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Blinn College
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2020-04-17Student, Instructor, Soldier: Leaving to Help With the COVID-19 Pandemic
During Spring of 2020, I was wearing many hats. I was a 1st Lieutenant in the Texas Army National Guard, a husband, a father of two girls, a PhD student, a research assistant for the department chair of the Texas A&M Anthropology Department, and an Anthropology Instructor at Blinn College. Everything changed on April 17th, 2020 when I was activated with the National Guard on 45 day orders starting at 0800 on April 18th. I packed my bags, told my kids and wife goodbye, and sent emails to my supervisors at Blinn College and Texas A&M University. Two of the emails featured here are the emails that I sent to my supervisors. My orders were initially for 45 days but were later extended to 93 days in total. I sent updates to my supervisors as I learned new information. One update email to Dr. De Ruiter at Texas A&M University is featured in this email collection as well. This is my third activation with the National Guard in the past three years. I have been called to floods, hurricanes, and now a pandemic. Serving the people of the State of Texas is never boring, but it can be difficult on the family and jobs that I leave behind. I hope these emails speak to that struggle.