With handwritten letters from his parents close to his heart, Aniket Kumar transitioned from a civilian to a soldier in the United States Army.

A boy from a small community in Ba had only one dream at the age of 18 and that was to be wealthy.

Little did Mr Kumar know that life had bigger plans for him.

Two years ago, Mr Kumar had two options; either to move to the USA with his parents or stay back in Fiji and pursue civil engineering.

After graduating from DAV College in Ba, Mr Kumar attained a scholarship to study civil engineering at the University of the South Pacific, but his dreams were cut short when his parents decided to move to the USA.

Almost one year later, Mr Kumar was enlisted in the US Army.

On February 19, 2020. At 20 years old, he graduated from phase two of his training.

“The feeling was amazing; I did not know whether to laugh or cry. To know that I finally accomplished something big,” he said.

The bright-eyed young man, upon reaching the US, was disheartened to discover that education was far too expensive to afford, so he sought other options.

One of those options was to join the US Forces.

Mr Kumar said, being the only Fijian in his platoon did not deter him from doing his best.

“My parents were my biggest motivation. They wrote letters to me during Basic Combat Training (BCT) since our phones were taken away,” he said.

The biggest challenge for the former DAV College student was to be mentally strong during his two phases of training.

He described this experience as going through hell and back.

The excessive training with very less sleep paid off for Mr Kumar.

Mr Kumar is part of the army reserves and will be working on the armoured vehicles at his post at the Clackamas Oregon in Portland.

Edited by Ivamere Nataro

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