Opening Doors

Chapter 6-Basic Training- Reception

Nizza POV
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So the last few days before I left I threw a party for Mac and Tambo at the church basement and we had Spookley on the projector and all the kids from their class were making cookies and pumpkins and taking them home. Felt it was the best way to go about it since I will be gone for their birthdays this year. For Toni and Mac. LuLu I could do when I got home for a Christmas Exodus.

So I was ready for my flight, I bought all the items on the list my sergeant gave me and we I was all packed up and ready to go. This was like my first time on a plane. I even got a plane pin for it being like my "first" time on the plane. And I got to sit in the back by the hostess and right by the window. She was a very nice African American women with glasses who made my flight less scary.

It landed in NC and I still had another 20 minute flight to SC. When it landed I found another person who was there for the same thing I was, and we were out looking for food before we left, except we made it all the way to the USO and they seemed to know and we couldn't go back now, so we ate sandwiches they had for us and waited for our buss to basic. I watched so many videos to prepare what basic was going to be like there. The drill sergeant to load us on the bus came. She was an Asian drill sergeant and I stood up at ease until she instructed us to go. She told us to load, and I got on right away. I sat up front with the girl I just met. And we were right behind the bus driver. I sat there preparing myself for the shark attack mentally... I could do this...

She told us to get off quickly off the bus, girls on one side boys on the other... then we were told to go in and brought to a room where were to empty all our things out of our bags and do it fast, throw out weapon type items or spray type substances. I only brought two pairs of clothes and the stuff on list we needed so I knew I'd be fine.

Just nervous, just need to turn off my brain and just do as I'm told... that's all... ok I can do this... they brought us back to the alpha company at the reception area, they had us fill out paperwork and then March back to the battalion. And that's when they have us a blanket, a pillow and a sheet. We were supposed to make our beds with hospital corners for the sheets and the blankets, except we didn't know how to do those. I met people of similar minds to me, but the thing was their fault as extreme drama in our barracks. There was this one girl who could not go a day without starting drama and the two platoon we had for the girls fought... constantly, thinking one was better than the other. Come to find, it was all for nothing. We were brought to get out uniforms (because you can't bring the uniforms given to you at RSP and not everyone had them because at Basic they have all the national guard, reserves and active going through the same training together.)

Day 1 at reception we were woken up at 0300 and that actually gave us a few hours to sleep, too. We got out there and stood in formation waiting for instructions on what to do next. We were given MREs to eat for breakfast and then headed to registration area to get our CaT cards and our pay figured out. Then we went to eat and then got our main uniforms. There was a dead cockroach on the floor, that grossed me out and triggered my paranoia a bit... I felt a little off after breakfast because of my allergies. That night we had MOT thing and after my reaction with breakfast I told them about my allergies and that next morning I was sent to the hospital part to be tested for allergies and was also the day we had to go through something similar to MEPs stuff. It was funny because when they showed the sample of how to write your birthdate the exact date, including the year, was my EXACT birthday! Actually MOT was after the hospital day, my bad... time there kind of merged together lol. But they had us get our eyes tested for military prescription glasses and they were shocked because my glasses looked like military glasses (all thanks to Moon, right there...) so I still told them and got tested for it. Now, we would go to the DFAC for food for chow for supper time and breakfast (after the first day) and MREs for lunch. When we got all our things we were often put in presentations for things like SHARP which is the military's version of sexual harassment stuff. (I had to sit through that shit twice... because of the MOT shit...) We got our shots and omg let me tell you about Drill sergeant Hotel!! Because the next sets of platoons that took over were in love with dude and I liked him too but this shit was hilarious because before those platoons came this is what happened...