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8:16 P.M.
5th December, 2002
Auburn, Indiana
 
Tomorrow is the last day of school before Christmas break. And after that I’ve only got a few days in January to take some tests and I’ll officially be done with high school. I’ve got an A in English and a B in Earth Science so far. And even the “punishment” of having to help the janitors in the morning has turned out to be pretty awesome. They all like me, so they don’t make me do pointless stuff and have even given me a set of keys to the school in order to get around and finish some projects they needed done. I have explored just about every room in the entire school, including places that I don’t think anyone has set foot in for years. It is kind of funny how they ban me from school computers for getting in to something I am not supposed to be in, and yet I end up with keys to the entire school.

School ending for break also means that college is ending soon as well, and that turns in to no hours at work for me. I was scheduled for five hours for the entire week this upcoming week. I’m considering just not even going. It is a waste of gas for me to drive to work when I’m only going to be there for a couple hours a day. I had wanted to keep my job throughout the months that I’m not in school before I leave for basic training, but at this rate it is pretty pointless to even bother.
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Speaking of the Army, the DEP program has this list that you can complete before you leave and if you finish all of it you get promoted from an E-1 to an E-2. I am about half way done with all of it, most of which is just learning and reciting the basic Army knowledge that you have to know.  Stuff like learning the phonetic alphabet and learning all the ranks. I have been excited about leaving ever since the day I enlisted, so I have learned all of that stuff on my own and got signed off on them already. My recruiter has been helping me out with the other stuff, and I can tell that he helps his recruits that are going to be in the Infantry a lot more than the people who aren’t. He invites the few future Infantrymen out to lunches and we go over the different things that we have to learn, and he gives up tips and what to look out for while we are in basic training. I know that those recruiters are pretty friendly and helpful to people when they are trying to get them signed up, but it is pretty cool to have one who is still cool with us even after we swear in. The only parts I have left to do in order to get promoted is the PT test, the drill and ceremony stuff, and a few other minor things like learning how to read a map and hand signals. The PT test is going to be the hardest part for me. I can run pretty well, but my push-ups and sit ups still need a lot of work. I’m hoping I am at least able to do the minimum before I leave in June.

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