Processing....

[Sir_Krahn]

Well I finally went and got processed. We left for Lansing, MI on Thursday May 31st and went to a hotel near MEPS to stay the night. There were around fifty other kids like me waiting to get into processing the next day. There were more for the Marine Corps than any other branch. I instantly made friends with two other guys that were coming for the Marine Corps just like me. Me and the one named Brett Swainston both were in wrestling so it was pretty easy to relate to him. then the other one was named Grant Sanders and he had to lose 10 pounds before we went to MEPS the next day. So Brett, a PFC, and I all worked that kid hard core untill about 11 at night. Then we snuck out of our rooms at 3 in the morning to help him lose more weight, just hours before we had to show up at MEPS. Overall we had him cut 11 pounds. At 5:30 am we loaded up on the shuttle and went to MEPS. I got there at 6am and didn't get to leave untill about 4:30 pm. It was nuts, half the time I didn't know where I was, I felt like a cow or something just being herded around with the rest of the group. It's a good thing my recruiter told me about saying no to everything ,these people have a way of making you so afraid you just want to say everything about yourself just to keep them happy. But I made it through the day alright and I was able to sign my contract to join the Marine Reserves as a rifleman and I also was sworn in. It was a really good experience for me. I even managed to keep in touch with Brett and Grant and the recruiters even signed us all up to ship out on the same date, 06/11/2008. They even told us to stand directly in front of or behind each other in the yellow footprints so that we could be put in the same platoon. That was a real life saver because now we won't feel so alone. So now I am an official Poolee in the DEP and my recruiter is looking around to help get me that NROTC scholarship and even if I don't get it or into the Naval Academy at least he is going to help me to get ready for boot camp after high school. I even got the awesome red Marines shirt after I was sworn in. Check out my page on this thing if you want to see it.