Taking the path

I am supposed to be preparing for tomorrow's parade. The parade tomorrow will be the first time that my class will act as Cadet Officers in a Saturday parade. But then there are just some thoughts that I feel I have to write, for some reason I can not help it.

Just before I went here, we were briefed about the choice of branch of service we will be making by next Saturday. For those who do not know why this is done, the Philippine Military Academy us the primary source of Officers for the Armed Forces, meaning each class is distributed to the three branches of service of the AFP namely: Air Force, Navy and the Army. For each class, there is a quota that is determined by the branch of service of which we will fill up. For our class, the basis for priority will be our merit list as of last semester. It is from this angle that I will begin to construct my point.

I have always said that PMA is a big community of dreamers. For most of us here, we went through all that we went through because we dared to pursue big and difficult dreams. I wouldn't want to go through the challenges that one can be contended with as a cadet but generally, it takes effort to survive each day inside this Academy wearing the cadet uniform. It is from those dreams that one can say that generally our choices here will determine what happens with our lives in the future and in the case of my class now this choice is on which service each of us will join.

I am a die-hard Army as many of us would put it. Although I can be lazy at walking and having with me a heavy backpack, I know it is the life that I want. Well, that really isn't a big problem since in most cases, it is the Army that gets the biggest share of yearly PMA graduates. I think after leaving the lecture hall earlier, many of my classmates, especially those who did not make it in the quota of their preferred branch of service are in a sort of troubled state. The choice that all of us will be making come March 10 will be the life that we will be living for the next 30 years or so of our life. It is not just some ordinary choice that we can back out at one point, we will be joining a WAR where lives are at stake, somehow the choice that we will make will affect our chance of staying alive.

For most people, it will take a while before they are contended by choices that will determine the outcome of their life. Even sadder are those whose life has been a result of passive decisions which was a product of mere luck on life circumstances. But I guess for everyone, when the time has come for us to be contemplative of the life we had, we will remember that one moment when we are to make a very important choice in our life. It will not be about other people, it will be about our life.

Sitting in the lecture hall earlier, listening to the speaker in front, I could somehow feel the tension of everyone of my classmates. Although I am sure of what I want, there is still that feeling of uncertainty in me where I wonder if I really am making the right choice, I wonder how harder it is for the others who have no idea what they want. I could just imagine how it would be for each of my classmate come D-DAY to walk towards that piece of paper where they will eventually write their names. From there, each of our life will begin another chapter -- a chapter that everyone of us is totally clueless.

And so I sit in front of this computer contemplating on the choice I will make and realizing that I am already at the stage where I chart my destiny and that my life is in my hands. When I grow old, maybe I can look at this blog entry and be reminiscent of the exact feeling I have right now. I am hoping that when that time comes, I will wear a smile in my face and say that I made the right choice....

Let's go ARMY...