Page 74 - Lubbock Senior Link Magazine Fall 2019- Online Magazine
P. 74
Luis Daniel DeLuna
The Hardest Class Ever
by Stephen DeLuna
he knew his strengths and Navy ship, two contract towers,
weaknesses. If there was a will, and one FAA facility later,
he would find a way. My dad my dad is now the Air Traffic
often tells me the story of when Controller Supervisor for the
my grandfather barged into his FAA here in Lubbock.
room and said, “Go out, and
don’t return home until you have When my dad tells people that
a job.” He was 12. My dad got he is an air traffic controller,
his first job as a paperboy and their first response is, “Oh, I
was never unemployed after that. hear that job is stressful.” True,
At 17, he even managed to work Dad says, but it is not the kind
two jobs while still in school. of stress people think of. You
avy guys are not well- He knew he had to work hard. must know what you are doing
prepared coming into College was not in his future. and be confident. There are no
Nthis course!” That is second chances when controlling
what my father heard as he During high school, Dad was airplanes. Dad also stresses how
prepared to take a demanding involved in Navy ROTC. During important it is to relax when
Air Force course that the Navy his junior year, he went to the you are not controlling planes.
was trying to implement. He local Navy recruiter who gave To relax, my Dad picked up a
wondered, “What does that mean him a job placement test. When hobby while stationed in Spain -
for me?” My dad was never it was returned, my dad was computers.
the studious type. He had very shocked at how well he’d done. He was fascinated with his first
little confidence academically. Amazingly, he scored high personal computer. As years
However, knowing that this enough to be offered a job as an went by, he studied, learned,
was his career, he turned the Air Traffic Controller. and experimented with them on
discouraging comment into one My dad joined the Navy in his own. Eventually, he started
of the most influential phrases September 1993. After a rigorous taking them apart and rebuilding
in his whole military career. boot camp in San Diego, Dad them. Soon, family and friends
From that point on, my dad was sent to Air Traffic Control knew that he was the one to go to
realized the importance of a training in Millington, Tennessee. with a computer problem.
good education. Even though He spent five weeks studying air
his own high school days were traffic lingo. It was difficult, but Eventually, his hobby blurred
marked by ditching classes or he knew he had to pass. After into his work. One day, while
procrastinating on homework, completing that demanding stationed aboard the USS Essex,
my dad taught my sister and me training, Dad was stationed in an officer saw his potential and
that there are no excuses when NAS Rota, Spain, but before sent him to a Unix computer
it comes to learning. Try your he could work there, he had to system course called the Theater
hardest and do your best. Period. learn the regulations specific to Battle Management system. He
My father was born Luis Daniel that airport. That meant he had wasn’t nervous - just excited to
learn new skills.
DeLuna, but everyone calls him to study and train again. The
Danny. He was born in Los material was so difficult that The class was much more
Angeles and raised in El Paso. there were times he believed he complicated than my father
He had a much harder childhood wouldn’t make it. However, expected it to be. Upon arriving,
than I did. He was never really he was determined, not only my dad and his friend were told
good at school. He received because that was the career he’d they were not cut out for the
little help from his parents. He chosen, but also because he had class. They were told that the last
struggled to focus on subjects to show progress so that his people the Navy sent had failed.
he wasn’t interested in. Today, commander would approve his Dad didn’t do too well on the
he believes he would have been leave and allow him to go back to first test. However, he didn’t give
classified as ADHD. However, El Paso and marry my mom. 25 up. It was the hardest academic
while he lacked confidence, years, three military bases, one challenge he had ever faced, but
74 Lubbock Senior Link
