6 Chapter 5 Ready for Change

Chapter 5 Ready for Change During his second year at UCLA, Jackie met Rachel Isum. Rachel was a nursing student. She knew all about Jackie Robinson. Every student did. He must be conceited, Rachel thought, the way he stands on the field with his hands on his hips. But as they got to know each other, Rachel discovered Jackie was almost shy.

The two had a lot in common. They both went to church. They didn't like parties or staying out late. Jackie had never felt comfortable talking about himself. With Rachel it was different. He could tell her anything.

Not long before graduation, he told her that he didn't think a diploma was going to help him find a good job. As for sports, no blacks played on professional football, baseball, or basketball teams. Jackie was eager to earn some money to help his mother. So he left UCLA and began coaching at a job training center. But the program soon ended. After that, Jackie played semipro football in Honolulu, Hawaii. But when the season ended, Jackie was out of work again. He missed his home. He missed Rachel. One week later, Jackie was on a ship heading from Honolulu back to California.

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On December 7, while playing cards, he noticed crew members painting the ship's portholes black. The captain called everyone on deck to explain: Dark glass made the ship harder to spot at night.

Japanese planes had just bombed a naval base near where Jackie had been playing football for months! It had been a surprise strike, and traveling was dangerous. At Pearl Harbor, twenty-one ships in the US fleet were sunk or damaged. A total of 2,403 people died. Now the United States joined forces with Great Britain and France. America was at war. Jackie made it home safely. And soon after that, he had a new job. Jackie Robinson was drafted into the US Army.