[Batgirl]

I'm two-thirds through my training and loving all aspects of both the practical field training exercises and academic studies. Command tasks, land navigation, marksmanship, tactics, small unit leadership are some of my favourites and unlike many of my fellow cadets, I also look forward to PT and drill! Least favourite is Administration and Media Relations but overall it's all good. The only real low point I experienced was during the first week of the physical training phase when we returned from an overnight exercise tired, hungry and wet, to find that the contents of my room had been dumped onto the parade square. Unknown to us at the time, it's a common practice that every cadet is subject to in some form during the first term and I happened to be the first in my platoon to experience it. The worst part was having this ferocious looking SNCO screaming in my face about my rubbish messing up his parade square and to move it out in 10. It was bucketing down with rain and everyone in the platoon grabbed what we could as we ran for the old college before copping anymore from the CSM. After squaring away my kit and room, I just sat there feeling very sorry for myself! That didn't last long though as I discovered I wasn't the only one feeling miserable and a little homesick during those initial adjustment weeks. Key lessons I've learned so far is that it's not about me and what I want and also how important the SNCOs are in order to succeed. All of the instructing staff here are of the highest quality but the instructor who's had the biggest influence on me to date is Colour Sergeant Banham. He embodies everything that's great about the British Army in my eyes and is a natural leader and teacher. He's hard on us but his methods yield results. When I think back to last May, we were 30 uncoordinated individuals in our platoon who didn't have a clue but he's turned us into Soldiers and I'll always be grateful to that man.