Despite having a stutter, I've had one hell of a life.

Despite having a stutter, I've had one hell of a life. I'm sitting here after a long shift at work just thinking that I don't ever really talk about my stutter. Like many of you, my stutter has often been a source of shame for me. My stutter created a childhood of ridicule, bullying, fighting , suspensions, self-hatred, and isolation. To this day, the trauma of bullying, and physical mutilation I endured, haunts me. Despite a moderate stutter, I was able to enlist in the U.S Army as a Combat Medic/Paratrooper. I'm not going to lie, it was brutal having a stutter in the military. As a medic assigned to an infantry unit, you're expected to be tough. You're the person that everyone has to trust their life to. I suffered everything from taunts, to outright ridicule. If I wanted to survive, I had to be brutal. I had to have many fist fights to stomp out the bullying and build a reputation of someone not to be messed with. Just to be seen as an equal, I had to work harder to prove myself because of my stutter. It was hell having to say something in front of a formation of hundreds of soldiers. Despite that, I met many great people who stuck up for me and stood up for me. I tried, and sometimes failed, to save the wounded in Afghanistan. Despite breaking my back during a combat equipment jump, I was able to complete my active duty career. I then used my GI Bill to become a Respiratory Therapist and graduate Summa Cum Laude. I found acceptance in academia. My stutter no longer held me back once I got to college. I had the bad luck of becoming an RT April of 2020. That year broke me. My first job was in a Covid Unit. I had to put so many people on ventilators, and I had to withdraw life support on more people than I can remember. I saw more death each week, than I did during my tour to Afghanistan. Fast forward to today, I'm living in my dream home. I'll I have a very fulfilling job helping people breathe, and I train therapy dogs, and one cat, to visit patient in hospitals as a hobby. I still stutter, but it's not as much of an issue as I've gotten older in life. Don't get me wrong, I still dread having to talk on the phone, and I hate to drive through window. Having a stutter does make things harder, but you can do it.