zzztriplenickel

what is (is there) any rules/regs/policies concerning personal books in a 4 degrees dorm after BCT ?

HNeedle

the rooms i saw had tons of books

ds52262

555 books = no problem. Time to read them = problem. Potter is an avid reader and while she had plenty of required reading for classes including some fiction, she rarely had time for personal reading. She went to the borders in CS the other day and bought out the place. Had to send a parental cash infusion.

Your new favorite reading will be your Contrails, and the manuals they give you during BCT.

07PETKO

Contrails is everyone's favorite! But in all seriousness, after BCT you can have as many books as you want.

ZMAN07

I second that. My personal favorite was my "pearls before swine" anthology... Google it if you're not sure what this is...I have a cynical enough sense of humor to laugh my head off at these strips

packermatt7

Will one of you save your Contrails for me, and I'll buy it from you next year?

AFA2B

Why would you want to buy a copy of Contrails? If you come in with all the knowledge memorized, you're just going to wind up pimping your classmates. From what I've heard, you'll want to avoid doing that.

BJ10MOM

ZMAN07 - Zeeba neighbor accidentally kills squirrel today........good news for hungry crocs!

It is a favorite strip in our household. Love Guard Duck, too.

You have good sense of humor.

xcbug

I understand that 4-digs are allowed 2 personal items after BCT; can several photos be considered one personal item?

07PETKO

The "two personal items" rule isn't really a big deal. I'm pretty sure it only pertains to things on your desk. You can post as many photos as you want onto the bulletin-board part of your desk. Some people really go all out with that.

KittiesandFish11

are you allowed to have a personal book DURING bct? I wanna keep reading The Golden Compass series (haha, yes...that's right) but will i be allowed to keep it? ALSO, can we bring pictures with us to BCT? like a wallet sized one of our family or boyfriend?

07PETKO

No and no, unfortunately. You might be able to sneak a small photo, but you aren't supposed to have either.

Mikil

So if your parents or friends send you pictures during BCT, would that be breaking the rules?

07PETKO

Technically, yes. Sometime you can get away with it, sometimes they'll be confiscated. It'll depend on your cadre.

07PETKO

I actually happen to have an electronic copy (a .pdf) of 2011's Contrails. If anyone's interested, PM me and I'll e-mail it to you.

That being said, here's the deal with Contrails: it's a fickle subject. I can certainly understand you wanting to get a head start and hit the ground running, but it's not uncommon to see new basics misusing this jump start that they've acquired. By knowing things that their classmates don't, they make their classmates look bad, which in turn reflects poorly on them. It's not a good cycle.

So here's my advice: if you want to use it, great. Just don't try to go out and memorize everything you think you'll need to know. If you do decide to look at it in advance, use it to learn about the AF, its history, and why we do some of the things we do. Rather than picking up specific bits of knowledge, use it to familiarize yourself with the AF and the Academy. I think this would actually be productive, which is why I've offered to send it out.