An example of how hard we worked to keep the floors shiny.

"Wake up! Hurry up! You're late, you're late, you're LATE!" 

I'm late already? I just woke up! So begins a typical day at Field training (FT). It lasted for four weeks, focusing on developing leadership skills for AFROTC cadets. We had so many different challenging activities crammed into one day that it felt much longer than four weeks. By the time it was over, we had all changed in some way. These changes ranged from having lost 30 lbs to being more confident individuals, and from knocking 5 minutes off their run time to learning how to be more assertive. Our individual growth was enhanced by our collective team development. We were assigned into small groups called flights, which consisted of 24 people. These 24 people were our family members, and the goal was for every flight to come together as a team. There was no such thing as privacy at FT. Every minute of every day was spent with our flights. 

A bugle call jolted us out of sleep between 4 and 4:30 before the sun even arose. We had less than 10 minutes to get out of bed, change into our uniforms, fill our canteens with water, grab our flashlights and run outside for reveille, our morning formation. This was the coolest time of the day, but sweat was always dripping down the sides of my face as I stood at attention while the flag was posted. It was as if a rain cloud had opened up above my head. As soon reveille was over we would march to the dining facility for breakfast. Our only mode of transportation was marching. Every flight was like a car and the driver was the cadet who called out the marching commands. It is not an easy task and we each had to learn how to drive as well as park correctly in front of the dining facility before we could go inside to eat. 

Marching in formation

In contrast to the long drawn-out Chinese meals I often had with family, my meals at FT were only 8 minutes long. During these 8 minutes, we were required to down 3 small glasses of water and consume a piece of fruit in addition to our meals. For someone who probably held the record for World's Slowest Eater, 8 minutes just didn't seem long enough for me. I nearly threw up my food as I forced myself to choke down breakfast on my first day at FT. Soon, I figured out how to eat faster by taking foods that didn't need to be cut, and getting mushy foods such as mashed potatoes and applesauce. By the second day, I was already a pro. 

After breakfast, we marched back to our open-bay dorms for dorm maintenance. We took this time to make our beds and straighten our belongings. Our bays were open rooms with two parallel rows of evenly spaced bunks. We were not allowed to walk through the center unless we were waxing the floors. We had to make sure everything looked sharp in case there was a surprise inspection. We utilized every spare minute to clean the bays - scrubbing and waxing the floors until they were gleaming, cleaned the bathrooms to rival any in a five-star hotel, and made our beds so tightly that a quarter would bounce right off. Our dorms looked very sharp by the end of the first week, but we continually challenged ourselves for improvement. 

Usually we had physical training (PT) session after dorm maintenance. Sometimes we did warrior runs as an entire encampment. We had 3 columns of 200 cadets, running in step snaking around the base for three miles. It was an awesome sight to behold and an exhilarating experience. When we weren't exercising, we were practicing how to march, listening to briefings about leadership or doing group problem-solving/leadership activities. Twice, we went to the obstacle course and jumped over logs, scaled walls and low-crawled in the sand. The movies made it look easier than it really was. 

We had dinner around 4 pm every day, after which we retired the flag at retreat, our evening formation, and then go to the fields to play either ultimate Frisbee or volleyball. We played with a set of rules unique to ROTC. Players who had fouls called on them were sent to the penalty box, leaving the rest of the team to adapt without them. Once in the penalty box, they were directed to do a variety of creative exercises, such as chasing jackrabbits. These rabbits are unlike any of the little bunnies that hop around in St. Louis; Texan rabbits are the size of small dogs and run as fast as greyhounds. We cooled down from team sports by doing motivational and "fun" exercise. Some flights did aerobics, but my flight was usually pushing the Texan ground (push-ups) for fun. 

At 45 minutes before bedtime, the first verse of the Air Force song came over the loudspeakers. Everyone would stop what they were doing, jump to attention and sing along. My flight was the only one to continue singing the remaining three verses. At first we did it to show off, because anyone else within hearing distance had to remain standing at attention. Later we did it simply to show our team spirit. We spent the last minutes before bedtime scribbling journal entries and letters. Some of us rushed off to take 2 minute showers or prepared our uniforms for the next morning. Right before we went to bed, there was a mandatory foot inspection for blisters. Then, to ensure we'd have to make our beds the following day, we pulled out our bed sheets before hopping in. Most nights we fell asleep the second our heads hit our pillows, sleeping peacefully for 7 hours before the start of the next day's round of activities.

Our tightly made beds