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The Great Mental De-Clutter

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

Well, that was anticlimactic – Boards are over.

Well, at least for 72% of our class Boards are over…that’s a pretty impressive initial pass rate, if I do say so myself. For almost three-quarters of the 4/c to get that big-long-oh-so-scary indoc test knocked out the first weekend says a lot about Class of 2014.

Still, it blows my mind that we’ve been stressing out, frantically studying our Boards packet since Christmas, and then suddenly, on an otherwise uneventful Saturday morning or Sunday night, in less than 15 minute in most cases…it’s all over. We’re done. No fireworks, marching band, or celebratory parade to mark the coming of our mental freedom, just a simple, “Very well, 4/c Lukasik, you’re dismissed.” Its almost incomprehensible – just a few minutes of effort in the actual Boards room, after all those weeks and weeks of preparation, and I’m just…done.

Of course, the situation was not so incomprehensible as to prevent me from gleefully shoving my 52-page study packet into the recycle bin the minute I got back to my room.

This is one of those times when the figurative idea of “a weight being taken off your shoulders” almost physically manifests itself. There are three big 4/c “things” that each class goes through during spring semester: 101st Night, Boards, and Challenge of the Guardian. Well, we got 101st Night out of the way on Super Bowl weekend; and I personally may not get to do Challenge of the Guardian because of a crew meet (we’ll have to see – that’s still pending). So now, with Boards done and over with, I could very well be done with painful, stressful, 4/c “events.” That’s kind of hard to grasp.

But what’s more, the amount of time and mental energy I’m getting back is almost mind-blowing. Time…yes, the time we earn back by passing Boards almost trumps the privileges we earn as a class. No more scheduled study groups. No more bringing your Boards packet everywhere you go. No more studying on the treadmill. No more quizzing your classmates when you’d planned to just watch a movie. And no more of that awful feeling of, “Well, it’s late and I want to go to sleep now…but I should be studying for Boards.” It’s a Great Mental De-Cluter – this big, scary, looming concept sucking the life out of your brain, draining your stamina and focus, is finally gone. My mind is so much clearer now – I can apply myself to other things!

And how fortunate that is; there are certainly enough other things to apply myself to these days. More to come on that at a later date!

More about Jessie.

Posted by Leann Strickland at 2/15/2012 1:39 PM