pte aidan khoo. haha
just had my passing out parade yesterday.
it marks the end of recruit life and we'll be posted to our respective vocations.
as some of you might already know, i've been posted to the physical training instructor(PTI) course.
it's a vocation that i wanted since the 3rd week so i'm quite happy about it.
though i have mixed feelings now.
one part of me can't wait to start of this course which will definately make me look and be fitter.
but at the same time, another part of me fears of what is to come.
i had a taste of it and i didn't really like it.
imagine doing 70+ knuckle push ups, 102 burpies, jumping jacks, lunges, etc.
though this is good for resistance and endurance training, it sure hit me that i might not be fit enough.
some of my friends just tell me i'll get used to it after some time, and i sure hope so. haha
just think about the prize at the end of this 9week course.
corporal rank, pti badge, life guard, physical instructor, pti allowances. haha
anyway, the course starts on monday so i guess i have to be physically and mentally prepared for it.

so looking back at the 7week recruit life, i must say it was quite fun.
though i needed some time to adjust, i did find my feet and had a good time.
going through the trainings and lessons did change me a little, learning to take shit more.
being more patient, enduring more etc.
friendships that were made during the 7weeks of course made time fly a little faster in that. haha
during those 7weeks, i used the free time i had to study a little bit.
its much more difficult than it appeared to be.
while your friends are chatting away, ironing uniforms and polishing your boots, i got to study for a paper that i'll be taking this june.
so it takes up a lot of discipline though i only study for an hour or so a day.
but i don't want to stop my studies just like that.
it'll be a waste of time and money if i do so.
so i'm gonna make full use of any time i have to study.

talking about studies, i got my results last week and i'm glad to say i passed another 3 papers.
so another 8more papers to go and i'll get my ACCA.
woohoo. haha
and seeing the schedule for the intensive revision classes just before the exams made me even more glad as i would have finished my PTI course by then thus most probably being able to make it for those classes.
so life is going quite well for me.
hope this run of good luck continues.

something changed in me.
not my character or anything.
but my attitude towards ns.
when i first entered ns, i just wanted to go through the 2yrs as slack as possible.
not saying i want it to be as tough or anything.
rather i want to do something that i can be proud of when i look back at my ns life.

during the 3rd week or so, something in me clicked.
i suddenly threw out the idea of wanting to be a driver.
and suddenly wanted to be a physical training instructor(PTI).
the more i look at them, the more i want to be like them.
so since i told them i was interested, i did everything i could to show them that i was serious about it.

we had an ippt trial run and i managed a sliver.
then we had the soc trial run and i managed to clock it under 9mins.
so hopefully during the actual test, i'm able to reproduce what i did during the trials or even better.

the past month was fun in a sense.
i guess i've gotten used to ns life.
or rather BRT stage.
because i heard that the PTI course(9weeks) would be hell.
but i still have the interest in that course.
there are a lot of incentives of becoming a PTI.
after i pass out from the course, i'll be given corporal rank, CPR cert, instructor cert, life guard, $100 allowance on top of the corporal rank pay and its mainly a 8am-5pm vocation.
during the soc trial run, the PTI OC had a small talk with me, telling me more about the course, asking more information about me etc.
so hopefully i'll get an interview with him soon.
but of course it'll on depend on how well i do during the actual ippt and soc tests.

weekends are less rushed now too.
because i've more or less gotten used to the lifestyle etc.
i don't sleep all that much during the weekends, so i get the chance to go out with friends and get to play squash too.
and because i'm interested in the PTI course, i spend some time during the weekends training too. haha.
call me crazy.

so anyway, its another 2-3weeks more till i pass out of the BRT stage.
and hopefully i'll get the PTI course.