Maria’s Journey

Maria Brooks was born April 28, 1981, to Marvin and Ruth Brooks in Decatur, Georgia. Both parents worked hard to provide for the family, with Maria's mother working as a Security Guard at a Correctional facility and her father managing his own logging business. Maria grew up with two othet siblings, who like her possessed a very special gift in music. Maria had no plans of going to college right after graduation. She always had her heart set on music and traveling the world, plus she refused to work a minimum wage job, never settle for less that was her motto. One day while researching different jobs and careers, she came across an ad about joining the US Army. She made her decision right on the spot that she would join, that way she could travel for free and at the same time pursue her music career. Graduation night was a special night for both Maria and her family, but none of them knew Maria was planning to join the military, because most of them would rather see Maria go off to college. Nevertheless Maria had her mind focused on her own agenda. The next day after the graduation, Maria sat down with her parents and told them what she had planned on doing for the rest of her life. Her parents had no other choice than to accept the path their daughter chose(besides it was her life.) So the next morning Maria went to a local Armed Forces Recruiting Office to take the ASVAB Test, which was given at the MELPS headquarters, along with a physical. She passed both requirements with flying colors. Maria was off to do her training afterwards. From the moment Maria arrived in South Carolina for Basic Combat Training, her heart was pounding (not to mention being homesick). Drill Sergeants came from all over the place to get her and the other recruits, they had five minutes to get off the bus. After getting off the bus Maria and the other recruits went to the inprocessing center, where they were told to ger rid of any unnecessary belongings they wasn't suppose to have, and bring their valuable items to be put up for safe keeping, until their departure from training. Maria was so nervous and shook up from the Drill Instructors yelling at them, she threw all of her belongings and things of value in the trash. The next day she realized what she had done and went to the personnel in charge, to ask if they just so happened to see any of her things of value. One of the soldiers told her he had found a wallet wih someone's I.D. and money in it and asked if it was hers. Maria thought to herself this is a miracle!!!!!!!!!!!(because there's still honest people on this earth.) The second day of inprocessing involved getting shots to protect against the flu and other diseases. They also had their vision checked. Next it was the finance part (if the money's not right there will be problems lol!!!!!) Everyday consisted of four formations, 1.morning physical fitness, and Breakfast 2. Meal Time, 3. Dinner Time, 4. Recall Formation to end the day. Soldiers were told to go and conduct barracks maintenance which pertained to cleaning their A.O. (Area Of Operation) this procedure would continue until 2100hrs (9:00 p.m. military bedtime). Every morning from Monday to Friday at 5:30 a.m. the soldiers would conduct physical training to prepare their bodies for their final APFT ( ARMY PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST). Maria met many people from different nationalities, but this one soldier named Jahmela, stood out from everyone Maria met. She was cool outspoken, and could sing like nobody's business. They had a lot in common. Whenever the soldiers would get free time they would sing and write songs all day. Jahmela also had a dream of fulfilling a music career like Maria, so they formed a group called US which stands for Urban Sisters. They did many talent shows sponsored by the military to get recognition. One day the ladies each purchased some recording equipment, so they could record some songs on a demo. They recorded 8 songs and sent them off to different Record Labels, besides this was their last week at Basic Combat Training. During the first week of AIT (military job training) the ladies received feedback from one of the most successful Record Labels in the Music Industry. Before Maria and Jahmela did anything they carefully had the Recording Contract reviewed by their lawyers. After the reviewing the ladies signed the contract, made the necessary procedures to get discharged from the military, and flew to New York to pursue their dream. From then on everything was smooth sailing, becoming the best selling female group of all time. The ladies dream had finally come true. Hard work pays off, go hard or go home. THE END (REST IN PEACE TO ALL OF THE FALLEN SOLDIERS ON THE BATTLE FIELDS IN IRAQ AND ALL OVER.)