The Army sent me to a 3 week survival course in the Alabama jungle. Things happened out there that have made me a different person...I caught and ate a wild snake. Unfortunately most of the training is classified but if you're curious, google SERE and you can pretty much figure out what kind of stuff went on.
I have been hyping this course up in my mind for the last 4 years and now that's it's over, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'm not saying that I want to do it again, but I did learn some seriously badass stuff that makes it all worthwhile. You also get the chance to learn more about yourself. People always think they're going to act like a hero when danger comes along, but until you've experienced it, you don't really know how you'll react. It's exciting to be tested and see what you really choose to do.
Let me just recap what I can from my experience: Spiders everywhere and especially on my face as I walked through their webs in the pure darkness, snakes everywhere (one guy got bit by 2 rattlesnakes in the throws of passion and went to the hospital for 3 weeks), a degree of body odor I didn't know I could achieve, sandy drinking water, losing 8 pounds, immersion foot, entire body covered in either bug bites or other various rashes, and urine.
Fortunately that was the last big obstacle between me and flying. I start flight school on Tuesday and am so excited to be stressed out for the next 4 months. It's a little overwhelming right now, but like all challenges that I face in life, I remind myself of all the idiots that have done it before me. I need to find new coping techniques.
I have been hyping this course up in my mind for the last 4 years and now that's it's over, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'm not saying that I want to do it again, but I did learn some seriously badass stuff that makes it all worthwhile. You also get the chance to learn more about yourself. People always think they're going to act like a hero when danger comes along, but until you've experienced it, you don't really know how you'll react. It's exciting to be tested and see what you really choose to do.
Let me just recap what I can from my experience: Spiders everywhere and especially on my face as I walked through their webs in the pure darkness, snakes everywhere (one guy got bit by 2 rattlesnakes in the throws of passion and went to the hospital for 3 weeks), a degree of body odor I didn't know I could achieve, sandy drinking water, losing 8 pounds, immersion foot, entire body covered in either bug bites or other various rashes, and urine.
Fortunately that was the last big obstacle between me and flying. I start flight school on Tuesday and am so excited to be stressed out for the next 4 months. It's a little overwhelming right now, but like all challenges that I face in life, I remind myself of all the idiots that have done it before me. I need to find new coping techniques.
