<p>What happens on r day</p>
<p>You might want to get a hold of Surviving West Point (national geographic documentary). Then you can SEE what happens!</p>
<p>The day generally starts standing in line waiting to enter Eisenhower Hall for a brief meeting and then your 90 seconds to say the goodbyes. TIP: Say your goodbyes before you come that morning. </p>
<p>Basically you go through in-processing. You'll spend the day going from station to station filling out forms, drinking water, standing at attention, getting yelled at, getting shots, looking straight ahead, memorizing Bugle Notes, getting yelled at, marching drills, getting yelled at, drinking water, getting yelled at, getting your uniforms, drinking water, etc. </p>
<p>Long story short, there will be lots of learning that first day for the new cadets.</p>
<p>The family members who come are able to stroll around the campus, catching glimpses of hordes of cadet candidates marching, running, back and forth, hither and yon. Families tend to stay until the parade in the late afternoon and the swearing in ceremony at Trophy Point. Then everyone goes home, the new cadets march right into Washington Hall for dinner and more instruction that evening. You will hit the ground running and need to be in shape physically and mentally, otherwise you'll suffer greatly. Be prepared!</p>
<p>It's nothing, really, when you compare it to the rest of Beast.</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>Yeah what he said. Definitely the easiest day of Beast.</p>
<p>Ok then what happens during beast. What do you go htrough on daily basis?</p>
<p>Try reading Amy Efaw's "Battle Dress".</p>
<p>11bakjoe: Try reading this site and see if it answers
any of your questions: Frequently</a> Asked Questions</p>
<p>Also, read the posting:</p>
<p>"From a Plebe's Perspective...especially for girls"</p>
<p>on the previous page of topics.</p>
<p>Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to link it.</p>
<p>Don't worry about it. Don't stress yourself out trying to figure everything out. Just show up with a positive attitude and a good night's sleep and you'll be fine. You will laugh about R-day later on in the summer.</p>
<p>Hey I recieved my appointment two days ago, while at the academy, i know you have extremely limited time and only 3 phone calls throughout beast, but do you have time, and if you do, provided opportunity, to write home or to friends? Do you guys keep in touch with your GF/BF family, friends, etc.? or are you on your own for the duration of the summer?</p>
<p>Yes - you can keep in touch with letters. My cadet wrote lots of letters - basically a diary that he sent home in letter form. It is a wonderful reminder of his experience that we really appreciated at the time, and I know he will treasure in later life (yes we kept them all :)). I suspect that getting mail is a highlight in a new cadets day during Beast. It is a good idea to give addressed and stamped envelopes to all of your friends before you leave on R-Day.</p>
<p>Just make sure you don't attract too much attention with the envelopes, some squad leaders will actually give your mail a look-over.</p>
<p>Yes, plain white envelopes and flag stamps are good...</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, I plan on keeping in touch with a couple close friends and of course family. :)</p>
<p>You will have time to write, but not every cadet will do so, depending on how they respond to Beast. We talked to some parents who got 1 or two very short notes from their new cadet, some who only got the phone calls, others who got a couple of dozen letters during Beast. For some new cadets its a good way to "blow off steam".</p>
<p>The new cadets were only allowed 10 minutes total for each phone call, three times during Beast - and they are timed. Of course, the more people the new cadet wants to call, the less time each gets. They are allowed phone privileges when they go to a sponsor's house for the Ice Cream Social (usually on a Sunday about 1/2 way through Beast when cadre changes).</p>
<p>My d only wrote a few letters to me, but she was very good about filling out the form letters I sent. (I sent each with a SASE.) On each letter, I included a few multiple choice questions with the answers ranging from one extreme to the other (tried to give humorous choices). She would sometimes circle more than one and also crossed out part of the answers. I also included some fill in the blank questions for things like what company, roommates names, etc. Overall, even though she isn't much of a writer, I was able to piece together enough information to know she was surviving. Not happy, but surviving. ;)</p>
<p>The form letters are a good idea. I sent some of those too. That way my son had less writing to do, but usually would add something of his own at the bottom. We got a few letters he wrote but these were short (one or two paragraphs). I heard of some cadets writing letters almost every day. I have no idea how they had the time. My son was too busy and tired to write that often.</p>
<p>In the middle of Beast they have an Ice Cream Social. This is when the cadre change is made. The new cadets get a few hours to go to a sponsor family's home and have ice cream or other treats. They are allowed to call home during this time and depending upon how many cadets are there and how many phones the family has you may get longer than 10 minutes. My son was fortunate that his family had a house phone and some cell phones so he was able to talk to us for over 30 minutes. The other two calls will be only 10 minutes and will be closely timed by the cadre - it is the fastest 10 minutes of your life as a parent. ;)</p>
<p>The form letters are a lot of fun. If anyone is wondering what these are, here is a link to samples on plebe-net:
<a href="http://www.west-point.org/parent/plebe-net/letters.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.west-point.org/parent/plebe-net/letters.html</a></p>