"And the First Class is soo short...!"

So here we are folks: Grad Week for the Class of 2011. This last week of the semester serves as the transition phase from West Point the academic institution to Fort West Point the military training institution. As you may or may not know, West Point conducts most of its military training over the summer, and Grad Week is a time when the Summer Garrison Regiment (aka the cadets who help monitor the many different military trainings going on during the summer) settles in. Grad Week also serves as the time when the seniors (aka First Class Cadets or "firsties") start moving out of their rooms in preparation for graduation on Saturday. Most, if not all, grades have already been locked in by this time, so cadets should know if they're graduating. Somehow, I made it and will be graduating on time (finals or "TEEs" for Term End Examinations went fine for me-- nothing to write home about, though I did miscalculate what to study for on my Civil War Era America exam; who knew both essays I had to write would be on Reconstruction, a subject I glazed over while studying?)

I'm going to miss the many "And the First Class is soo short...!" quips in the Mess Hall. Every so often, the Mess Hall guy (formally known as the Brigade Adjutant) announces these little quips in addition to his normal every day announcements to remind everyone how short of a time the firsties have left until graduation. Today's was "And the First Class is so short....! (Response: How short are they!?) The First Class is so short they have fewer hours until graduation than the yuks (aka sophomores) have weeks at the academy!" It's finally all starting to set in. My parents come up Wednesday morning while my sister comes up Thursday. Only a few parades and moving out of my room separate me from graduation.

I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't a little bit anxious though. West Point flew by so fast. I hope I can do well as an officer-- only time will tell.

PS
Oh also, during Grad Week, we're waking up at 4:30AM every day to practice parading. Normally I'd be upset at this, as I hate waking up early to begin with (I normally wake up at 6:30am, so I'm up 2 hours earlier than normal), but I'm just way too excited for graduation. Only 5 days out!