My parents and I went to Oceanside Ca a couple of weeks ago. We saw all sorts of amazing things!...
...and didn't take any real pictures of any of them...
...but back to the point- it was cool. The first day down there we went out to an old Catholic mission- San Luis Rey. On the 21 mission chain between San Diego and San Fransisco it was the largest and is still in use by Franciscan Friars so some of it was off limits. It was fascinating to see some a little bit of how they lived and imagine what it would have been like to settle the area.
The next day we took a trolley ride around the city that hits all the historic parts of town. We got off and went to the USS Midway- a decommissioned aircraft carrier- and wandered around. We spent the bulk of the day on the ship. You could probably spend the whole day. Though I (naturally) dislike the Navy, I was captivated by the mess facilities, the brig, the infirmary, etc. The most telling area though, in my opinion, was the bunks. It would be miserable to have to live in that tiny space. I tip my hat to the men and women who do it. After the ship we got back on the trolley and finished the tour. By the end of the tour it was time for dinner and back to the condo.
As cool as those were, the next day was just as fun. We started the day off at a maritime museum. There was a 45 minute cruise of the harbor to show us the ships and share a little bit of the history of the area. We got to see the Carnival Splendor- the ship that burned up a while back. Then we hit the museum exhibits. There were two submarines, one Russian and one American. The Russian sub was easily 4x the size of the American one, but comparatively the American sub had tons of room to move around in. That's American ingenuity- building something much smaller but getting much more space out of it.
We got to see the HMS Surprise which should be a familiar ship to those of you who love the movie Master and Commander. Yes, it was the original HMS Surprise, and yes it is also the one they filmed the movie on. The last ship was the Star of India. It is the oldest still sailing boat on earth. They take it out for a spin every year on its birthday.
Speaking of birthdays, there was a birthday party going on down on the bottom deck. How cool would that be to have a pirate themed birthday party on an old, old sailboat like the ones pirates used!! Complete with old pirate, treasure chest, and all the other things that go along with it.
Because it is an active (though not very) sailing ship everything has to be maintained in good working order; therefore, the work areas were all still active work spaces. Nobody happened to be there at the time, but it would be cool to watch them work and just see how things were done. There were also models of old war ships. The biggest and coolest one was Lord Nielson's last ship (also should be a familiar name if you like Master and Commander). It had 4 or 5 gun decks and in the neighborhood of 100 cannons.
After the maritime museum we went to the Mormon Battalion visitor's center. It was newly remodeled and was fully interactive. The story was told by some of the men, women, and the one child who made the trek by way of talking portraits. It sounds kind of cheesy- like something from Disneyland- and it was, but it was really cool. They even reacted to your responses (or lack thereof). Everyone knows the story of the Mormon Battalion, but I learned much more about it than I ever did before. It was shocking to learn some of the details that were shared. After the story, there was a room with some of the artifacts from the march and computers that you could use to search the rosters of the Mormon Battalion. Since my family has two ancestors that were a part of it-both on my mom's side- we looked them up!
That night when we got back to the condo, we went to the hot tub and sauna for a little while. We returned to the room to find that our keys no longer worked. The security guard passing by tried his master key, and still couldn't get it. After getting our keys re-magnetized without success we were sent to the top floor lounge to relax while they tried to get the door fixed. They were able to get it open, but it was going to take quite a while to fix it. This meant that one of us had to be in the room at all times to let the others back in. It also means that the next morning- Sunday- we couldn't go to church. We were moved into a new room and headed for home on Monday morning. Quite the adventure.
The next adventure came last night. My mother, neighbor and I went over to Richfield where we met up with my brother and we all went to the Forgotten Carols. I had never heard the story or really known that much about it but it blew me away. If anyone has the chance to go see it, do. If you don't have the chance to, get the DVD. It has a very powerful spiritual lesson and teaches about the true meaning of Christmas in a way I never could have imagined. Amazing!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Update
So the last couple of times I wrote on here, I mentioned that there is nothing going on in my life worth writing about. Lately that hasn't been the case, I've just been too lazy to fill you all in on the goings on of life in Delta. We have done some traveling, but for the sake of not making this entry a mile long, that will be posted separately (and still be a mile long).
We are still working on expanding the warehouse at work (as mentioned a few blogs ago). The walls are up and the roof is almost completely finished. It has been somewhat fun, though often unpleasant, to get a small feel of construction. It is definitely not the right field of work for me, but it is useful to know how to do a few more things and is a fun change of pace for me.
This project has used a lot of very large steel pieces. The steel all has to be ground down (to remove rust) and painted over (to prevent rust). Somehow that job fell to me. One day as I was grinding on the gigantic I-beam the grinder popped out of my hand and tore a large section of flesh away from my wrist. Imagine a wire brush spinning at about 16000 RPM digging into you. Yeah, didn't feel great. I bandaged it really quickly and went back to work-without cleaning out the grinder head. The stench of burning flesh quickly filled my nostrils. Yuck. A few minutes later it was still burning a lot worse than I figured it should have been so I came home to clean it out and bandage it properly. Soon discovering the lack of medical supplies in my parent's home, I climbed back into the car and drove to the pharmacy to pick up the necessary materials. All this with one functioning hand mind you. As I am standing there bleeding and trying to buy the bandages and tape needed to fix such a problem, the lady behind the counter- a wonderful woman and friend of my mother- saw no real need to hurry. I mean, its not like that gash could possibly be painful or need to be cleaned out or anything. And the blood? No big deal, right? Anyways, I got it all cleaned up and went back to work. As I showered that night I spent about a half an hour just scrubbing it with soap to make sure I got all the rust, steel, etc. out of it. It has healed up nicely, though there's still a pretty sizable scar.
Beyond that there hasn't been much other than the traveling. I have been kinda sorta helping out with the swim team. Not sure how much help I've really been, but oh well, at least I'm trying right?
We are still working on expanding the warehouse at work (as mentioned a few blogs ago). The walls are up and the roof is almost completely finished. It has been somewhat fun, though often unpleasant, to get a small feel of construction. It is definitely not the right field of work for me, but it is useful to know how to do a few more things and is a fun change of pace for me.
This project has used a lot of very large steel pieces. The steel all has to be ground down (to remove rust) and painted over (to prevent rust). Somehow that job fell to me. One day as I was grinding on the gigantic I-beam the grinder popped out of my hand and tore a large section of flesh away from my wrist. Imagine a wire brush spinning at about 16000 RPM digging into you. Yeah, didn't feel great. I bandaged it really quickly and went back to work-without cleaning out the grinder head. The stench of burning flesh quickly filled my nostrils. Yuck. A few minutes later it was still burning a lot worse than I figured it should have been so I came home to clean it out and bandage it properly. Soon discovering the lack of medical supplies in my parent's home, I climbed back into the car and drove to the pharmacy to pick up the necessary materials. All this with one functioning hand mind you. As I am standing there bleeding and trying to buy the bandages and tape needed to fix such a problem, the lady behind the counter- a wonderful woman and friend of my mother- saw no real need to hurry. I mean, its not like that gash could possibly be painful or need to be cleaned out or anything. And the blood? No big deal, right? Anyways, I got it all cleaned up and went back to work. As I showered that night I spent about a half an hour just scrubbing it with soap to make sure I got all the rust, steel, etc. out of it. It has healed up nicely, though there's still a pretty sizable scar.
Beyond that there hasn't been much other than the traveling. I have been kinda sorta helping out with the swim team. Not sure how much help I've really been, but oh well, at least I'm trying right?
Saturday, October 30, 2010
suit shopping
So, like I said in my previous blog, I have been needing a new suit. Today I went to rectify that situation. Before going to Provo to look in person I did some shopping online and picked out a good suit. It was a three-piece suit from Men's Wearhouse, but figured that I should look everywhere else first- just to explore my options. I'm glad I did! Sear's was having a sale on ties so I picked up a couple nice ones. Then Mr. Mac had 2 suits that were both amazing. The one I finally went with is black with some subtle pin striping (here- but you have to click on black fine pin stripe). Since I drove up from Delta, they were willing to have the alterations done based on when I could pick it up. We (Mom, Dad and I) are going up on Tuesday to take Mom to the airport so that was the day we decided they should have the alterations done. I called tonight to make a small change to the way they were hemming the pants and the alterations were already done! Which is great, except that means they can't make the changes I was hoping for...
Shopping in Mr Mac was interesting though. They have two sections- the Board Room where all the really nice, expensive suits are and the other part for us normal folk. The sales associate that helped me happened to be from the board room because they were so busy everyone else was too busy. This means I picked out the suits I was interested in and took them to the rich person side of the store to try them on. People were amazed to see such a young man trying on suits worth so much money. It was fun to see the reactions, even though that was really not the case. I'm pretty excited to get the finished product
Shopping in Mr Mac was interesting though. They have two sections- the Board Room where all the really nice, expensive suits are and the other part for us normal folk. The sales associate that helped me happened to be from the board room because they were so busy everyone else was too busy. This means I picked out the suits I was interested in and took them to the rich person side of the store to try them on. People were amazed to see such a young man trying on suits worth so much money. It was fun to see the reactions, even though that was really not the case. I'm pretty excited to get the finished product
Friday, October 22, 2010
I've been told...
...that it is time to update the blog again. I know its bad when Sheena isn't even the one telling me its been too long between posts. So, I'm going to try to give you something to read, but there's not much exciting going on in my life right now.
I have moved back home with my parents. After searching for a job for a while I called and old employer looking for a reference. Rather than a reference, he gave me a job. I am once again a bee keeper for Stephenson Honey Company. So far we have extracted a lot of honey, gone to Needles, extracted more honey (can I just say how much I hate extracting for days on end?), started melting down all the excess wax and started on a huge construction project. All of the empty comb after extracting has to be stored in an airtight room where we can burn sulfur to kill off wax moths and other things that will destroy our stuff. The business is switching the kinds of hives we use so there will now be a lot more comb to store and we don't have enough room to store it all. As a result, we are building a huge new storage room. It will be nice when it is finished, I'm pretty excited.
My suit is about shot- the pants in particular have about seen their last church meeting. It gave me at least 4 years of good solid use so I really can't complain but I was hoping it would hold out until it was time to buy mission suits. Next weekend I'm planning on going to Provo to buy a new one.
Yes, I am really talking about clothes. That is how little is really going on in my life. I might post about the trip after it happens, but other than that I can't imagine anything coming up to blog about. This means there will be quite a famine of posts for the next while. Sorry to those of you who check this blog often, there's just not anything to update you on! If anybody has ideas on what I should write about, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me a text/email/other form of contact.
Oh, and to answer a question I am frequently asked: yes, I do miss West Point- but at the same time it is nice to be away. My relationship with the Academy has always been a mixed one. I love the place, and I hate it. In much the same way I miss the Academy and yet I am glad to be rid of it. I will definitely be ready to go back in a few years though.
I have moved back home with my parents. After searching for a job for a while I called and old employer looking for a reference. Rather than a reference, he gave me a job. I am once again a bee keeper for Stephenson Honey Company. So far we have extracted a lot of honey, gone to Needles, extracted more honey (can I just say how much I hate extracting for days on end?), started melting down all the excess wax and started on a huge construction project. All of the empty comb after extracting has to be stored in an airtight room where we can burn sulfur to kill off wax moths and other things that will destroy our stuff. The business is switching the kinds of hives we use so there will now be a lot more comb to store and we don't have enough room to store it all. As a result, we are building a huge new storage room. It will be nice when it is finished, I'm pretty excited.
My suit is about shot- the pants in particular have about seen their last church meeting. It gave me at least 4 years of good solid use so I really can't complain but I was hoping it would hold out until it was time to buy mission suits. Next weekend I'm planning on going to Provo to buy a new one.
Yes, I am really talking about clothes. That is how little is really going on in my life. I might post about the trip after it happens, but other than that I can't imagine anything coming up to blog about. This means there will be quite a famine of posts for the next while. Sorry to those of you who check this blog often, there's just not anything to update you on! If anybody has ideas on what I should write about, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me a text/email/other form of contact.
Oh, and to answer a question I am frequently asked: yes, I do miss West Point- but at the same time it is nice to be away. My relationship with the Academy has always been a mixed one. I love the place, and I hate it. In much the same way I miss the Academy and yet I am glad to be rid of it. I will definitely be ready to go back in a few years though.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
9/11
Never forget. Take some time when you read this to thank those you may know who have served or are now serving to protect this great nation both at home and abroad.
If you want an example of the bravery of the men and women who responded that day look up Stephen Siller, the inspiration behind the Tunnel to Towers Run.
And please, please, please always remember. With our vast selection of channels on TV I could only find 2 channels that had anything about 9/11. The channels we normally watch for news and special event coverage were Saturday morning cartoons. I find it hard to believe that we are already more concerned about the entertainment of our children than taking a little time to remember the lives that were lost. Our house is the only one on the street with a flag flying- because I put it up. We do have to continue our lives, but never- NEVER- forget.
If you want an example of the bravery of the men and women who responded that day look up Stephen Siller, the inspiration behind the Tunnel to Towers Run.
And please, please, please always remember. With our vast selection of channels on TV I could only find 2 channels that had anything about 9/11. The channels we normally watch for news and special event coverage were Saturday morning cartoons. I find it hard to believe that we are already more concerned about the entertainment of our children than taking a little time to remember the lives that were lost. Our house is the only one on the street with a flag flying- because I put it up. We do have to continue our lives, but never- NEVER- forget.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
The Hyde Challenge
The Hyde Challenge, as I mentioned in my last real blog entry, was the name of the culminating exercise for Cadet Basic Training this year. It began by air assaulting into Camp Buckner in a CH-47 Chinook helicopter (below). The flight path took us over the terrain we would be covering and then landed in LZ Owl just outside of Buckner. Upon landing we held security on the landing zone until the bird took off and then scrambled to a safer location. For most companies this marked the beginning of the actual military operation; however, for scheduling reasons we got flown out the day before we started so we just walked to the bays (rudimentary barracks- old bunk-house style).
The next morning we started our operation in trucks leaving from LZ Owl. We had been given an operations order (OPORD) on what was supposed to be happening for the day but the entire Hyde Challenge was based on FRAGOs, fragmentation orders or last minute changes to the plan. This meant that as the squad leader, I knew virtually nothing about what was going to happen. I was given the FRAGO before we loaded the truck and had 3 minutes to brief my squad on the situation. The truck was completely covered over and the drivers were instructed to drive as they would on a normal operation so we got tossed around pretty good back there. We arrived at the first site- a rifle range with pop-up targets- and were immediately getting screamed at by site cadre. They were beating the sides of the truck and shouting while combat noises were being played over a loud-speaker. This caused a lot of confusion and stress for the new cadets who had to jump out of the truck, grab two magazines and sprint to the firing line and engage targets (all in full gear). The next range was similar but they also incorporated smoke grenades and target discrimination (there were civilians mixed in with the enemy).
The next morning we started our operation in trucks leaving from LZ Owl. We had been given an operations order (OPORD) on what was supposed to be happening for the day but the entire Hyde Challenge was based on FRAGOs, fragmentation orders or last minute changes to the plan. This meant that as the squad leader, I knew virtually nothing about what was going to happen. I was given the FRAGO before we loaded the truck and had 3 minutes to brief my squad on the situation. The truck was completely covered over and the drivers were instructed to drive as they would on a normal operation so we got tossed around pretty good back there. We arrived at the first site- a rifle range with pop-up targets- and were immediately getting screamed at by site cadre. They were beating the sides of the truck and shouting while combat noises were being played over a loud-speaker. This caused a lot of confusion and stress for the new cadets who had to jump out of the truck, grab two magazines and sprint to the firing line and engage targets (all in full gear). The next range was similar but they also incorporated smoke grenades and target discrimination (there were civilians mixed in with the enemy). After the second range I was briefed on what we were going to do next. I was told that intelligence reports gave us the location of weapons caches scattered throughout the mountains and that my squad was to go find them with the help of local nationals. I was given coordinates and told to find the location on the map and brief my driver on the route and location. My truck driver looked at me when I started to brief and said "I already know where we're going, but be ready to get dropped off in the wrong spot." Fun.
When we arrived at the wrong destination I was told to select an acting squad leader and go brief higher on the two engagements we had just encountered. I left my squad and hoped for the best. The task they had was basically land navigation and the planners were paranoid that the squad leaders would help their own squads too much so my "briefing higher" was acting as the local national accompanying- but not helping- another squad (which found none of the weapons caches and barely made it back on time).
From there, we walked to a reservoir and paddled a zodiac boat across it to reach the other side and receive coordinates to another location. The guy who told us where to go gave us bad coordinates so we spent half an hour pulling security about a click (km) to the south of where we were supposed to be while waiting for a convoy that never showed up. Turns out, we were supposed to stumble upon our convoy which had just been ambushed. There were two casualties and we had to secure the area, provide treatment and call in for a medevac (medical evacuation). The next FRAGO was that there were two more people, an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD, if you don't know what I mean go watch the Hurt Locker) team, and nobody knew where they were.
When we found the team the EOD specialist was dead and the driver had minor injuries. There was a robot there and the driver had no idea how to use it but there was an IED that had to be taken care of. Neither my new cadets nor myself had ever seen this thing before so it was an interesting adventure figuring out how to make it work.
For the final section we had to go find another local national and get an intelligence update from him. He sent my squad up a hill (more of a cliff face) where we had a memorial service for 1LT Daniel Hyde who was killed in combat in Iraq in 2007. Though the climb was difficult and everyone was tired, it was the favorite event for every new cadet. It was a fitting way to end their training, reminding them of why they are where they are and the commitment they are making. It can be intimidating sometimes to think about the responsibilities and risks involved with what we choose to do, but it is vital that we never forget.
Darkness fell as we descended the cliff. Once we reached the bottom my squad moved to our patrol base where the night phase commenced. It consisted of a normal patrol base* with each squad conducting an hour long recon mission during the night. Somewhere in the woods, we were told, was an old building where a high-ranking enemy leader was staying. We were to go, find the house and report back what we found. My squad did not find the house but we encountered the enemy leader (and almost got caught by him) and found the HMMWV he was using for transportation- still a successful recon. Upon completion of the night phase (about 0600) we moved to a pick-up site and were trucked back to Buckner. Thus ended the Hyde Challenge.
*A patrol base is set up as a perimeter with the leadership in the center and people along the outside pulling security. Normally you will have no less than 50% security which means 50% of your people will be awake and watching/waiting for an enemy attack.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Pictures
I forgot to post them with that blog:
New cadets exiting the gas chamber.
Giving IVs.
Some successful...
...some not
New cadets exiting the gas chamber.
Giving IVs.
Some successful...
...some not Thanks to my friends for the pictures.
Its been a long time coming...
But here it finally is, the update.
The rest of my time at Ft. Jackson got progressively less and less stressful. I went to work at 0600 for PT (physical training- working out) and was usually done by early afternoon. Unfortunately, there isn't much to do around Ft Jackson during the day and because its a college town, there's little of interest to me at night, so there was a lot of time spent sleeping, watching tv, etc. All in all it was a pretty good experience. I saw some things to emulate in my leadership and some things to definitely avoid. Then I headed home for a few weeks of leave and wonderful relaxation.
Two weeks later it was back to work. Basic training at the academy is broken into two parts, or details. First detail consists of mostly garrison work and the administrative side of West Point- lots of issue points, placement testing, etc. Second detail, of which I was a part, consists of the field-type training of a soldier. Before the cadre of either detail can take over and be given new cadets to train the must first go through LTP which is a train-up to make sure they are qualified to teach everything.
I showed up to the Point for LTP thinking we would have little to do the first day, being Sunday. How wrong I was. We hit the ground running and ran non-stop for weeks straight. During LTP I averaged about 5 hours of sleep a night and worked long hard days. It was fun though. The field is a much better environment than garrison and we got to do things like rappelling, shooting, going through the gas chamber, more shooting, soldier first responder (SFR- first aid for combat) and did I mention shooting? We spent 5 days on the ranges with SSG Miller, a Special Forces Staff Sergeant. I learned more about rifles, how to shoot them and what to do when they won't shoot in those five days than all my previous experience combined.
Change of detail finally came. It was time for us to take over training the new cadets and none of us could wait. Exhausted, but excited, we moved our stuff from one barracks to the other while the new cadets were at sponsor homes eating ice cream and calling home. By the next morning the excitement had mostly worn off and we were all left more exhausted than before. The 5 hours of sleep a night turned into 3 hours and 45 minutes almost exact every night.
Luckily, the pace of training slowed. We began with shooting ranges- 5 days again but with us teaching this time. On day one, watching those who had never fired a weapon before made it nerve wracking to think ahead to the training after the shooting ranges, fire team live fire. This is an event where we give new cadets live ammo and have them running through the woods with their buddies, shooting at targets as they pop up. As the squad leader, it would be my job to be in the middle of the group controlling their movements. This meant two iterations of having two new cadets on either side of me with live ammo, running and shooting. Thankfully, by the end of the training before the event I had no hesitation handing every member of my squad (except one for medical reasons) a loaded magazine and having them run next to me. Needless to say there was a lot of progress made and it was quite fun to watch these novices turn into experts almost overnight.
Then for the next week we taught them to rappel, mountain climb, make rope bridges, handle a toxic environment (gas chamber), and various other skills vital to survival in combat. Then for a week we moved on to teaching them how to handle situations where things went wrong in combat (SFR). There are pictures of the gas chamber and learning how to do IV's below.
The last block of training was spent out at beautiful Camp Buckner for a culminating exercise. The Hyde Challenge truly challenged the new cadets on everything they had been taught during beast. For a little under 24 hours my squad conducted operations ranging from shooting (in highly stressful situations) to aiding those who had been ambushed to clearing IEDs. We walked somewhere around 6-8 miles, running much of it, and my squad handled the situations well. There was also a night phase during which we set up a patrol base and ran recon missions all night long. The pictures of the Hyde Challenge are amazing but I cannot show them here because they are owned by the West Point Public Affairs Office. There are some cool pictures of it and the rest of beast here. I will (hopefully) do a separate post about the Hyde Challenge soon.
After the Hyde Challenge the new cadets were given a much needed chance to recover for a couple of days. Sunday afternoon consisted of an awards ceremony (my company won 3 of the 4 awards, including best company) and a talent show. Then it was off to bed before an early (0430) wake-up and marching back to West Point.
March back is a large affair with old grads coming to walk with the new cadets, sharing their stories of the corps and congratulating these young men and women on completing beast. The planned route was 12.2 miles- we ended up going about 14. Moral of the story? Everyone needs to know the route, not just the person in front. Sometimes the person in front gets too far ahead and then nobody else knows where to go!
After march back I had 3 days of administrative work to get myself out-processed from the academy and here I sit at home, looking for a job. I figure between beast and LTP I walked/ran with a pack on my back for about 65 miles and averaged between 3 and 4 hours of sleep a night. Maybe this time without a job is a gift?
The rest of my time at Ft. Jackson got progressively less and less stressful. I went to work at 0600 for PT (physical training- working out) and was usually done by early afternoon. Unfortunately, there isn't much to do around Ft Jackson during the day and because its a college town, there's little of interest to me at night, so there was a lot of time spent sleeping, watching tv, etc. All in all it was a pretty good experience. I saw some things to emulate in my leadership and some things to definitely avoid. Then I headed home for a few weeks of leave and wonderful relaxation.
Two weeks later it was back to work. Basic training at the academy is broken into two parts, or details. First detail consists of mostly garrison work and the administrative side of West Point- lots of issue points, placement testing, etc. Second detail, of which I was a part, consists of the field-type training of a soldier. Before the cadre of either detail can take over and be given new cadets to train the must first go through LTP which is a train-up to make sure they are qualified to teach everything.
I showed up to the Point for LTP thinking we would have little to do the first day, being Sunday. How wrong I was. We hit the ground running and ran non-stop for weeks straight. During LTP I averaged about 5 hours of sleep a night and worked long hard days. It was fun though. The field is a much better environment than garrison and we got to do things like rappelling, shooting, going through the gas chamber, more shooting, soldier first responder (SFR- first aid for combat) and did I mention shooting? We spent 5 days on the ranges with SSG Miller, a Special Forces Staff Sergeant. I learned more about rifles, how to shoot them and what to do when they won't shoot in those five days than all my previous experience combined.
Change of detail finally came. It was time for us to take over training the new cadets and none of us could wait. Exhausted, but excited, we moved our stuff from one barracks to the other while the new cadets were at sponsor homes eating ice cream and calling home. By the next morning the excitement had mostly worn off and we were all left more exhausted than before. The 5 hours of sleep a night turned into 3 hours and 45 minutes almost exact every night.
Luckily, the pace of training slowed. We began with shooting ranges- 5 days again but with us teaching this time. On day one, watching those who had never fired a weapon before made it nerve wracking to think ahead to the training after the shooting ranges, fire team live fire. This is an event where we give new cadets live ammo and have them running through the woods with their buddies, shooting at targets as they pop up. As the squad leader, it would be my job to be in the middle of the group controlling their movements. This meant two iterations of having two new cadets on either side of me with live ammo, running and shooting. Thankfully, by the end of the training before the event I had no hesitation handing every member of my squad (except one for medical reasons) a loaded magazine and having them run next to me. Needless to say there was a lot of progress made and it was quite fun to watch these novices turn into experts almost overnight.
Then for the next week we taught them to rappel, mountain climb, make rope bridges, handle a toxic environment (gas chamber), and various other skills vital to survival in combat. Then for a week we moved on to teaching them how to handle situations where things went wrong in combat (SFR). There are pictures of the gas chamber and learning how to do IV's below.
The last block of training was spent out at beautiful Camp Buckner for a culminating exercise. The Hyde Challenge truly challenged the new cadets on everything they had been taught during beast. For a little under 24 hours my squad conducted operations ranging from shooting (in highly stressful situations) to aiding those who had been ambushed to clearing IEDs. We walked somewhere around 6-8 miles, running much of it, and my squad handled the situations well. There was also a night phase during which we set up a patrol base and ran recon missions all night long. The pictures of the Hyde Challenge are amazing but I cannot show them here because they are owned by the West Point Public Affairs Office. There are some cool pictures of it and the rest of beast here. I will (hopefully) do a separate post about the Hyde Challenge soon.
After the Hyde Challenge the new cadets were given a much needed chance to recover for a couple of days. Sunday afternoon consisted of an awards ceremony (my company won 3 of the 4 awards, including best company) and a talent show. Then it was off to bed before an early (0430) wake-up and marching back to West Point.
March back is a large affair with old grads coming to walk with the new cadets, sharing their stories of the corps and congratulating these young men and women on completing beast. The planned route was 12.2 miles- we ended up going about 14. Moral of the story? Everyone needs to know the route, not just the person in front. Sometimes the person in front gets too far ahead and then nobody else knows where to go!
After march back I had 3 days of administrative work to get myself out-processed from the academy and here I sit at home, looking for a job. I figure between beast and LTP I walked/ran with a pack on my back for about 65 miles and averaged between 3 and 4 hours of sleep a night. Maybe this time without a job is a gift?
Thursday, May 27, 2010
FT Jackson
Its been a busy couple of days but they're going to give me the weekend off (from Friday to Tuesday, Memorial Day is big here) so there's no harm in staying up to write a little bit, right?
The semester is over and I survived grad-week. This year's schedule gave us one morning to sleep in until 0630, an exciting change. Unfortunately, for all the cadre of Beast II (that means me) there was a 6 mile ruck march that morning. We stepped off at 0520. Joy. But the week wasn't all bad. My grades came back and I got about a 3.5 GPA. Decent. About what I was shooting for too. We'll see how that changes my class rank (or not if they don't get it out before I leave).
Graduation itself was quite disappointing. POTUS (President of the United States) was the graduation speaker and gave virtually the same speech he gave when he came before. It was just as boring this time too. What's more, he couldn't be bothered to show up on time. When I say that I don't mean he showed up 5 minutes after the ceremony started but still made it before his introduction. No. His motorcade showed up 5 minutes after his introduction and he didn't come out for 20-25 minutes after that. You know how awkward it is when you're riding in someone's car and the conversation just dies? Imagine that except that its a stadium filled to capacity with people. World's most awkward silence waiting for him to get out of his car. The announcer tried to talk to break up the silence, the band played a couple of songs, combined they both filled about 3 minutes. Dear Mr. President, I know you're not a fan of the military and it really is quite an honor for you to come speak to us but we do have lives and would appreciate not spending all of our time waiting for you (as we did this time and for 4 HOURS last time). Sincerely, Me.
I was invited to one bar-pinning ceremony that afternoon but was unable to attend. I learned afterword that it was a very formal event. LT GEN (3-star general) Franklin "Buster" Hagenbeck conducted and there was a formal meal before the actual ceremony. It would have been nice to be able to be there to give my friend a final farewell as we part ways. He will almost certainly be deployed before my next opportunity to see him (he branched infantry). Through the past couple of years he has been a strong support for me and a close friend. He'll make a wonderful officer.
My first duty for the summer is CTLT (Cadet Troop Leader Training) where we basically job shadow a lieutenant and see what we're supposed to do after we graduate. Getting here was interesting- nothing went to plan. Pretty much all I have to say about that.
Now I'm in beautiful South Carolina. FT Jackson (aka: Relaxin' Jackson) is a beautiful, thickly forested post but so hot and humid that working during the day is miserable. I got here and figured the next day was going to be a fairly relaxing one, ha! Once again while my peers slept I woke up early (0330) for a 10k (roughly, we went a bit further) ruck march. Thankfully basic training soldiers aren't in great shape. Despite my body screaming for sleep from the long night coming down here I was still able to not only complete the march but was doing laps from the front to the back of formation and then to the front again. The load was light and the pace mind numbingly slow, but somehow we still managed to almost lose half a platoon of new soldiers.
We did the night infiltration course that night. That's the one where you crawl out of a trench and across the field while drill sergeants are shooting live tracer rounds over your head. I crawled as a drill sergeant and was responsible for ensuring that nobody froze up and refused to move. Trying to get some of those privates to move out while the guns were firing was definitely a difficult experience. Imagine that, all these tough guys that aren't afraid of anything suddenly change their tune when you start shooting 7.62 rounds at them. All in all I was disappointed, not nearly as exciting as I was hoping for.
Last night I spent the night in the field with the soldiers. They have tents. And sleeping bags. So much softy gear...it could hardly be called a night in the field, more like a camping trip with an armed fire guard rather than a campfire. Still, it was good to get to know them and the drill sergeants a little better. Because they have to ensure that the privates get a certain amount of sleep every night they bedded them down at 2000 (8 pm) I went to bed at 2030-way too early. At 0230 my body was done sleeping. Ya know how much there is to do at o230? Absolutely nothing. It was a long morning.
Being called 'sir' by E-6 and E-7 drill sergeants who have been in the army for almost as long as I've been alive is quite humbling. In a staff meeting today CPT Grover (the company commander) told the cadre to give me all the courtesy and respect they would give himself or LT Holden (my sponsor). I couldn't help but wonder: Why? I'm a cadet. Someday an officer, yes, but not for a long time. Frankly, some of the more squared away privates in the company probably know as much about the army as I do. What qualifies me to be called 'sir' and have them salute? The answer is nothing, but they do it anyways. Quite unnerving really, I don't think I like it.
Now I'm just rambling like I always do when I need to get some sleep. That being said, one last topic. Memorial day is coming up. This is a very sacred day for many people. It is a very humbling experience to be here working closely with men and women who have watched their battle buddies pay the ultimate price. What's more, we're working to train those who are volunteering to lay down their lives. I would ask that regardless of your beliefs, regardless of how you feel about the war and the military, and regardless of your traditions on this day you please respect the veterans who are paying tribute to their fallen and missing comrades and pray for our soldiers both past and present. Just as a final note I want to end this with one of my favorite quotes. There are many versions of it floating around and all are good but I think the original is the most powerful:
The semester is over and I survived grad-week. This year's schedule gave us one morning to sleep in until 0630, an exciting change. Unfortunately, for all the cadre of Beast II (that means me) there was a 6 mile ruck march that morning. We stepped off at 0520. Joy. But the week wasn't all bad. My grades came back and I got about a 3.5 GPA. Decent. About what I was shooting for too. We'll see how that changes my class rank (or not if they don't get it out before I leave).
Graduation itself was quite disappointing. POTUS (President of the United States) was the graduation speaker and gave virtually the same speech he gave when he came before. It was just as boring this time too. What's more, he couldn't be bothered to show up on time. When I say that I don't mean he showed up 5 minutes after the ceremony started but still made it before his introduction. No. His motorcade showed up 5 minutes after his introduction and he didn't come out for 20-25 minutes after that. You know how awkward it is when you're riding in someone's car and the conversation just dies? Imagine that except that its a stadium filled to capacity with people. World's most awkward silence waiting for him to get out of his car. The announcer tried to talk to break up the silence, the band played a couple of songs, combined they both filled about 3 minutes. Dear Mr. President, I know you're not a fan of the military and it really is quite an honor for you to come speak to us but we do have lives and would appreciate not spending all of our time waiting for you (as we did this time and for 4 HOURS last time). Sincerely, Me.
I was invited to one bar-pinning ceremony that afternoon but was unable to attend. I learned afterword that it was a very formal event. LT GEN (3-star general) Franklin "Buster" Hagenbeck conducted and there was a formal meal before the actual ceremony. It would have been nice to be able to be there to give my friend a final farewell as we part ways. He will almost certainly be deployed before my next opportunity to see him (he branched infantry). Through the past couple of years he has been a strong support for me and a close friend. He'll make a wonderful officer.
My first duty for the summer is CTLT (Cadet Troop Leader Training) where we basically job shadow a lieutenant and see what we're supposed to do after we graduate. Getting here was interesting- nothing went to plan. Pretty much all I have to say about that.
Now I'm in beautiful South Carolina. FT Jackson (aka: Relaxin' Jackson) is a beautiful, thickly forested post but so hot and humid that working during the day is miserable. I got here and figured the next day was going to be a fairly relaxing one, ha! Once again while my peers slept I woke up early (0330) for a 10k (roughly, we went a bit further) ruck march. Thankfully basic training soldiers aren't in great shape. Despite my body screaming for sleep from the long night coming down here I was still able to not only complete the march but was doing laps from the front to the back of formation and then to the front again. The load was light and the pace mind numbingly slow, but somehow we still managed to almost lose half a platoon of new soldiers.
We did the night infiltration course that night. That's the one where you crawl out of a trench and across the field while drill sergeants are shooting live tracer rounds over your head. I crawled as a drill sergeant and was responsible for ensuring that nobody froze up and refused to move. Trying to get some of those privates to move out while the guns were firing was definitely a difficult experience. Imagine that, all these tough guys that aren't afraid of anything suddenly change their tune when you start shooting 7.62 rounds at them. All in all I was disappointed, not nearly as exciting as I was hoping for.
Last night I spent the night in the field with the soldiers. They have tents. And sleeping bags. So much softy gear...it could hardly be called a night in the field, more like a camping trip with an armed fire guard rather than a campfire. Still, it was good to get to know them and the drill sergeants a little better. Because they have to ensure that the privates get a certain amount of sleep every night they bedded them down at 2000 (8 pm) I went to bed at 2030-way too early. At 0230 my body was done sleeping. Ya know how much there is to do at o230? Absolutely nothing. It was a long morning.
Being called 'sir' by E-6 and E-7 drill sergeants who have been in the army for almost as long as I've been alive is quite humbling. In a staff meeting today CPT Grover (the company commander) told the cadre to give me all the courtesy and respect they would give himself or LT Holden (my sponsor). I couldn't help but wonder: Why? I'm a cadet. Someday an officer, yes, but not for a long time. Frankly, some of the more squared away privates in the company probably know as much about the army as I do. What qualifies me to be called 'sir' and have them salute? The answer is nothing, but they do it anyways. Quite unnerving really, I don't think I like it.
Now I'm just rambling like I always do when I need to get some sleep. That being said, one last topic. Memorial day is coming up. This is a very sacred day for many people. It is a very humbling experience to be here working closely with men and women who have watched their battle buddies pay the ultimate price. What's more, we're working to train those who are volunteering to lay down their lives. I would ask that regardless of your beliefs, regardless of how you feel about the war and the military, and regardless of your traditions on this day you please respect the veterans who are paying tribute to their fallen and missing comrades and pray for our soldiers both past and present. Just as a final note I want to end this with one of my favorite quotes. There are many versions of it floating around and all are good but I think the original is the most powerful:
"It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag
who allows the protester to burn the flag."
- Father Dennis Edward O'Brian, USMC
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag
who allows the protester to burn the flag."
- Father Dennis Edward O'Brian, USMC
Please remember to show respect for the flag and those who do serve and have served under it.
(Thanks for the pictures Josie)
(Thanks for the pictures Josie)Monday, May 10, 2010
Finally Finals
My sister's blog title about how long it had been since she wrote made me realize that I am way behind on updating ya'll about my life. Since its finals week I don't really have an excuse for not writing (see TEE week). My last update was about yearling winter weekend. Not a lot has happened since then but what has happened is noteworthy.
A break for the kids on the way up.
Everyone on the way back down.
Some scenery.
Such a beautiful place.
PVC pipe bazooka
Oakley truck
Later in the day he and his wife ate lunch with the LDS cadets here. I was fortunate enough to sit next to him at this meal and the conversation was amazingly normal. Deep down we all know the brethren are just normal people but it was fun to see that first hand. I was expecting religious topics but instead he wanted to know about us, what we are doing for the summer, what life at the academy is like, etc. It was comforting to see him like that.
The final activity for the day was a fireside for the branch. We started with a brief history of the church at West Point (Brigham Young's son was the first LDS cadet and was set apart as a missionary before coming). Next we had a firstie (senior) talk about his experiences here and how it has impacted his testimony. Then a cadet choir sang "Lead Kindly Light". I was going to be a part of this choir but my ear was messed up from a bad SCUBA dive (oh yeah, I got certified since I last wrote too) and I was afraid that my voice would be too distorted in my own ear to find the pitch. Then Elder Olsen, our area seventy, bore his testimony and Elder Holland spoke. He had not topic and just stood up and said what was on his mind, which happened to be about the power of an individual. He told us a story of a young elder's quorum president from a stake in Idaho:
The stake was being dissolved and a general authority was visiting to oversee the reassignment of wards to other stakes. They were going ward by ward asking for the presiding authority from that ward to stand and receive the assignment. They got to one of the wards and nobody stood up. After a long pause this elders quorum president stood up and said "I guess I'm the only one." At this statement the visiting general authority pumped, shoved the stake president out of the way and yelled into the microphone, pointing at the man: "What did you say?!"
The entire congregation froze in stunned silence. The elders quorum president didn't know what to say. Finally, after the general authority asked his question a few more times, the young man, probably in his late 20's or early 30's stammered "I think I said I'm the only one here." "That's exactly what you said!" shouted the general authority. The elders quorum president was slightly relieved at this affirmation but still nervous about being pointed and yelled at by an authority from God.
By now the stake president still hadn't gotten up and was quite comfortable hiding under the piano and the rest of the congregation was slowly sliding under the pews to escape the wrath. The general authority shouted at him asking what that meant. The elders quorum president was lost but eventually figured out what the authority was getting at. "I guess with God one is many," he stated timidly.
"Yes, thank you. Never again say you are the only one."
Elder Holland went on to expound on that saying that rather than shyly saying "I guess I'm the only one" when the Lord calls on us, we should salute and report confidently "I'm here. I don't know about anybody else but I'm here Lord." It was a very powerful talk and he had us all rolling on the floor laughing for most of it. Pictures of day's events can be found here.
For Spring Break I went to Washington to visit my sister and her family. My parents and brother drove up from Utah and we all spent the week hiking, going to the park, beach and just enjoying the company of each other. I actually remembered my camera one of the days so there are a few pictures of our hike.
A break for the kids on the way up.
Everyone on the way back down.
Some scenery.
Such a beautiful place.A few weeks ago we had Spring Fest. The tradition of a holiday to celebrate the season was born last year on a rainy, cold weekend and this particular weekend was just as cold and wet (so much for a nice spring celebration). Different companies and entertainers come in and set up booths to sell their wares to the corps of cadets. The most popular booths are the massages (partly cause its a free massage, partly cause they have a heater), the Oakley trailer (hauled by the truck below) and (new this year) the Benchmade booth. I could spend a fortune on cool knives. Other cool ones included the snake guy and a game that monitors brainwave activity and moves a ball accordingly. Whoever pushes the ball into their opponent's circle wins. There was also a human statue there. He was dressed as a plastic army man and was probably one of the best human statues I've ever seen.
PVC pipe bazooka
Oakley truckThe last thing to update everyone about is a visit from Elder Holland. This past Friday Elder and Sister Holland came to West Point. Elder Holland was the guest speaker for the West Point Chaplain's "National Day of Prayer Breakfast". He addressed all who chose to attend the breakfast at 6 am. These breakfasts are built around the Army Values and this year's topic was integrity. One interesting point he made is that integrity and integer are related words and both mean whole. It is important, he stated, to be a whole person, not fractured.
Later in the day he and his wife ate lunch with the LDS cadets here. I was fortunate enough to sit next to him at this meal and the conversation was amazingly normal. Deep down we all know the brethren are just normal people but it was fun to see that first hand. I was expecting religious topics but instead he wanted to know about us, what we are doing for the summer, what life at the academy is like, etc. It was comforting to see him like that.
The final activity for the day was a fireside for the branch. We started with a brief history of the church at West Point (Brigham Young's son was the first LDS cadet and was set apart as a missionary before coming). Next we had a firstie (senior) talk about his experiences here and how it has impacted his testimony. Then a cadet choir sang "Lead Kindly Light". I was going to be a part of this choir but my ear was messed up from a bad SCUBA dive (oh yeah, I got certified since I last wrote too) and I was afraid that my voice would be too distorted in my own ear to find the pitch. Then Elder Olsen, our area seventy, bore his testimony and Elder Holland spoke. He had not topic and just stood up and said what was on his mind, which happened to be about the power of an individual. He told us a story of a young elder's quorum president from a stake in Idaho:
The stake was being dissolved and a general authority was visiting to oversee the reassignment of wards to other stakes. They were going ward by ward asking for the presiding authority from that ward to stand and receive the assignment. They got to one of the wards and nobody stood up. After a long pause this elders quorum president stood up and said "I guess I'm the only one." At this statement the visiting general authority pumped, shoved the stake president out of the way and yelled into the microphone, pointing at the man: "What did you say?!"
The entire congregation froze in stunned silence. The elders quorum president didn't know what to say. Finally, after the general authority asked his question a few more times, the young man, probably in his late 20's or early 30's stammered "I think I said I'm the only one here." "That's exactly what you said!" shouted the general authority. The elders quorum president was slightly relieved at this affirmation but still nervous about being pointed and yelled at by an authority from God.
By now the stake president still hadn't gotten up and was quite comfortable hiding under the piano and the rest of the congregation was slowly sliding under the pews to escape the wrath. The general authority shouted at him asking what that meant. The elders quorum president was lost but eventually figured out what the authority was getting at. "I guess with God one is many," he stated timidly.
"Yes, thank you. Never again say you are the only one."
Elder Holland went on to expound on that saying that rather than shyly saying "I guess I'm the only one" when the Lord calls on us, we should salute and report confidently "I'm here. I don't know about anybody else but I'm here Lord." It was a very powerful talk and he had us all rolling on the floor laughing for most of it. Pictures of day's events can be found here.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Someday...
Right now I've got a case of the "somedays." Everyone gets them from time to time, thinking about what they want to do. Common phrases around here are:
"Someday when we're done with this place..."
"Someday when I get out of this prison..."
etc.
Sometimes it almost makes it feel as though rather than coming here to live my life I've put my life on hold to come here. On days like this its often nice to read back over my blog and see the many things I've done since coming here (and think about the many things that simply haven't been written about).
On that note, someday I'll get around to updating this with real information. Spring Break, some rough weeks, etc. And yes, Sheena, I'll even get around to responding to your photo tag...
"Someday when we're done with this place..."
"Someday when I get out of this prison..."
etc.
Sometimes it almost makes it feel as though rather than coming here to live my life I've put my life on hold to come here. On days like this its often nice to read back over my blog and see the many things I've done since coming here (and think about the many things that simply haven't been written about).
On that note, someday I'll get around to updating this with real information. Spring Break, some rough weeks, etc. And yes, Sheena, I'll even get around to responding to your photo tag...
Saturday, February 13, 2010
The School of Hard Knocks, Literally
This is a story I put up on myspace forever ago, its from the beginning of plebe year. I thought it was on here but some of you don't know the story so here it is:
Ok, so for those of you who aren't cadets, this might be a good story, but I'm writing it more for cadets and those who want to become cadets. this is a lesson I learned the hard way in the past week, learn from my mistake.
When you go to the health clinic, and they put you on profile, especially against your will, obey the profile.
Plebe beating, I mean PE 116-Boxing, is a required course, there's no way out of it. If you get Dr. Barone, I'm sorry, just don't be late, screw around, or get put on profile and you should be fine.
I've been sick for about a month now. At one point, I was 'better' and thought that was the end, but Water Polo tryouts almost killed me, and my roommates finally convinced me to go to sick call and get medical help. I woke up at five, the clinic was closed. oh well, get my shower done so i won't have to do it later. . .
5:30, still closed. . .
0600 the clinic finally opens. I go in and wait in line forever, just to be told to go back to my room and make an appointment for later in the day. So I go back to my room, and have very little time before breakfast formation. Obviously I haven't had the time to learn the meals for the day, look at the days, or read the news. I'm at my first sergeant's table for breakfast table, oh crap, now what? maybe he won't ask. . .
after breakfast we were supposed to(we being all the plebes at the table and their team leaders) report to 1sgt's room at 0640 the next morning.
i look at my schedule for the day, the only time i can go to sick call that they have an opening is at 10:30, leaving me little time to get across cadet area to Arvin(the building) for boxing class. Dr. Barone is a jerk about bein late, so I fire off a quick e-mail telling him, basically, that I'm screwed and i'll try to make it to class on time.
I make it to boxing, barely in time to explain that the clinic just put me on profile. Short version of Dr. Barone's response: "MEAT HEAD, IF YOU MISS THIS CLASS TODAY AND FRIDAY, I'M GONNA DROP YOU FROM IT AND YOU GET TO TAKE STAP(summer school)!!!"
So being the wise guy that I am, I call the clinic and make them change my profile to let me box. . .big mistake.
Apperantly when you get hit in the nose with a sinus infection, it hurts about ten times worse, and bleeds really easily/bad.
To make things better, the closest person(in weight) to me in the class is about 20 pounds heavier, and has years of martial arts training(fast reflexes, knows how to take and give a punch?)
Add insult to injury, when I got back to my barracks from boxing, lunch formation was already formed up. Everyone noticed the bloody, half dead looking plebe walking by. Luckily there was an entrance close by, so I was able to dodge most people.
While washing the blood from my face, I noticed that it was all over my body and that I was gonna hafta shower to get it off. By the time I'm out of the shower and in uniform, lunch is over, but the mess hall is still open. So I take off running to try and get some lunch, and run into one of the sergeants from my table.
"Where were you!!!" she yelled at me.
Oh, joy, now I'm gonna get yelled at for not showing up to a mando(mandatory) meal. Luckily, upon hearing my pathetic story, she takes pitty on me and lets me go.
Oh yeah, while I was lucky enough to have a free period after lunch, that was supposed to be spent finishing my HI 103 homework for the period after that. Crap, now i'm gonna get in trouble for not finishing that too. . .
Hahaha, it was a long day, but i survived. There are many morals here: as bad as you think you(civilians) have it, it could be worse(ie: you could be in the USCC); if you stick it out, things get better(we had a football game that night, life was fun for a while); and, probably the most important, OBEY YOUR PROFILE!!!!
Ok, so for those of you who aren't cadets, this might be a good story, but I'm writing it more for cadets and those who want to become cadets. this is a lesson I learned the hard way in the past week, learn from my mistake.
When you go to the health clinic, and they put you on profile, especially against your will, obey the profile.
Plebe beating, I mean PE 116-Boxing, is a required course, there's no way out of it. If you get Dr. Barone, I'm sorry, just don't be late, screw around, or get put on profile and you should be fine.
I've been sick for about a month now. At one point, I was 'better' and thought that was the end, but Water Polo tryouts almost killed me, and my roommates finally convinced me to go to sick call and get medical help. I woke up at five, the clinic was closed. oh well, get my shower done so i won't have to do it later. . .
5:30, still closed. . .
0600 the clinic finally opens. I go in and wait in line forever, just to be told to go back to my room and make an appointment for later in the day. So I go back to my room, and have very little time before breakfast formation. Obviously I haven't had the time to learn the meals for the day, look at the days, or read the news. I'm at my first sergeant's table for breakfast table, oh crap, now what? maybe he won't ask. . .
after breakfast we were supposed to(we being all the plebes at the table and their team leaders) report to 1sgt's room at 0640 the next morning.
i look at my schedule for the day, the only time i can go to sick call that they have an opening is at 10:30, leaving me little time to get across cadet area to Arvin(the building) for boxing class. Dr. Barone is a jerk about bein late, so I fire off a quick e-mail telling him, basically, that I'm screwed and i'll try to make it to class on time.
I make it to boxing, barely in time to explain that the clinic just put me on profile. Short version of Dr. Barone's response: "MEAT HEAD, IF YOU MISS THIS CLASS TODAY AND FRIDAY, I'M GONNA DROP YOU FROM IT AND YOU GET TO TAKE STAP(summer school)!!!"
So being the wise guy that I am, I call the clinic and make them change my profile to let me box. . .big mistake.
Apperantly when you get hit in the nose with a sinus infection, it hurts about ten times worse, and bleeds really easily/bad.
To make things better, the closest person(in weight) to me in the class is about 20 pounds heavier, and has years of martial arts training(fast reflexes, knows how to take and give a punch?)
Add insult to injury, when I got back to my barracks from boxing, lunch formation was already formed up. Everyone noticed the bloody, half dead looking plebe walking by. Luckily there was an entrance close by, so I was able to dodge most people.
While washing the blood from my face, I noticed that it was all over my body and that I was gonna hafta shower to get it off. By the time I'm out of the shower and in uniform, lunch is over, but the mess hall is still open. So I take off running to try and get some lunch, and run into one of the sergeants from my table.
"Where were you!!!" she yelled at me.
Oh, joy, now I'm gonna get yelled at for not showing up to a mando(mandatory) meal. Luckily, upon hearing my pathetic story, she takes pitty on me and lets me go.
Oh yeah, while I was lucky enough to have a free period after lunch, that was supposed to be spent finishing my HI 103 homework for the period after that. Crap, now i'm gonna get in trouble for not finishing that too. . .
Hahaha, it was a long day, but i survived. There are many morals here: as bad as you think you(civilians) have it, it could be worse(ie: you could be in the USCC); if you stick it out, things get better(we had a football game that night, life was fun for a while); and, probably the most important, OBEY YOUR PROFILE!!!!
Friday, February 5, 2010
YWW
Every year each class at the academy gets a weekend to celebrate. Last year was Plebe Parent Weekend, this year was Yearling Winter Weekend- a big dinner/dance weekend for everyone to bring dates to and socialize with people from the outside (since 4 years here tends to make one very socially awkward otherwise).
At first, just for someone to bring, I had invited my ex-girlfriend to be my date for the event since she is already out here and it would be much cheaper. After a couple of months of neither of us saying anything, I had decided that I really didn't want to bring her and that seemed okay because she hadn't said anything about it. In fact I was toying with the idea of spending the money to invite someone from home, a girl I had liked in high school and had recently gotten back in contact with. Then one day, out of the blue, the dance came up while I was talking to my ex. She ended up inviting some of her friends and I was stuck trying to find dates for them all. Didn't work. Trying to find dates for this kind of thing that late in the game was impossible. Finally I gave up and just asked her if I could take someone else. I spent the money and invited Emma Nielson, the other girl I had been thinking about taking.
There were many reasons not to invite Emma. One was the timing; I'm getting ready to go on a mission and after that I have two more years of academy life (most likely) so it wasn't the most ideal time to get into a new relationship. Plus there was the thing with inviting Andrea. While I feel bad about that, the timing could prove problematic, and it was expensive it was entirely worth it. We had a wonderful time! But we never really did anything.
Friday night we watched a movie, ate dinner, watched a movie and went to bed.
Saturday we drove. A lot. We got in the car (borrowed from a gracious firstie whom I still have yet to meet in person) and just drove and talked. After a while we stopped to eat and then drove to a dunkin' doughnuts for hot chocolate. We just talked, about everything. It was a very bizarre feeling to be sitting in a doughnut shop in New York talking to the girl that had caused so much angst in high school- and we even talked about that. After hot chocolate we had to go gas up. We had gone through an entire tank of gas! We decided to hit the mall (at this point, though it was great to just talk, I was feeling bad for not actually doing anything). When we got to the mall though, we ended up just walking around the mall, talking again. We didn't go see a movie like we planned, or any of the other events I had planned for us to potentially do that day but it was ok, we had more fun this way.
After the mall we went back to the point. She got ready for the dance and I sat and talked to her while she did her hair. When it was time, I went and got ready. We almost didn't plan enough time for her and we got into a time crunch looking for an iron for her dress. The solution? Bring her to the barracks and borrow an iron from my neighbors. In the mad dash to make it to the mess hall on time her stuff ended up scattered around my room. We went to the dinner and the dance and came back to my room to gather her stuff and go. Time passed as we were talking to my roommate and suddenly it was taps. After taps they always come around and check to make sure we are in our rooms. Unfortunately, they don't like finding a girl in your room gathering her stuff. Luckily, when the situation was explained I ended up with virtually no punishment.
I took her back to my sponsor's house (where she was staying) and we sat on the couch cuddling and talking until 6:30 in the morning when we saw the time. Getting up for church the next morning was fun!
After church we were a little slower getting on the road than planned and she would not have made her flight if we used the trains and subways so I ended up just driving her to JFK. I can now say I've driven in New York City. In someone else's car. Wouldn't suggest it, but it worked out fine. The drivers here aren't as bad people seem to expect.
It was a wonderful weekend. The money side of it worked easier than expected and we had an amazing time, in spite of not really doing anything. It was all worth it. Much more than worth it.
At first, just for someone to bring, I had invited my ex-girlfriend to be my date for the event since she is already out here and it would be much cheaper. After a couple of months of neither of us saying anything, I had decided that I really didn't want to bring her and that seemed okay because she hadn't said anything about it. In fact I was toying with the idea of spending the money to invite someone from home, a girl I had liked in high school and had recently gotten back in contact with. Then one day, out of the blue, the dance came up while I was talking to my ex. She ended up inviting some of her friends and I was stuck trying to find dates for them all. Didn't work. Trying to find dates for this kind of thing that late in the game was impossible. Finally I gave up and just asked her if I could take someone else. I spent the money and invited Emma Nielson, the other girl I had been thinking about taking.
There were many reasons not to invite Emma. One was the timing; I'm getting ready to go on a mission and after that I have two more years of academy life (most likely) so it wasn't the most ideal time to get into a new relationship. Plus there was the thing with inviting Andrea. While I feel bad about that, the timing could prove problematic, and it was expensive it was entirely worth it. We had a wonderful time! But we never really did anything.
Friday night we watched a movie, ate dinner, watched a movie and went to bed.
Saturday we drove. A lot. We got in the car (borrowed from a gracious firstie whom I still have yet to meet in person) and just drove and talked. After a while we stopped to eat and then drove to a dunkin' doughnuts for hot chocolate. We just talked, about everything. It was a very bizarre feeling to be sitting in a doughnut shop in New York talking to the girl that had caused so much angst in high school- and we even talked about that. After hot chocolate we had to go gas up. We had gone through an entire tank of gas! We decided to hit the mall (at this point, though it was great to just talk, I was feeling bad for not actually doing anything). When we got to the mall though, we ended up just walking around the mall, talking again. We didn't go see a movie like we planned, or any of the other events I had planned for us to potentially do that day but it was ok, we had more fun this way.
After the mall we went back to the point. She got ready for the dance and I sat and talked to her while she did her hair. When it was time, I went and got ready. We almost didn't plan enough time for her and we got into a time crunch looking for an iron for her dress. The solution? Bring her to the barracks and borrow an iron from my neighbors. In the mad dash to make it to the mess hall on time her stuff ended up scattered around my room. We went to the dinner and the dance and came back to my room to gather her stuff and go. Time passed as we were talking to my roommate and suddenly it was taps. After taps they always come around and check to make sure we are in our rooms. Unfortunately, they don't like finding a girl in your room gathering her stuff. Luckily, when the situation was explained I ended up with virtually no punishment.
I took her back to my sponsor's house (where she was staying) and we sat on the couch cuddling and talking until 6:30 in the morning when we saw the time. Getting up for church the next morning was fun!
After church we were a little slower getting on the road than planned and she would not have made her flight if we used the trains and subways so I ended up just driving her to JFK. I can now say I've driven in New York City. In someone else's car. Wouldn't suggest it, but it worked out fine. The drivers here aren't as bad people seem to expect.
It was a wonderful weekend. The money side of it worked easier than expected and we had an amazing time, in spite of not really doing anything. It was all worth it. Much more than worth it.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Jury Duty
"A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal nor tolerate those who do."
-USMA Cadet Honor Code
The honor code is a very serious thing at the academy. A good illustration of this is the movie Codebreakers which is based on a true story in which the majority of the Army football team was caught violating said code and kicked out.
Last week, I was "randomly selected" to be on an honor board. The whole thing could have easily been cleared up if the teacher reporting the violation would have simply taken 2 minutes of her time to talk to her students and actually figure out what was going on. Instead 9 cadets on the board, the board president (also a cadet), the respondant (defendant in normal court), his cadet advisor, and a handful of cadet witnesses had to miss a day of school to go and try to sort out what happened. Not to mention the JAG attorney and court reporter who had to be present. That's a lot of wasted man hours and it doesn't even figure all the investigative time involved before the case even came to court! 0830-1630-8 hours each. In high school the opportunity to get out of class would have been welcomed but here? seriously? you want me to miss my classes? 2 minutes of her time, that's all it would have taken to clear this up. But I'm not bitter...ha!
Anyways, the teacher (a civilian who lost her contract to teach at the academy at the end of the semester...I wonder why?) assigned a project which was and administrative nightmare. The class was to design a week long workout with the purpose of moving toward an individual goal they had set earlier in the class. Upon completing the workout, the teacher collected them and passed them back randomly for someone else to actually do the workouts and assess how well designed the program was. In order to assure an unbiased assessment, the programs were submitted anonymously- no names! The teacher used absolutely no system to track which paper belonged to which student. Needless to say, more than a month later when the students were getting their papers back there was some confusion. The student in question claimed to have assessed a paper, and the teacher didn't believe him and reported him for an honor violation stating that the student was absent the day the papers were turned in (false) and that the handwriting on the paper didn't match that of the student (which it obviously did when we made him write the exact same comments in the court room- stylistically and misspellings). Both statements were entirely false. Upon questioning her, she stated that another student had actually done the work so we pulled him out of class and questioned him. When we showed him a photocopy of the paper his response was "This definitely isn't mine. The handwriting isn't mine, the workout isn't mine, I've never even seen this before." Hmm, I certainly trust this teacher after that.
The hardest part was figuring out exactly what the teacher was claiming. Deliberation took all of 10 minutes, more than half of which was spent talking about how inept the teacher was rather than whether the kid was guilty or not-he was obviously innocent).
Jury duty is a pain in the butt. Thankfully we finished in one day but that day was still shot. Thanks unnamed instructor for wasting my time- cadets just have so much of it in the middle of the week ya know?
-USMA Cadet Honor Code
The honor code is a very serious thing at the academy. A good illustration of this is the movie Codebreakers which is based on a true story in which the majority of the Army football team was caught violating said code and kicked out.
Last week, I was "randomly selected" to be on an honor board. The whole thing could have easily been cleared up if the teacher reporting the violation would have simply taken 2 minutes of her time to talk to her students and actually figure out what was going on. Instead 9 cadets on the board, the board president (also a cadet), the respondant (defendant in normal court), his cadet advisor, and a handful of cadet witnesses had to miss a day of school to go and try to sort out what happened. Not to mention the JAG attorney and court reporter who had to be present. That's a lot of wasted man hours and it doesn't even figure all the investigative time involved before the case even came to court! 0830-1630-8 hours each. In high school the opportunity to get out of class would have been welcomed but here? seriously? you want me to miss my classes? 2 minutes of her time, that's all it would have taken to clear this up. But I'm not bitter...ha!
Anyways, the teacher (a civilian who lost her contract to teach at the academy at the end of the semester...I wonder why?) assigned a project which was and administrative nightmare. The class was to design a week long workout with the purpose of moving toward an individual goal they had set earlier in the class. Upon completing the workout, the teacher collected them and passed them back randomly for someone else to actually do the workouts and assess how well designed the program was. In order to assure an unbiased assessment, the programs were submitted anonymously- no names! The teacher used absolutely no system to track which paper belonged to which student. Needless to say, more than a month later when the students were getting their papers back there was some confusion. The student in question claimed to have assessed a paper, and the teacher didn't believe him and reported him for an honor violation stating that the student was absent the day the papers were turned in (false) and that the handwriting on the paper didn't match that of the student (which it obviously did when we made him write the exact same comments in the court room- stylistically and misspellings). Both statements were entirely false. Upon questioning her, she stated that another student had actually done the work so we pulled him out of class and questioned him. When we showed him a photocopy of the paper his response was "This definitely isn't mine. The handwriting isn't mine, the workout isn't mine, I've never even seen this before." Hmm, I certainly trust this teacher after that.
The hardest part was figuring out exactly what the teacher was claiming. Deliberation took all of 10 minutes, more than half of which was spent talking about how inept the teacher was rather than whether the kid was guilty or not-he was obviously innocent).
Jury duty is a pain in the butt. Thankfully we finished in one day but that day was still shot. Thanks unnamed instructor for wasting my time- cadets just have so much of it in the middle of the week ya know?
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Way behind
I was talking to a friend about blogging and realized that I am way behind on the whole "keeping people updated on my life" thing. Christmas break, reorgy week (reorganization week), a lot has been happening and changing. Yet things are still fundamentally the same. Here I sit in my little gray cell late at night typing about the humdrum of everyday life while my roommates are sound asleep in the background. I'm still a "bitter yuc" eagerly awaiting the next opportunity to escape-at least in some degree-academy life (Yearling Winter Weekend, 16 days-not that I'm counting).
Winter Leave (more commonly known to other schools as winter/Christmas break) was amazing. I had to spend the night in the airport, but managed to get out of NYC only one day behind schedule-much better than most of the people who were waiting there with me. I spent two days sleeping. Literally. At the end of the second day looked down and realized that the only time I had been out of my pajamas was to shower. The next day was Christmas! It was a great day and I was given tons of cool stuff to help traveling/spending nights in airports much more tolerable. That weekend I started hanging out with friends and spent pretty much the rest of my time at home hanging out/catching up with old buddies from what seems forever ago.
Unfortunately, it came to an end and I returned to the point. We had three days of reorgy week to get moved in, buy books, find classes and generally re-acclimatize to life here. My roommates and I stayed together in the same room so moving was easy, I just pulled my stuff out of the closet but it was still a long three days.
I have a new plebe. This time, HE doesn't fit into any of the categories of my previous plebe. The emphasis for what I am supposed to teach this semester is Buckner-prep and other military type stuff- which my new plebe openly admits is his weak point making life easier for me when trying to come up with things to talk about. My leadership style is to take people on an individual basis as much as possible rather than a one size fits all attitude so I asked him what he wants from me and his answer was a hands-off leader. Great! I'll let him do his thing and unless he screws up I won't really have to work this semester! Should be relaxing, tons more time. Although, as much time as it takes, I think I am going to miss being there when my subordinate needed me. Its nice to be able to go to bed at night knowing that in some small way, simple though it may be, you made a difference in someone's life for the better.
Classes started on a Thursday (not Saturday like I had thought, although we did still have class) and we had a one-day weekend-not nearly enough. My course load isn't bad this semester (as in the classes are relatively easy even though there are a lot of them) but my instructors...there are some real winners. Others are legitimately good though. My philosophy teacher for example is exactly what I imagine taking a class from my cousin Kyle would be like-too bad he has to be teaching such a worthless class. My schedule is as follows:
DAY 1:
Intro to Computer Science
Spanish II
Philosophy
Economics
DAY 2:
Physics II
Probability and Statistics
Spanish II (both days)
SCUBA (only the second half of the semester)
LABS:
Computer Science
Economics
Physics
Total, including SCUBA for half a semester, 20.5 credits (our labs don't actually count for credit hours, they are just a part of the class).
On the church side of things, it was really good to come back and see all my friends again. Yes, I am aware that I just said it was good to come back, and I meant it. I always miss home and dread coming back, but these guys have become as much my family as those at home, in a way. Being a branch missionary is great. We finally got around to teaching the first new-member discussion to our recent convert and we have another baptism on Saturday. Sadly, I will no longer be in/teaching the gospel essentials class. Though I struggled with it, it was good for me and I will miss seeing the investigators in that setting every week. Given what I am moving to instead; however, its a change I'm glad to make- mission prep is going to be taught during that time! We are all beginning the process of leaving the academy to serve the Lord and I can't wait! Especially after teaching the discussion yesterday.
That's about it. Exiting boredom, the story of my life.
Winter Leave (more commonly known to other schools as winter/Christmas break) was amazing. I had to spend the night in the airport, but managed to get out of NYC only one day behind schedule-much better than most of the people who were waiting there with me. I spent two days sleeping. Literally. At the end of the second day looked down and realized that the only time I had been out of my pajamas was to shower. The next day was Christmas! It was a great day and I was given tons of cool stuff to help traveling/spending nights in airports much more tolerable. That weekend I started hanging out with friends and spent pretty much the rest of my time at home hanging out/catching up with old buddies from what seems forever ago.
Unfortunately, it came to an end and I returned to the point. We had three days of reorgy week to get moved in, buy books, find classes and generally re-acclimatize to life here. My roommates and I stayed together in the same room so moving was easy, I just pulled my stuff out of the closet but it was still a long three days.
I have a new plebe. This time, HE doesn't fit into any of the categories of my previous plebe. The emphasis for what I am supposed to teach this semester is Buckner-prep and other military type stuff- which my new plebe openly admits is his weak point making life easier for me when trying to come up with things to talk about. My leadership style is to take people on an individual basis as much as possible rather than a one size fits all attitude so I asked him what he wants from me and his answer was a hands-off leader. Great! I'll let him do his thing and unless he screws up I won't really have to work this semester! Should be relaxing, tons more time. Although, as much time as it takes, I think I am going to miss being there when my subordinate needed me. Its nice to be able to go to bed at night knowing that in some small way, simple though it may be, you made a difference in someone's life for the better.
Classes started on a Thursday (not Saturday like I had thought, although we did still have class) and we had a one-day weekend-not nearly enough. My course load isn't bad this semester (as in the classes are relatively easy even though there are a lot of them) but my instructors...there are some real winners. Others are legitimately good though. My philosophy teacher for example is exactly what I imagine taking a class from my cousin Kyle would be like-too bad he has to be teaching such a worthless class. My schedule is as follows:
DAY 1:
Intro to Computer Science
Spanish II
Philosophy
Economics
DAY 2:
Physics II
Probability and Statistics
Spanish II (both days)
SCUBA (only the second half of the semester)
LABS:
Computer Science
Economics
Physics
Total, including SCUBA for half a semester, 20.5 credits (our labs don't actually count for credit hours, they are just a part of the class).
On the church side of things, it was really good to come back and see all my friends again. Yes, I am aware that I just said it was good to come back, and I meant it. I always miss home and dread coming back, but these guys have become as much my family as those at home, in a way. Being a branch missionary is great. We finally got around to teaching the first new-member discussion to our recent convert and we have another baptism on Saturday. Sadly, I will no longer be in/teaching the gospel essentials class. Though I struggled with it, it was good for me and I will miss seeing the investigators in that setting every week. Given what I am moving to instead; however, its a change I'm glad to make- mission prep is going to be taught during that time! We are all beginning the process of leaving the academy to serve the Lord and I can't wait! Especially after teaching the discussion yesterday.
That's about it. Exiting boredom, the story of my life.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
I grew up
Lots of people are talking about the new decade and all that has happened in the old decade. After reading my sister's blog I started thinking "Certainly not that much has happened to me in the past decade. I mean, the past couple of years, yeah, but other than that?" So I decided to actually figure out what had happened.
The year 2000 started with the last half of fourth grade. Honestly, I really don't even remember that much. It was an election year though, the first election I ever followed (Bush vs. Gore). Other than that, there's not much I even remember. The next several years are like that. 9/11 was significant, but not specifically to me. The Olympics in SLC. Through these years I was a quiet, shy little boy. I remember Sheena bringing her friends to the house and thinking how huge they were and that there's no way I would ever be big like that. At some point though I did become big(ish, I still don't really feel like a "big person").
In 8th grade (2003-04) I started going to Provo once a week for Utah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra (UVYSO). My first tour with them was the '04 Los Angeles tour. I climbed on the bus in Delta and only knew one person. She had a seat at the front of the bus, I got stuck in the back. Kinda hard for a shy kid, but someone reached out to me and really brought me out of my shell. For the next few years I would go talk to anyone, I didn't care. Life was good. Lauren (the one who included me) and I were good friends for years.
The next major event was August '05. Justine had a tragic accident which took her life. This is when I learned that real men do cry from time to time, over certain things. I had experienced death before, but it was always an elderly person who had lived a full life. This time it was a close personal friend, much different. About a month later, another friend, Danielle, also had a fatal accident. I wasn't as close with her, but about a week before she died Danielle came up to me and reminded me of a promise I had made her. I never got to fulfill that promise, and it has hurt me ever since. Two and a half months later, another friend from UVYSO missed practice. The next week when I asked her where she had been I learned that she had gone anorexic- hadn't eaten anything for a month- and tried to and almost succeeded in killing herself by overdosing on her sister's medication. This was a dark time in my life and it took me until just this past summer to be truly happy again. I receded back into my shell, didn't want to have anything to do with anyone and built up walls to keep people out. My logic was that if I never got close to anyone, I would never be hurt like that again. That is not true, and even if it was I have since learned that even if you aren't hurt, you will still not be happy unless you lead a happy life. Luckily, I had a friend who was willing to take the time to break through the walls I had built up. Better yet, rather than trying to force me to instantly be more social, she showed me the way to take the walls down for myself. It was a long process, and is sometimes still a struggle, but its worth. I owe much of who I am to that friend and will be forever grateful.
But it wasn't all bad. Somewhere along the way I got a postcard from USMA asking me to go to a "briefing" at the University of Utah. It sounded interesting so I made my parents drive me up and attend. My eyes were opened to a whole new opportunity that I had never before considered. In the spring of '07 I started my application. By February (I believe) of the following year the application was finished and it became a waiting game. I was offered a full tuition ROTC scholarship to BYU, as well as a full tuition academic scholarship which combined would have meant almost free school there as well. Then Sen. Hatch's office called me one day, catching me in between classes, and read me an email they had received stating that I was to be extended an appointment to the academy.
So much has changed in the past two years that I am not even going to attempt to talk about it all. Cadet Basic Training was miserable but looking back I actually miss those days. Plebe year, Buckner, AMT, so much growth. It is hard to believe that now I am a "big person". I have finished high school and a year and a half of college. My friends are all gone on missions and I will soon be starting my papers to join them. The past decade may not have had that many events that impacted me specifically but they were huge; their impact eternal. 10 years is a long time, and somewhere along the way it happened: I grew up.
The year 2000 started with the last half of fourth grade. Honestly, I really don't even remember that much. It was an election year though, the first election I ever followed (Bush vs. Gore). Other than that, there's not much I even remember. The next several years are like that. 9/11 was significant, but not specifically to me. The Olympics in SLC. Through these years I was a quiet, shy little boy. I remember Sheena bringing her friends to the house and thinking how huge they were and that there's no way I would ever be big like that. At some point though I did become big(ish, I still don't really feel like a "big person").
In 8th grade (2003-04) I started going to Provo once a week for Utah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra (UVYSO). My first tour with them was the '04 Los Angeles tour. I climbed on the bus in Delta and only knew one person. She had a seat at the front of the bus, I got stuck in the back. Kinda hard for a shy kid, but someone reached out to me and really brought me out of my shell. For the next few years I would go talk to anyone, I didn't care. Life was good. Lauren (the one who included me) and I were good friends for years.
The next major event was August '05. Justine had a tragic accident which took her life. This is when I learned that real men do cry from time to time, over certain things. I had experienced death before, but it was always an elderly person who had lived a full life. This time it was a close personal friend, much different. About a month later, another friend, Danielle, also had a fatal accident. I wasn't as close with her, but about a week before she died Danielle came up to me and reminded me of a promise I had made her. I never got to fulfill that promise, and it has hurt me ever since. Two and a half months later, another friend from UVYSO missed practice. The next week when I asked her where she had been I learned that she had gone anorexic- hadn't eaten anything for a month- and tried to and almost succeeded in killing herself by overdosing on her sister's medication. This was a dark time in my life and it took me until just this past summer to be truly happy again. I receded back into my shell, didn't want to have anything to do with anyone and built up walls to keep people out. My logic was that if I never got close to anyone, I would never be hurt like that again. That is not true, and even if it was I have since learned that even if you aren't hurt, you will still not be happy unless you lead a happy life. Luckily, I had a friend who was willing to take the time to break through the walls I had built up. Better yet, rather than trying to force me to instantly be more social, she showed me the way to take the walls down for myself. It was a long process, and is sometimes still a struggle, but its worth. I owe much of who I am to that friend and will be forever grateful.
But it wasn't all bad. Somewhere along the way I got a postcard from USMA asking me to go to a "briefing" at the University of Utah. It sounded interesting so I made my parents drive me up and attend. My eyes were opened to a whole new opportunity that I had never before considered. In the spring of '07 I started my application. By February (I believe) of the following year the application was finished and it became a waiting game. I was offered a full tuition ROTC scholarship to BYU, as well as a full tuition academic scholarship which combined would have meant almost free school there as well. Then Sen. Hatch's office called me one day, catching me in between classes, and read me an email they had received stating that I was to be extended an appointment to the academy.
So much has changed in the past two years that I am not even going to attempt to talk about it all. Cadet Basic Training was miserable but looking back I actually miss those days. Plebe year, Buckner, AMT, so much growth. It is hard to believe that now I am a "big person". I have finished high school and a year and a half of college. My friends are all gone on missions and I will soon be starting my papers to join them. The past decade may not have had that many events that impacted me specifically but they were huge; their impact eternal. 10 years is a long time, and somewhere along the way it happened: I grew up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)