Asthmatic Trainee- Lance Corporal Shawn

NS had been the bane of my existence ever since I was a young boy. Hearing stories about people getting injured severely or even dying constantly frightened me. Being asthmatic made this even more scary for me.

Strolling into Tekong with my family, I realised all the 5 star reviews on google were too good to be true. Yet, I decided to tackle this challenge head on instead of just running away from it.

The first 2 weeks were challenging since we had to stay in during that whole duration. It was my first time being away from my family for so long which made me feel homesick. I also started cherishing my home more and more.

The first ever book out felt heavenly. I started to appreciate even the smallest things in my life like the taste of drinking water which previously seemed insignificant to me.

Fortunately since I was PES B4, the schedule was less rigorous for us which made the experience more manageable for an asthmatic person like me. I started becoming close to my section mates as we were all in this together.

To be frank, the following 7 weeks flew by in a flash. I was able to experience something out of the box for a normal 18 year old teenager which was eye opening. Although most of the conducts were challenging, they made me a more resilient person.

Currently, despite being lucky to be in a super chill and slack unit life, I am sure NS has and will help me grow to become an even better person – from a boy to a man.