So........ as usual, long time not post. Sorry folks. Its amazing how this place can keep you busy enough to put aside the simplest tasks. I believe my last post was pre-TEE week (exams). TEE week went well for me. My schedule was as follows: 1) Test in the morning 2) Sleep until mid to late afternoon 3) study 4) bed by midnight 5)repeat. I ended up doing well on all my exams and finished the semester with a 3.4 GPA (kinda suprised myself). Leaving for Christmas break was stressful. I had started closing out my room before Friday (18th Dec, when we could leave) but my roommates not so much. We cleaned and packed away stuff in our room until the very last minute before we would be late for our buses. The bus ride was a long one. If you remember, the 18th was the day that the East Coast got pounded really bad with snow (of course this has now been dwarfed by the blizzards of this previous week). We didn't hit snow until we were 1-2 hours away from Fredricksburg, Va. Our pace immediately slowed and I didn't make it to Fredricksburg till about 11:30 pm. I had to sit in the McDonald's for nearly an hour before my dad made it through the traffic to pick me up. The usual hour drive to our house from Fredricksburg took us 8 hours (I'm pretty sure). Lets just say I was not very happy.
I am briefly going to talk about my christmas leave. First off, it was way too short. I did however have a great time, both with my friends and my family. My days consisted of sleeping in till noon, hanging out with friends or family during the day, and staying out until the early AM. I was constantly in and out of the house. I saw friends I hadn't seen since before my summer training and visited my beloved wrestling team. My christmas was good, it felt strange though.......coming home for christmas, being older, realizing this may be one of the last christmas's I spend at my house.......we will see. Had a blast though throughout my break and caught up with all of my best friends. Heading back to West Point was much tougher than I thought it would be. Its just like my dad told me, "You will hate going back there while your a cadet, but you will love it for what it is when you graduate." I don't know bout the second half yet.....but it seems that all the grads I have talked to say that. So got back to West Point and immediately had to start organizing my new room (we switch rooms each semester here, don't ask why, I think its kind of dumb).
So, My year here started out with another Reorgy week (reorganization). This one was much better, for the most part, because we did it all on our own. Last time, our team leaders had to take us around to everything. We had book issue, briefings, signups, new class schedules, and room organization. My new roommate, Ian Garrett, and I were very happy to have the same room. We were really good buddies durin BEAST (summer training), he was in my squad and is also from Virginia. I was also especially lucky this semester because I only have a 2-man room.......its sad how amazing I find it to be. The only problem I encountered during this particular week was that Lt. Haden decided to haze me as much as he did at the beginning of last semester. It wasn't fun, but you just have to deal with some things. Since Reorgy week things have been up and down. I was busy with nearly constant Sandhurst practices and had paintball meetings on Tuesdays, and classes started out pretty rough. The last few weeks have kinda been a blur for me. My days have been the same each day: classes, practice, dinner, homework, sleep, repeat. Very little free time to do anything. Things just seem to run together lately. I only like about 3 of my new teachers, I'm not going to bitch about the others. I got cut from the Sandhurst team because it lost two authorized spots from the powers that be. Coincidentally when I was cut from the Sandhurst team, the Tournament Paintball team was looking for new members. I am now a 3rd string snake player for the paintball team. The past two weekends we went to Long Island and New Jersey to practice paintball at some indoor places. I am very happy to be on the team however, I was very dissapointed to be cut from Sandhurst. I still work out with them on the off days from paintball.
I feel like that last paragraph was getting too long, so on to a new one......
So, where to continue.....I feel like I am leaving a lot out......but like I said, things just seem to be running together......
Classes have been going well, grades wise at least. I hope to keep a 3.4 going, maybe better. I was supposed to have a paintball event this weekend but it was cancelled, due to the weather on the East Coast, it looks like it will be rescheduled for next weekend. I was really looking forward to it, my first official college paintball tournament. My friends and I thought about making a team multiple times, time and money was the issue though.
I'm really having trouble focusing today.....actually lately....hopefully just a side effect of being busy.
Just remembered one thing, I wrestled in the Wrestling Brigade Open on Monday. I weighed in at 163.5 but they put me in the 155 weight class. There was only three of us in that weight class. My first (and sadly only) match was againt a guy name Mike Tovo. I lost 12-1 against him. He was no stronger than me but was very technically sound. He had a really good duck under that gave him a few takedowns. I feel like I wrestled well and could just tell he was a good wrestler. I used my outstanding bridging skills to keep him from pinning me. I looked him up online afterward and found out that he was at least a state qualifier from Colorado. Honestly I was just happy to be on the mats and be around wrestlers. I helped score the matches during finals. I saw a lot of good wrestling too.
So, its my birthday today..............pretty uneventfull.....outside of my facebook wall at least. Its been nice hearing happy birthday from everyone. Got a few cards too. Its strange having my first birthday without family.....and without doin anything. Really its just another weekend at West Point.
Due to my inability to focus, I am going to end this post. I'm going to say this again (and probably jinx myself), I am going to try to post more often. Hope this post is satisfying. Peace out.
Glad to see you posting again!
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