As the sun crests the eastern mountain it sparks life into the military academy below. The valley erupts with the customary bugles and trumpets the cadets have grown oh so familiar with. It has been seven months since Vira’s parents had begrudgingly sent her to the conscripted school of Galloway. Morning after morning she awoke to the blaring bugles, but it never got any easier this routine. Despite these many rude awakenings she still found herself slugging her way off the bed and onto the floor. She slowly picked herself off the floor and began making her bed, sheet flat, blanket tucked in over the sides and foot of the bed, pillow at the head of the bed with the blanket tucked around it. She basked in her speed, despite her nickname Slugger, for both the slug like flow of her movement and her right hook, she was the quickest to make her bed every morning. Again she wondered to herself “How can people move with such fervor yet still move so slowly?” As she started putting her slacks and shirt on she reflected upon what the commander had said yesterday, “Panic and hurry are the enemies of composure and efficiency” now she could see why the old man always droned on sounding more like a veteran philosopher than a veteran soldier. Hidden behind the rugged exterior and unflinching authority there was a man who had grown and learned what it would take to be successful in this world. His actions AND his words spoke for him, something few people did in this country, perhaps in the world as well.