I Hate ROTC!

Wayback in 1997, every single Filipino male student was forced to complete two years of military training before one could complete a bachelor's degree.

I only finished one year of this training. And I never got my bachelor's degree.

I hated every single day of ROTC. Waking up at 5am on a Sunday morning. And marching under the heat of the sun for til about 1230pm. It was dehumanizing considering we were all wrapped up in a thick and heavy military uniform.

And all we learned was to march for the pleasure of some military officers.

At one time, I decided to join the Special Forces. It was a special team that would learn to rapel, use rifles among others. I joined the initiation and I passed it with flying colors. I was strong enough to endure hundreds of push ups, crunches, squats and what have you. I enjoyed it tremendously.

But when we were asked to march, they noticed my hips swayed and gyrated a bit naturally. The commander called my attention and yelled at me. He told me I was a sissy, walking as if I was in a shampoo TV ad.

And from then on, I quit the special forces. I was stronger than most of them. I could have been an asset in the group. But they will never accept "graceful" marching from me. And that was not my loss.