Security+

I graduated on Thursday.

And now...



This is not going to be fun.

By the way, I've started growing my Security Plus-stache. It's kind of a newly developing tradition around here for S+ students to grow a mustache, and even though I think I look downright silly with one, I figured 'what the heck.'

I test in eleven days (eight duty days, plus a three-day weekend). I have set aside my DS, my DVDs, my drawing paper, my Stepmania, my friends, and even my...

...I just can't bring myself to say it...

...and even my J-pop.

Ouch.

It's important right now to have a singular focus, and while I do tend to use my J-pop as a source of stress relief and mood-alteration, for the next eleven days, I feel that I need to set it all aside. I plan on watching RIVER later this evening, then leaving it all alone until I pass my certification. Much like when I returned from basic training, getting back into that world will feel kind of like a reward for passing by final exam.

I was thinking recently that it hasn't even been a year since I first set foot in my recruiter's office. What a long way I've come since then. It's exciting to realize that this whole military training experience will be over in eleven days. Then things can get back to something resembling "normal."

I walked out of my home 168 days ago, and every day since then has been extraordinarily stressful. I can't even tell you how many times I've just wanted to give up. The thing that keeps me going, and what gets me through every moment of every day is the absolute undoubting certainty that I am where I'm supposed to be. I've mentioned before that God's hand has been in this journey from the very beginning. I've survived some very difficult times; I've literally seen miracles. No matter what, He never ceases to remind me that He is here, and that He'll get me through it all. If I was in this alone, I would have collapsed under the pressure a long time ago. From a spiritual perspective, I really understand things so much better than I ever have before. When all of this is said and done, and I've settled in up in Alaska, I hope to gather my thoughts on this journey a bit more, because there really is so much to tell.

So, am I worried about Security+? No. Not, at least, in the sense that I don't think I'm going to pass. I know I'm going to pass, but the whole thing is so nerve-wracking.

But by digging in for the next ten days, and pouring over this material, I hope to go into the testing room with confidence that I can score a perfect 900. Then I'm out of here, and I don't have to worry about it any more.

I may try to update my blog here, if just to post photos of my Plus-stache progress, but I won't be online a whole lot. Maybe fifteen minutes a day. As far as this coming weekend is concerned, I will be studying during all three days, with an occasional break. But even then, I won't be doing any major Internet surfing, because I know that it'll be hard to pull myself away from it. The keyword of basic training was DISCIPLINE. Time to put it into effect.

And here we go...