Hero

During finals week, me and the rest of the residents on my dorm’s floor had plenty of free time. We obviously had a great deal of studying to accomplish, but we also had time to relax and spend time together. My roommate had brought some board games from home, so a group of about ten of us played one called “Loaded Questions.” Each player was given a notepad to write their personal answers to random questions that were drawn from a pile of cards. While some of the questions were superficial and humorous, others were thought-provoking and deep. The last question asked during our first round was, “Who comes to mind when you hear the word hero?” We all sat silent for a minute or so while we contemplated our response and recorded our answer. The leader collected everyone’s papers and read the answers aloud. Then, the person whose turn it was had to match the responses to the person who wrote them. As the leader began reading through the papers, my mom, my older brother, a plethora of celebrity icons were among the answers. The last answer she read to us was, “Soldiers.”

I waited for the person to guess which answer was whose. Needless to say, I was surprised when that answer belonged to our friend Marc, a funny slacker who was rarely serious. He then explained to us that one of his cousins was serving in the Middle East. I had never actually met someone who was so close to the war before. In fact, the only time I ever gave the war much thought was when I caught part of the evening news. Lately, however, the news has been more about the election than world news anyway. It is sad to think that many people do not appreciate those that are serving the country unless they actually know someone who is. Without a personal connection to someone in the military, it is difficult to comprehend the magnitude of a soldier’s devotion to their country.