Going for the Gold

So while I was in Germany this past quarter of school, I finally read Divergent by Veronica Roth. The main character Tris, has to undergo a serious initiation process to get into her societal faction: the Dauntless. This process testes a person's endurance, their physical aptitude, and their psychological strength. Throughout the entire book, I soaked up every detail. Not because it was so good (it actually was a good read) but because it reminded me exactly of the military. The thing is that I decided to join the United States Air Force around the same time. So I used this remarkable book as a sneak-peek of how this upcoming summer will be for me during boot camp. For example, toward the beginning of the book, Tris’ initiation friend Christina, was forced to hold onto the side of the railing for two terrifying minutes while an enormous waterfall was stumbling on top of her. Can you imagine the fear? Or the mustered strength that Christina had to face? Physically and psychologically, Christina told herself to hold on tight otherwise her life would come to a tragic end. Another event in the book includes Tris’ very first test to be a Dauntless: jumping off the roof to who knows where. Tris purposely volunteered to be the first initiate to prove her worth. After gathering up her nerves and racing to leap off of that skyscraper building, Tris was deemed as the most courageous of that group.  I need to be labeled that way too because Tris and I are both such tiny people compared to most of the troops. This is how it is going to be for me for a long six weeks: torture of my muscles and of my mental state; late nights and early mornings of instructors screaming in my face for no good reason; pointless workouts that are structured to make me quit. Who would want that? Apparently Tris, Christina, the other initiations, and I all do. The fact is at the end of the day, when there is finally a moment of peace, you realize how much stronger you are and you’re just proud of yourself. You do it; you’re still in the running to be a soldier for something that you believe in. It’s only a few weeks of strenuous endurance and then it is all over for a lifetime. Tris and I both must experience something difficult before we are able to obtain the grand treat. And the best feeling in the world is acknowledging the fact that you worked hard to earn your precious spot. Either in the Dauntless faction or in the USAF.