A little motivation..

  So tomorrow a few people leave to recruit training. Wednesday, was their last day at PT as a poolee. Usually, I try to make it a big deal and say see you on the other side or give some type of encouraging talk before I leave PT, but that's if I know who is leaving. One poole, Linder, came up to me like he was never going to see me again, when I said see you next week he's like no man I leave on monday! I was like oh snap I couldn't stay behind I figured I'd get at him on facebook. He beat me to it, the next day he sent me a pretty touching message. "Ayo Pinilla i just gotta say thanks a lot man...ur doing a fantastic job as guide..and dats G stuff..ur a great motivator..keep up da good work..ima miss PTing wit u guys..God bless brah..good luck in boot camp and see u in da fleet.." I replied, "Thanks man I really appreciate that, that's what I'm here for man. Stay motivated and keep your eye on that EGA man that title Marine something NO ONE can take away. I'll miss PTing with you too bro make us proud and show them Drill Instructors them boys from RSS FTL don't play. Oorah!" I like hearing feedback from my poolees because I am trying to be the best, at EVERYTHING.

A little run..

  So after almost a whole month of not running PT, it was finally my turn to take control over my squad and control the pain that goes into everyones body. I figured everyone could use a nice little run. By a little run I mean a 4.7 mile run across plantation, no big deal. It was this one kid's first day with us. He asked me a few things and I just told him all you need is some motivation, a lot of heart, and to never quit. Apparently, he had none. I am usually tough on everyone because I know the drill instructors will be tough on them. Also, if I am doing something, I expect everyone to follow my example. I wasn't really tired, except it was really really hot and humid and just not very nice conditions to run in. People who didn't hydrate were cramping up, people were emoving kind of sluggish and I was just getting really upset. After PT, I gathered everyone up and I told them what I thought. I expressed how I came to be a Marine. The reason I go every week is to become a Marine, that's why I give it 100% everytime I'm out there. If PT is to get us ready to bootcamp what's to say we can't make it as close to bootcamp as we possibly can? At bootcamp everything is done with speed and intensity so from now on I want everything to be fast and intense. I want people sounding off so loud that the veins in their necks explode. I want nothing that is not required to get through the 13 week vacation to hell we are all preparing for. The underlying motive for me, is that I want to be the best Guide ever. I want people to remember me and say you know what, that guy had a lot to do with helping me get through bootcamp and becoming a Marine.

Back to work..

 Although Sergeant Jean left, does not mean PT stops there and then. The only part that sucks about being in an organization like the Marine Corps is you meet really cool people and get to know them, but sometime or another they need to leave. People come and go and some you might always remember, some may not be as important. One thing I'll always remember from Sergeant Jean is something he said. He said, "Why are you here? Because ignorant people out there are not. You are here because you are selfless individuals who are willing to fight for those who are too lazy to do it themselves. Whatever it is you choose to remember about me always remember this, It takes an elite few to protect many." Anyways, The monday after he left Staff Sergeant Kean ran PT. His PT was nothing compared to Sergeant Jean, but his PT is more to get us to be loud.

IST !

Two weeks ago, we had another IST. It was one of Sergeant Jean's last days at the office. I decided that I wanted to run this one to see where I'm at now. The last IST I had I did alright, nothing crazy but more than average. This one, was pretty much the same. Run time of 10:25, 19 pull ups, and 78 crunches. So close to a 100% perfect score I just need to work on it a little more. I honestly thought that I wouldn't even come close to my old run time of 10:19 because the last time we ran an IST it was not humid at all, but this time it was pretty difficult to breathe.

See you in the fleet, Sergeant Jean.

  Last tuesday, Sergeant Jean had to go back to his station in Camp Lejune. It was a bitter sweet day because his workouts for PT are SO difficult, but he was a real good Marine. He was funny, but when it came down to business it was all work no play. I hope that I see him in the fleet one day

Stress Stress STRESS!!

  Well, It's been a while since I've been here and I blame prom and graduation. Prom has me up the wall! I never knew it could be so stressful! I'm trying to finish all that up so I can have my full concentration and dedication to my project and the rest of my classes! Last week was pretty much the same deal except we did not  have PT on wednesday. I PT so much that I feel lost whenever we don't have PT! Recently, I've tried getting all the tips and pointers that all the Marines that just get out of bootcamp tell me and have everybody do them at PT! We are there to get ready for bootcamp, and my job as guide is to better not only myself or the workouts, but my fellow pooles. I have been focusing a lot more on the little things of bootcamp. For example, "sounding off" refers to acknowledging and basically screaming as loud as you can after every command. We will have to say "aye sir" "yes sir" or "no sir" A LOT to our Drill Instructors, so I am having them do it now. Also, everything in bootcamp is done with speed and intensity, meaning everything done is fast and loud. When we run we have to "form it up" and then I count down "10 seconds." Its more like 5 because that's what they do in bootcamp.

On tuesday we had Gunny chancay PT us. I didn't think it was too bad but the rest of the pooles with the exception of a few looked like they were going to die. Anyway, his PT was basically to show us how bootcamp is going to be. Doing a lot of things we will do in bootcamp. He shared with us that he is leaving to california within the next month or two. He also shared that the mission of the recruiters is to prepare us for bootcamp and that it takes, on average, about two weeks for our RSS FTL recruits to get acustomed to the stress at bootcamp. His goal is to cut that time down in hopes of graduating honor grads.