Saturday, June 9, 2012

MEPs run down

Guess what guys? I'm officially sworn in as a member of the US Air Force!

I didn't think that I would be as excited as I am right now, especially considering the circumstances, but here I am. Excited.

The entire week before I had to leave for MEPs (military entrance processing) I did a crap load of research.  I am a very plan-oriented person, so I made sure that I knew EVERYTHING I could possibly know before I left to start the process.

All in all, I wasn't too worried (as no one entering the process should be) because it ended up going quite smoothly, despite a few bumps along the road.

At 12:20 p.m. I arrived at my recruiter's office, bag and documents in tow, ready to start my journey.  Before I left I had to do a final height and weight check before I left.  I wasn't too worried because just the day before I weighed myself at the gym and knew that I was a good 5lbs. below my max weight. HOWEVER, when I got there I ended up weighing more, making me only 3lbs below my max weight. Personally, I couldn't really understand how I had managed to put on two pounds in the course of a night, but I wasn't going to argue.

My recruiter was stressed out, and contemplated holding me back.  However, the next available time he could send me to MEPs wouldn't be until LATE June, so he told me that he'd send me, BUT for dinner and breakfast I couldn't eat anything but ice cubes and I had to do at least 45 minutes on the treadmill at a face pace on an incline in order to lose extra water weight.  I was cool with that, as long as I could start the process ASAP.

When I got into the shuttle I kept on reviewing all the things I did yesterday trying to understand where the extra weight came from, when I realized--- my hair, which was in a loose bun, was still wet.

FML.  I still did what my instructor said, and I didn't really notice not eating.

Anyways, when it came to the physical portion of MEPs (after the vision, urine, and blood tests) and I weighed in, I actually was 6lbs under my max weight. After the weigh in we did the duck walk, balanced on each leg and did various exercises, you know. Fun stuff. There were only 4 other girls, and we were all pretty chill with each other despite being in just our undergarments. For the actual medical check up we had to strip down and put on a gown that was made of--- I kid you not, paper towel material.  Most of the girls accidentally shredded theirs putting it on, but luckily I was especially gentle with mine and managed to keep it intact.

The only thing I found awkward was the breast exam, because the doctor asked if I had implants and I was like, "No...." and she just shrugged and told me it wasn't a big deal either way. I later found out that I was the only one she asked...

I don't know.  I personally didn't think MEPs was something to worry over, but my dad worried himself  into a fit of hives that he is still trying to recover from, and apparently the rest of my family was just as worried.

When I got home they asked if everyone was nice, or if anyone yelled at me, but honestly MEPs was OK.

Phase one, complete. Now I just have to ready myself mentally for my first trainee work-out on Tuesday. Oh man.

2 comments:

  1. I'm glad it went (kind of) well. At the very least no one did shout at you. Weight comes and goes really easily, especially a few pounds. You did really good and you can be proud of yourself. I've seen the paper towel gowns before, and they do look very fragile. I also wonder why she asked you if you had implants. Well, the obvious answer is that they might seem too big to be natural, but if she shrugged it off after you said no, I wonder what the reasoning was in the first place.

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  2. Congrats! I'm glad you can put phase one behind you and continue on focused and ready to do whatever else it is you need to do.

    I admire your dedication and I know you are a great addition to the Air Force! :)

    RE: I am admittedly probably too happy about Stephen, but you're right, he is awesome.

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