on the top rack, and landed surprisingly on my feet. At that moment I was between a set of bunk beds and could see what had made the loud crashing sound that had caused me to literally leap out of my bed. Trashcans. Two men, I had never seen before, were pacing up and down the center of the room. It had looked as though they had thrown three large metal trashcans and their lids down the aisle formed by the two long rows of beds.Just then, the two men began yelling and screaming again. Again, the trashcans were being thrown down the deck as if it were a bowling alley lane. The sounds of the trashcans tumbling end over end were accompanied by boisterous and powerful voices. I couldn’t believe the adrenal rush I was having. I scurried to the foot of the bed and stood at attention as I was shown earlier. Standing as still as possible making sure not to move, I stood with my arms at my sides and my hands balled into fists with my thumbs digging into the sides of my thighs. I could hear and feel my heart pounding in my chest. It was beating so fast, it made it hard for me to catch my breath. I thought for sure I was going to faint. I stood there trying to catch my breath. My chest burning and my throat dry, I felt like I had just finished running a 100m dash. I began to doubt whether I would be able to do this.I knew that this was just the beginning of how the next nine weeks were going to be like. The idea of being awakened every morning in the pre-dawn hours by two men throwing trashcans on the hard tiled floor, was not something I was looking for forward too. I thought for sure there would be no way my nerves would be able to handle such a transition, from such a peaceful sleeping state to a mind numbingly loud one, but I knew that it was necessary in order to proceed with and succeed in this part of my life. I also knew that my life was to never be the same and I believed for the better. ...
