Jon Goode - Whose Line is it Anyway?

 

 

So, in my senior year of high school, I applied to and I was accepted to the university of my choice. I was very excited about this. So excited I told my father. My father said, “Congratulations. That's amazing. All you got to do now is pay for it.” 

 

In high school, I had a fairly decent grade point average, GPA. Mine was 3.4, but they don't really give scholarships for 3.4s. By example, our valedictorian, she had a 4.9, a 4.9 on a scale I was told only went to 4. [audience laughter] So, I was like, “What are you taking classes in the future? How is this even possible?” So, I was feeling somewhat anxious about my chances of going to college. 

 

I don't know if you watch nature shows at all, where they talk about how sharks can smell blood in the water, well, military recruiters can smell anxiousness in high school hallways much the same way. So, before I knew it, there was a Marine Corps recruiter parade resting by my locker, and he said, “Hello, Jonathan.” And I was like, “How do you even know my name? What kind of Marine Corps psychic madness is this?” He informed me that he knew my name, because he'd seen my ASVAB scores. The ASVAB is an aptitude test that lets recruiters know your aptitude for military service. He said my scores were fairly high, an 85 out of 99. It's no 4.9, but I'll take it. I'll take it. 

 

As he was talking, I began to think about the fact that my father-- I had a brother and a sister, they'd all been in the military. And here I was being asked to join the Marines, the toughest of the tough. As I'm having that thought, he says, “You know, the GI Bill can pay your way through college.” That's how I found myself on Parris Island in South Carolina, training to become a United States Marine. 

 

Now, there are four hurdles you have to jump to become a Marine. The first is the physical fitness test. I was young. I was in great shape. Passed the physical fitness test. The next is the rifle range. No one has ever confused me with Annie Oakley, but I could hit the target enough times. I passed the rifle range. The next is a thing called basic warrior training. I was 18, so I was basic. I wanted to be a warrior. I was trainable. I passed basic warrior training. The last hurdle you have to jump is the swim qualification. 

 

Now, I grew up in Richmond, Virginia. In the city, and we had a public pool about two or three blocks from my house. Every couple of days, me and all of my friends, we would walk those two or three blocks, go to the pool and we would stand in the water, [audience laughter] because there were actually too many kids in the pool to actually swim in the pool. It was like a black kid soup. [audience laughter] It was like a ghetto gazpacho. You know what I mean? [audience laughter] It was refreshing, but not very informative. [audience laughter] So, none of us really learned to swim. 

 

So, here I am at this swim qual. The Marine Corps swim qual, you get three chances to pass. You have to jump off a 20-foot tower and swim halfway across an Olympic-sized pool. On the first day, everyone is there. It's like a sea of faces. The Marine Corps was 85% white at the time, sea of white faces. The second day is for everyone who failed, and it was nothing but Inner-City black kids that I'm sure went to the pool every day and never learned to swim. So, there we are. 

 

And so, on the second day, when you fail, they teach you how to do the backstroke and they teach you a version that makes it look like you're having an actual stroke. But that's what they teach you. So, I failed the first day, I failed the second day and here I am, my last chance to pass the swim qual. I'm feeling somewhat nervous and somewhat anxious because I know, “This is it.” 

 

I don't want to go home and have to face my dad and my siblings having failed, and I also don't want to miss out on the opportunity to go to college. So, I'm up on a 20-foot tower and I got my toes over the edge. I'm feeling nervous. I take my pants pockets, I pull them inside out, hoping that as I jump off, the air will go up my legs and fill the pockets [audience laughter] and they will serve as a flotation device, just so, you know, that doesn't work. [audience laughter] 

 

So, I jump off. I go down into the water, I surface and then I immediately start to drown. Immediately. [audience laughter] The drill instructor, he jumps in, he grabs me, he pulls me to the side, he jumps out and pulls me out and he says, “Get in line.” Then he jumps back in the pool, because everyone is drowning. Everyone is drowning. [audience laughter] 

 

So, I'm on the side of the pool. I'm taking some breaths. I'm happy to be alive. I stand up, and I look and I notice that there are two lines. There's a line for people who failed, and then there's a line for people who passed. His instruction was to get in line. So, I got into the line for people who passed, [audience laughter] because one thing they teach you in the Marine Corps is to follow directions. And that was his direction, “Get in line.” That is how I passed the swim qual, I became a Marine. [audience laughter] [audience cheers and applause]  

 

I've learned a few things since. Number one, since then, I have learned how to swim. It still looks like I'm having a medical event, but I can do it. [audience laughter] I can do it. And number two, I learned that sometimes getting what you want out of life is just about standing in the right line. Thank you for listening to that story.