Obstacles and challenges in my life ? Per say i have many. But, i love challenges and obstacles. there have been some good and bad challenges, but there was one challenge that changed my point of view. In 9th grade, it was the first time i was introduced to ROTC also known as Leadership education. I was very excited to have the class, which i had in the second semester. But, once i was in the class it wasn't much of what i expected. There where days that were actual ROTC activities but the year, we slacked of alot!
At the end of 9th grade my sergeant told us about summer leadership school. It was a mini boot camp for high schoolers. I immediately signed up for it, not to mention i was the only person in my class of 25 to sign up. But, it seemed like something different to try so why not. The camp started the Saturday after school ended. I met up at school with my other SLS mates . It was only 4 including me cadets going to boot camp Only freshmen, 2 girls and 2 guys. Our sergeant drove us to fort Dix military base, which was about 2 ours away.
We arrived at the location at 12:00 pm. My stomach was in knots, it finally hit me! i was going to go through a week of suffering. We got out of sergeants car and grabbed our stuff, and all we see is a bunch of people heading toward us and start yelling. I got a little nervous and paranoid because people just started shouting and yelling in our faces. One of my friends got chewed out ( military word for getting yelled out) for wearing sandals, and i could not stand not to laugh. Which was not the best thing to do because i got in trouble, and i did not laugh nor smile for the rest of the time there. We got assigned to our flights and met different people! ( let me tell you, there were GORGEOUS GUYS, probably one reason why i stayed in all they way)
The first day there was very long, that day i was just paranoid and kept shaking. We had showers that where only 3 minutes! HORRIBLE! i hated it, and all that was going through my head was why did i get myself into this! I had very nice roommates, and thankfully my schoolmate. Everyday was a pain waking up at 4:50 am to go do PT (personal training) not to mention that they woke you up in a very harsh way. They yelled and u had 2 minutes to be out. Did i mention you couldn't even brush you're teeth? well yeah, you couldn't until after PT.PT consisted of 20 minutes of aerobic exercising and running 2.3 miles! not a good thing for a person who isn't fit. At 6 am we would go back to our rooms and quickly change do our thing and be down to eat breakfast. Even for breakfast we were rushed , which is something i do not like. Th only thing that would run to my mind s how many days there was left to go back home. I did not like it, it was very different and unusual to me. However, i knew i couldn't back down, i had to do it! It was a big goal for me , and i had to stay
Fourth day there, i was starting to kind of like it , not completely but it was okay.Things became more intense, we started to march outside in 95-100 degree weather in our camouflages. They made us stand in such heat, with our camos for 20-25 minutes without moving. Not to mention, some kids got dehydrated, etc. In my head i just wanted to go back home, , but i have gone through half of it, i wasn't going to quit now. We attended a obstacle course, which was pretty big. Let me tell you this was a very difficult challenge for me! I was not fit at all when i went, and i was going to have to jump over walls, have good balance , and also not be afraid of heights! Thanks to the motivation and help of my flight i passed the obstacle course! which was very very hard for me. If i had another chance to do it, i probably wouldn't Especially jumping over a high double wall, it was such a struggle for me! It was graduation day and we find out my flight won Honor Flight!I had a huge smile on my face with so much happiness and pride in our hard work. Until the lady told me to wipe the smile of my face. It was the day we had a parade to show all of our loved ones we made it . A 15 year old girl went to a mini military camp, not what most kids do for their summer, but surely what i accomplished. It was very hard what i had to go through at that age, but surely was it worth it. I made myself and my parents proud.I had so many chances to quit, and leave the camp, but i didn't i love a challenge , and i was going to accomplish this challenge. And i am very thankful to accomplish it because i can honestly say it made me a better person that i was.
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