Please note I have read the documentation and I'm referencing the point where the error happens as well as the steps I have taken. Please don't advice me to follow the instructions that I have already indicated I have followed.
After following the documentation of React Native to the best of my ability, I have been unable to get React Native to run. I have installed jdk, node, and Android Studio as instructed (using Chocolatey and links). The Android Emulator runs from Android Studio. I'm using npm version 6.1.0, node version 8.4.0, jdk 8, Android Studio 3.1.3. The error I get after react-native init AwesomeProject is SyntaxError: Unexpected token import. What did I do wrong? How can I fix this? Running react-native run-android also gives the same error.
To be clear, I'm in the proper directory. ANDROID_HOME is set to the proper sdk folder. There is a heading, Running your React Native application, and running the first command leaves me with the error, but I don't get an error before that point.