"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!

Lord of the Rings

Right now I have a sudden urge to want to watch the Lord of the Ring trilogy, particularly The Two Towers all because I was talking to a friend about horses. She's on the equestrian team at her school and she was excited because today being Friday meant she would get to go out and ride. I thought of the following youtube videos just because of that thought:.

Youtube search the following when you get a chance:
"Amazing Horse Sweet Lemonade"
"Riders of Rohan"
"Helms Deep Charge"
"Haldir's Elves Helms Deep"
"Helms Deep Part I"

Maybe its a sign that I'm embracing this whole 3d ACR (armored CAVALRY regiment) thing after all?

Oh and surprisingly, I was able to finish that Clausewitz essay and still have a great day today. Great as in I survived and nothing bad happened. I'll still take it!

Tomorrow, I have to inspect uniforms and TA-50. Hopefully it won't take too long, as I deeply value my weekends and it seems like more and more things are occurring on weekends that take up what little free time I have. Oh well.

And the First Class is SOOO short
(How short are we?!)
The First Class is SOOO short they have fewer days at the academy than Jay-Z has problems (it's 98th Night tonight!)

Wow

A lot of Old Grads (i.e. West Point alumni) tell me to start taking photos now, because Firstie year will be over before I know it. I'm really starting to believe them now. In a few days, I'll find out where I'll be stationed upon commissioning in May. This is really an exciting time. I've been talking to quite a few people, trying to get some advice into where I want to post. So far, it's been back and forth between Ft. Hood, TX and Ft. Bragg, NC. I'm not sure if I can get to Ft. Bragg based on my class rank within the Infantry order of merit, but we'll see. From what I've gathered, it's still a good match for what I want to do.

I'm also working hard (or hardly working) on my senior thesis. I'm going to write about how Operation Husky served as reality check for the airborne paratroopers. Really, I just love everything airborne, and thought writing about them would be cool. I guess it's kind of neat to read up on them, but I could do without the actually writing part of a thesis. Let's hope I can do well in this-- if I don't write a decent thesis, I may not graduate on time!

Yesterday, I drove to Connecticut and let me tell you, driving through there at night is quite the trip. With the state routes so secluded and winding through dense woods, it can be a little creepy and a little "Blair Witch"-esque. It is a nice drive though, especially at night with no other cars on the road. It almost makes you feel like you're a race car driver.

I got back to West Point pretty late last night (around 3:00am) and got "randomly" searched at the gates by the MPs. I'm sure the MP just saw the cadet base decals on my car and decided to snipe me. How do I know this? Well, there was a car right ahead of me and he didn't get randomly searched. I thought at first maybe because I was coming in so late they would search whoever would come in at that time, but again, I was searched and the person in front of me was not.

The MP was pretty cool about it though. As he filled in his paperwork, I used the portapotty right next to where I had my car parked during the search, and by the time I got out, he was almost done and I was on my way. It must suck working graveyard as an MP: it was cold out, no cars really coming through, and overall just boring. I hope those guys stay warm.

Today was a lazy day of watching episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, playing Final Fantasy VII, and watching "Surviving the Cut: Ranger School" on youtube.

I'm getting excited for things to come.

Spinach Dip

Don't get the Spinach Dip at the Firstie: it's a rip off ($6.50 and all you get is a handful of crushed nachos and two little containers of store bought spinach dip).

Yep. That was my lesson learned today. Thank you last First Day of Class ever (well, not including first day of IBOLC, Ranger, Grad School etc).

Oh and I tried to blog yesterday, but blogger was being lame and wouldn't work for me. I'd love to tell you my thoughts on yesterday, but I forgot. Whoops?