It's GRADUATION DAY. But right before that, we commenced our finale - the 24km route march.

It started at 11pm, and we didn't rest at all during the day since schedule is pretty tight with all that graduation parade rehearsals.

My commanders were encouraging us a lot for the march. We packed all our personal belongings into our fieldpack. I threw away a lot of stuff like sandals, spare shirts, pants etc to reduce the weight.

When we set off from the parade square, everyone was moody. The air was humid. Lack of sleep..

We arrived at our 4km mark. Still looking good. Then we went for the next 4km. Everyone was starting to feel really exhausted and sleepy. I can't even see what's going on in the dark.

The only bright side is we'll have an hour's rest on the 12km mark instead of the usual 15min per 4km. When we arrived there, my feet and shoulders are beginning to ache now. Blisters started to form. I lost so much water that no matter how much I drink, I don't get the urge to go to the washroom. I guess all of it are absorbed into the body.

Everyone didn't say much. We simply leaned on our field packs and took a short nap, until one of the sergeants told us the break was only half an hour instead of 1. FFFFFF Miscommunication. That halfhour short rest really pissed me off at that time. I was so tired. A handful of my friends couldn't take it so they fell out. The initial strength was 36, then it went down to 32, then 27.

March, march, march towards the 16km mark. At that point, I was mentally as well as physically EXHAUSTED. I was already at my limit but I know I have to complete this march. ( Personnels who didn't complete the march will have to come back again during their break for a re route march )

Marched towards the 20th km. All of us were in a bad mood. Real bad. We went as far as saying that the SAF cheated us on the distance. Because, well, technically, we marched for about 27km in total, but they still call it 24km.

From 20 to 24km point onwards, the sun started to rise. I was just singing march songs in a soft tone to keep me awake.

Seriously, 24km march is really an experience for me. Everyone celebrated at the end point. Then we bathed and changed uniforms to prepare for the graduation parade. I was really happy that I managed to overcome this.

So fast forward to the graduation, we just stood still in the parade square. Parents are seated on the grand stand. I spotted my mom recording everything down on digicam. Took lots of photos with the sergeants and platoon mates , shook and thanked them, and then we took off to Singapore~

And now I have a 12 day break before I get posted to a unit~