Autobiography My Name Is Asia Octavia Raheem.

Autobiography

My name is Asia Octavia Raheem. I have two daughters, Amanee and Amanda, ages fifteen years and thirteen years. I was born on October 10, 1971 in Monroe, Louisiana. When I was four years old, my family, which included three brothers and one sister, moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where I still live today, as well as the majority of my immediate family. Most of my friends are now are in the military, however my childhood friend, Denise Ruben still lives in Atlanta.

My parents and all thirteen of my uncles and aunts are college graduates. Growing up in a home that placed extreme value on education is the single factor that influenced my goals and life in general. It is difficult to debate the value of education amid more than a dozen college graduates. Whatever excuses or protests I expressed would be quickly met by a slew of cliche counters, strong reprimands, and plain common sense. In other words, there were no acceptable excuses. Education was revered throughout the entire family. It was considered a necessity. A college degree was viewed with the same expectation and appreciation as getting a driver's license, if an individual expected to get anywhere in life, he or she had to have one, period.

There was never any discussion concerning whether I would attend college and obtain at least a bachelor's degree. I will receive my associate degree in general studies in August 2005. My greatest difficulty has been trying to maintain a 3.5 GPA.

I have been in the United States Navy for eleven years, and am currently stationed at National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Maryland. My family and I lived in Yokosuka, Japan, where I was stationed for three years. One of my greatest accomplishments was getting promoted to pay grade of E-6. The "E" represents "enlisted," and the "1" represents the pay grade for that particular position. For example, most service personnel in E-1 through E-3 pay grades are generally on their initial assignment or are in training status. It is during the training status where individuals learn the core values and basic skills. This is followed by an advanced or specialized training phase that give recruits the necessary skills in a specific area of expertise, which is known as a rate.

I was raised a Muslim, however, I now am a practicing Christian. I am not quite certain why I converted to Christianity. Perhaps it was a way of displaying my independence from my family. However, I know that it was much deeper than mere rebellion. I think it began when I was living in Japan. Living in a foreign country often demands that people re-evaluate their own philosophies of life and culture. One is forced to adjust to unfamiliarity. You discover that you are actually more accepting of than you had realized. And during the course of this, one begins to sort through what they perceive as truths. I found myself surrounded more and more by Christians, not just in the military, but during my stay in Japan as well. Being born and raised in the South, I was quite familiar with Christianity. After all, it is difficult to throw a stone and not hit a church in the South. There seems to be some sort of church on every corner, whether Baptist, Church of Christ, Methodist, or Presbyterian. And there are as many Catholic churches in Louisiana as there are Protestant churches in Georgia. In fact, Christianity seems embedded in Southern culture. I found myself asking God for confirmation that I was on the right path. And I began to pray on a regular basis, however, my prayers were more personal. I was not reciting prayers. I was actually praying from my heart. And then one day, I surprised myself by ending my prayer, with "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." This rolled off my lips as if I had said it a million times, as if it was perfectly natural for me to end my prayer in this fashion. Soon after, I was reading the Book of John in the New Testament, and ran across, "I am the way and the only way to the Father." Well, that did it for me. I truly believed in my heart that this was God's message to me, His answer to my spiritual doubt. This was the path I was intended to take. My basic philosophy is to treat people the way I want to be treated. And I believe that if you do right by God, all of your prayers will be answered.