Wow.
It has been nearly two whole months since I last wrote. For that I apologize, but I also want to inform all of you of the importance of today. Today marks 60 days until graduation. Although I am somewhat bittersweet to be losing our loving firsties, but for me that means 60 days until I am no longer a Cadet Private, a plebe. I will un-cup my hands, walk in the middle of the hallway, and talk to anyone I want at any time and in any building.
And they say there is nothing to look forward to yearling year except more responsibility.
I disagree.
Nonetheless. Today was the day back from spring break. Instead of going home to The Netherlands, I went to Oak Ridge, TN for Spring Training with my novice crew team. But before that we had Plebe Parent Weekend. Basically, instead of going home following classes on Friday for Spring Break like the rest of the Corps, we stayed and were run by a Fourth-Class chain of command, and had a special weekend with our parents and fellow plebes and significant others (I got a kick out of meeting my dear classmate's girlfriends and parents). I am sure that there are all sorts of dignified things I could mention right now about the significance of PPW and sharing experiences with my parents, but what I really want to mention is the joy of not having the upper-three classes breathing down your neck. We didn't wear uniforms in the Barracks; we stayed up late, rolled around the hallways in rolly chairs, played racquetball in the halls, and didn't sleep. It was one of my favorite experiences of plebe year. Getting to be normal for a whole weekend, not as rigidly bound by our Fourth Class standards. Enjoying things normal college kids experience: talking in the hallway, singing in the shower, refraining from making sense.
On Spring Break in sunny Tennessee, surrounded by flower pollen and the smell of wild garlic, the sun washed away all memories of West Point while we spent 6 or 7 hours a day on the river. I would drag my hands through the calm, green water and feel my tension fade away.
But as much as I wanted to forget West Point and its associated tensions and stressors for a week, I couldn't. Because no matter what we did, our actions would always reflect back to West Point. The vans we drove had the words "West Point" printed on them with a picture of a Cadet - which would keep me from blasting our music at too high of a volume. And when we would walk around the Wal-Mart between practices, at least one of us would be wearing a West Point shirt. Random people would stop us, tell us stories about their service to our nation, or their sons who attended our great school, and I realized that no matter what I did, my actions would and will always reflect back to this place.
And for that reason, I've begun to watch my steps and who is watching me. Because one slip up on my part and I will reflect badly on hundreds of years of tradition, and the rest of the long gray line. Talk about responsibility.
And now I am back here.
One of the first things I noticed as a scared new cadet during re-orgy (re organization) week in the fall was how the sun shone on the outlines of cadets walking out of the mess hall towards Lee and Sherman Barracks. A mass amount of uniformed young people, beautiful people, had an outline of bright, shining gold haloing their upper bodies. I loved it. I looked forward to it every morning, but soon the sun rose later and later and the angel cadets left. I always wanted to take a picture, but I would 1) get harassed for being a plebe with my hands uncupped and 2) I don't think a camera could capture that pure light.
And now, now that the sun rises early again, I saw that sight once again this morning. The beginning of plebe year and nearing the end of plebe year I have been blessed with the sun placing these gorgeous halos on the corps. I don't mean to be all THAT sentimental or anything, but I have such faith in the corps. In their ability to change this country, this war, this world.
And once again! Please e-mail me if you have any questions!
With Beast approaching, soon I will be posting some quick tips and tricks for you rising New Cadets!
This is a picture of myself and one of my company mates at a bowling party that C-1 threw as a goodbye party for our TAC NCO.
This is a picture from our Super Saturday training day. We don't do much military training during the Academic Year. But once a year we have an 8 hour training day, which is fun because, unlike during beast, you are with all classes - hanging out with your company. In this picture is one of our firsties on the left, and one of my classmates on the right.
This is from spring training! I am the stroke for our boat, which means I sit in the front and set the pace for the boat.
This is also from spring break! One of my teammates had her sister make personalized Army Crew shirts for the team, and they were a big hit. Also, I am modeling the latest in water-bottle-carrying pants. (That is a joke haha)
And this picture is of a typical night at West Point. As you can tell, we have abandoned doing homework, are making a mess, and watching a few good YouTube videos. I have posted this picture to show that we are college students too.
Happy Spring!!
Anastasia
(anastasia.cale@usma.edu)