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. :)
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.
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.
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.
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. :(
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!
I have a nice three day weekend coming up, so I thought that I’d take some time to let everybody back home know how I’m doing and what’s happening around here.
As kind of an overview, school is going alright - I’m really busy, but am mostly able to stay on top. (With the help of the weekends)Athletics – well, Ultimate Frisbee is over. And, for the third part of our three “pillars”, military, it got worse, but its still liveable. Due to the fact that the upperclassmen felt that our class as a whole was slacking on discipline, they moved us back to square one. Now, we have to do 30 pushups whenever we leave or enter the squad (where we live), we still have to walk on the right side of the hallway, can only turn right (yep, to turn left – 3 rights), and have to walk all the way down to the end of the hallway before crossing it. But, it is a game, and I do know that the upperclassmen are, for the most part, proud of us.
We’ve had a couple of interesting weeks the past month. I’ll start with the first snow of the school year. Two weeks ago, we got about an inch and a half of snow. Along with the “first snow” comes the tradition of “first shirt, first snow.” This involves the freshmen somehow getting their first sergeant out into the snow, and getting them in as much snow as possible. So, of course, to follow in tradition, we attempted it. There were a couple problems though. One – our 1st Sgt is a judo black belt. Two – almost ALL the upperclassmen were waiting for us out in the hallway, ready to defend their classmate. Three – our football ICs (intercollegiate athletes) weren’t back from practice yet. But, we did it anyway. Needless to say, it degenerated into a hall brawl. After about 15 -20 minutes of fighting/wrestling, we stillhadn’t even gotten in McGuiness’s (our 1st Sgt) room. So, he finally came out, so that the tradition could be continued. It took another 10 minutes to get him outside and into the snow, but it was worth it. (Or was it… my neck was sore for days. Their favorite tactic? Chokeholds from behind )
Next up was Commandants Challenge Training. This gave us Friday off school, but consumed both Friday and Saturday, leaving us only Sunday for a weekend. It was pretty fun. You knew it had to be good when they start off with a shooter drill, and everyone goes in their room, locks the doors, and waits for the all clear. We waited for two hours. Some people were able to get some quality nap time in. (here, you take naps when they come… doesn’t matter what time. Just woke up? Oh, that doesn’t matter – we can take naps anytime. ) Over the rest of the “weekend,” we got training in convoy procedures and what to do if you come under fire in a convoy, tactical movement techniques, tent set-up (big tent – metal frame, doors),land navigation (map and compass), using NBC suits (Nuclear, biological, chemical), procedures for IEDs, marching, and battlefield first aid (SABC). I enjoyed it, and I believe that our squadron was ranked as 2nd in the Wing for the exercise. We do it again for real right before Thanksgiving Break.
Lastly and most recently, this week. The AF vs Army game is tomorrow, (Sat) so this week was “Army Week.” During “Army Week,” the Army exchange students do all sorts of spirit missions – little operations designed to *try* to prove Army superiority. These included: painting the Ranger crest onto the big back windows of Fairchild Hall, hanging up banners with the names of several famous AF generals and their graduation year from WEST POINT, building a model of an airplane crashing into the ground in the middle of the terrazzo, and capturing the cadet wing commander during noon meal formation. (they drove up in a Ford excursion on the tzo, jumped out, grabbed him while he was marching, and drove off!)Those were conducted with all the army guys working together.
However, the west point cadet in our squadron mounted some local spirit missions. It started with us stealing his uniforms last Friday afternoon. Saturday (after a long day of Comms Challenge training) we came back to find ALL our uniforms taken from our closets, our nameplates missing from our doors, and pink shirts on our beds – obviously for us, and decorated with “UAV Pride / Desk Jockey / M-16? Never heard of it… and other references to UAVs, desk jobs, and paper cuts. In retaliation, that afternoon we dismantled his bed and desk, and took them with his chairs out onto the basketball courts way down by the gym, where we put them back together. When he came back to his room the next day, he could look out his window and see his room down on the basketball courts.
Next, he hid our nameplates all over the place, and then gave us a scavenger-hunt type map to find them. He hid them in statues, at the barber shop, in books at the library (about army leaders), with the security guy down at the gate, and two were even taped to a tree up on top of Eagle’s Peak. That last one was particularly good. To try to remedy the problem, a group of us went up Eagle’s Peak, retrieved the name tags, and cut down a tree. We then brought it back and put it in his room! It’s still there too.
I’ll finish up with some stats that we found out recently. Our entering GPA was the highest of any class, and after Prog (midterms) , our grades were the second highest achieved by any class in the past 20 years. Our squadron has(I believe)the highest GPA in the wing, and are 2nd in the wing on our physical fitness test scores (1.5 mile run, pushups, pull-ups, sit-ups, standing long jump, 600m dash).
Well, I’ll wrap up now. Hopefully you get a little bit of an idea of what goes on here, and that there are some fun spots too.
Flashlights at night
Morning dew on the grass
Frosty dirt
Winter rocks at USAFA
Autumn afternoon sun on the grass
