Cadet For a Day
...OR...The Best Monday of My Life.
If you don't know about it, Cadet For a Day is a program we have where a little kid, usually who is sick or something, gets to visit the Air Force Academy and wear a flightsuit and see some of the stuff we do and sort of what it's like to be a cadet and everything. My title for this entry comes from the fact that I didn't have fencing practice today, so I get to be like a normal cadet for a day. The reason for my alternate title will soon become clear.
Today started off well, since it's a T-Day and I only have Political Science and Russian classes in the morning. During a free period while I was doing my devotions I got a lesson in SCF done. I have started to strongly dislike my Russian teacher, but class was still ok. After that, I graded people's uniforms since I'm Stan/Eval, and went to lunch. After I came back, I looked at my clock, and it was 1245, and I remembered I didn't have practice. Almost SIX HOURS of free time?!?!?!?!?!?! I didn't know what to do with myself. What do regular cadets do with all their free time? I did homework, I played video games, I read a book, I listend to music, thinking that surely I must have wasted the whole afternoon. Nope, three hours left.
So, still not knowing what to do with myself, I decided maybe I would go out, since I can now, as a two degree, and I have a car. I asked Brian if he needed anything from Wal-Mart or anything like that, and thought about what I needed as I got changed. Then I looked at Brian cluelessly, "Ahhh, do I just sign out on a regular pass, or what?" He laughed at me and said, "This really is new to you, isn't it? Yeah, just a basic pass."
I went to Wal-Mart (I forgot that it's always a bad idea to go shopping when you're hungry), I went to a couple drug stores looking for Basis, but none of them had it, then I went to Barnes&Noble and bought Brisingr(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and I went to a place where I could wash Lysander, and then I got gas, and then I came back. It was the most fun. Even if I had just gotten to take Lysander for a run (not as much fun as taking Ned for a run, but a looooot faster!), it would've been good, listening to some of the music I just got by Casting Crowns, Third Day, Kutless, Skillet, and others, but I even got a good book and good food and everything. Even just walking down to the parking lot in anticipation before I left, I was positively giddy.
After I got back, I still had about an hour and a half to burn before SPIRE, so I went to the package stop to pick up the package that mum sent since they were open by then, went to the regular post office to check my mail, worked out and took a shower, did some other stuff in my room, and then went to SPIRE. The perfect ending for the perfect day? A letter in the mail from Grandma!!
I guess that must be what regular cadets do every single day! Well, maybe not exactly. But I do wonder what they find to do with all that free time. Unless of course, you're an IP or on WOB or something. Somehow, intercollegiate athletes have a reputation of being lazy and not wanting to do much in the squadron, aka "terazzo gap". But I have to do almost exactly the same thing everyone else does, except with a minimum of four hours taken out of my day, every single day! If anything, it should be the other way around, regular cadets should have a reputation for being lazy compared to ICs. But I guess it doesn't work that way, and it doesn't matter too much, anyway.
Hurrah for no sabre practice Mondays! As much as I really love fencing, I got to do all of that, go to SPIRE, write this whole LJ entry, and I'm going to bed super early. Except I have an irresistable urge to start reading Brisingr, or write more of The Schoolboy, and I can't decide which. Maybe I'm not going to bed early after all. I'll let you know how it turns out.
If you don't know about it, Cadet For a Day is a program we have where a little kid, usually who is sick or something, gets to visit the Air Force Academy and wear a flightsuit and see some of the stuff we do and sort of what it's like to be a cadet and everything. My title for this entry comes from the fact that I didn't have fencing practice today, so I get to be like a normal cadet for a day. The reason for my alternate title will soon become clear.
Today started off well, since it's a T-Day and I only have Political Science and Russian classes in the morning. During a free period while I was doing my devotions I got a lesson in SCF done. I have started to strongly dislike my Russian teacher, but class was still ok. After that, I graded people's uniforms since I'm Stan/Eval, and went to lunch. After I came back, I looked at my clock, and it was 1245, and I remembered I didn't have practice. Almost SIX HOURS of free time?!?!?!?!?!?! I didn't know what to do with myself. What do regular cadets do with all their free time? I did homework, I played video games, I read a book, I listend to music, thinking that surely I must have wasted the whole afternoon. Nope, three hours left.
So, still not knowing what to do with myself, I decided maybe I would go out, since I can now, as a two degree, and I have a car. I asked Brian if he needed anything from Wal-Mart or anything like that, and thought about what I needed as I got changed. Then I looked at Brian cluelessly, "Ahhh, do I just sign out on a regular pass, or what?" He laughed at me and said, "This really is new to you, isn't it? Yeah, just a basic pass."
I went to Wal-Mart (I forgot that it's always a bad idea to go shopping when you're hungry), I went to a couple drug stores looking for Basis, but none of them had it, then I went to Barnes&Noble and bought Brisingr(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and I went to a place where I could wash Lysander, and then I got gas, and then I came back. It was the most fun. Even if I had just gotten to take Lysander for a run (not as much fun as taking Ned for a run, but a looooot faster!), it would've been good, listening to some of the music I just got by Casting Crowns, Third Day, Kutless, Skillet, and others, but I even got a good book and good food and everything. Even just walking down to the parking lot in anticipation before I left, I was positively giddy.
After I got back, I still had about an hour and a half to burn before SPIRE, so I went to the package stop to pick up the package that mum sent since they were open by then, went to the regular post office to check my mail, worked out and took a shower, did some other stuff in my room, and then went to SPIRE. The perfect ending for the perfect day? A letter in the mail from Grandma!!
I guess that must be what regular cadets do every single day! Well, maybe not exactly. But I do wonder what they find to do with all that free time. Unless of course, you're an IP or on WOB or something. Somehow, intercollegiate athletes have a reputation of being lazy and not wanting to do much in the squadron, aka "terazzo gap". But I have to do almost exactly the same thing everyone else does, except with a minimum of four hours taken out of my day, every single day! If anything, it should be the other way around, regular cadets should have a reputation for being lazy compared to ICs. But I guess it doesn't work that way, and it doesn't matter too much, anyway.
Hurrah for no sabre practice Mondays! As much as I really love fencing, I got to do all of that, go to SPIRE, write this whole LJ entry, and I'm going to bed super early. Except I have an irresistable urge to start reading Brisingr, or write more of The Schoolboy, and I can't decide which. Maybe I'm not going to bed early after all. I'll let you know how it turns out.