You Don't Know What I Did This Summer...

The summer of 2016 started off like any college student trying to graduate, in summer school. Being a cadet in ROTC takes up a few valuable hours in my schedule for classes I need toward my degree. I have pretty much been taking college courses since 2013 so whatever I have to do to get out of here in May 2017, I WILL DO! So I decided to take Spanish 101 and re-take a math class because I really hate math. I knew that the time for me to enjoy my freedom was whining down because I had to go to Advance Camp this summer. Previously called the Cadet Leadership Course, it is one if the final steps cadets looking to be commissioned into the Army have to take. This month long course test the leadership abilities of cadets from across the U.S. in Fort Knox, Kentucky. I left for the  Columbia airport on June 20th and got to my layover in Charlotte, NC around 5:15 PM where I contemplated how bad it would be if I purposely missed my flight. When I finally touched down in Louisville, I knew there was no escape and I would have to endure Cadet Land whether I liked it or not. 

Overall, I surprised myself a lot because there were plenty of times where I wanted to quit or just lay down on the ground and not get back up...ever. I ended up being spared and only left with a few tick and chigger bites, a small patch of poison ivy, and minor shin splints. I wish I could say the same for some of the other cadets, but their cases were much worse. We got to shoot live rounds out of an M-4 rifle, spent two weeks straight in the field, did a 6-mile ruck march, completed a confidence course, and so much more. I met a lot of great people, especially my squad members. Of course my absolute favorite person was my battle buddy for the entire month, Rachelle Dietzel. She is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University where she plans on commissioning as an Aviation Officer. Her family are natives from Trinidad, where she goes back and visits often. Aside from her being a cadet she is a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority, a dancer, and all around bad ass in her free time. 

Finally, on July 21, 2016, we made it to graduation day and I GOT TO GO HOME! I will be the first to say that Kentucky is cursed because as soon as we all made it to the airport almost every flight was delayed or cancelled. I made it out about 4 hours later, missed my connecting flight in Atlanta, GA by  30 minutes and did not get into Columbia, SC until 11 PM, but I was home so I didn't care. I spent the rest of my last few weeks of summer sleeping and staying away from anything that reminded me of school.