A summer filled with discipline, training and getting up early is something that teens fear.  Trinity Senior Ryan Hornickel chose to have a productive 2018 summer and went to basic training for ten weeks.

Hornickel wanted to have a set plan for his future and was interested in the armed forces; therefore, he wanted to get a jump start on his future and complete basic training early.  Even though he knew this experience would be a struggle, he pushed through and knew it would be beneficial in the end. The physical and mental difficulties were just as challenging, if not more, as he thought they would be.

The transition of an easy-going life at home to being thrown into a strict schedule was grueling for Hornickel.  His placement was in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, filled with beaches and beautiful weather, but, this weather made his long days even more gruesome.  Every day was spent not at the beach but waking up after only five and a half hours of sleep and then training and doing chores continuously throughout the day.

Hornickel expressed, “The hardest part was adjusting to the environment and getting told to do tasks that were impractical and infeasible. After a physically and mentally grueling ten weeks, I was glad to be home with my friends and family.  It was one of the toughest experiences of my life but I’m happy to have accomplished it. Also, it made seeing everyone I love that much more exciting.  There were three main things that I missed: chilling with my friends, listening to music, and seeing my family every night.”

Senior and friend Emily Beitler stated, “There was definitely a personality missing when we would all hang out with Ryan being gone all summer.  We all missed him so much and always talked about him and wondered what he was doing.”

Hornickel is a very involved student leader at Trinity, which led to many people supporting and wishing him luck on his journey.  He is the 2019 class vice president, JROTC member and also participates in sports such as soccer, tennis, football and wrestling. His athletic abilities and knowledge from JROTC provided some preparation that was helpful, especially strength and coordination.  

Senior and friend Julia Chakos voiced, “I’ve been in clubs with Ryan throughout high school and he is always creative and a great leader. I am really proud of what he has done and excited to see what is to come for him in his future.”

From his experience, many benefits came.

Hornickel said, “I got to meet a lot of cool people and got a look of what the training is really like.”

Hornickel plans to go to college through the ROTC program then serve.  Overall, Hornickel made Trinity proud this summer and set a great example for underclassmen.