This is one of my life's greatest events as I pass out from basic military training and will be officially called a soldier.
The past 8 weeks of training have not been easy but they've been fruitful. I've gained quite alot of muscle mass and I can feel my body becoming stronger as the days go by. I still recall struggling for my first 4km route march with only a rifle and dying at a 6km march with my field pack and rifle. But I just had a 16km route march just yesterday and I completed 8km without much difficulty along with a full field pack and my rifle.
Most importantly, I gained many new friends from all walks of life. Quoting Savior, words can't express this entire thing. I've heard people talking about the army life here and that it can be really tough at some point. I hear of people talking about their experiences about how they had to sleep in a puddle of water because it rained. The words pass by just like that. But the actual experience brought it to a whole new level. I remember digging a one feet deep, 6 feet long and 1 1/2 feet wide shellscrape for an entire day under the scorching sun.
I gather all these things, my experiences through thick and thin with my buddies and I look to next Wednesday, 11 March 2009 where this special ceremony will take place infront of my parents. I don't know what it will feel like then but I know that the effort put in for the past 8 weeks would be well worth it for the future.