A Fallen Soldier...

I had Drew (Andrew) Meari (this takes you to an article about him) as a sophomore in Investigations of Matter & Energy. He was wrongly placed. A bright young man, he had goofed off his freshman year and done poorly in his Biology class. He easily earned A's both semesters in my class and was my assistant in the classroom. I could always count on him to help out my sub when I was absent, he would help set up labs or pass back papers. He was an all around nice kid, but his home life wasn't so good and he started to get into trouble at school his junior and senior year. After graduation he enlisted. I always support my students who join the military, but I always fear the day when I turn on the news or log onto facebook and see the notice. You know the notice that I'm talking about.

Yesterday Juliana got up around 3:50 AM. After I finished feeding her, I grabbed Ryan's iTouch and logged onto facebook (I haven't been sleeping well for the past few months), and I saw the words that I've been dreading since the war started. RIP Andrew Meari. My knees gave way and I started to shake. No! Not Drew! I wanted to scream. He was just getting his life together, he can't be dead already! Another former student, another soldier, reminded me that Drew made the ultimate sacrifice and gave his life for our country, but it still hurts. He was too young to be taken from us.

Thank you Drew. You are a true hero (another article about him and the other young man who died).