability or their GI Bills or whatever the Army decided it didn't want to come through on. Love your country, but love the country created by our forefathers. Because it ain't the same place as it once was, friends and neighbors. Tough truth. Stay away from the military for now--we're still the most badass nation on earth but we are making enemies of everyone left and right. Trust me--turn off that crappy Fox news or CNN and get on-line and find news outside our country, or done by sources not controlled by US corporations. Keep your eyes and minds open, kiddies. I hate to be all 'left' because I like both sides of the spectrum, but I can read patterns. If you absolutely must go in the military, then go Air Force and get a good tech job that will give you a future outside the military so you don't have to stay in the service all your life to pay the bills. Hope for peace, but expect war...truly, I'm not a pessimist, but I have buddies who've seen the horrors going on now and some who've died for a cause they really no longer believed in, but were duty-bound to follow orders...it just ain't worth it
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