Epitaph on Me Essay

Epitaphs are clear reflections of the life that individuals went through. The experiences mentioned may either be good or bad. However, these experiences greatly affected the way I perceived life, and how I would react towards the numerous things that happen around me. Thinking about how I lived my life made me ponder on how people would remember me even if I have left this earth. I have decided that my epitaph would sound something like this: â€Å"I swam across the sea Paddling for victory, Massive shark on the way Started an entirely different story. † Writing epitaphs is an important part of any individual’s life. I wanted my epitaph to be simple, yet amusing and could showcase the life that I lived. For starters, I was born in St. Louis Missouri in STATE YEAR and was raised in a poor neighborhood. I grew up in an environment where I had to learn the realities of life at such a young age. I was a product of a broken family, with my mother single-handedly raising me and my other siblings. I lived with poverty for seventeen years, before I was given the opportunity to join the United States Navy. Being in the service allowed me to become appreciative of the numerous blessings I receive every day. Poverty never came as a hindrance for me to become someone in society, for I was given the rare opportunity to serve my country and my countrymen. All of the experiences mentioned above played an important role in writing my epitaph. The first line which states, â€Å"I swam across the sea† is both literal and metaphorical in meaning. Swimming across the sea is not as easy as it may seem, and this may be compared to the difficulty I experienced as I grew up. As mentioned earlier, I came from a poor family, with my mother being the only one sufficing for our needs. Like swimming the sea, it was not easy to go through life-much hard work and dedication were needed in order to succeed. The second line which states â€Å"Paddling for victory† shows the degree of determination and hard work I was willing to give in order to become successful with my life. I grew up not having much, and being accepted at the United States Navy was my chance to rise up from poverty. Such led me to choose the word â€Å"paddling† to represent the difficulties and challenges that my family and I went through in life. Paddling was normally done in the sea, and was not an easy task for anyone, especially when done in the middle of the sea. The sea was vast and wide –some would give up trying to get to the other side of the â€Å"paddled† boat, trying to fight the hard current. Furthermore, I also attributed my experiences in life as the â€Å"sea†, which was vast and unpredictable. Although I was not financially secured as the others, I was given the equal treatment of making it big in the United States through my acceptance in the United States Navy. â€Å"Paddling for victory† was not a one shot deal – it entailed much from the paddler in order to be successful in life. Like my personal life, I wanted to make sure that I would be able to accomplish much, and become the best individual that I can be. Furthermore, â€Å"paddling† may also be used as the term that best describes my life in the US Navy. Every time I was deployed, I was putting my life on the line; and similar to my epitaph, I was â€Å"paddling for victory. † Such line was applicable to the life I had in the navy, for I had to make sure that I was able to fulfill my duties, while caring for my own life.