Freshmen Orientation

Freshmen Orientation

Everyone was in their white Polo's and khaki pants. We were just separated into platoons and everyone was nervously looking around and wondering, trying to guess what was going to happen next. Then without warning a tornadoe was released in the building and all hell broke loose. Marines that look like they could crush a baseball in their bare hands came swooping down on the other freshmen and I. Panic broke loose, everyone was screaming to get outside and get in formation. After the sheep had been rounded up, the instructors called role. We were then marched over to the drill deck and were handed canteens. For two hours straight we were taught to march, everyone was terrible. The yelling did not let up for one second until it was time to break for lunch. After lunch we had to take tests on knowledge packets that we had been studying any free second we had. After drilling another two hours we had a meeting and found out that for the rest of the week we would be PTing at 5:30 in the morning. Finally the day was over. We only had a week more of this to get through then we would be Midshipmen and part of the Auburn ROTC program.

After a day of drilling and PTing was over, we could all go home. Charlie platoon however, was not finished. Every night we would get together and discuss the events of the day. We would laugh and joke about the funny things that happened to us through out the day. We would also help each other with our uniforms and practice drilling. In the long run this was a big help. Not only did we form a strong bond with each other we also were helping each other out.

At the end of the week we were all in our uniforms lined up for inspection. While standing there in line, I realized I had changed as a person. I now had more discipline. This made me feel like joining ROTC was the right thing for me. The major point during the week that I felt I had changed the most is when one night during the week, some of my fellow Charlie Company buddies and I went to Wal-mart. When I walked into Wal-mart I had a strange feeling come over me. It was the feeling of pride. I didn't feel full of myself or conceded but I did feel almost higher than the other shoppers around me. I knew that more than likely, none of them knew the correct way to stand at attention. Or that they couldn't march in a formation and have it look good. This made me feel like the endless marching practices we were having, actually meant something and was helping me out and getting me prepared. I also knew that they probably didn't know the extensive amounts of history there is behind the services and the sacrifices that have been made. Like Lt. Gen. "Chesty" Puller won two Medals of Honor, for his unselfish acts that saved the lives of many Marines. There are millions of other men that have died so that we can live in peace and have justice, order and freedom in our country. These are a few of the reasons why I am extremely proud that I will be serving with the most professional warriors, the US Marine Corps.

After the inspection the real test came. We were having a drill competition between the three platoons. This is what the reward was going to be after the long week of drilling. The drill went great. It felt extremely satisfying and was a little bit of a relief to know that we had completed everything and we were now done with freshmen orientation.. Even though we did not win the drill competition we walked away with something way better than a win, we had won the bond between our friendships.

Now that the week had come to an end it was time to party. The upperclassmen were throwing a big party for the freshmen. It was a chance finally to relax after