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Upon Completion of the First Quarter

(The Cadet Experience, Class of 2014) Permanent link All Posts

This quarter has gone by extremely fast! It’s true that the days are long but weeks are short. It feels like forever ago when I was a swab. The short days of winter will make it hard to keep up the 4/c expectations of bracing up and squaring. It’s getting dark at five o’clock, so I’ve been going to bed much earlier than before, but partly because I’ve learned how to manage my time much better since the beginning of the quarter. I have become very close to my friends in Hotel Company, and sometimes it’s hard to get work done. I’ve learned to prioritize and save the fun for the weekends. Sports practice and looking forward to Friday Night Fights (boxing matches that happen every other Friday between cadets in the boxing club) also make living here much more enjoyable. My first fight was fun, the alumni center was packed and I could feel the enthusiasm of everyone watching, which gave me the huge adrenaline rush to make it through all three rounds. It’s also a great chance to fight your cadre!

Last month was very eventful, four of my best friends from my company and I asked several upper-class to borrow their bicycles. We biked nearly six miles to Ocean Beach, and on the way, we stopped at a shack on the side of the road to pick up clam chowder and fried seafood for a picnic. We ended up going into the old arcade on the beach where we won lots of prizes. That same month, we met the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Papp. Someone asked him for a short (when we get to spend a Saturday overnight away from the Academy), which we got, so my friends and I decided to go to New York City for the night! Doing fun and spontaneous things is what keeps you going here. This weekend my roommate and I went to Boston and got to stay at Harvard with one of my friends. The Academy is a pretty short distance from New York City and Boston, and you can get really good train ticket discounts for being in the military.

This Friday is powder-puff football, where we will get to play against our cadre, and get out of formal room and wing! Some boys in our company are training the girls to play football. I’m really excited; I am playing wide receiver. Also, Christmas break is coming up. I’m thrilled to see my family; I haven’t seen them since R-Day, but I am not looking forward to the 27 hour flight to Bulgaria, or the time change. I am proud to go back and share my stories about boot camp with some of the Marines at the embassy!

More about Megan.

Posted by Leann Strickland at 2/15/2012 10:34 AM