Steven Piper:
CLASS OF 1988
Gahr High SchoolClass of 1988
Cerritos, CA
Tracy High SchoolClass of 1988
Cerritos, CA
Faye Ross Middle SchoolClass of 1984
Artesia, CA
Tetzlaff Middle SchoolClass of 1984
Cerritos, CA
Wittmann Elementary SchoolClass of 1982
Cerritos, CA
Steven's Story
Life
Hello all. Well a lot has happened since High School and if you want to catch-up, you can write me at: my first name followed by thepipers dot net.
College
College? Ha! Yeah, I tried that for a week. Funny story though; shortly after graduating from Tracy High School, two months early mind you, my father laid down the rules at home. "If you do not go to college you will have to move out of my house" he said to me. So, I reluctantly decided to ease into the college scene with two classes at Cerritos College. After the first week, I was really searching deep to find the motivation to continue in this endeavor and if it wasnÂt for my wacky Psychology professor I would probably have a college degree today. In just the first week I was there he would often go off topic during the lesson about non related things. Well one day, he started in about how young kids, obviously referring to the majority 18 to 20 year olds in the class, should not go to college directly after graduating from High School. ÂTake some time out and go explore this great world while youÂre still young he said. ÂThen when youÂre done exploring, come back and get your degree. Well, I donÂt know how many other students took his advise because I never went back to find out. Things worked out though and as far as the not living at home thing. I didnÂt even wait to hear the words from my father to get out; I had already started moving my personal items out of his house that same day and became ÂThe Roommate in my first of many apartments and rental houses. IÂm sure my mother blamed him for me leaving their house but the truth is, I was just looking for an excuse to move on and thanks to the Psychology professor, and a little parental motivation, I got it.
In retrospect, I think I did the right thing. I did have many great adventures while not attending college and all that studying was just interfering with my wild partying style.
I am now thinking that I might just be done exploring this great world and have actually completed few courses at Coastline Community College. I will continue to take classes there in the evening from time to time and who knows, maybe IÂll have that two year degree completed in a decade or so.
Military
Just to verify my insanity, I joined the Marine Corps at age 25. This was just enough time away from the active life of High School sports to really...Expand for more
put some good layers of padding (fat) on my body and adjust from the 29in to the 34in waist Levis I wore on a daily basis. I was living in the Sacramento area at the time I joined as a roommate in a house owned by a long time friend, Sam Abundis. Since graduating High School, I bounced around from place to place, exploring (See College Bio), and thought it was time I lost my ever growing beer belly and got a little discipline in my life. So, I thought of the many times my parents threatened me as a child with Military School to straighten me out and decided to one up them by voluntarily joining the Marines.
Now being the smart feller I was, I didn't want to completely give up the party life of my soon to be going nowhere past so after many discussions with my recruiter, we decided that the Marine Corps Reserves was the ticket for me. As the recruiter informed me, It's just three months of boot camp and BAM, you're a Weekend Warrior committed to only one weekend a month and two weeks active duty every year. Well that sounded like the perfect little disciplinary vacation I needed to straighten me out so I signed up.
After one and a half years of active duty: (Boot Camp... Leave... Marine Combat Training... Waiting... Waiting... Mechanics School) I was finally given the Reserve status and got to play Weekend Warrior. I reported for duty at a Reserve unit in Sacramento with the MOS of 3521, 2nd Echelon Mechanic: (I repaired the Humvee and 5 ton trucks.) This however was not going to work out for me as I had decided to move back down to Cerritos in Southern California where I grew up, so, I had to find another USMCR unit to report to. In my searching I came across 3rd ANGLICO (look it up on Wikipedia) at the then decommissioning naval base in Long Beach and after contacting them via phone, the transfer orders were under way.
Well, to sum up, I never finished my full 4 years due to many silly excuses related to working at Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. and not having transportation to make the weekend drills. I must admit though, I sure had a good time during the active duty portion of my 3 years I was in the Marines and I managed to obtain the rank of Lance Corporal before I was separated. I was informed by a friend shortly after I left the unit that every Marine in the unit had to go to Jump School and be jump certified and I regret missing that.
¡§Ooh-rah Devil Dogs!¡¨
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