My Recruit Training Experience

It seemed to be the longest bus ride on which I had ever been. Every

passenger had the same terrified look on their face. Each one of us seemed

to be thinking the same thing. Asking ourselves, "Do we really want to go

where this bus was taking us?" We all knew the destination , and thought we

were ready to go there. Many of us had visited this place, or places like

it in our imaginations when we had played as kids. Was it a dream come

true, or nightmare?

The welcoming committee was outside in the rain, waiting on

us. When the bus stopped and the door opened, we were willingly received as

guests. Then, yelling started. The loud, intimidating voices ordered us the

hell off the bus, and to stand on the yellow footprints that was painted on

the ground. We were at our home away from home: the Marine Recruit Depot,

Parris Island, South Carolina.

The welcoming committee were lean and mean Marine Corps Drill

Instructors, and they did not waste any time breaking us in, they started

with no introduction. The yelling was intense, they never spoke

to us in a normal toned voice, and if you even acted as though you were

thinking wrong, they tortured you by making you do bodyweight exercises that

you never knew existed in civilized society.

For the first few days we were herded around like cattle. The Drill

Instructors controlled our every movement. Nothing was done without

permission, not even using the restroom. They told us when to go to bed

and when to get up. The time to get up was approximately "zero

dark thirty" which is military jargon for "too damn early." We marched or

ran everywhere went; and did constant push-ups, while they yelled.

After a few weeks went by, the yelling became normal to us. The

marching, exercise, and military customs and courtesies became a part of our

daily routine. Waking up when it was still dark outside was awful, but it

did get easier. All of us felt stronger physically and mentally. We