What I learned from the Air Force

Yesterday marked the seventh anniversary of when I arrived in San Antonio, TX for the Air Force's Basic Military Training. (B.M.T.) Which means seven years ago today was my first full day at Basic. I don't remember anything about the first day, in fact all of the things I remember about BMT are a little out of order. (For example, I remember my T.I. falling into a giant flower pot while marching us, I just don't remember what week it was.) :)

Really though it doesn't matter because what I gained from the Air Force wasn't a skill, (What civilian employer wants someone who can build bombs and missiles?) but experience. I'll carry the things I did and saw in the Air Force with me the rest of my life. From doing a lot of things I didn't want to (and a few that I did) I learned time management, perseverance, and how to think clearly and quickly in stressful situations.

What I value most was what I learned about myself and the world around me. One of the most important things I learned was that I really am smart. I know this sounds slightly cocky but you have to understand that I grew up with friends who were/are incredibly smart. (One of them has their PhD in mathematics and another graduated from the I.U. Med school.) Because all my friends excelled in school I always felt less intelligent then I actually am. When I got interact with a larger part of the population I realized that I'm a lot smarter then I was giving myself credit for. I also learned more about the world at large though. By getting bounced around the U.S. for various parts of my training I got to see how different one part of the country is from another, not just geographical but in the way people think, act, and process the world around them. Of course the biggest learning experience for me was being stationed overseas. I learned how to assimilate to various cultures and got to see first hand how vastly different my American view on things was from a Korean or Italian view on the same thing. These are the things that Air Force gave me that will continue to aid me the rest of my life.

School daze

Now that I've got into a bit of a routine for school I'm hoping to be able to post on here a little more often. I'm going to have to drop my chemistry class because it was more coursework then I could haddle right now. Which leaves me with philosophy of religion, art history, and math. I'm enjoying all my classes for the most part, art history is pretty demanding as it has a lot of projects that have to be completed. (Right now I'm working on a collage of Van Gough's self portrait.) I doing a lot better in my math class then I expected which is encouraging and philosophy has been fairly easy so far. (Which is good because I'm planing on majoring in it.) Right now it looks like I'll be transferring to the University of North Texas in August to finish my degree as well as getting involved the church planter training that the Village church provides. Once the new G.I. Bill comes into effect it should cover all my school costs.

Right now I'm recovering from practicing MMA ground control tactics with some guys from church last night. It was fun but exhausting, and I'm paying the price for it today. :)

I have to grab some food now and then head off for art history, happy day! :)