Stripes

I'm trying to take advantage of what should be my last free weekend before I leave. (I have drill next weekend and my ASCI 601 final the next weekend and I should be leaving the Tuesday after that. I'm also helping with the women's self-defense seminar at the dojahng in a few hours today, too.) There's so much to get done on top of all my regular weekend chores. Setting up finances for while I'm gone is going to be my primary goal. The nice thing is that I don't have to pack anything up, just make sure things are neat and clean and paid for. Still not completely sure what I'm going to do with Teddie - one of my PCPA friends had said she would take him, but this is their off-week between the end of the summer season and the start of the fall, so she's been out of town. I'm going to try to talk to her this coming week. I would really really prefer someone stay at the apartment with him rather than having him go through the stress of moving back and forth, but it is what it is, I guess.

To answer what a lot of people have asked me - Yes. Of course I'm a little scared. It's Basic Training, not summer camp. I'm a loner and I'm going to be forced to live with 50 other girls and no privacy for two months straight. I get frustrated when I don't know everything going into a class (yeah yeah), and now I'll have people yelling at me on top of that. I'm going to be older than probably 97% of my training flight. I want to reflect well on all the training I've had so far, both the informal military training I've gotten just from working with the units on base and the physical training and mental discipline I've gotten from martial arts. I definitely want the 216th to know I was worth it and will be worth it.

However, on the flip side of that, I also know that thousands of people before me have survived BMT just fine. I'm in pretty good shape and I already know what it feels like to be pushed past my limits. I have an extremely flexible comfort zone, it's not my first time living away from friends and family (in fact, some aspects of that should be easier, like no cooking!), I'm smart, and despite realizing that everyone's experiences there are different, I have a pretty good idea of what to expect. And, frankly, having met a lot of people who have been through BMT...well, if they can do it, I know I can, too. I'm not looking forward to it, by any means. I know it will be hard, maybe the hardest two months of my life, but eyes on the prize.

I want to earn the rank I've been claiming since January. I want to earn my stripes.