Tamara Geyer and Hazel Diaz

[00:02] TAMARA GEYER: My name is Tamara Geyer. I am 42 years old. The date is April 20, 2022. I am in the StoryCorps virtual recording booth, and I am here with my conversation partner, Hazel.

[00:14] HAZEL DIAZ: My name is Hazel Diaz. I am 36 years old. The date is April 20, 2022. I am in the Storycorps virtual recording booth, and I am here with my interview partner Tamara And I want Tamara kind of start from the beginning. Tamara, can you tell me a little bit about where you were born, where you grew up in your early life?

[00:36] TAMARA GEYER: Yes, absolutely. So I was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Since this is being recorded, I won't tell you what I call it, but it's not the. It's not Disneyland. So I did grow up in the inner city. I grew up in a place called Marina apartments. My grandmother raised us. I have two, two sisters. Unfortunately, my parents are deceased. And that sort of plays into this story and how I. How I ended up journeying into the Marine Corps. Excuse me. I'm sorry. Tell me. Tell you a little bit about myself. Okay. Yes. And so I was born Bridgeport, Connecticut. And my journey Tamara the Marine Corps really started because there weren't a lot of options with regard Tamara higher education and things of that nature. So I didn't know much about the military. And I was working in the mall, and while I was working in the mall, there were two guys that, you know, walked up Tamara me, and the woman that I was working with at New York and company, and he was talking Tamara her about the military, talking Tamara her about her options. And I said, you know, well, I'm interested in something like this. And when I went Tamara the office for the first time, I wasn't a. I wasn't really sure what I was getting into. I knew that, you know, there's this office full of guys. They weren't really rowdy. They were just very professional. And after talking Tamara them for about two Tamara three weeks, I got the sense that there was this camaraderie, this brotherhood, really, that I hadn't. That I hadn't really experienced before I dropped out of high school in the 9th grade. I obtained my ged when I was 17. And so I didn't really have, as I said, a lot of options for my future. And so in talking Tamara them, I saw some of the things that were missing from my high school experience or my lack of a high school experience. And I said, well, why don't we try out something like this? And initially, everyone that I talked Tamara that I told I was joining the Marine Corps, they were like, you're crazy. They said, you know, you're going Tamara end up going Tamara war. You're probably going Tamara die. And also, you're very feminine. Why don't you try the Air force? That might be a better fit for you. And it was really the challenge that was presented Tamara me, not just by what I saw and heard in the recruiting office, but also from what friends and family were telling me that really pushed me Tamara join that particular branch.

[03:05] HAZEL DIAZ: Thank you for sharing that, Tamara. I see a lot of my own journey Tamara the Marine Corps in your story. So I particularly want Tamara talk about, although I do want Tamara talk about your time in service, I want Tamara talk about a little bit of your earlier life and what kind of things kind of led you Tamara the yellow footprint or footprint, Paris Island. I want Tamara you know, talk a little bit more about your early life. You had mentioned that your parents were deceased and that you were raised by your grandmother. Can you tell me a little bit about your early life, what you remember of your parents and their passing, and how being raised by your grandmother affected, you know, the choices that you made and impacted you as a person that obviously likes a challenge and is looking Tamara rise Tamara the occasion when it comes. It seems that earlier in your life, just from this conversation, you had a lot of challenges, and you needed Tamara you know, really commit yourself Tamara meeting the demands of the moment. And that is kind of what Marines are made of. So I do want Tamara talk about, you know, that, that early time in your life before you got into the Marine Corps, if you wouldn't mind.

[04:18] TAMARA GEYER: Yes, absolutely. So we lost our mom in 1987. I was eight years old. Unfortunately, both of my parents were addicts, and they both contracted HIV and then AIDS. And as you know, back in the early eighties, there was not a lot of information on HIV and AIDS itself. And so my mom actually passed when she was 25 years old. My dad followed her about five years later. They were not married. My mom had me when she was 17. And so there, you know, there wasn't a marriage, and there wasn't really, like, that model of marriage present for us. And so that really sort of, I think, I don't want Tamara say inspired, but I want Tamara say it was part of the driving force, right? Seeing addiction firsthand, seeing your parents die from such an awful disease, especially when this is before, I believe the medication is called, like, alz or something like that, or AZT before all of those meds were in. So that disease was just ripping through the communities that it affected. And it was very. It was definitely a traumatic time, but it also taught me a lot of resilience at a very early age, and that also played a part in what I chose Tamara do. And I was always a very avid reader as a child, and so having that imagination and knowing that there was something beyond what I was experiencing at that moment out there available for me, that my life didn't have Tamara be growing up in the projects, I didn't have Tamara be a teen mom. I didn't have Tamara stay in the circumstances. But I also knew that there weren't a ton of opportunities being presented Tamara kids like me. No one was coming into the projects Tamara say, here are the, you know, the 15 things that you can do. We didn't have access Tamara many libraries, you know, the food, desert. There were no green spaces. And it was really greeting that that allowed me Tamara find a different path for myself. Once, you know, our parents had passed, things were very difficult for us. We were kind of rebellious, in a sense. My grandmother very much wanted Tamara keep us in the house Tamara keep us safe, because there were shootings, there were drive bys, there were lots of drug dealers. And so we were very sheltered, if you can believe it. But once our parents died, then that's when that rebellion kind of kicked in, and we were subject Tamara the school Tamara prison pipeline.

[06:55] HAZEL DIAZ: So.

[06:55] TAMARA GEYER: So I spent some time in juvenile detention, not for crimes, but simply for being a rebellious 13 year old. And I think that could probably be a whole entire other conversation, but that contributed Tamara my lack of a strong foundation of an education, how I ended up dropping out in the 9th grade, and how I ended up obtaining my GED at 17. And it was at that point that I was working in the mall. I was working a lot of jobs, and I said Tamara myself, what are you going Tamara do with your life? What are the options for you? So when that recruiter came into the mall, I was 20 years old at this point. And when I started going Tamara the office, there was Master Gunnery Sergeant Vargas. Jimmy Vargas. He's a master guns at this point. He's retired now, but at the time, he was a gunnery sergeant, and he really, really motivated me, and he was such an integral part of my journey and ensuring that I made really good decisions. I actually helped. I know him. Do you know him? It is a small marine corps, isn't it? Yes, master guns, it was Gunnery Sergeant Vargas staff Sergeant Rodriguez, staff sergeant Herrmann at the Bridgeport, Connecticut RS. Yeah, it was wonderful. And they saw something in me they saw potential. I did horribly on the Asvab because of that lack of that foundational education that, you know, that. That I had. And so they just told me, you know, this is something that you can do. But I had Tamara obtain 15 college credits because I had a GED. So I enrolled at the local community college where actually my maternal grandmother, paternal grandmother worked, and I obtained my 15 credits. I quit one of my jobs. I was sleeping on my cousin's couch. I was back in the projects. I said I would never go back Tamara but I got my 15 credits, and right after my 21st birthday, I was on a plane for the first time in my life and then on a bus and then getting screamed at Tamara get off that bus and get on those yellow footprints.

[09:09] HAZEL DIAZ: And how long were you in the Marine Corps after that day?

[09:13] TAMARA GEYER: Eight years. But I had two different periods of service, so I was in from 2000 Tamara 2004, and then I was in from 2008 until 2012.

[09:22] HAZEL DIAZ: You just missed me when we're.

[09:25] TAMARA GEYER: When were you? In?

[09:26] HAZEL DIAZ: 2006 Tamara 2010. So, like, that's really funny. I I know that you want Tamara talk about your time in service, and I'm also eager Tamara hear about it, but I. We do have 40 minutes, so I do want Tamara spend a little bit of time on your early life. And. And just because your story, although it's so niche and unique, the experiences that you've had early and later in your life, I also want Tamara you know, make sure that the archive includes the voices of the children that were affected by the drug epidemic of the seventies and the eighties, children that were affected by the HIV and AIDS crisis and the children that were affected by the school Tamara prison pipeline. And those three narratives are all really important. And I think that because you have experienced so much so early that it's, you know, I think it's important. And if you're comfortable with it, I think it would be really advantageous Tamara our archive for generations and a hundred years Tamara really hear what happened Tamara those kids as adults, you know, in all the ways that they were affected by these things that were massive, you know, that you made it out on the other side, that you're, you know, in the less than 1% at this point, with everything that had happened Tamara you by the time you were ten. You know, I really think that that's an important part of this conversation of your journey. So I want Tamara talk a little bit about maybe your mom, and can you tell me what she was like and what you. What your relationship with her was like before her passing what it was like, you know, when she got sick and, and what it was like, you know, having your life uprooted when you're just a tiny, you know, helpless kid and kind of being kicked around, because I I can very much relate Tamara that. And I think that that is a super important story and a super important part of who you are and the reason that, you know, you're, you've done so much with so little for 42 years, and I don't want Tamara graze over it, and I really want Tamara give it light and space because I think that that's an important part of your journey, and I really want Tamara hear about it. If you're comfortable sharing.

[11:53] TAMARA GEYER: Yes, absolutely. Yes. Yes. So I didn't know my mom as well as I would have liked. She died when I was eight years old, and she was, as I said, very young when she had me. I have an older sister, so she had my older sister when she was 16, which means she was impregnated at 15. That's a whole other conversation when it comes Tamara my father. And so I went Tamara live with my grandmother when I was three, and my older sister was four. So she had custody of us very early on because my mom, she was young. She wasn't through living her life. And so there's no, you know, hard feelings or blame. And then when it comes Tamara the addiction piece, addiction is what it is. You know, it is. It is not something that people have control over. And so she was very intermittent in our lives. You know, we would see her, but then we wouldn't see her. And so, unfortunately, I don't have. I don't have as many memories of my mother as I would like. I do have a handful, but I don't have anything that that stands out as, you know, pivotal or transformative. I would say the most transformative was, was watching the disease decimate her body.

[13:11] HAZEL DIAZ: What's your sister's name?

[13:13] TAMARA GEYER: So my older sister's name is Monique.

[13:16] HAZEL DIAZ: And what's Monique like?

[13:19] TAMARA GEYER: Monique is a firecracker. She is. She's always been. I'm an introvert. She's very extroverted, great at math, fast runner. She was always the one who was, you know, climbing the trees, hopping the fences. And I would always just be sitting in a corner somewhere with a book and just sort of observing her and my cousins and all of the other kids get into shenanigans. She is a mom. She has six children. She's a wonderful mom Tamara her kids, and she still lives in Connecticut.

[13:51] HAZEL DIAZ: And what's your grandmother like?

[13:55] TAMARA GEYER: So my grandmother is deceased. She was born in East St. Louis, I believe, 1930. And she had a bit rough. She did not graduate from high school. Her grandmother was born into slavery and very passing. And my last name is german. So we have some, we have some thoughts as Tamara where that came from and. Yeah, so, but she was, you know, she was a strong woman. She had nine children, two of which died in childbirth. So she raised seven children, many of them who went on Tamara experience their own struggles with alcohol and drugs. And so she, she did what she could for, for us. I mean, by the time she brought us, by the time she got custody of us, she was well into her fifties, and she's got, you know, two small children. And I do have a younger sister, Jada She goes by Maza And Maza came Tamara live with us when she was five. And so she was, she, she did what she could. She was very strict, but she ensured that we got a good education.

[15:00] HAZEL DIAZ: And can you tell me maybe a little bit about your time in juvenile detention? Can you tell us the story of what led you Tamara that and what that experience was like, what the staff was like, and maybe what the other children were like, you know, and where this was located? Tell us a little bit more about that.

[15:19] TAMARA GEYER: Yes, absolutely. So our dad passed when I was twelve, going on 13, and once that occurred, my sister and I, my grandmother very much, she kept us very sheltered, and we just wanted Tamara be kids. We wanted Tamara go out and play. We wanted Tamara do sleepovers, things of that nature. And so after our father died, we said, well, we don't want Tamara listen anymore. And so we began hanging out. And it wasn't, you know, there were no drugs, there was no stealing, no fighting just yet. And my grandmother, she just didn't have the energy or the patients anymore at that point. And so she contacted social services. And so our case started out as a family with services needs, and so they set us up for an intake date. While we're kids, we didn't know the importance of this intake date, so we didn't go. It was summertime. I don't know what we did, but we didn't go. So 1 June morning, we just made breakfast, and I don't know if anyone remembers the Richard bay show. It's kind of like a Maury show that came on. We were watching that, and I remember there was a knock at the door and it was the police, and they put me in handcuffs and they took me Tamara juvenile detention because at that point, they considered us delinquents because we didn't show up for an intake. And I remember just. I was devastated. I was shocked. It was dehumanizing. You know, you go in there and you have Tamara strip your child, you know, and you're wearing the underwear of. You share underwear, you share clothing. There's a central laundry facility that all of the clothing items go Tamara but that's it. You're in this tiny, dark cell, essentially, and there's a. There's a small window just right at the very top, because it's. It's a basement, essentially, and it was down the street from my high school. And so that was one of the most devastating things, because you could see feet walking by, and so you knew freedom was just on the other side of that, of that barbed wire. And I didn't have a lot of understanding as Tamara why I was there. You know, what did I do that was so horrible that I'm now in handcuffs? And that started me on a journey of being in the foster system, and it meant I was in and out of school. I remember sitting on a hard bench just throughout the day. There was no schoolwork Tamara be done. There was a very small library. And so what I would do is I would refuse Tamara wear the underwear that they gave me, which meant I had Tamara have room time, but room time meant I could just stay in my cell and read. And so that was sort of my strategic way of isolating myself so that I could have some semblance of normalcy in books, was where I found my escape as a small child. And now it was. It continued Tamara be the window through which I lived, really, because I didn't have much else. I went Tamara go live with a cousin after that, and that was less than ideal. He was 18 when he obtained custody of me, but he wasn't old enough. No one did a home visit. The judge didn't ask very many questions. It was just like, okay, what are we going Tamara do with this kid? Let's get her out of here. And that just started me on a path of in and out of juvenile, because I would run away when the conditions where I was staying were atrocious. I was often hungry. I was often without the basic necessities that a young woman needs. And so I ran away a lot, and then I would get put back into the system, and then I would go live somewhere else. And that continued on until I.

[18:51] HAZEL DIAZ: Did anyone ever ask you why you ran away, why you were running away?

[18:55] TAMARA GEYER: No. No. There's absolutely zero interest in helping a kid in the system. The assumption is that, honestly, if you're a black kid from the inner city, you must have done something Tamara deserve Tamara be where you are. And that was it. No one checked for potential. No one asked any questions. No one said, well, where would you like Tamara be? There was a point where I was staying with an aunt who had five children. My pregnant cousin and her boyfriend were staying with her, and we would push two couches together, and the three of us would sleep horizontally on these couches. And so there was one point where I just had enough, and I ran away, and I lived with a family friend, my friend Janine. Her cousin allowed me Tamara stay with her, and that was life changing for me. It really was, because I was able Tamara find a bit more independence. It's where I obtained my GED. I lived by myself at 16. I illegally used someone's name Tamara obtain an apartment, but it was so long ago, I don't think I could get in trouble for that now. But I had a little 400 square foot studio in New Haven on Fountain street, and then I got a job at Ann Taylor, and I worked at Claire's, which is across the street from Yale. And so I started being able Tamara I found people who were willing Tamara help, and that is what it took Tamara get me out of my situation. You know, people I was not. I was not able Tamara do it by myself. So whenever I hear, you know, sort of pick yourself up and there's opportunities for everyone, that is absolutely not true. You know, that's just an easy way of ignoring the fact that systems of inequity are real. They're very real, and they're very hard Tamara get out of and very hard Tamara navigate.

[20:42] HAZEL DIAZ: And I know that the Marine Corps kind of gave you a foothold, you know what I mean? Or a way Tamara propel yourself forward. And the military has often been kind of this stepping stool for people Tamara rise above their station, you know, since the inception of the american military, since the civil war, you know, a lot of slaves used it as a means Tamara you know, acquire freedom for themselves. And in World War Two and Vietnam war, the GI Bill gave people a chance Tamara get an education and even Tamara obtain housing and funding. So I do want Tamara get Tamara that. But I am wondering about your friend Janine that you mentioned as really being the first person Tamara I'm going Tamara try not Tamara cry. Sorry. Tamara kind of look at you as a kid and say, you know, somebody needs Tamara do something, and she just needs a little bit, because at this point, it seems like you were just grit and bones.

[21:47] TAMARA GEYER: Yes. Well, I'm sorry. Go ahead.

[21:50] HAZEL DIAZ: And I really want Tamara hear more about your relationship with her and. And, you know, the people that first made you feel like a real person and not a soccer ball that was being kicked from place Tamara place.

[22:03] TAMARA GEYER: Thank you. So, Janine's actually my age, and it was Janine and her mom, Pam, and she's gone now, unfortunately. And Pamela McDonald was, of course, she was the woman whose house we could go Tamara if we were hungry, if we needed somewhere Tamara sleep. Both my sister Monique and me, we would go there constantly. And so Janine still Tamara this day, I consider her family. She's a cousin, essentially, and it was her cousin Nakeisha in New Haven that allowed me Tamara come live with her. I packed a bunch of my stuff in a garbage bag, and we met at the train station, and she didn't really know me that well, and she said, sure, you can live with me. And so it was the connection through Janine, Tamara her cousin, who was old enough, you know, who had a great job, was completely independent, who allowed me Tamara live with her. And it was that relationship with Janine that allowed me Tamara get out of Bridgeport.

[23:05] HAZEL DIAZ: What are some of the long term effects of having formative years with so much instability? You're 42 now, fully developed and autonomous adult, and I'm wondering what kinds of things still linger in you from that experience, because that's something that you don't shake, right? Like, that kind of hungry being your baseline and never knowing where you're gonna sleep or you're gonna wake up or who's around or this hyper vigilance, like, what kind of things have, like, really manifested throughout your life? That, you know, because I. People will look at you and say, well, look, this person did it, you know what I mean? When they had nothing, and they were just totally fine. And, you know, if you really. You know, if you wanted Tamara you would, you know, which is often the narrative from people who have had a really rough start. And I don't think. Think enough people talk about the lasting effects of something like that during your early development and the things that kind of really, really linger within you for a lifetime.

[24:10] TAMARA GEYER: Yes. So it has made me the queen of compartmentalization. I am. And it's sometimes Tamara my detriment, I have. You know, I am a proponent of therapy. I think everyone should be in therapy, and if they think they shouldn't be, and I have had therapists tell me, you know, your compartmentalization is great, but it was a survival mechanism, and it went beyond being a coping mechanism. And so I've got all these things in their little boxes very neatly stacked in a walk in closet in my mind, and I will pull them out as needed. And I do address some of the traumas that I've experienced, but it helps me Tamara be able Tamara talk about it in a. In a way in which it seems as if I'm talking about someone else, because if I didn't, then I don't know if I would be able Tamara talk about it. But I also don't share it with a lot of people. For the longest time, I was told that I was incredibly hard Tamara get Tamara know. I think it's definitely created, like, attachment issues, abandonment issues. You know, my dad, I had for a longer time, and I remember I would stand at the window and wait for him Tamara come and pick us up. But because of his addiction, he lied a lot. And one time, my sister and I, we saw his Hyundai pull up, and we were like, oh, daddy's here. Daddy's here. So we ran downstairs, and he told us, go Tamara the bodega across the street. He's like, pick out whatever you want. Put it on the counter. And he never showed up Tamara get it for us because he was there Tamara buy drugs. He wasn't there Tamara see us. And I found myself, in my later years, if I was dating someone, I would stand at the window and wait for them Tamara come and pick me up or wait for them Tamara come and see me. And then I made that connection when I was about 22 years old. I said, okay, this is something that we definitely need Tamara address and need Tamara deal with. And I went Tamara therapy a couple times at 18 because I discovered that my parents death was affecting me more than I thought it was, but it wasn't a good fit for me. So then at 22, that's when I really started Tamara really think about going Tamara therapy and diving into it Tamara address some of the issues that I was having because I thought I was fine. Everyone's like, you're so strong. You know, you. You've accomplished all these things. You got out, but getting out comes at a cost.

[26:28] HAZEL DIAZ: Yeah, let's talk about getting out. So you're at the mall, you're. You meet your Marine Corps recruiter. You have Tamara get college credits once you got your GED, and you're dead set on this being your next step and what you're going Tamara do. What did you know about the Marine Corps before getting a. Tamara Paris Island, I assume.

[26:51] TAMARA GEYER: Yes. I knew absolutely nothing.

[26:55] HAZEL DIAZ: Oh, good. Perfect. And how long did it take you Tamara get your credits before you were actually able Tamara get on your plane Tamara Paris Island?

[27:06] TAMARA GEYER: I went for an entire summer summit. Well, I went for a spring and a summer semester, so it took me about eight months. About eight months Tamara get my 15 credits. I was motivated. I was adamant that this was going Tamara be my next step. This is what I was going Tamara do. This is what was going Tamara finally get me out of Bridgeport, Connecticut, permanently. And so I was only in the delayed entry program for two weeks before I went Tamara boot camp. But I had been hanging out at the office for so long prior Tamara that, that at that point, they were my friends. But my recruiter at the time, female staff Sergeant Powell, she was new Tamara the office, and it was really nice having a black woman as a recruiter, because here was someone that looked like me present Tamara let me know what their experience was. But it was nothing that she told me could have prepared. Prepared me for what I experienced.

[28:02] HAZEL DIAZ: What did she tell you?

[28:04] TAMARA GEYER: You know, the typical, it's not going Tamara be easy. It's all a mind game, but you're going Tamara love it, you know? But she didn't. I don't think she said love. I think she said, you're going Tamara love when you get that eagle, Globe and anchor. So she didn't tell me that the bootcamp experience was going Tamara be wonderful, but she also didn't. She also didn't really break it down for me because recruiters are recruiters, you know, they aren't going Tamara tell you anything that's really going Tamara scare you. You can watch all the videos that say, we don't promise you a rose garden. This is not going Tamara be easy, but until you're really in there, you have no idea unless there's someone who's going Tamara be incredibly transparent with you about it.

[28:38] HAZEL DIAZ: Is there something that you wish they would have been more transparent about?

[28:44] TAMARA GEYER: No. Oh, yes. Going in open contract. So because of my lack of an education, my AsVAb score, I scored really highly on reading comprehension and vocabulary. But when it came Tamara mechanical and math, it was like reading another language for me. And so there weren't many jobs options open Tamara me. And so they said, oh, just go and open contract, you'll be fine. I ended up getting really lucky with the mos, with the military occupational specialty that I got, but it could have gone really, really poorly.

[29:16] HAZEL DIAZ: So I wish you mos.

[29:18] TAMARA GEYER: So, I was a 7041, aviation operations. So, s three.

[29:25] HAZEL DIAZ: Tell me about boot camp and your time in the Marine Corps and why, after four years in getting out, how you ended up back in the Marine Corps, and how you have a relationship with it today.

[29:42] TAMARA GEYER: I love boot camp. I loved every second of it because it wasn't Bridgeport. And I was older when I went. I was 21, and so a lot of the girls in my or a lot of the women in my platoon were younger, and so I kind of acted as a big sister at times. I was a squad leader because I was motivated. I was like, this is nothing that I'm experiencing here can be worse than what I've already gone through, and it's temporary. Everything that I was experiencing in boot camp, I knew had a purpose, and I knew it was temporary, and so I would ask Tamara get it. And for those of you who doesn't know what that means, it's intense training where you go, where the drill instructors, usually, they're mad at you and they make you push or do, you know, exercises that are meant Tamara make you sweat and cry. I. And I just. I loved it. It was an adventure for me, and I had a best friend. I don't know what her rank is now. Gunnery sergeant or. I think she's a gunnery sergeant. Selena Aviano And we just got in trouble together all the time, but good trouble. You know, we would make up things for whenever we had rifle watch during chow time. We. We definitely low crawled down Tamara the sand pit one day while we were on rifle watch Tamara take pictures of, and we may have made a phone call from the senior drill instructor's office. So, it was definitely a lot of fun at times.

[31:02] HAZEL DIAZ: That's pretty gangster. I'm not sure that I would have the balls Tamara do something like that, but good on you. That sounds crazy.

[31:09] TAMARA GEYER: It was. It was. It was so. It was. It really. It was great. I I would do it again. Um, I learned so much. I got over some fears. I had an intense fear of heights, and so doing the confidence course did not instill more confidence in me, but it was definitely. It was an adventure. And I got promoted. So I got promoted Tamara PFC at a bootcamp. I wasn't an honor. I wasn't the honor grad, but I was. I was promoted because I excelled there, because I knew that Tamara fail was not an option, because I knew what it meant I'd be going back Tamara

[31:47] HAZEL DIAZ: Is there anything else that you wanted Tamara talk about? Your time and service beside bootcamp.

[31:53] TAMARA GEYER: Yes. So I was always in the air wing. So, gunnery sergeant Supernaw when I was in my mos school in Meridian, Mississippi, my mos allowed you Tamara choose your duty station, depending on your ranking in class. And I had this vivid memory where I was. I had a choice between Miramar in California, in San Diego, or Camp Pendleton. And I think Hawaii was on there, but I wasn't quite ready Tamara go Tamara Hawaii yet. And so I asked her, I said, oh, can we do. Maybe I should do Pendleton? And she's like, no, you absolutely need Tamara go Tamara Miramar. Because of my personality. My personality was always. I questioned things. I always wanted Tamara know what the compelling case for a decision was. And so she knew that going Tamara Camp Pendleton would probably break me, but yes. So, Tamara answer your other question, how I got from doing four years Tamara getting out and doing another four years after my first four years in, I went Tamara community college, I went Tamara Maricosta, and then I transferred Tamara UC Berkeley. And that was a wonderful experience Tamara an extent. There was not much student support for veteran support for students on the Berkeley campus, and some of the lack of my foundational education definitely caught up Tamara me. But, I mean, the brilliant minds there were wonderful. But afterwards, there were no jobs. There were not very many jobs occurring. I had a friend who graduated who was working at Kinko's, and that scared me. And I said, okay, I have debt because I had the Montgomery GI Bill. The post 911 was not in effect for me, and I had loans, and I said, well, what am I going Tamara do? And so, you know, I panicked and I reenlisted. But it ended up being a really great decision because I was able Tamara deploy. I deployed Tamara Afghanistan, and I deployed with, like, a ground, not a ground unit, but I was the only female in my section who was a us service member. The rest were Brits. And it was fantastic just getting Tamara experience a different side of. Of the core. And one of my colonels there, Colonel Gamlin, he was also very pivotal Tamara my deployment experience there, because people realized that the potential that I had was it for your typical e four. And so people didn't treat me as an e four. I wasn't pigeonholed. I was allowed Tamara you know, attend planning missions and things of that nature when I was at mag eleven that a lot of people didn't get Tamara do. And so I love my time. You know, there are things about the military and communities, such as the one that I came from, that people can say is predatory. But two things can be true at once. The military can be predatory, but it can also be transformative. And if I did not join the Marine Corps, I would not be where I am right now. You know, I'm currently a senior managing director of a veterans initiative at Teach for America. You know, I traveled the world. I met incredible people. I met my husband. And so I would do it all over again. 1010 times over.

[35:10] HAZEL DIAZ: Is there. We have about five minutes left. So I just really want Tamara open up the space Tamara talk about where your life is now, what things you're looking forward Tamara You know, what things. Just like you said, things can be true. You know, all the grit and resilience that you got from your. Your life and your path Tamara talk about where they led you Tamara now and where you're looking forward Tamara going Tamara Moving forward.

[35:40] TAMARA GEYER: Yes. So I'm really looking forward Tamara continuing Tamara advocate for black and brown kids in underserved areas, for veterans, for military spouses, because I think that these are populations that often get overlooked. I know that there's a big, you know, the support for veterans has definitely changed post 911, but sometimes a lot of that is performative. And so I think really getting stories like, like mine and others, you know, out there Tamara understand that veterans are not a monolith. You know, we aren't all bearded guys covered in tattoos. You know, a lot of us are women, and a lot of us come from low income communities, come from rural communities. And I think me being able Tamara advocate and share my story or share the stories, really, of other veterans and people like me, that's really my goal going forward and Tamara get vets into the classroom because they do incredibly well there. You know, our grit, the resilience, all of those things are very helpful in the classroom and in kids seeing that there are other paths outside of. And there's just. There's just a different world outside of what they're currently experiencing.

[36:56] HAZEL DIAZ: Yeah. Thank you so much for your time and your energy in today's interview. And I have Tamara say that a lot of what you said really resounds in me because I was a foster kid as well. I also ended up in juvie because they couldn't find placement for a teenage girl for six months, you know, and I also joined the Marine Corps. I also, you know, kind of, like, navigated higher ed by myself, and I had a tough time because of a poor quality education early on. I admire everything that you talked about today and the work that you do, although with our initiative here, that you're now a part of. We do try Tamara really hold space for veterans that are really representative the military, and that's not always Jake Gyllenhaal on Jarhead. Right. Yeah. You know, it's like the american military is one of the most diverse workplaces in the world, and it's really important for us Tamara reflect that in our collection. So, I guess my last question, only because you're a black woman that served this always, how do you, um, feel about serving honorably, you know, for. And fighting for a country that doesn't always fight for you?

[38:17] TAMARA GEYER: Yes, I know. I get that question a lot. And, you know, sometimes I have Tamara battle with that question, and it really comes down Tamara survival, right? It comes down Tamara survival. I can't say that when I joined, I joined out of a sense of patriotism. I joined out of a sense of survival. You know, the patriotism, Tamara an extent, grew, you know, and like James Baldwin says, you know, I love America more than any country, and for that reason, I insist on the right Tamara criticize her. And so I think we have a lot of growing Tamara do. There's a lot that we can do Tamara show appreciation for the experiences of black people, of marginalized peoples, of our native peoples, of our Latinx community, you know, of our LGBTQ people that are serving, you know. And so I I still wrestle with it sometimes, but I would say that, yes, it just. It came from a sense of. Of survival, a place of survival. But the Marine Corps was good Tamara me. You know, it definitely had its moments of, you know, there were, you know, moments of anti blackness discrimination, you know, sexual harassment, things of that nature. But even with all of those cons, the pros far outweighed.

[39:28] HAZEL DIAZ: All right, Tamara, we're coming up on our 40, so I just want Tamara thank you for your time and your energy today and for being so open. I really appreciate you coming in Tamara share with us today.

[39:39] TAMARA GEYER: Thank you so much, and thank you for your service. And we can totally be friends.

[39:44] HAZEL DIAZ: Are we not already friends? Isn't that. I feel like that was the whole vibration. Yeah. Okay, great. Okay. Thank you so much.

[39:52] TAMARA GEYER: Thank you.

[39:53] HAZEL DIAZ: Take care.