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1月7日 On the Battle of WillsIn AIT - the training after Basic - our instructor was a real ball-buster. She demanded the best of us, and we learned to be the best through endless pushups in the classroom. We respected her dearly, and beneath the hardnosed attitude, she was genuinely looking out for us.
Every block of instruction was followed by a test, with 70% being the passing grade. Half-way into training, I was sitting pretty at a 97% average, a full 7% ahead of the next closest soldier, and well on my way to completing AIT with Distinguished Honor Graduate accolades.
But that wasn't good enough for the ball-buster. While she gave us a full three-hours for the tests, I would turn mine in after a mere 20-minutes. It drove her nuts. A half-dozen times she lectured me that "If you would take your freakin' time, you'd ace every test." Instead, I preferred to take my 97% scores, and go outside to the break area, awaiting the rest of my classmates to finish the test and join me in the break area.
Near the end of the course, I made a significant error on a test, and score a miserable 87%. She called me into her office, and 100 pushups later, she felt she had made her point.
Suffice it to say, I was pissed. It wasn't the pushups, it was the principle. 87% would have been a good score for any other soldier, and I resented the higher standard she was holding me too.
So on one of our final tests a few days later, I finished the test in 20-minutes. We were allotted 3 hours, but it was a simple one. After finishing, I turned my test face-down and sat quietly, not turning in my test and going to the break area. Within another 20-minutes, with over 2 hours of time remaining, the rest of the class had finished and were sitting outside in the break area.
I remained, staring at the backside of my test, sitting rigid. As the 1-hour mark approached, she strolled past me a few times. I was well within my right, and she knew it.
An hour and a half, and I was singing country songs in my head, listening to the ticking of the clock. She had resigned from pacing the aisles. It was an empty classroom. Just me and her, and she knew I was being a little bastard.
Fuck her. If she wanted me to take my time on the test, I'd take my full fucking time.
As two hours approached, the school's commandant entered the room, exchanged some words with the instructor that were too soft for me to make out, and strolled behind me a few times. I remained stiff and rigid, staring at the blank backside of my test.
Two hours and fifteen minutes after the test began, I was running out of country tunes to sing in my mind. But I had committed to the endeavor, and I wouldn't break. I would make my point.
Afterall, my comrades were able to enjoy an extended break outside, joking and relaxing, and not doing pushups yet for the points they no doubt missed on the test.
Two and a half hours, and the commandant was pacing behind me with a ruler. I was reminded of my days at a Catholic school, half-expecting to get a swift smack for my resolve.
I was beyond singing country tunes, and into the theme song for every childhood cartoon I could recall. Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Duck Tales. The Smurfs. Inspector Gadget...
The commandant was having low words with the instructor again, and I could only imagine what they were discussing. Maybe they'd send me to see the shrink.
The final half hour passed slowly, but it was worth it.
As I rose with my test at 2:59:00 into the test, I approached her desk at the front of the room and turn it in. "You're a proud, stubborn shit, aren't you?"
Giving the school greeting, I grinned as I replied, "Army Pride, Sergeant [censored]".
"Tell the rest of the class to come back in. You better have aced this one."
It turned out I missed two points on the test, but the instructor didn't get on my ass. In fact, for the final few tests, she didn't dog on me whatsoever.
Several months later, I ran into another instructor from the AIT school. He laughed when he saw me, and shook my hand. "I don't know how you had the patience to sit there for two and a half hours."
It was easy. It was a battle of wills, me against her, and I won. 评论 (4)
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