Not only did I get breathalyzed but I had to pee in a cup too! And strip naked for an exam! Intense right?
What was that intenseness for? Well I got processed. Processed at Fort Hamilton’s Military Entrance Processing Station, aka the MEPS. Still on the clueless page? Remember when I made up my mind to join the Coast Guard? And I went to see my Recruiter? Well on Wednesday I hit my 80% mark of my enlistment process. I went to Fort Hamilton to do my physical.
Now before I embark onto my Epic Physical Experience I will relate the tale of my Epic Excursion to Fort Hamilton. My parents had volunteered to drive me all the way in. I said no for a few reasons 1- I wanted to do it myself 2- it was 1hour 45minutes one way 3- Tolls would be killer. So I googled directions in via public transport. My recruiter said it was under the Verrazano Bridge… turns out it’s really under the bridge as I found out when I arrived at 5h30. Since the Raritan Valley line of NJ Transit doesn’t run early I had my dad drop me at Newark Penn Station at 3h40 in the morning. Turns out not all entrances are open before 4h30. I ended up having to walk half way around Newark Penn Station at 3h40 in the morning then I walked up bought my Path ticket and waited. I got on the 4h00 Path to World Trade Center. I got there about a half hour later. I excited the station to the left and started walking. As I got a block away I realized I should have seen Cortland St subway by now so I pulled out my phone to GPS myself. I guess I looked lost (even though I was trying to pull off the not lost look ) and a guy probably my mum’s age who was going to work asked where I was going. I told him and he let me know I left the Path station the wrong way. So all I had to do was go back past the Path and walk another block and I’d be at the Subway. I think he was an angel there just to help me out at 4h40 in the morning alone on deserted NYC streets. So I found the Subway hoped on the N line toward Coney Island got off at 56th St in Brooklyn. I was paranoid my R line connection would take too long to catch so I left the station to catch a cab… yeah that was a near crash and burn. Turns out there are like 0 cabs on Brooklyn. But I walked about 5 blocks from the station and I saw one and I hailed it like a champ! But the driver had no clue where Fort Hamilton was, so I gave him vague directions and I managed to get there a half hour early and sat under the Verrazano Bridge. It was loud as hell but kind of pretty to look out…
The physical was long as hell. I wasn’t the last to leave and I’d already been there for 7 hours when I handed my paperwork to my liaison. It took sooooooooooo long because of all the waiting. Waiting. Waiting. And more waiting. It started off real quick for me because there were only me and another boy for the Coast Guard. So my liaison gave me the low down on the whole day and sent left me waiting with the other recruits for the Sergeant to address us. First thing I did was snag my name tag from my liaison, it took 2 seconds because he saw me coming toward his office and had the stick tag ready. I went and got put in the system. Went upstairs to Medical and filled out the questionnaire form. Got my hearing tested, I got a bunch of 05s and 10s and I have no clue if that’s good or bad. Then I got my eyes checked, I have normal color vision and 20/20 vision I do know that’s good. Then we got briefed on the rest of the day and off we went.
First I had to get blood taken… Now let me tell you I HATE needles! I can stand them but it doesn’t diminish my hate for them. You see I gave blood in High School (mainly to skip class) but I could take the needles. I got my tattoo and I could stand that needle. I just look away. So I figured I’d be fine getting one teeny tiny test tube of blood. Wrong! I made a mistake I watched her take out the HUGE needle. I did my best to look away and ignore it and not feel it in my arm but god it felt so freaking big. So I start getting the sweats and my vision starts going prickly and I knew I was close to passing out because I’d had the same feelings while giving blood and the nurse flipped and lay me down. But I sternly told my self not to pass out. And I kept up a steady mantra of “Don’t pass out” to me it felt like ages but really I swear it was only a few seconds before she pulled out the needle and sent me out to the Female waiting room.
Next was giving a urine sample. For me that was super easy. I’d read ahead of time online that we’d need to give a urine sample so I drank lots of water on the way in and by the time it came to giving a sample I had to really go. So that was a breeze thank goodness. Some girls got squeamish and couldn’t go for a while.
Then all the girls were put in a room, there was only 7 of us. And we had to strip to our underwear and bra. No biggie it was like gym class all over again. Then the fun began. We had to do a bunch of odd exercise. Like swinging our arms in a circle. Touching out toes. Kicking forward and backward. Walking fast. Duck walking. And standing from a kneeling position without our hands. It was funny to watch some of the girls. We had to repeat most of he exercise multiple times till we all got it right.
Next was the actual physical. There was an interview part where they just asked you if you did drugs in about 5 different ways. Then it was like a normal physical at a doctors. Super easy.
Lunch was the last thing I did. I got to eat a turkey sandwich and chips. It was delish. Then I grabbed my paper work, went to my liaison and he faxed my recruiter and I was done. I had intended to grab a cab back up to the subway. But my liaison told me I had to walk a block out from the front gate and five up to grab the R line. And I was off to Manhattan for the day!
Okay so I’d planned to stay on Manhattan all day but alas it was in the 90s and I’d woken up at 2am. So I was hot and tired and ended up not doing much. I stopped by the Time Square Visitor Center because I forgot where New York Penn Station was. I got a map and a city guide to plan my next trip in. Then I walked toward Penn Station. When I started getting too hot I’d pop into a well air conditioned store and “look around” before heading off again. I got a Starbucks Passion Tazo Tea right my the station then walked over and picked up cheesecake as a present for my family before I finally got to the train. It was only 3h46 when I left. I was too tired and hot to wait for a train that went all the way out to my stop so I took the early one and had my parents meet me at the station. And I came home and was a zombie till I went to bed at 9h00.
Over all I was proud of myself for getting there and back without any problems and for kicking so much ass on my physical!
And to leave you... the few pictures I took
Cheers,
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