They were currently calling names beginning with the letter K. I felt a bit nostalgic as cadets I knew from my classes walked onto the stage to receive their diploma and letter of promotion. These past four years had been the best years of my life. But now what? I cringed at the thought. Where would I go and what would I do? I had begun to panic when Stauffer thankfully distracted me. "Seems like you should be receiving your diploma down there," he said, knowing I had received mine in the academy president's office in a private ceremony with several of my instructors and Alexa. "No. They had to endure drills, daily exercises, lectures on supervising, extra duties like cleaning latrines, and only got to see their family for short periods of time. I had all the fun classes and got to go home each night. No, it wouldn't be right for me to be receiving my diploma with them," I said, satisfied with having a diploma from the academy and more importantly, a good education … to do what? I was mentally being pulled into that dark tunnel of self-pity and depression.
