Perhaps I have told this story a dozen times, but time goes on-and people change. Therefore, while it may perhaps bear repeating, the story of who I am changes as much as I do.
Hi.
I am Morgan, a 26-year-old college student at Rowan University. I’m a Political Science major, the Paintball Team Woods Team Leader, Science-Fiction Club Secretary, Golden Key International Honors Society Chapter President, former Reserve Officers Training Corps cadet, Yearbook Treasurer, photographer, writer, runner, and soldier-in-training.
I enrolled in Rowan in 2006 as a Communications Studies major; I transferred from a military college. As I proceeded along through the Communications track, I took writing courses of my own volition. In Summer 2007, I realized I had enough qualifications for the Writing Arts major, so I doubled up. In Spring 2008, when I was set to graduate, I attended a number of job fairs-it was then I realized that the hiring field for writers seemed to be limited, so I sought out another major. I was talked into Journalism (something I thought I would never ever take), and proceeded to earn the minor. In Spring 2009, I took a Political Science course (Contemporary World Problems under Professor Spencer Meredith, perhaps one of the greatest professors I ever studied under) and gained an interest in taking the major. I called for my parents’ permission to stay, and then entered into what would be a three-year study as a Political Science major.
I am a castle made of many blocks, and one of my strongest blocks is my writing. I’ve been writing my “Command & Conquer” stories since the Spring of 2002-when I was a Junior in high school. “Command & Conquer” was a highly popular video game series created in 1995 by the former Westwood Studios. The game series focused on a global battle between the United Nations military organization known as the Global Defense Initiative and an international terrorist organization dubbed the Brotherhood of Nod. Not only did both sides fight to eradicate the other, but they also fought over control of an alien element called Tiberium. Tiberium was a special substance which leeched elements from the soil and created precious metals which could be refined for currency or war materials. However, while Tiberium was profitable, it was also lethal to both the planet and biological lifeforms (namely humans) and caused millions of deaths throughout the wars fought between the two sides.
My stories follow the plot of the “Command & Conquer” video game series, but add a degree of military and political realism and real-world events to the story series. To provide an example, one of the principle weapons in the original 1995 “Command & Conquer” was the “Medium Tank,” a heavily armored slow-moving vehicle armed only with a 120mm cannon that could engage targets at medium ranges (whereas artillery could fire at longer ranges).
GDI Medium Tank
Its real-world derivative is the M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank, a seventy-ton vehicle equipped with near-impenetrable armor and a jet engine capable of propelling the vehicle beyond fifty miles-per-hours. The Abrams is armed with a 120mm “smoothbore gun” capable of hitting moving targets out to and beyond 3,000 meters while on the move itself, as well as two M240 7.62mm machine guns, and a Browning M2 Heavy Barrel Machine Gun.
M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank
With this in mind, my stories represent the “Medium Tank” as how the Abrams Tank exists in reality, taking the capabilities of the in-game weapon further and making the stories that much more realistic.
My stories also incorporate a number of named characters (one of them being myself) into the work, which gives the story a “War and Peace” quality in that it contains multiple characters, each with their own history. Almost all characters are based on real-world people who had an impact in my life, from close friends to instructors. On that note, the main character in my stories, “Morgan,” is based entirely on myself. Everything I am, everything I aspire to be, and elements from my school, military training, and performance in video games go into “Morgan’s” development. Therefore, I have found myself writing an autobiography in story format, while telling the story of “Command & Conquer” from a realistic perspective and yet maintaining its original game canon.
Many of my readers find that my writing style mimics that of Tom Clancy, famed military and political disaster scenario writer whose works have been used as a basis for multiple movies and video games.
It should come as no surprise that I hope to enlist in the U.S. Army once I graduate. My goal is to graduate from Rowan with honors, enlist, enroll in Airborne/Jump School to earn my 101st Airborne patch, then attend Armor Warfare School to be qualified as a tanker, then join the 101st Airborne or 1st Armored Division, with a duty assignment in Korea, Germany, Texas, or close to my girlfriend.
