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peskemom · 06-27-2009, 11:29 AM

Mesquite_girl.....Somethings to prepare yourself for as your friendship with your best friend grows even as she starts her new life as a midshipman...

Remember she is now active-duty military - which means the needs of Uncle Sam will have to take precedence over anything else. She is not simply a college friend going away to school. She is 100% active duty military AND 100% a college student - a huge load for these young adults to shoulder.

She is also going to, from literally day one - be having experiences that you may never have. Laying in body bags, crawling under barbed wire, memorizing facts to prepare for a 5am inspection, speaking a whole new vocabularly ( great job USNA 02 for the above posted list )......flying in helos...etc.

My young lady is now a Firstie and a Detailer for these new Plebes coming next week. Who knows? Maybe your friend will be in her eyesight....But the one thing I have observed as she continues to keep in touch with her high school friends is that it gets harder and harder to feel connected to them when the experiences she has ..there is NO WAY of her 'back home friends' relating to.

So as you write to your friend and as you see her again in the coming months and summers and years, be prepared to see major changes in her. Not negative ones, but the kinds of changes that a 24/7 leadership institute geared to serve our country as a future military officer is determined to place within your friend. And this is how it should be. She is not at a civilian college preparing for a finance job, etc. She is preparing to LEAD as a Military Officer in a time of war. Huge shoes to prepare to fill. As you see your friend growing and changing, don't feel bad, or upset if there are times you feel 'things just aren't the same anymore' and then pull back from your friendship. My young lady was out of the country for 5 months and just got back for 2 weeks to see us before jumping right back into USNA training. She was so eager to connect with her local high school friends and kept texting and calling them. So many were still not home from school, or busy with jobs, or boyfriends... 3 years post-high school lives move on.

As far as your ongoing support of your friend - expect that this will be an adventure for you both. She and you will be growing, changing, adapting to your life situations. Be interested in her experiences. Don't be surprised by the long delays in correspondance as from the Navy's point of view ESPECIALLY during Plebe Summer - communicating with friends is at the rock-bottom of any list of priorities! Your friend may not pop a note to you for weeks, even a month. Don't take offense at the draught of info from her - just respond when she does and as others have said, of course your shipping news via snail mail letters to her would be welcome. Keep things upbeat, funny - even girly-cute in letter writing.

Your friend is lucky to have someone as caring as you!

06-27-2009, 11:29 AM	#8
peskemom Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 1,028	Mesquite_girl.....Somethings to prepare yourself for as your friendship with your best friend grows even as she starts her new life as a midshipman... Remember she is now active-duty military - which means the needs of Uncle Sam will have to take precedence over anything else. She is not simply a college friend going away to school. She is 100% active duty military AND 100% a college student - a huge load for these young adults to shoulder. She is also going to, from literally day one - be having experiences that you may never have. Laying in body bags, crawling under barbed wire, memorizing facts to prepare for a 5am inspection, speaking a whole new vocabularly ( great job USNA 02 for the above posted list )......flying in helos...etc. My young lady is now a Firstie and a Detailer for these new Plebes coming next week. Who knows? Maybe your friend will be in her eyesight....But the one thing I have observed as she continues to keep in touch with her high school friends is that it gets harder and harder to feel connected to them when the experiences she has ..there is NO WAY of her 'back home friends' relating to. So as you write to your friend and as you see her again in the coming months and summers and years, be prepared to see major changes in her. Not negative ones, but the kinds of changes that a 24/7 leadership institute geared to serve our country as a future military officer is determined to place within your friend. And this is how it should be. She is not at a civilian college preparing for a finance job, etc. She is preparing to LEAD as a Military Officer in a time of war. Huge shoes to prepare to fill. As you see your friend growing and changing, don't feel bad, or upset if there are times you feel 'things just aren't the same anymore' and then pull back from your friendship. My young lady was out of the country for 5 months and just got back for 2 weeks to see us before jumping right back into USNA training. She was so eager to connect with her local high school friends and kept texting and calling them. So many were still not home from school, or busy with jobs, or boyfriends... 3 years post-high school lives move on. As far as your ongoing support of your friend - expect that this will be an adventure for you both. She and you will be growing, changing, adapting to your life situations. Be interested in her experiences. Don't be surprised by the long delays in correspondance as from the Navy's point of view ESPECIALLY during Plebe Summer - communicating with friends is at the rock-bottom of any list of priorities! Your friend may not pop a note to you for weeks, even a month. Don't take offense at the draught of info from her - just respond when she does and as others have said, of course your shipping news via snail mail letters to her would be welcome. Keep things upbeat, funny - even girly-cute in letter writing. Your friend is lucky to have someone as caring as you!
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