 My name is Sergeant Major Michael Assuncion, and this is why I serve. My first kid was born, I was just about 17 years old, or just over 17 years old, and life is hard. I mean, I'm born and raised in Hawaii, so cost of living is already ridiculous. The fact that I was still in high school didn't help whatsoever. It was hard. I was at a point where I was almost wanting to steal diapers just to be able to make it day to day and take care of my kid. I had advice from my neighbor who had said that he used to be in the military, and he saw that I was not in a good place for me, my family, my kids. So he advised me to go see a recruiter. He told me about some of the incentives and told me a little bit about what would help me and how the Army would help me, which was great, but really, I needed the income. I love the Army because everything that I have, I earned. It was all through hard work, sweat, dedication, time, so the Army has been very good to me and my family. The Army has given me a lot, given my family a lot. I definitely don't think that I would be where I am, or I would not be able to resource my family and take care of my family the way I could without the Army.