11B

I had heard all about it, learnt all about it. Now I have experienced it for myself. 3 weeks into National Service and life suddenly seems so different. Everyone goes through the same emotional roller coaster but its fun if your friend is sitting beside you; or should I say, you learn to make the guy sitting beside you your friend. It’s amazing to see that the same person who did absolutely nothing for one whole month could learn how to strip and assemble an M-16 (yup it’s a real gun), fire it, shout out commands in a language he never learnt and execute them as if he learnt them before he learnt how to walk. Wash his own clothes, bath with more than one person in the cubicle, change attire 5 times a day and eat the same food 7 days a week. Jump over walls (or at least try to), do balancing acts, climb ropes and do some ninja turtle once in a while. This is just the start of a long, hard but fulfilling road. You want to take it one at a time but it is difficult not to think about how different a person you would be the same time, exactly two years from now. I have exchanged my Identity Card for my 11B (SAF ID Card), freedom for discipline,civilian life for army duties, 2 years of my time for a lifetime worth of experiences.

"The ripest peach is highest on the tree"