Growing up, I have always held on to this childhood dream of being a Victoria’s Secret supermodel.

Walking down the catwalk, with sky-high shoes and glamour down the ramp, has always been a part of my heart.

Though I was somehow the more athletic kid since gradeschool, my life was a cocktail of my dad’s military dreams, my grandma’s dream of me to go to Law School, and my own personal aspiration to join the world of the ramp.

In college, I decided to somehow give my dad’s dream a shot. So i took the Philippine Military Academy Entrance Exam- which I passed, and decided to continue what I started by moving on to the second phase of the screening process: The Complete Physical, Neuro-Psychological, and Medical Examination.

I flew to V.Luna Quezon for a week-long stay and honestly, I expected for the worst of the worst to happen :|

So basically, first day of the one-week journey was TOUGH. like REAAAAAALLY TOUGH.

so here goes the week:

DAY 1: The Hi’s and Hello’s.

hello. do I look like I belong to the military? errrr. lol no

 first day was a disaster for me. mainly because of three things: 1. I suck at Filipino, therefore I found it hard to converse with others (well, except for the females of my batch who were Hiligaynon -speaking :D) ,2. I spoke to everybody in English just so I wont embarrass myself by trying hard to speak in Filipino, and 3. I was basically the MOST MAARTE, therefore they called me MISS LASALLE and CHEERLEADER :|

So basically, it aint cool the be the maarte kid. Well, I had a hard time trynna adjust at first- like cleaning up the room, making the bed and stuff like that. Honestly, Im not used to doing chores around the house :| but somehow, I appreciated the experience since I can now make my own beds in the morning :)

Also, I found it awkward during mealtime to eat like a robot- well, not exactly like one, but you get the picture.

And oh! Day 1= the day we start filling out a bunch of forms that made my pretty penmanship look like a retard wrote on my forms :|

I remember us sleeping at around 1am already- can you blame us for the chikka and the Boodle sessions? (*BOODLES- a term form snackage or food that isnt included in the daily food rations. a PMA cadet’s term)

DAY 2- The NP Battery

shit brix examinations :|

So day 2 started pretty early at around 5am. We had breakfast and by 6, we were sent to a testing center to take our Neuro-Psychological Exam- which was an 8-hour long battery of tests.

and by the way, while we were waiting for the exam to start, they had me sing a song :| UGH :| TOTAL HUMILIATION ON MY PART :| goodbye dignity :(

so lets cut this story short: I, i mean WE, GOT MINDFUCKED :| imagine around 300 items per 30-50mins, for 8hours straight? trust me, you dont wanna know how that  felt like. :|

After the exam, we went back to our barracks where we were already set to welcome our new friends- the people of the Sunday Group or the Batch 16 ( since we were the Saturday Group :) ).

During that night, we had our Director’s time for the first time- it was a session for us to be able to sit down and have a little pep talk with the Academy’s director. the activity gave us a venue to raise questions, and somehow learn insights about the future cadet life in the academy.

Unfortunately, tired and dozing from all the battery at the NP tests we had, we were sent to bed later than the Sunday group since we were told to finish our forms before we went to bed. So hello Dozing Pandas! I remember falling asleep on my seat. :D hahahaha

I dont remember pretty much after we were told to go back to our rooms by 12mn (maybe due to the High Sleep Demand that my body was implying on me), so lets go to the oh-oh-oh-MONDAY :)

DAY 3: Medical Monday

Day three was the start of our Medical Examinations (for the Saturday group), and the NP test day for the Sunday group.

and our first stop was the Opthalmologists’ station. Where they had us do a series of eye exams-( random thought: ME LIKEY THE COLOR BLIND TEST. THOSE PRETTY COLOOOOOORS :D ) 

Then, the ECG and the dental station. 9ugh. the bad ring of ECG in my mind. asdfghjklasdfghjklsdfghjk :| )

and  blah-blah-blah. nothing much interesting for that monday. :|

oh, except for the daily calls since Friday night from CN-10-330 ;) hahahahaha. OHOOOOY HOTTIE <3 :D

we called it a night by 11 since we had to prepare ourselves for the Physical Fitness test the following tuesday.

DAY 4: Run Like the Wind bullseye :D

I RAN LIKE A LITTLE CHEERLEADING BITCH. SDFGHJKLASDFGHJK :| they all ran like bionic chicks :|

Day started at 4am sharp. ( which was such a dreaaaaaaaaad. imagine taking a frickin’ cold shower in antartica at 3am? :| not such a thrilling idea isn;t it? :| )

So we had a series of Physical tests like push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, flexed arm hangs, and other thingamajiggers.

but the main event was the 2-mile run, time limit? boys: 18mins. girls: 21.

Since i ran like a cheerleader, i got 24 :| asdfghjklsdfghjkl. oh hello retake.

then after the PFT, we went back to business with the medical stations :)

And this was also the day when we had our OB Exam. hahahahhaa. asdfghjklasdfghklasdfghjkl :|

unfortunately, some of our batchmates were sent home due to undesirable findings in their Medical record. most of them were diagnosed as Color-blind.

that part was really heart-breaking :( it sucks to see them leave while we stay and continue the rest of the CPE. Its like we all entered the doors with the same aspirations, and its heart-breaking to watch them leave before we were even done :( anyhow, they will forever be our BOKS no matter what.

That was also the same day when the Acad and tactics interviews started. an oh, surprise surprise, we finished at around 3am :|

again, let’s cut the long story short, we called it a night by around 3:30am. and Wednesday shall be LABORATORY DAY :| FCK CBC TESTS :(

Day 5: BLOODY WEDNESDAY :|

YES, WEDNESDAY WAS BLOODY AS WE WOKE UP AT 3:30AM AND WENT STRAIGHT TO THE LAB TO GET OUR BLOOD SAMPLES TAKEN. NUFF SAID :| I THREW A CRYING FIT THERE. (caps lock tlga for emphasis :D haha)

The test left an awfully bad bruise on my right arm. ugh :(

and the rest of the interviews continued and the boodle fests, and the chikka :)

DAY 6: FAVORITE THURSDAY :)

the day didnt have any better highlight than the Frollics Night (and the Boys’ S2 :D hahahahahahaha)

so the whole group practically spent the day and night enjoying our 2nd to the last day in the barracks, and we had a little presentation before we called it a night.

Who would ever forget the MAARTENG MISS LASALLE NA CHEERLEADER? well duh, I had to do stunts and some cheerleading bendy2x tricks just for the show. yea, that was somehow embarrassing :/ WALANG HIYA AKO NUN. hahahha

And of course, who would also forget the skits that the Sunday Group prepared? the most epic part? THE S2 SCENE :D hahahahaha. (guys, you better google this. I wont risk spoiling this post by spilling it here :D)

And well, the unforgettable part of the show: The search for the Mr. Batch DOUGIE :D hahahaha . we Discovered two of our batch’s main men: Boy Banat and Kalbo :D hahaha

The night ended well and everybody enjoyed and had a good laugh. thetime passed, but the memories remain :)

DAY 7: LAST DAY FRIDAY

I woke up earlier than the rest during that day since I was one of those who had to retake the 2 mile run.

and during the crucial PFT test, I was somehow thankful that the batchmate I dread the most was somehow instrumental in helping me pass the run. imagine being threatened that if ever I’d stop running before I was done, I would have to date him and worse, MARRY HIM :|

needless to say that NEGATIVE MOTIVATION somehow helped me win the race to finishing before the time hahahaha.

though I dread Boy Banat, I owe him a lot of THANK YOUS though :)

So we had our final interviews and we packed our bags. We somehow already started to say our goodbyes and reminisce a bit.

I was one of the lucky early birds who were able to finish the interviews ahead than the rest and that meant I could already leave early.

And at that part, I had to say my hardest goodbye. :(

It was a week ago when those people were only mere strangers I barely knew. and after a week, the meant more like brothers and sisters to me.

realizing how we all went through rough times and good times and all the random trips we did sometimes makes me wish time just froze there.

I was CN-15-506, aka Miss Lasalle, Cheerleader, and Gonz.

And them? they will always be my BOKS. They taught me how to speak Filipino well, they taught me how to eat gulay (haha), and they taught me how to deal with anything whether i like it or not.

As they say: “WALANG KRISPY KREME DUN”, pero I swear, sila na yung sweetest things that I will ever have if makakapasok kaming lahat by april 1 ,2012. :)

My prayers that we all pass and enter the Academy, and I hope that the next time we see each other- WALA NANG TATAWAG SKIN NG MISS LASALLE:D hahaha :)

i MISS YOU GUYS AND I WILL NEVER FORGET HOW YOU MADE ME A STRONGER PERSON KAHIT MAARTE AKO AT HINDI KUMAKAIN NG GULAY :) <3

-*CN-15-506: Raxee Gonzales <3