As I mentioned in the previous post we spent the end of the week in Annapolis, MD to visit the Naval Academy for the brother. We tend to forget that the academies even exist until they pop up at a random sporting event, or have some sexual assault scandal (like every college has). But there is so much more to them that we don't even realize. At the Naval Academy alone, there are 4000 young men and women committed to the military and academy life. These kids are our age, and instead of going out to parties Friday nights, they aren't allowed off campus. Instead of basking in the fact that they don't have class until 2 pm on Mondays, they get up at 5:30 am for a workout followed by a full day of classes. They take gym class every semester and are required to do at least one sport.
Here's what you need to know about our counterparts at the Academies:
1. They wear uniforms every day. They aren't even allowed to walk across their quad unless they're in formal uniform. After 6:30 pm, they can wear "spirit gear" as long as it is academy colors and has the academy logo on it.
2. Speaking of quads (but not really). Your first year, you're know as a "plebe". You show up to school 2 months early and have to endure really long, physical days. The worst part: no electronics and something like only 3 ten minute phone calls through the whole summer. Once you go through I-Day you're an official midshipman - but you're still a plebe. This means that your door must be open unless you're sleeping or changing. You can only leave campus Saturday afternoons, and you have to get up for pre-breakfast workouts at 5:30 am. On Friday evenings you're tested on military history, traditions and guidelines, but you can push it back till Sunday (maybe you didn't study..) if you go to an Academy event such as the women's glee club performance.
4. To graduate from "plebe" life you and your classmates must climb up Hernden (the monument below) and replace the plebe hat with a true midshipman hat. The catch, though, is that it's covered in pig grease and there're some fire hoses being sprayed on you to "keep you cool".
5. Even when you're a sophomore, you still have to wear your uniform off-campus. Only when you reach Junior status are you allowed off campus Friday nights and in "civilian" gear. An awkward moment occurred as I walked to meet my friend during a passing period. I only felt slightly out of place in my jeans and winter coat... I also still stand by my statement that men in uniform look pretty darn nice.
6. You get a "Sponsor" family at the Academy. A sort of substitute family for the weekends when you just want to go eat some homemade food and sleep.
7. The 4000 midshipmen are split into 27 companies at the academy. All the companies are housed in one dormitory called Bancroft Hall. Note that's FOUR THOUSAND people. There're a total of 5 miles of hallways in Bancroft and you room with your company in a hallway. I got to enter the common area of Bancroft, but being a civilian I wasn't allowed in the dorm areas. You can date someone in your company... only if one of you decides to switch companies.
8. Before every meal all the midshipmen line up outside Bancroft and make sure that everyone is "presented or accounted for". And everyone eats meals at the same time in Bancroft. All FOUR THOUSAND of them. If there's one thing the Academy does right it's mass feeding.
9. It's also a pretty normal college. You have classes for your major (though everyone graduates with a B.S.), you have extracurriculars, you have a sport. You still get Winter, Spring, and Summer Break. They're all just a bit shorter. In the summers you spend time in the fleet (basically seeing what your job will be like once you graduate). You get monthly spending money - though there's not much to spend it on because you're basically on campus 24/7.
10. There's a football team that must "Beat Army", and everyone is required to go to all the home games. That's a way to fill a stadium!
11. One of my favorite moments was when we were at the entrance checkpoint and a decent amount of students were milling about the exit. They were waiting for food deliveries which would be slipped under the gate. Food like pizzas and Jimmy Johns (that seems pretty normal to me!)
12. You live on a beautiful campus surrounded on three sides by the bay for the four years that you're at the academy. And you have a network of friends once you graduate.
Conclusion: Going to an Academy is a commendable decision. Not going to an Academy is a commendable decision. And though their life might be a bit more structured than mine, and they might be a bit more fit than me, they are living a life no better or worse than me. We both have internships - mine at an Environmental Justice organization, and them at the military. They are no more honorable or brave or stronger than I am just because they are at the Academy. Your personality and actions don't come from what school you attend, but rather from who you are as an individual.
My best friend goes to the Academy and I am so proud of her and all she has accomplished, just as she is proud of what I have accomplished. And if my brother chooses to attend the Academy as well I will send him off with a big hug and a smile because I am already so proud of him.
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