I got to Newport with little difficulty navigating from NYC. However, only being here not even 3 hours and I am lost. It feels like the first day of overnight camp where everyone is new and we have no bunk counselor to give us instructions. I don’t know anything.
There are 41 officers in my company. Most are doctors/med school students, nurses and medical staff corps. The rest of us are chaplains /candidates, dentists and a pharmacist. We have 3 prior enlisted, one coast guard and one air force. The women make up 25% of the company. I am the only Jewish chaplain candidate.
We were told to be ready at 1745 - but we have no idea what we are to be ready for. The rumors are flying. We are running, we are having a room inspection ... No one knows anything. I have 2 hours and I feel like I should be doing something.
Thank god for my roommate. She is in the nursing corps. I could not be more lucky. She and a friend of hers from the Nursing corps came in and taught me how to make my bed. Yep, make my bed. Apparently, how I was taught by my mother is not good enough. Hospital corners does not even fully explain why I need a ruler to make my bed – nor try to bounce a quarter of my sheets.
It is the strangest thing – waiting for instructions, not knowing what to expect. I know that this is a planned part of our learning. We must learn to be flexible and respond to changes and challenges. I got 11 days notice that I was coming to ODS. I should consider myself lucky. Someone else was given 7 days.
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