<p>So how was everybody's visit with their Plebe!</p>
<p>Ours was great! The weekend went by too quickly though. They didn't seem to be as tired as I was led to believe they would be. Did anyone get to see their plebe's room? I thought PPW was to be one of 2 total times in 4 years to see their room - even though it won't be their room for AC year.</p>
<p>Yup!</p>
<p>Rooms change during the AC years. Our understanding is that you get to see inside Bancroft PPW and again when they are 1st Class at graduation. Two times out of four years. Hope everyone had a great PPW. Did they play Christmas Carols out the windows as the parents were leaving on Sunday? I had heard about that but couldn't believe it when they actually did it. The CADRE has a warped sense of humor but I guess it is tradition.</p>
<p>no room visits anymore</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>Too bad. Parents really enjoy that. Oh well. </p>
<p>Parents, please note that plebe summer is the EASY part. The hard part that is Ac Year is yet to come. Most mids were in the top 20% of their h.s. class. At the end of first semester, 50% of these folks will be in the bottom half. Mids really get Cs and Ds and Fs. The academics are hard, but doable.</p>
<p>Now is really the time to be supportive. Accept the fact that your child may not be in the top of his/her class anymore but that's ok. He/she can work really, really, really hard and still get a "D." Hard to believe, but true.</p>
<p>I remember when I got my first semester grades -- I'd never seen grades that low (they DID get much better over the years). I thought my parents, especially my mother who was a teacher, would be aghast. But she was "cool." She understood that there was a lot of pressure and that I was doing my best under the circumstances. I will never forget the fact that she didn't freak out and/or chastise me. She accepted, recognized I did my best, and encouraged me to do even better.</p>
<p>The summer is over but plebe year is only beginning . . .</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Ain't that the truth. </p>
<p>But believe me Plebe year will be over before you and they know it.</p>
<p>People think plebe year is the worst. In the follow on years, you have more work, less time and less sleep. Then you get to the fleet and the work load increases with sleep time decreasing.</p>
<p>Based on how our plebe summer and plebe year were, and I am assuming it is the same or easier, I got the most sleep of all of my years at the academy.</p>
<p>Navy07,</p>
<p>I strongly concur. When you are on deployment, a lot is asked of you and your TIME MANAGEMENT skills will be ESSENTIAL. Learn time management while you are at USNA, otherwise it will come back to haunt you....I promise. You can get very stressed out if you don't know how to cope and prioritize.</p>
<p>PPW was a great reunion after 5 stressful weeks (for all)of PS. Our plebe wanted to do everything, but many times during the weekend he simply ran out of steam and was ready to head back to the hotel room, get out of uniform and simply watch ESPN or the Olympics......he ended up eating fast food in the room several nights and never got to see the Batman movie, even thou we were staying 1 block from the mall theater. Return to the Yard on Sunday was dicey, with the logjammed traffic due to the major Bay Bridge wreck......after inching slowly forward for 30 minutes, Plebe finally bailed out of the car and ran 6 blocks to Gate 8 at 5:35 followed closely by his mom and sis.........he made it to reform with a few minutes to spare,thanks to another family picking him up inside the gate. We waved a final goodbye to him at the evening meal formation marching into Bancroft.</p>
<p>Our visit was also wonderful. Our Plebe had lost ~5% of body weight during the summer, but she looked lean, strong, and healthy. We did visit the mall, but no Batman movie - she didn't want to use the time that way. Instead, we wandered through town together, ate in several restaurants, watched the Olympics, and toured various buildings on the Yard. As we entered the Wesley Brown fieldhouse on Saturday, we had the good fortune to meet LCDR Brown and his wife. He was so kind to my daughter as he gave her words of encouragement for completing Plebe year. It was a very special few minutes.</p>
<p>We were staying within walking distance of the Yard, AND my daughter was paranoid that she would be late, so Friday night we were on the Yard by ~8PM! We ended up sitting and chatting in Dahlgren Hall. The other two nights we wandered back with about 20-30 minutes left for her to be ready "for accountability." </p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who warned us about the Christmas carols. They may otherwise have been a shock, but since we were expecting it, we all had a good laugh.</p>
<p>We loved PPW. We were amazed at how much like family everyone becomes. We went to dinner on Friday with son's new roommate and his family. At the parade we met family members of son's squadmates. We surprised our plebe with a visit from his girlfriend. He had no idea she was coming. We saw him by ourselves on Friday and had girlfriend arrive late Friday night. She surprised him after parade on Saturday morning. When squadmates had heard she was there, they came to see the surprise too. We met more friends at church. It is comforting to know that our son is surrounded by good friends already.</p>
<p>Sounds like most of you have a wonderful weekend with your Mids!</p>
<p>This week will be filled with lots of busy work for your plebes- computer issue, moving rooms, and settling in with the new room mates- and, of course, preparing for "reform"...which will commence on Saturday. By Sunday night, the entire Brigade will be on the yard, and the academic year will start. "One third" of the academy experience is nearly done.... 2/3 to go!</p>
<p>This is a busy time for the other classes as well. Youngsters will be relieved that there is someone finally below them, the 2C will be getting ready for their 2 for 7 signings, and before you know it, the 1C will be addressing their service selection. The wheels go round and round, and the class of 2013 is already forming up- over 9,000 applications have already been "opened!" </p>
<p>Hang in! Study hard!</p>
<p>They will also be continuing their Plebe summer training evolutions. My Mid's platoon had not been through the Tarzan Assault course (oops, the "confidence course"), among other things.</p>
<p>^ ^^ yes they will. But the end is in sight- and trust me, the detailers want the rest too!!! ;)</p>