EARLY STRUGGLES:  PART III

Going into tech school, I feared the unknown.  What was it going to be like?  How would the hours be?  What would my day be like?  Could I go home?

Right off the bat, the first day we were already told the first 6 weeks (EMT) were going to be challenging.  Learning so much EMT stuff in a crunched amount of time and then later 9 Weeks of nursing.  I must admit I was scared.  But after the first few days you kinda got used to it.  It was kind of like college but I was limited on time and everything I did throughout the day was on a schedule.  Pt in the morning on this nasty dirt field.  Legitimately it was supposed to be a football field with grass but its San Antonio, not much grass grows...  Not to mention PT was a joke.  We would do these random exercises and then run.... More exercises then run.  I understood we had to stay in shape but I was 5,10 and 145lbs.  I was good.  Other airmen... Not so much.  They needed to lay off the McD's and BK.  After pt we then class.  2 hours for lunch.  Most of which I napped.  Then more class.  Fort Sam was an interesting place but I liked how close it was to San Antonio and that you could see the skyline from the base track.  It was a beautiful sight to see at sunset.

Tech school was a challenge but thankfully I had 2 amazing instructors that were passionate and liked to teach and wanted us to succeed.  There were others who had different instructors that weren't so great.  Both of my instructors had a lot of background and experience and thankfully had stories to tie into the lessons that we learned on a daily basis.  That was the greatest gainer for me.  Tieing in real-life to what were talking about.  It gave me a great visual.  The first few tests I did fairly well in the high 80s/low 90s but after that I managed to get low 80s.  I was proud of myself.  When we first started we had maybe 30-35 people in our class and by the end we were down to 20.  It was amazing to see but sad because they were all such good people.  They tried, but just didn't make it.  On the weekends we had a 3am curfew for Friday and Saturday nights.  Most people went out and partied while I stayed back and studied or watched movies on my laptop.. yes this was before netflix was popular.  So we had to buy DVDs and play them.  It wasn't until after I passed registry the 2nd time that I went out and about in San Antonio.

Since I failed the first time and passed the second time.  I was separated from the people in my original class and placed in another one.  Granted most of the people in my class were great, there were also a bunch of assholes that didn't miss a moment to show that they didn't like me at all.  But luckily I had made a few good friends outside of my classes. Yazmin and Trevor.  Probably the greatest people in the schoolhouse aside from me haha.  I met them by ease-dropping and kinda budding in their conversation but I don't regret it.  Every Friday we would all go downtown to the riverwalk or Olive Garden or other places around the city.  It was a great time.  Going to Bonhams and dancing the night away. Tipping the male strippers.  Dancing in the main hall.  It was definitely the highlight of my tech school days hanging out with them.  But they graduated about a month before me and left.  It was sad but Trevor came back when I was going through clinicals.

After they left life became a little rough.  Granted I got to go home for my sister's wedding and surprised everyone but some of my classmates were just rude and obnoxious.  They would say some things to me and granted I took it and brushed it off but it just seemed some of the instructors were on their side more than mine.  Some of us had our suspicions as to why but I won't discuss that right now.  Some people are still in the Air Force and I'd rather not open a can of worms.  The people in my class would interrupt me while I was asking questions.  Make snark remarks or had a few code names for me that I eventually caught on to.  Or my favorite is when we had to go everywhere in our SMUs (small marching unit) and they kept saying that they didn't want me behind them because they were afraid.  Finally I had just had it and said "fuck you douchebags" and walked on.  I don't think they saw that coming.  All 3 of their mouths had dropped and I marched alone.  At that point I became an asshole and became petty towards them to make it even.

Eventually time went by and I graduated tech school  Returning to Security Hill at Lackland where I would continue my career progression.  The dorms weren't that great and neither was the chow hall...  But the view from the park at the peak of the hill was amazing.  You could see the whole airfield and San Antonio skyline. I sometimes would wake up in the middle of the night and sit on the swings and look out at the city and wonder where I would end up.  Is this what I wanted to do...  It was a lonely time for me.  All of my friends that were at Lackland for tech school had left.  My friends from Fort Sam went on...   It was just me on the swing looking out into the horizon listening to my iPod and texting whoever was up at that ungodly hour.  A few responses would make me smile, while the sleepers would make me frown but there wasn't much I could do.  Although I was lonely, I felt most of my problems were starting to dwindle.  No longer around negative people.  No longer around the Nursing instructors that I had who were very biased about my ordeal with the negative.  It was an uplifting feeling but I would only learn that just because you feel like its over... Doesn't mean that it really is.  BAMC... now SAMMC was another wall to climb.  Another step.  Another triumph.  Another day in the Air Force...