Something Gained Something Lost

Paine Field
Cessna 152
January 24, 2012 1.2 hours
February 13, 2012 0.7 hours
March 7, 2012 1.1 hours
March 28, 2012 1.1 hours

(Moses Lake, Washington)
The last two months have gone by in the blink of an eye. Can you believe its April already?! A lot has happened since then. Perhaps the most important of which has been that I have officially finished my two year degree. I have from now until the end of August to relax and enjoy my break. I usually don’t take summers off from classes, so it’s been a good two years since I’ve had more than a few weeks off. As of right now, the countdown has begun for leaving for Embry-Riddle. It’s been decided that I will be traveling down there by car. From Seattle Washington to Daytona Beach Florida, such a long drive! Why must I drive? Well, I’ll be living down there, most likely in an apartment. Therefore, I’ll be taking all my things with me, I’ll really be leaving home- for a long time. Sure, I’ll be visiting for Christmas and such, but it won’t ever be home to me as it is right now.


(Spokane, Washington: OCS Prep) You can’t always expect everything in life to happen as planned though. I wasn’t able to sign my contract with the Marines because I still hadn’t made weight. It wont be gaining fat that will help me hold the weight (with all the running I do) so it’ll have to be muscles that I gain. I guess that’s disappointing, but overall I think it’s the right thing because honestly OCS Prep kicked my ass. I realized then and there that I wasn’t strong enough; it made me realize why they wanted me to weigh more. I’ll need that extra weight for all the training I’ll be put though. This doesn’t mean that I give up, I still plan to “try out” so to speak. After I complete my 4-year degree I’ll shoot for it again. Once again aiming for something out of my reach. Will I ever be able to call myself a Marine? Or will I forever see nothing more than a candidate in the mirror? I suppose only time will tell. And when it comes down to it, do I have to be a Marine? No. I could settle for another branch. What’s most important to me is having a flying career in the military. I guess it doesn’t matter what branch. Though if I had my choice, if I could gain the weight, if I could get strong enough, and if I could make it through the training, then I’d want to be a Marine.

I also finally got in my second supervised solo, so I’m happy to say I’m officially able to move on with my training! In fact this last time we went up I finally got worn out- which to me means I received a damn good lesson. We did a lot of hood time, and even some VOR. I had tried to understand VOR’s before, but couldn’t quite get it to click. Once I sat down in the plane and actually practiced it- it made much more sense. VOR’s aren’t that bad, they’re even kind of fun.

Total amount invested thus far: $7953.50