I just want to take a moment to be a little motto and share my story. I wouldnt call it a success, yet. I can, however, say that it has given me a lot of experience. First I want to go back to my senior year. Standing at a height of 58-ish and a plump 280 some odd pounds. I wasnt in Any kind of athletic shape, but I didnt care what anyone thought of me. I still remember sitting in English class arguing with Brandon Gerber, as to who was better, the marines or the navy. I also remember telling him that one day I was going to be a marine. That was the first time I thought of joining the military. But I was in no shape for it. Then my older brother, Cody King shipped off to boot camp on January 7. Around that same time in April the family toke a trip down to parris island to see him graduate. This was my first taste of parris island and being near drill instructors. I saw first hand how they carried themselves and the change that had taken place in my brother. I wanted that. To have more self confidence, and to walk with my head high and my back straight. So I spoke to my recruiter with my brother when we got home. He told me straight out. No. I was to fat. I had asked him a lot of questions about the hight/weight standards. And figured out where I needed to be. So after that I ran. 3.5 miles almost every day for 3 months straight. As a result I lost around 85-90 pounds. Then on October 15 2013 I shipped out to boot camp. I graduated 3 months later on January 10th 2014. I arrived at my next school, the school of infantry, weighing 194 pounds, and had had a lot of etna skin. I ended up being stuck at that base for 7 months. It was one of the roughest times of my life. I wild make new friends every 2 weeks, just to watch them move on through training while I stayed back. After an Mos change I made it to MCT through Gulf Co. I then took a plane to my new school. This just goes to show that not everything happens the way we want it to, but everything happens for a reason. Through my time stuck at SOI I saw many lead ship styles, some I hope to on day use myself, while others I know to avoid. Everything that has happened I will use to make myself a better marine. I was asked once in boot camp what my favorite leadership quality was, at the time I didnt really know, but now I know it is to know yourself and seek self improvement I am still learning new strengths and weaknesses about myself everyday, and since there is no such thing as perfect than there is always room for improvement. Lastly I just want to share these photos that I think best describes my progress, and shows that with the right mindset, anything is possible. Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, it may last an hour, it could even last for the next few days. But if you quit, you have to live with that forever.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 03:18:23 +0000
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