SWC Student Vet is One Tough Mother
A car ride changed her life.
It was 2007 and 21-year-old Christina Batiz worked as a hostess and a To-Go specialist at Olive Garden to save up for a car. Careless and running on fumes, it was on a journey home from work that a friend who had given her a ride first planted the seed for her future.
Youre crazy, she initially said to herself. Im not joining the army, stupid.
A promise of change and adventure eventually persuaded her to enlist. Her family tried to dissuade her.
The day I signed up they kept calling me, leaving voicemails not to do it, Batiz said. Saying that I was crazy, that I cant do it because Im too girly. And I was like Im still gonna do it, and I did.
Batiz is now 29, a veteran, and a community, urban and economic development major at SWC. She is part of the debate team and the Student Veterans Organization. She is the single mother to four-year-old Mia Juliana.
Batiz was born in Los Alamitos, but lived most of her life in Chula Vista. Unlike other military branches, where soldiers specialize in a specific field, the Army National Guard gave her sundry responsibilities. She did secretarial work, went on border missions, worked in public relations and even took part in some police work during wildfires.
Batiz was deployed in Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan in 2009 for five months and served as a supply specialist. Her unit was in charge of detainee operations. Ergo: they were prison guards.
Before the military Batiz never considered herself girly. This quickly changed during bootcamp, she said.
I just wanted to have my hands and my face washed! she recalled.
Joking aside, Batiz said she quickly realized that being a woman in the military was not going to be easy. In a culture that has historically excluded them, women now make up more than 15 percent of military personnel. The military is still male dominated, Batiz said, and the increased inclusion has changed little.
Men are going to be men no matter where they are, she said. They say nasty things and they have nasty jokes, and they are going to talk like men. It doesnt matter if youre there, your lady card has been withdrawn.
In the military women were not required to be as physically fit as men, Batiz said, but that did not mean they were not expected to carry the same emotional burdens.
We are not physically as strong as men, but we are definitely just as mentally tough as they are, she said. There are plenty of women in the military who could attest to that.
Regardless of training, in the battlefield, sex does do not influence assignments, she said.
The mission is not going to change because you are a girl, Batiz said.
Each servicewoman has a different experience, Batiz said. It depends on their personality and other variables. She said it is harder for competitive women, because if men feel challenged, they will try to belittle them.
Marianna Cervantes, a 20-year-old US Army medic stationed in Germany, agreed.
Be strong if its the path you want, she said. Be ready to be looked down on by men, but that should motivate you more to stand out and try your hardest.
Batiz said she is not the competitive type, so it was easier for her to fit in. She said she gained her peers respect because of the way she handled curveballs thrown at her during her career. When she was made Humvee turret-gunner a position feared by everyone she did not complain. She rolled with the punches, did her best in whatever position she held and befriended her entire unit. Cervantes and Batiz said the brotherhood and sisterhood they felt with their military peers was a type of comradery not found in civilian friendships.
After she earns an associates degree, Batiz plans to transfer to SDSU to major in sociology and minor in communications.
Wherever life takes her, she said, she will always help veterans in any way possible. She admitted that her deployment was not rough, but said she knows many veterans whos deployments were and require special help readjusting to civilian life.
Jim Jones, a former Marine and Veterans Affairs Director for SWC, said this outreach is important because newly discharged veterans are often more lost than they think.
Youd be surprised that a lot of service members are not fully knowledgeable of what rights and benefits theyve earned by serving in the armed forces, he said.
The VRC provides many services to help veterans readjust to civilian life, Batiz said.
Thats the one thing veterans will always have, well always have each others back, she said.
Batiz said her most treasured lesson applies to men and women.
Have your goals set out, stick to your plan, and know that you are strong enough to achieve whatever it is that you want to do. And if there is anyone around you that thinks otherwise, get rid of them.
Tags: Veterans News
