day 8: a place you've traveled to

Sorry for slacking on the challenge...I have a bunch of days started in drafts, but it takes a lot of inspiration and motivation to finish them!! Without any further interruptions, here is Day 8...


On July 16th, 2002, at the age of 18, I left home and flew on a plane all by myself to Lackland AFB to start basic training!! It was one of the scariest days of my life!!
I arrived in Texas at night and it was still about 80 degrees, (Texas is so gross and the heat is half the problem!) I had to wait in a holding area at the airport with a handful of other "trainees" until a bus picked us up to take us to the base. It was a very quiet wait! Everyone was so nervous! When we got to base there was a lot of paperwork and a lot of "hurry up and wait" Then they assigned us to our "flight" and back on the buses we went to get to our squadron. As soon as we arrived at our new "home" for the next 6 1/2 weeks the Training Instructors (TI's) met us and started yelling! They never scared me, I did what they said and tried to stay off radar. In fact I still remember in the second week of training when my T.I, Ssgt Horton, called me out by name and I was like "how in the world did he know who I was!?" Another time a TI tried to get up in my face and make me lose my "military bearing," when he saw I wasn't going to budge he left me alone and no one really bothered me after that.
It was a very interesting time. No one from my family really believed that I had it in me to complete training. But I freakin did and I was awesome. When it came for the physical fitness test, which I was most worried about, I rocked it! I can't remember how many sit-ups or push-ups I did but I passed and then I ran 2 miles in 17 minutes, I think the girls had to be under 20 minutes, I apparently I was a bit of an over-achiever, because I beat the boys time of 18 minutes! And that was only after 3 weeks of training! When I first got to basic training, it took me over 24 minutes to run two miles and there was a lot of huffing and puffing involved! I had never been prouder of myself! Basic training did wonders for my self-confidence issues! And I had a smoking hot body to prove it!
I had a very strict TI. Which was perfect for me, If I was going through basic training I didn't want to be babied. I wanted the real experience. Some of my friends in tech school told me about their TI letting them call home all the time and let them have dessert at the chow hall. In my flight, you had to earn a call home and dessert was never an option! We couldn't write letters home or read our mail unless we got everything done, which usually we didn't. It made me very homesick, but also limited distractions and kept my head in the game.
There was a lot of classes to attend and a major test at the of training, I got the highest score in my flight...see I was just awesome!
Sometimes I miss the military. It has played such a gigantic role in my life! My adult life started the day I arrived in San Antonio. I would not be who I am today had I not believed in myself and made the decision completely on my own to go to basic training.
Thurman is convinced I should have stayed in and he should be the stay at home dad! I liked the discipline I learned in basic training, I still fold my towels and underwear exactly how I was taught...I don't make it "flush though ;) I like my house neat and orderly and goodness gracious I try my damnedest to be on time!! Nothing annoys me more than being late (but ever since I moved home I am CONSTANTLY LATE with everything!! UGH!)
The reason I chose to separate was because in my actual job there wasn't a lot of discipline. It seemed everything I learned in basic training didn't really apply to the "real" Air Force. Some people just didn't care and no one in my chain of command really cared to make them. I hated the politics of it all. So I made the decision to separate, but I will never regret my time and I am honored to have served!