<p>Points about care packages, etc from the limited perspective of being one Plebe's mom:
- Don't bother sending home baked goods during Plebe Summer, unless you like feeding upperclassmen that you have never met. Wait until Ac year starts. Even my daughter's Power Bars were confiscated this summer.
- Do not send anything by any form of express mail (FedEx, UPS) until Ac year starts. During the summer, just use the Postal Service. Plebes cannot go to pick up any mail for themselves during Plebe summer, and the cadre only go to the express mail office by special request. You or your Plebe will NOT want to make special requests during PS.
- Academy fan is right; it's not that classes are harder, it's that there is more to do than time in which to do it, and that goes for Ac year as much or more than Plebe Summer. My Plebe got more sleep during PS than since Ac year has started. She averages ~5-6 hours/night, except when she has a watch-standing rotation from 0200-0400, or something. I guarantee that you have never spent as much time caring for your room or making sure that your clothes are properly maintained as you will at a SA, and there's lots more besides that. It can all be done, including varsity athletics, but not if you waste time.</p>
<p>I recently overheard one plebe bemoaning "if I only had more time to study my chemistry..." </p>
<p>Sounds familiar. Things don't change in the Fleet, in fact there are many more demands (at least for JO SWOs) than what is asked at USNA. Being on a CRUDES is extremely stressful and time management skills are of UTMOST IMPORTANCE. You cannot be a successful DIVO without them. All I can say is that I am glad to be pulling back into port in the next few days!</p>
<p>^^^ this confirms what i told my son before he reported for i-day. there is a purpose, no matter how remote, for everything at the Academy. discover the purpose behind today's thorn in your flesh and it will be easier to endure.</p>
<p>It's not always important to understand the purpose of everything you do here. No purpose whatsoever to chopping, even our upperclass admit this. There really is a purpose to rates, lots of verbatum emergency procedures to memorize in the fleet. What makes it easier is not to think. Period. Just do what you're told and remember that time keeps moving. Enjoy your 20 minutes of personal time during plebe summer. Helps you feel almost human. That being said... don't waste it either... you will ALWAYS have stuff to do during plebe summer. Boredom is redefined as standing on a bulkhead reading reef points and being rated, not enough time to be truely bored. Same carries on to the academic year... always a ton of stuff to do.</p>
<p>sure there is a purpose to chopping-
you are entertainment for the upperclass,
it makes you easily recognizable,
it keeps you in shape,
it keeps you moving- quickly,
it is a constant reminder of where you are and where you rank,
and it gets you from point A to point B a whole lot quicker.</p>
<p>;)</p>