Name: Ebone Nicol Meyer
Academic program: Marketing and Design
Branch: United States Army
Time of service: Sept 1, 2010- Feb 21, 2013
Why did you enlist?
Two days after I got my Bachelors in Dramatic Arts I enlisted in the United States Army. (I know I probably should have gone the Officer route lol) I grew up an Army brat. I guess you can say that the military is a family business (just kidding)! There are several reasons why I joined the military. One of the main reasons I enlisted was for financial security. The job market was oversaturated at the time with college graduates looking for careers with their prospective degrees, and I couldn’t see myself living with my mom or my older sisters working for peanuts. Final answer- Financial/ Job Security with a side of purpose.
Tell us about your service. What did you do? What was your role?
When I was going through the process of enlisting, I had the opportunity to choose my MOS (military occupation). I really wanted Public Affairs, but there were no openings. I fought hard to get 42 A (Human Resources Specialist). A Human Resource Specialist primarily helps soldiers develop their Army careers through providing promotion and future training information and support as well as personnel support and assistance regarding transfers, travel orders, and salary details to all divisions of the Army.
During my enlistment, I directed personnel programs in support of over 772 personnel in five different locations worldwide; oversaw all personnel strength management and strength distribution actions; analyzed the readiness, health, and welfare of all assigned and attached personnel of my battalion, and maintained and provide emergency notification data of 772 soldiers resulting in pertinent correspondence with soldier’s families.
Were you deployed?
No, I wasn’t deployed, but a month after I got married my husband deployed to Afghanistan.
What's one of your fondest memories from when you served?
I have several, but we don’t want to incriminate me …do we?!? Just kidding. One of my fondest memories is being able to assist my friend in delivering my god son while our significant others were deployed together.
What do you think are the most important skills you gained from your time in the service?
Although, the time I served wasn’t as positive as others might be, I did take away A LOT of different skills that I use today. While in the military, I was able to work with a plethora of different personalities (some great and some atrocious). Working with different people from different backgrounds allowed me to become more aware of the environment as well as cultures. I also learned how to be more direct versus passive. Sometimes my directness may be confused with aggressiveness, but at this stage in my life I’d rather be direct than passive.
How does SCTCC fit into your future plans?
When I enrolled at SCTCC in Fall 2019, I decided that it was time for me to follow my heart and actually do what made me happy in life. Bachelors in Dramatic Arts was only completed because I would rather be in debt $60,000 with a degree vs. $40,000 with no degree. The Bachelors in Health Information Management was for future job security, but it didn’t make me happy. I wanted to combine my love of art and passion for literature and composition with my love of management. Within a year and a half, with the help of SCTCC Marketing and Design program, I want to open my own Talent agency and Marketing business that caters to people within the entertainment industry (athletes, cosplayers, entertainers, performers, etc).
Photo description: The picture is of me and my brothers Mikal Mosley and Xavier Woods. We go to Dragon Con every year. The only Dragon Con I missed was in 2010 (Boot camp). The following year we took this picture together to commemorate the family being together again. I haven’t missed a Dragon Con since.