Finished

Done. 68 days. 9 weeks. 2 hours on parade. Dress whites. 200 graduates. 50 out of 68 made it in my platoon.

Those first four weeks were the hardest times of my life. Waking up at 4:45 every day to go run when it's cold, dark, and pissing rain and then rush to breakfast to make the first timing, only to get yelled at and rewarded with push ups. Running up and down hills and watching my friends puke and faint. Getting yelled at for pretty much everything else. Doing laundry at night with 3 washers and dryers...with 60 other people in 3 hours. Shining boots till my hands wanted to fall off. Cleaning my rifle until my fingers would bleed...and then some more. Fighting my body to stay awake during lectures. Inhaling our meals to meet timings. Marching and doing drill in the hot sun with few water breaks. Doing fire picket for hours late into the night and only getting 2 hours of sleep. Going on the ranges pumped with coffee out of necessity. Learning to work with people.

But it's all over now. I would do it all over again if I had to. Probably the best experience of my life. I met some amazing people who will be life long friends. I've acquired new skills that can't be found anywhere else. I've learned more about myself.

Something one of our platoon-mates said. He didn't quite make it, but what he said did.
'Eat glass, shit victory.'

I've missed home quite a lot. It's nice to be back. I miss all my friends. I missed my family. Back to the routine. Things that will change: I'm going to do my own laundry. I'll clean up after myself. I'll wake up earlier. I'll fold my own clothes and take out the garbage. Oh, and I'll use bar soap.