<p>I survived first semester, and it was by far the most fun I have had in my life. I will be online periodically over the 2 week break, so if you have any questions, ask. I would have been on earlier, but I cannot access college confidential from anywhere on the yard. So ask away, everything goes; and congrats to the appointees for the class of 2010+1.</p>
<p>Beat BC</p>
<p>Andrew
5th Company
Class 2010</p>
<p>Haha. </p>
<p>“Survived first semester”</p>
<p>asward is 100% correct “Survived” IS the operative word. And Plebe year is only 1/2 over …Congrats Andrew, on a successful time so far!!!</p>
<p>It wasn’t very difficult. </p>
<p>I think using the word survived is overdoing it.</p>
<p>Maybe poetic license of looking back @ a challenging time? Maybe not much poetry generated while you’re going thru it all. ;)</p>
<p>Congrats to all “survivors” even if you didn’t make ABC. Enjoy some home cooking, sleeping in, visits with family, reunions and sharing notes with “secular” old pals who may not understand how you’ve moved on from your good old days.</p>
<p>Merry Christmas to all of you. Truly, you are among the very finest our world has to offer. You make us proud to be Americans.</p>
<p>Ha, yes you are oh so correct it really wasn’t bad at all, my comment was merely a bit of sarcasm :D, what company are you in?</p>
<p>Having lived through it myself, and seen lots of others do it, I can assure you that “survived” can be quite accurate in many cases.</p>
<p>Oh, and Plebe Year isn’t the only time you will find that the term is applicable, I’m sorry to say.</p>
<p>ITs all relative. Some Plebes had an easier adjustment than others. You never know what else (outside of the USNA experience) is going on in their lives. So the demands on the yard can be but a portion of what they are dealing with. However for all of them, congrats on getting to this point! Enjoy your break.</p>
<p>i’m in 14th, pretty relaxed.</p>
<p>I have a question…</p>
<p>I was there for CVW and let me tell you, I loved it!!! Would you say that what I saw was pretty accurate of USNA life or do they water it down for CVW? I expected to see more people being chewed out and what not. Also, how hard it is it getting used to chow calls? I can’t imagine yelling that fast!</p>
<p>Andrew, what do you think of 5th Co?</p>
<p>Fifth Company is wel,l the best company :D, we uphold the standard. I have been told that the word on the street is that we are one of the harder companies, however, I know 3rd is pretty hard. But once we got on top of our stuff and did our jobs it was pretty good. I do know that we are one of the few companies that had Noon Meal Training everyday, was on 6 menus, 5 articles, and was in summer whites until about the change over ( one company is still in sdb’s until blue and gold) All in all its not bad, one must simply play the game. </p>
<p>On the CVW note, I know up on 4th deck, we don’t dum anything down, and i know some of our candidates were taken on spirit missions and went to SMTs( which are awesome, depending on your training staff). People only get chewed out when they screw up. Chow Calls are easy once you get used to doing it, although its a little harder when you are out there alone, and the menus repeat so the memorization is not hard at all. </p>
<p>My roommate told me that unpacking the moment you get into your room on I-Day was key he was one of the last to arrive, and consequently wasn’t settled for a few weeks, along with taking out the binder and learning how to fold and wear uniforms.</p>
<p>Asward - your experiences in your company do not necessarily reflect all Plebe’s experiences this first 1/2 of your Plebe year. I won’t go into more details, other than to say other companies had Firsties that made life as hellish as they could get away with for their Plebes…and it took months to get things under control…and in one company a Commissioned Company officer wasn’t even assigned until late November…and it was a Lt.Cmdr - an indication of how bad the Company needed controlling. People can get chewed out for breathing in some companies - and being Rated on a whim of a Firstie- having to bear the consequences of one person’s screw-up for all the Plebes for days at a time - repeated room inspections - these were the norm for some companies. It is not something I even consider a terrible thing to hear about from the Plebes I am in contact with - heck - this is to be expected…but I still feel the need to weigh in that not everyone comes home at this point in their Plebe year with your experiences.</p>
<p>So I rejoice with you that you seemed to have a ‘chill’ staff of Firsties and Second-Class running your side of Bancroft Hall. But for any 2011 hopefuls - you all need to know that like the real life situations within the military - some people, some training exercises, some personal stories will tell the same events with drastically opposite experiences.</p>
<p>One more comment.
Asward is thriving because his mental attitude is already geared to take what is thrown at him and deal with it in the way that leads to success. Do the stuff asked, learn the stuff asked, don’t complain, give everything your best shot - deal with the ‘crap’ as a mental game - know that this is a process and people aren’t out to get you personally - and focus ahead to your goal as a future military officer.</p>
<p>The posts you have been sharing Asward are a good example of why young men like you will make us proud come 2010 as our Naval/Marine Officers!</p>