cadet blogs

Caught in the Middle

(Overcoming Challenges, Class of 2012) Permanent link All Posts

Greetings everyone. Since my last entry, it feels like I’ve been swarmed by a million different military and academic obligations. Although that’s what I’ve come to expect from the Academy, the intensity is definitely picking up as the school year rolls forward. I’ve always considered the in-between months of the fall semester to be the dreariest – whereas in August and September you’re still fresh from summer leave and in December you’re still drifting through the post-Thanksgiving bliss, October and November represent a bleak period of progressively chillier weather, midterm exams, and dull repetitive days. It’s the time when schedules become routine, when the novelty of a new school year has worn off, and the joyful facial expressions of a Corps fresh from another summer have changed into the furrowed brows of students deep in concentration. It’s times like these that make you look forward to upcoming events all the more.

Fortunately, there are several things on the horizon that brighten things up a bit. At the end of the month, for example, I will be traveling down to Washington, D.C. to run the 2011 Marine Corps Marathon in conjunction with the Academy’s Running Club. Oddly enough, although I ran the Marathon last year as well, I’m actually finding myself more apprehensive this year – probably because I know how much pain to expect this time around.

For something a bit closer on the radar, this weekend is Parent’s Weekend here at the Academy. For this event, parents have the chance to come to the Academy and sit in on classes, tour Chase Hall, and spend a good bit of liberty with their cadet. As you might imagine, Parent’s Weekend is pretty fun – at least for the first couple years. For myself, the only reason I’m looking forward to Parent’s Weekend this year is because it offers me another chance to travel home. After three consecutive Parent’s Weekend’s, I think even my mom and dad are starting to get a little sick of this place.

Finally, of course, Halloween is also approaching. Here at the Academy, we take Halloween pretty seriously. In the two weeks before the holiday, we’re allowed to begin adorning our rooms with creepy décor. On the night itself, we all dress in costumes and have a Halloween themed dinner in the wardroom, before heading over to far side of campus to Trick-or-Treat at the Admiral’s house and the houses of the other members of the Academy Command Staff.

More about Mark.

Posted by Leann Strickland at 2/1/2012 3:40 PM