Back to the Academy! Today was the first day of classes and its time to get back in the saddle. I had an amazing three weeks leave at home spending a weekend in the Los Angeles area with my family and then the next weekend I drove back to Los Angeles with friends. I went camping up in the Arizona mountains and tried to catch some fish. It is always good to go home, especially to sleep in a Tempur-pedic queen bed instead of a two-inch mattress that I don’t fit on aboard the cutters this summer. Going home is so much different once you are away for so long. You notice things you have never noticed before and you are appreciative of everything you used to take for granted, like my mom doing my laundry! It is crazy to see what your high school classmates are doing now, which is usually the same things they were doing in high school or they are married or have kids. It is hard to imagine what life would be like if I wasn’t at the Academy and when you go home you become even more thankful for the opportunities you get at the Academy.
I am actually excited for my classes this year because I finally am able to get into my major. 3/c year is the toughest academic year and therefore, your upper class try to give you a brake militarily, but it is still hard to maintain the military performance when the academic stresses get so high. As 3/c, we are now considered role modelers for the new 4/c. We are now responsible for others and are crucial in making sure they grow and mature as 4/c and don’t flunk out of here. I was ready to come back to the Academy, even though it was hard to step on that airplane knowing where it was headed. I’m ready to kick start the year, and I’m even more ready for Labor Day!
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