Photography

As you may or may not know, I have greatly enjoyed foraying into the realm of digital SLR photography. I use an Olympus E-500 dSLR, and love it!

Traditionally, I consider myself a non-editor. I don't own Photoshop and don't plan on spending the money for it. I figure that photographers didn't use to have it, and they did fine, so I'm not going to use it either.

However, I have started editing copies of some of my favorite shots using a free program called Paint.NET, which is pretty good. While it definitely doesn't have all the cool tools that Photoshop has, it can do a pretty decent job at photo editing.

So, here goes! Here are a couple of my favorite shots - edited. :)

Flashlights at night

Morning dew on the grass

Frosty dirt

Winter rocks at USAFA

Autumn afternoon sun on the grass

Reminisces of a past doolie

So, now that the dust has settled, and freshman year is over, I have some time to look back on it. Everyone has heard horror stories about the doolie year at service academies – mindless hazing, brutal upperclassmen, sleep deprivation, and all sorts of other inventions all with the sole purpose of making the cadet’s first year at the Academy as miserable as possible. However, I have not had that experience.
Sure, there were times (especially during Basic Training) when I questioned my sanity, questioned why I had come. One of the phrases I used often was, “And I WORKED to get here??” Teamwork and perseverance were the key.

I couldn’t tell you what we did each day during Basic, but I remember many isolated incidents, most of them funny – at least looking back on them. I remember one of my classmates getting a singing card in the mail for his birthday – ohh, the cadre loved that one. Cadet Prater walked around the hallway the rest of that evening, playing that card non-stop. I remember waiting in a hallway for three hours one afternoon to get our fingerprints taken for security clearances – of course, we didn’t just wait… we wound up getting a lot of exercise that afternoon. Well, at least for about two hours… then our cadre got tired of it and left us alone. I remember trying to fill out a security form that asked for the names, ages, and birthdates of all my siblings… yeah, I sure didn’t get them all correct. I remember going on a run with our rifles in Jacks Valley and seeing the guy next to me, who had injured his knee earlier, pass out while running. I also remember a similar run, where one of the doolies tried to get out of it part way through by complaining that the doctor said he couldn’t run without his insoles… yep, we ran back, got them, and then we did the run again.

Once the academic year started, life changed. It was harder in some ways, easier in others. While we didn’t have the constant physical activity that we experienced during BCT, we now had academics. That first semester was a real adjustment time, trying to get used to balancing everything we had to – school, military, athletics, personal life. The upperclassmen didn’t really help us out with our adjustments, and instead tried to throw wrenches into our routines. Needless to say, that semester was verrry long. I lived from weekend to weekend, thinking of the week as merely some time between weekends. I had good roommates, one of them a golfer from San Antonio, Texas. He had a big black puppy back home, an older brother and sister, and was a constant comic relief. He would fall asleep on the floor while studying, sleep until at least noon every Saturday, and was amazing at telling stories.

Once the first semester was finished, we had an all-too-short Christmas Break, and then the second began. There were a lot of good times during the academic year too. Our antics during the first real snowfall, the reactions of some drunken upperclassmen to Obama’s election, and football games. We reached 100’s Night, where all the freshmen “redecorated” the seniors’ rooms in honor of their having 100 days until graduation. During this decoration party, we discovered a picture of our imposing and fearsome Training officer – wearing little earrings. Needless to say, we all lost a little bit of our fear of him then and there.

Our last big milestone of the year was Recognition, a three day experience like no other – leaving everyone feeling very sore afterwards. There are a lot of stories that could be told about it, but a couple instances stand out especially. During some sprints, our fearsome training officer challenged a couple of us to a race. He gave us a headstart, saying, “I’d better not catch you.” … needless to say, he caught one of us. When he reached Cadet Gormley, it is rumored that he hissed, “I’m going to eat your soul” into the poor guy’s ear. I don’t know if it made him run faster or not.

I’m glad I came. I’ve had a great experience, I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve made some great friendships. And, now that I’m a sophomore, life is looking up a bit more.

Training sessions...

Well, this is going to be VERY different from the typical fare you will get here... :) I had to write a creative/descriptive nonfiction piece for my English class. I never write like this otherwise, but, it is sort of an update on life here... I guess. :)

It is about training sessions. Let me know if you feel bad for me afterwards. If so, Mission accomplished. ;)

I lined up shoulder to shoulder with my classmates in the long hallway, waiting for the training session to begin. It was Monday, and my Training Officer had told me there would be a training session that afternoon. As I stood there with my back against the wall, waiting for the inevitable, I contemplated why I had come back to the hallway. Perhaps I did not want to leave my classmates to their fates alone, or perhaps it was also a little fear of reprisal. At any rate, I had decided to return to the squadron and take whatever was coming my way. I waited in silence for five minutes, but it seemed an eternity. Suddenly, the cadre came running from an adjacent hallway, seemingly appearing from out of nowhere right in front of me. Controlled chaos ensued as I and my classmates were broken up into small groups and hustled off to different parts of the long hallway.

As soon as I and my little group were alone, the cadre barked out a command to hit the ground in the front leaning rest. As I did pushups to his monotonous cadence, my back straight as a board, sweat began to bead on my forehead. Soon, there was a puddle right in front of me, formed as it dripped off my face. I could tell where I had been the minute before by merely looking for the splatter of sweat on the floor. The tile flooring felt cool, and as I continued to do pushups, it became ever more inviting. The temptation to collapse, to rest against the cool tiles, to take a break from the incessant physical exercise, was great. It seemed like a magnet, drawing me ever closer as my lower body began to sag towards it from exhaustion.

The cadre then decided to switch exercises to give my overworked upper body muscles a brief respite. He said that I could take a break and sit down in a chair. The seat was invisible, and its back was the wall. After a minute of “rest,” the muscles in my upper thighs began to protest, and as lactic acid was released, began to quiver and burn. However, I continued to sit there, legs involuntarily shaking, until instructed to stand up.

I was not done with the hallway yet though. I sprinted through the hallways, futilely chasing the cadre who constantly egged me to run faster. Up one, down another. The once familiar hallway seemed to have become an endless maze with no way out. Not until the training session was over did I see it again for what it really was, a mere corridor leading to wherever I needed to go.

And the end begins...

Ominous sounding title, no?

It refers to the fact that the infamous 40 days leading up to Recognition have begun. In 43 days, I will again be considered a human! However, the tunnel is going to get a lot darker before it gets brighter, so I will appreciate any and all prayer. As we head into this last stage of freshmen life, we will be tested physically and mentally beyond anything we have ever gone through before. Once we are finished with it though, we will be DONE with all the mindless rules imposed on us, as well as no longer being objects for the upperclassmen to exert their power over.

The Countdown Begins! 40... :)

freshmanitis

I'm sure most of you have heard of the term "senioritis." I think that once you have a bout of it in your senior year of high school, that you can never really defeat it... at most, you might manage to achieve an uneasy truce. Unfortunately, I think that I am going to a place where this -itis can be tacked onto any year... freshman, sopohmore, junior, senior. I've only had two days of school and I'm already tired! :)

One must look on the bright side though. This semester seems to be shaping up to be a good one academically. I like all my instructors so far (save one - not sure about her yet), and with the exception of English, my classes seem pretty good too! The biggest plus is that I have gotten a good first impression of my math instructor. I found out last semester how important they can be to your health. :(

I've got English, Behavioral Science, Differential Equations, Engineering mechanics, German, Physics, and Boxing.

There are only about 9 weeks until Recognition (after which comes... wait for it... freedom!) and then SPRING BREAK! I can't wait for multiple very good reasons. :)

And, since I am sooo bad at giving updates with any kind of regularity, I might as well mention my summer plans. There are three periods during the summer, during which you do three different things. Coincidental, huh? Anyway, I'm hoping to do Combat Survival Training (CST) and during the first period, Jump School the second, and LEAVE the third! I really don't know what will happen during my leave besides going home, but a possible trip down to Yosemite for an Assembly Conference with some best friends might be in order... we'll see.

Until the next time that I remember about this little place, adieu!