<p>First off, I can’t even imagine how much time each of you spends checking this website, among probably countless others. </p>
<pre><code> Zapper, I’m not here to prove you wrong, and mom-type, I’m not here to vindicate you either. However, at least I can appreciate the role that she is playing, “mother to the masses”. Zipper’s role apparently is to present the life that the academy already does in its brochures and videos. If any potential applicants want that kind of sappy, feel-good bull then they can go ahead and find it in print else where. But I refuse to be manipulated and forced into a role that “tradition” assumes I must take upon myself. Like a snake who sheds its skin as it grows, humans regenerate their bodies every seven months. What makes us ourselves? Some people are soft on the inside and sponge up what is around them, assimilating it into their being, no longer thinking for themselves and they have become the majority here believing and reciting as their own, something like plagiarism, but dangerously close to brainwashing. I am not one of these. I remain unequivocally myself, learning and growing, but distinguishing between the real and the paranormal. Instead of sleepwalking through the waking life, I constantly scrutinize my lucidity.
Am I egotistical in my approach? Naturally. Does my parents’ privileged position preoccupy a place in people’s psyche? Perhaps. However, we should recognize that from this time on, the world belongs to the bold and the talented that are in position to change things as they see fit. My ego will become the fountainhead of our country’s progress, for better or for worse. And now, as other prospective plebes peruse the plethora of phony publications, I will stand up and speak for the counterculture. We exist! And as long as the academy stands apart, we will come and thrive.
This is not to say that we exist to rebel or protest the great accomplishments of the past. Zonker may generalize and categorize us as a group of disgruntled midshipmen, unhappy with recent policy changes and dissatisfied with spoiled security. I am proud of the choices I’ve made, but unhappy with the deception. Hecticlife, listen to the members of your generation who are closer to the front lines than the worn-out doughboys of the past. Together you and I are the ones who must pave our own road to future: destination unknown. Searching your soul is not poor advice. Why should you not choose for yourself? Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see. You may, of course, learn from others mistakes, but be wary what you label as a mistake. I will follow their regulations, but do not mistake my intentions. The academy is my tool on a quest for adventure, and never the other way around.
We are not here to revolt, or to subjugate our minds. Don’t be threatened because we mean none harm, but we will not deviate from my path and the best will fine-mesh it all the way to the top. Join us and become who you always were. Or go to a state school and become a librarian. But make up your own mind, and take nothing for granted.
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