Graduation

Yesterday was pretty quiet. I cleared the library and the PX, so I'm done getting paperwork for Monday morning. Other than that, I shipped my foot locker home and got my uniform ready. Exciting, I know. In the afternoon we had a graduation practice.

Today was more eventful. We all got dressed up in our military finest and went to an early lunch. There was a lot of goodbyes and exchanging of addresses. It had finally hit us that this was the last time we'd be all together in one place. Eighteen weeks had come down to this; one little ceremony. We marched over to Alexander Hall beneath Signal Towers. To pass a few minutes, the drill sergeants had a few people do impressions. The ceremony itself was fairly short and sweet. It contained a few theatrical sections with the history of the Signal Corps, the Signal Soldier's Creed and the Drill Sergeant's Creed. Right on cue, we all recited the Soldier's Creed. And just like that, we were fully qualified soldiers. We were marched over to the IET Rec Center, and released. Those whose families had watched the ceremony were there to congratulate them.

Right after we all got back to the company, a few people were ready to throw all their belongings in their vehicles and leave. Graham and Justin loaded up and left the room feeling much emptier, but Graham left me a surprise. He had given his guitar to the room at large, and even though Dunn wanted it, Blanski thought Graham had left it for me. So now I have a little piece of Graham to take home. Plus, when he gets famous, I'll be able to show it off and say he played it in AIT.

Now, Blanski and I are hanging out at Godfather's Pizza, just relaxing and reminiscing. We both leave Monday, and couldn't be more glad to leave. Hopefully we can have some fun this weekend, but even if we don't I'll be happy just to be done. I'm coming home!