Weekly Update?

So, I am doin pretty good with this lately. Currently I am covering for my buddy at the CCQ. The CCQ stands for cadet in charge of quarters. Basically all you do is sit at a desk in the hallway of your company are and send a few emails out to everyone if the chain of command needs you to. It is very boring, very very boring.
This weekend has been a long one, for multiple reasons. I had paintball Friday after classes till the evening and nearly all day Saturday. Of course, I have a lot of fun with paintball so its well worth the tiredness. The second reason this weekend is long is due to Halo:Reach. I just got the game a few days ago and because of it I am sleeping about 10% of what I should be. Thankfully, I have very little homework to do today and can therefore nap or go to bed early once I'm done on the CCQ.
I think my main focus on this post was to be a summary of all the stuff I never wrote about over the summer. I had a very enjoyable summer this year. Because I go to West Point I have mandatory and optional training which I do in the summers. This past summer i went to Airborne School at Ft. Benning, GA and to Camp Buckner, which is right hear at West Point.
All the time outside of training (like 4 weeks total) I spent at home. All the time there consisted of the usual late nights, constantly with friends, lunch and whatnot with the family. There was one portion of my summer where we went to my grandfather's farm for a few days.
Airborne school was an amazing experience. Three of my buddies from G2 were there with me which was awesome. Airborne school consists of three weeks of training; ground week, tower week, jump week. The training itself was very monotonous and including a lot of idling. The thing that was great though was the open weekends and of course jumping out of a perfectly good airplane! One of my buddies lived near Ft. Benning, so we went and chilled at his place on the weekends. We also went to Birmingham, AL for a day cuz my other friend who was at Airborne with me lived there. After we got through all of the bullshit and training and waiting we got to jump. The first jump was fairly intimidating. I am not gonna lie, I was scared. Waiting in the plane was intense, especially when they opened up the doors on each side of the plane. A quick side note, I jumped from both a C130 and C17 and jumped with a T-11 and T-10D parachute. Once the green light in the plane comes on and the Jumpmasters signal you to go, you turn into an automaton. You are leaving the plane no matter what and its just like the training we did. Once I actually jumped, the prop blast and wind hit my face, and I felt my chute opening, all fear left. It was very strange, that is the experience I had. I was expecting some freefalling and just something crazy. What I experienced was the most peaceful 45 seconds of my life. Literally all you notice is the ground beneath you and the light rustling of you parachute. The only intense part of the jump is the landing and actually getting out of the plane. My buddies and I all completed our 5 jumps without injury and graduated. Sadly we did not get to do a night jump due to a storm that rolled through one afternoon, which postponed one of the other jumps.
Camp Buckner was the other bit of training I had this summer. Buckner (aka. Bucknam, Bucknamistan, Buckraqistan) is a 4 week period of field training done at West Point. This was mandatory for all of us. We covered a lot of training which spanned all of the Combat Arms branches of the Army. I took huge advantage of Buckner. It was a chance for me to meet all new people in my class that I had never talked to or even seen before. I made quite a few good friends this summer. I also had a lot of fun. Many people are very negative and bitter because they don't want to be there. Like I said, I took advantage of Buckner, and was the optimist and morale booster in my platoon. I don't really feel like going into to detail about Buckner because there is a lot and not all of it is really pivotal to the nature of this blog.
The last thing I am going to talk about is my grandfather's farm. After Buckner, my family and I went up to the farm. The reason we were going there was somewhat saddening. It was to be our official visit. My grandparents decided to sell the farm, which I completely respect. Its hard to run a farm and you gotta live your life some time. The few days we had at the farm were amazing. The sights, the smells, the memories, the list goes on. I drove around the farm with the ATV, I took pictures, I did a lot of shooting, I went fishing, I enjoyed a beer with my grandfather and even had a cigar one night, just taking everything in. The farm has always and stills does (despite the fact it has sold now) mean a lot to me. A lot the person I am today comes from things I learned and did there. I have many memories from there too. I had been going there since I was born. I took everything in that I could and made my last days there the best ever. A cherished object of my life it will always remain.
Well, my Q shift is almost done, my buddy just got back. I actually covered everything that I wanted to, I think......... Besides, it's best not to make these things drag on forever. As always updates will be hopefully continue weekly. Peace out.

A little later than I expected.....

So, instead of writing on the blog on Sunday, I slept till 1 and watched 2 movies...........Productive right? Sundays here are my main R&R days, despite usually having homework those nights. Saturdays consist of football games, paintball practice, or family visits. This past weekend I had the opportunity to enjoy the football game with my dad and youngest sister. I had a great time seeing them, and relaxing at Col. Johnson's house when we weren't at the game. I believe my sister had a good time, and I know for sure, as always, my dad just loves coming back to this pleasant Hell on Earth (I say pleasant because sometimes it ain't so bad).
This week is fairly uneventful, classes and more classes with the occasional quiz in a class or two. I had my first company wrestling match of the year yesterday. I wrestled a kid I previously lost to in a scrimmage but managed to pull out a win. The cadet ref was quite sub par and failed to call the pin which I held for 1:30 of the 2 minutes available in the second period. Despite this setback, I score a few more points in the third and won 13-7. I'm proud of that score, and it was quite the match. I was exhausted.........
While speaking of exhaustion, I also did Sandhurst tryouts (for fun) on Monday. The ordeal led me to more cramps than I have ever endured before. It was a very intense workout/gauntlet however I completed it. I'm still sore today from it though.
Another note, I declared my major last Friday. My final decision was to Double Major in Arabic and German. I already have about 5 years experience in German, including 2 month long trips to Germany. I enjoy the language and the culture immensely. I am currently enrolled in Arabic and find the joy, passion, and curiosity as I did when studying German in high school. I look forward to experiencing a new culture and learning another language as well. I hope that in the next year I will be able to secure a semester abroad in either Morocco or Egypt. One semester away from West Point, one semester experiencing a completely different world- sounds pretty awesome to me.
Well, this is all I have for right now. I will eventually do a huge update which will cover summer events that have gone without mention. Ma'salaama (goodbye in Arabic).

Poems (Yes poems I wrote) from last schoolyear

Okay, I figured I would share these on my blog as they are all inspired by West Point. I have never been a poetry fan, let alone a writing fan, yet I randomly became inspired a few times to write. I hope you enjoy my poems..........

Friends

My friends are very dear to me.

Without them I couldn’t survive living here.

I hope they are loyal as I am to them.

To lose touch with just one is too much to bear,

Tears would fall as they never have.

My mind like mush that I get from the Mess,

I’d do anything to remain as I am.

I want to be a good man, not some programmed machine,

God Damn the elitists who put me down!

I’ll be a better man, in both profession and society,

May I have great comrades both old and new,

My friends are very dear to me.

Gray

Gray is the only color that I see.

It engulfs me like a stormy sea.

Everyday seems the same,

It goes on and on like an endless game.

Freedom and pleasure are seldom found.

They are luring music of a faint sound.

Gray consumes me, but I guess its fine.

In a few years I’ll be official in the Long Gray Line.

Colors

The colors here sometimes lie,

Toward summertime they make us smile,

They seem to express joy and freedom,

But Thayer reels at such foolish notions.

Projects, papers, tests and all

Lock us within gray barracks walls.

Windows open, warm breeze and sun,

Distract us from computer screens.

We stop working, Thayer leaves our minds,

As we ponder over past summers fun.

Abrubtly CGR ruins our dreams,

Mando dinner in thirty minutes.

Hours of drudgery follow in the evening,

All the while nature taunts us.

The colors here sometimes lie.

Edgar Allen Poe

I wonder what they thought of Poe.

Such a strange man for so rigid a place.

I doubt he’d make that good of a Joe,

His independence and ideas beam from his face.

Is it true he stood attention bare assed?

I wonder what they thought of Poe.

Was he pompous or depressed, that’s what I’d ask.

His rank in the Corps must have been so low.

A cadet, an animal, a rebel at heart?

I wonder what they thought of Poe.

Where in the world did his commanders start?

His uniform dirty and his brass lacked glow.

I’d love to see him on the Plain,

His stride in parades so very strange.

His behavior must have been quite the comedic show,

I wonder what they thought of Poe.

After a long hiatus and many events.........

Everybody, I am still alive. I am about a month into my second year as a cadet at West Point. So far things are going well. My Physics class sucks, as expected, however I am not failing so all is good. I am currently having a lot of fun learning Arabic as well. I have many things to write about and a few things I wrote last school year to post on here. This weekend I am going to sit down and write as much as I can in order to fill in the void found within my blog. As of now I am enjoying my afternoon in my room and have company athletics in about an hour. I will go for now, so "ma' salaama."

Post Christmas to My Birthday (today)

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.

Too long since my last post.....

So, very much has happened here since my last post. I had thanksgiving leave, Christmas dinner, Army/Navy week, the Army/Navy game, and have now entered the wonderful week of TEEs (Term End Exams). I almost forgot, the president also came here and told us about Afghanistan. So first up was Thanksgiving. A very difficult lead up to Thanksgiving break, as seen in the previous post, was well worth its suffering. I got back to my house around 11 or 11:30 on Friday the 25th. I was instantly greeted by friends and seldom found myself without them over the break. I was very happy to be home again. The first thing I did was shower and change into civvies. Once again, I could call myself "human." Despite being tired from the rigors of West Point, I refused to be lured to sleep by my bed. Each night I was up till 4 AM making the most of everything. I spent some time with my family, especially on Thanksgiving day. It was particularly nice to see my older sister Katie, who was back from Elon. On top of that just seeing my dogs made me instantly happy. Nothing too special really occurred over T-Break but I had an awesome time catching up with my friends and family. Upon leaving to go back to West Point I was a little disgruntled but just kept thinking how in three weeks I would be back home for Winter break.

The week after getting back from T-Break was when the President came to visit us. I was looking forward to this despite the insane procedures put into effect that day. After 1600, every room had to have their windows closed, shades down, and lights off in order to prevent a possible sniper attack on the president. We all moved to Ike hall in formations and were seated anywhere from 2 to 4 hours early. Sitting in the warm Ike hall with nothing to do in our uncomfortable Dress Gray uniforms was not fun. I managed to bring my video camera so when the President did finally arrive, I taped his entire speech. I found his speech to be pretty good overall. That saying something because lets just say I'm not his biggest fan. Now, if you watched the speech on TV or watched the news anytime that week over the speech you will see clips of cadets sleeping and hear mostly liberal bullshit exclaiming how the military obviously doesn't support the President. The truth is, us cadets have very rigorous schedules and get pretty tired. The fact that we had to sit in the auditorium for awhile only complicated some of our lack of energy. People sleep, especially tired people. From my observations and the observations of others, not to many cadets overall were even sleeping. They just happen to stand out very well when the camera pans the audience. Despite the negative attention, the Corps will endure.

Up next is Christmas dinner. This took place a little under two weeks ago on Thursday. It was a little stressful preparing for it as I had to get decorations for the table, I was worried the cigars wouldn't arrive in time, and had to actually decorate the table despite being busy with Sandhurst practices. The Cigars came on time which was great. I went for classy and simple at our Christmas table, using simple wrap, a little garland , and a centerpiece that said J-O-Y. Upon the actual dinner everyone was very impressed, especially both our firsties. I was very glad to have impressed Adam Larson, as this was his last (although 5th) Christmas Dinner at the Academy. Our dinner consisted of rolls, mashed potatoes, filet mignon, lobster tails, sparkling grape juice, and egg nog. It truly was quite the feast. During dinner some of the plebes were being put up to dance with upperclassmen. Eventually I was pressured into doing so and asked the Cow (aka junior) at my table if she would dance. Everyone was cheering and we "ballroom" danced a few circles and then sat back down. Embarrassing at first but really not that bad. Upon completion of eating we partook in the Corps tradition to sing the 12 Day of Christmas. This truly turned the Mess Hall into a mad house. Food was flying everywhere and table were being lifted to see who could get the highest. I believe we lifted our table 4 times with either just Lt. Larson or Nelson and then once with both of them on it. This event truly was very unique and is something I will always remember. However, the best was yet to come. After the completion of the 12 Days of Christmas the entire Corps went out of the Mess Hall and on to the Apron for Christmas Cigars. I purchased CAO Gold's for my table. I knew the brand but never tried this particluar blend. Everyone from my table was again impressed. It was a mild cigar with hints of spice but an overall smooth flavor and aftertaste. Never have I seen so much smoke in an outdoor environment. The air looked as heavy with smoke as an indoor hookah bar would. It was so enjoyable to mingle on the apron catching up with buddies from summer training, conversing with other classmates, and just enjoying a very festive atmosphere that one wouldn't expect to find at West Point. I managed to enjoy my cigar to its fullest and was one of the last 50 people outside. I look forward to my future Christmas Dinners here.

Now to talk about Army/Navy week and the Army/Navy game. A/N week is a spirit week in which the Corps gets "motivated" in order to take on Navy. We had the privilege of wearing ACU's all week which is quite the treat. Minus a presentation in English and a Math assignment I had no school work last week. Each night there was something going on. Much to the dismay of the Corps, there was march-on practice on Monday and Tuesday which was cold and boring and time consuming. On Wednesday we had to attend the Goat/Engineer football game. This is a football game between cadets ranked high and low in the class. During the game I managed to engage myself in s snowball fight which ended up in me eventually tackling a Cow (junior) into the snow. Done all in good fun, he did warn me that my revenge is on its way......still waiting. Thursday night was another spirit dinner where they showcased a bunch of the A/N spirit videos. The dinner wasn't the best we headed out to the Big Boat Burning. Cpl. Hunter and I decided to enjoy the bonfire with a cigar. Again I enjoyed another good cigar. On Friday we had another damn compressed schedule which meant wake up early. I had two classes, my final classes of the semester, and finished the day around lunch time. All I did the rest of the day was lay around and rest as I would be getting up at 2 AM on Saturday morning for the A/N game. I had three outdoor formations from 2:55 AM till 3:45 AM in preparation of getting on the buses. We got on the buses around 4 and didnt actually leave till around 5. We arrived in Philly by 9 and then proceeded to simply stand outside until we marched on somewhere around 11:30. March on went smoothly and it was pretty cool being on TV and all. Not much longer after march on I met with my dad, my sister Kelly, Tom, and Old Man. Tom and Old Man are two of my dads classmates from West Point that have known me since I was a baby. I sat with them the entire game on the upper deck. The weather wasn't too bad, which made the loss a little more manageable. I was pleasantly surprised by Army's show of force in the game. I feel that they performed very well and that I have a bright future to look forward too with Army Football. Sadly, I had to move straight to the buses right after the game and said goodbye to my sister, dad, and his friends. The bus ride back wasn't much fun, very uncomfortable and I just wanted to relax. We got back around 10 and I went straight to barracks and took a shower. I then proceeded to pass out in my bed sometime around 11:30.

On Sunday I sat around in bed till sometime between 1 or 2 PM and watched Shaun of the Dead before actually studying for my history exam. Yesterday was the wonderful beginning of TEE week......the one good thing is it means I am almost home for Winter Leave. I studied for my history exam until late last night and then throughout the morning as this exam didn't start until 10 AM. I had two essays to write and wrote 8 pages on each. I fell that I did I pretty good job and should get a grade somewhere in the "B" range. Tomorrow I have math, IT on Wednesday, chemistry on Thursday, and composition on Friday.

I really must get to studying for my math exam now. I hope this post is adequate, given the long absence of a post. I will probably post again during Winter Leave or at the very latest when I get back from leave.