reflections, part i.
sigh. at last, i feel like the dust has settled and i can finally get around to jotting down some thoughts and ideas about my time in west point. i've finally unpacked my suitcase (only to pack another one for tomorrow's trip to DC, but that is subject matter for another post) and put away my things. anyway, it's wednesday evening, and i'm waiting around for a lecture for class. i got back home last thursday around 1 o'clock, and i don't think i've eve been happier to see the glimmering bay, the brown san bruno mountains... you get the picture. the national conference on ethics in america was an amazing experience, one that has broadened my horizons and exposed me to so much more than i would have ever guessed. i s'pose i'll start recounting from the beginning...
it took me forever to pack. i had my mom's really pretty brown suitcase and somehow managed to stuff it to the brim. putting dress codes on a four-day conference never makes things very easy, because not only did i have to find business casual wear, but i also had to pull together stuff for my "off" time, stuff for sleeping, and stuff for the nyc trip. anyway, i finally managed to get everything into the one bag and went to sleep after a minor disaster of buying a defective flat iron and realizing that i would have to go curly for the next week (really. it was a disatrous thing. no joke). i was totally worn out, and i hadn't even left yet. that saturday, oct. 28th, was the day of the NSCS first official PFCS mentoring event (that i was organizing), and while it was amazing fun, it was also totally draining. i spent two hours literally RUNNING around the mission, tracking down "clues" with my 8th grade buddy for the 7 Tepees version of "the amazin' race" (the G omitted as to not infringe upon copyrights). then i spent a good 40 minutes waiting for the bus, another 30 minutes on the bus, 15 minutes walking from the haight back to campus, 20 minutes on campus waiting to get picked up... meanwhile my body is sore and aching and throbbing... and then my mom and i run down to the rack for some *quick* errands. managed to pick up some last minute things (a really fuzzy, really warm bathrobe -- yay!), but the mother was occupied for a good two hours or so, meaning that i sat in the car for a while. so i sat. and sat. and sat. tried to sleep. got really hungry. went to trader joes, bought some dinner... then finally drove down to ulta for that defective flat iron... and then came home to pack. anyway, where i was going with this was that, yeah, i was bloody worn out and the trip hadn't even started. alas. so i slept and woke up the next morning, said good-bye to my cat and my stuffed dog and my bedroom... and my sister and my mom and my dad.... and headed off to the airport.
when i reached my terminal, it turned out that my flight had been delayed an hour and fifteen minutes -- 40 mph winds around newark airport were apparently the cause. so, i wandered down to a cozy looking restaurant (the buena vista -- quite nice) and sat down. breakfast for the morning (as i was in the mood to splurge) was a dungeness crab omelette with some much-needed tea (quelled my splitting migraine, thank god) and a biscuit. once i relaxed some and ate my fill, i headed down for the bookstore and absolutely fell in love. somehow managed to escape buying only 2 books, and headed back to the terminal to wait.
by the time i got back, i fell into my book (codex, which, apart from the super anti-climatic ending, was pretty darn good), and time flew by. i boarded, and who should be sitting next to me but the other usf delegate, paul? paul, incidentally, is a fellow member of sii who i met as a freshman, and, fantastically enough, still remembered me. we chatted for a while about oxford and all the amazing things europe has to offer, then went back to our reading. the flight was pretty uneventful, aside from a really yummy snackbox (i'm a simple creature) and the in-flight showing of the devil wears prada. finally, we were at newark airport, and it was off to retrieve our luggage and answer the question that had been nagging us the entire way -- would there be someone there to meet us?
we headed down to the luggage area and had a time wandering around the carousels, trying to find the right one (is it me, or is it just common-bloody-sense to have a SIGN up that states which flight belongs to which carousel? ugh. ineptitude. can't stand it). we finally found the carousel and got our luggage, which solved our first, more pressing, problem, but not our second. so we were standing there, staring around like idiots. west point? cadets? ncea conference? usf? no signs, no obvious military folks, nothing. so we went outside and contemplated. can't call usf, 'cause it's sunday night and no one's there. at last, it was resolved that we would call west point (as i quite brilliantly brought along my handy-dandy FAQs sheet)... only the numbers printed on there were outdated. uh-oh. messages increasing in anxiety and irritation were then left on some LTC's cell phone without any response. at last, success! my cell phone rang with a very courteous cadet on the other end -- are you here yet? can you come to the american terminal? yes, check on all the above! saved, paul and i trundled inside, where we found 2 cadets dressed in their "greys," the ultra-formal USMA uniform. 1 nice boy escorted us to the waiting bus, and at last we were out of the cold. hungry, yes, and tired, to be sure, but we were there. the only question left was 'what the hell have we gotten ourselves into?!'
the bus ride was long, particularly 'cause i was tired and hungry. we finally made it to the school, but it was dark, and all i could make out were tall stone buildings and things that looked old -- always a good sign. after i inhaled part of a subway sandwich, i got handed off to my host, maria, and it was off to the barracks.
her room really wasn't too terrible. it was a good size, with two small beds (mattresses aren't terribly comfortable), two desks, a closet, and a changing space. oh, and a sink. that was nifty. i got settled in and took a shower (the FAQs said 'open showers;' we, thank god, had flimsy curtains, which weren't much but were definitely more than i was expecting). then, i watched the end of desperate housewives and willed myself to stay awake... going to bed before 10 somehow seemed super lame. found out that i had to be up the next morning in time for formation (650.... what?!), so the alarm was set for 6 and we all at last went to sleep. my first night in west point.
the next morning was interesting. staggered out of bed, popped in my contacts, found something to wear, brushed my teeth, put on makeup, and ventured out into the chilly october air for formation. each company lines up all nice and neat, gets greeted by their person in charge... announcements are read, poses are struck, marching is done, and at last all 4,000 cadets stream into the mess hall for a quickie breakfast. maria got to sit with her soccer team, so there i was, sitting with the west point women's soccer team as they sat and discussed their weekend, their boyfriends, their plans, their schoolwork, just like any other college students. then, after about 15 minutes, we were out of there and all the conference delegates lined up on the steps. i was rocking the curly look that day and it turned out pretty darn cute, if i do say so myself. met a couple of guys from eastern kentucky university, then walked down with the masses to eisenhower hall, whcih would be our little home for conference sessions for the next few days. we had a plenary lecture first off -- a motivational speaker who discussed choices and ethics and the like, and then we were greeted by the commandant, who was a pretty awesome guy who made the assertion that because of the human rights violations occuring in iraq, including one abu ghraib incident and one tigris river incident, we were single-handedly upping the number of suicide jihadists. muy interesante, said i. out the window behind him, unfortunately or fortunately, whichever your opinion, was the world's most amazing view of the hudson river. it was right there, all shining and glimmering, and across it were gorgeous fall trees and big ol' houses, nestled into the brush. so beautiful, so magical, so gorgeous, unlike anything i've ever seen. i picked out my house, a wide, expansive one with acres of land up in the hills... sigh. i'd love to go back to that area one of these days...
after that, we were all broken up into our small groups. mine was really interesting -- students from the naval academy, the marine maritime academy, the citadel, west point, vanderbilt, reed college, brigham young university,st. thomas (or was it st. johns? hmm. it was a catholic school in texas somewhere...) and arizona state. together, we made up a super eclectic group of public and private, super-larger and super-small, religious-affiliated and not, civilian and military. the diversity of institutions came in handy because we were discussing honor codes and honor boards, student-run judicial boards, and other interesting things that i never knew existed. it was a little off-putting at first -- honor code? what? all i know is that we're about "educating hearts and minds to change the world," but it was definitely a learning experience. by the time lunch came around, i was wiped out, particularly since we had been working since 8. the week that we were there, the air force was slated to play against the army for the commander-in-chief cup (ah, football), and so the first of the air force's demonstrations were set for noon. about four or five jets zoomed overhead, and it was just gorgeous -- the planes against the blue afternoon sky.... then, everyone arranged in formation again, did pushups, marched a bit, and it was time to flood the mess hall once more.
post-lunch had us back down in ike for another plenary speaker and more group work. a lot went on, stuff that i don't really remember any more, but it was all interesting and fasincating. i hung out with charlie, a guy from asu, over lunch and met a couple of cadets from the air force academy. we shared stories about high school, and interestingly enough, one of the air force guys, joey, found my tales of servant stairs and senior stairs, "freshman welcome week" and the like to be sort of similar to the way new cadets are treated at the air force academy. anyway, small group work happened, and.... oh, right. free time. i went back to the room, checked my email, took care of a few things, and changed. then, we all went down to the firsties' club for some pizza.
the firsties' club, or the 1st class club, as its really named, is the campus "spot" for the seniors (also known as firsties. you get it.). it's a really nice place, with booths and tables and chairs, a room with a jukebox and a pool table and a foosball table and a flowing bar (apparenty the prices were pretty good, too). there was a DJ spinning chamillionare in the front and folks blaring country from the jukebox in back; folks were socializing and having a high old awesome time, the beer was flowing liberally (only for those with the happy faces stamped onto their cards, of course; the millitary is strict on carding), the football game was on... and i was totally wiped out. super sad. ended up sitting with a group of people i didn't know, and it was one of those 'awkward silence' sort of dinners. 'so, what school are you from?' ... long pauses.... 'this conference sure is interesting.' ....yet another pause..... 'so, uh, what's your major?' eventually, though, maria rescued me and we went back up to the room, where i showered (everyone was at the firsties club so the bathroom was empty. yippee!) and collapsed into bed. end of day one; the second night at west point.
it took me forever to pack. i had my mom's really pretty brown suitcase and somehow managed to stuff it to the brim. putting dress codes on a four-day conference never makes things very easy, because not only did i have to find business casual wear, but i also had to pull together stuff for my "off" time, stuff for sleeping, and stuff for the nyc trip. anyway, i finally managed to get everything into the one bag and went to sleep after a minor disaster of buying a defective flat iron and realizing that i would have to go curly for the next week (really. it was a disatrous thing. no joke). i was totally worn out, and i hadn't even left yet. that saturday, oct. 28th, was the day of the NSCS first official PFCS mentoring event (that i was organizing), and while it was amazing fun, it was also totally draining. i spent two hours literally RUNNING around the mission, tracking down "clues" with my 8th grade buddy for the 7 Tepees version of "the amazin' race" (the G omitted as to not infringe upon copyrights). then i spent a good 40 minutes waiting for the bus, another 30 minutes on the bus, 15 minutes walking from the haight back to campus, 20 minutes on campus waiting to get picked up... meanwhile my body is sore and aching and throbbing... and then my mom and i run down to the rack for some *quick* errands. managed to pick up some last minute things (a really fuzzy, really warm bathrobe -- yay!), but the mother was occupied for a good two hours or so, meaning that i sat in the car for a while. so i sat. and sat. and sat. tried to sleep. got really hungry. went to trader joes, bought some dinner... then finally drove down to ulta for that defective flat iron... and then came home to pack. anyway, where i was going with this was that, yeah, i was bloody worn out and the trip hadn't even started. alas. so i slept and woke up the next morning, said good-bye to my cat and my stuffed dog and my bedroom... and my sister and my mom and my dad.... and headed off to the airport.
when i reached my terminal, it turned out that my flight had been delayed an hour and fifteen minutes -- 40 mph winds around newark airport were apparently the cause. so, i wandered down to a cozy looking restaurant (the buena vista -- quite nice) and sat down. breakfast for the morning (as i was in the mood to splurge) was a dungeness crab omelette with some much-needed tea (quelled my splitting migraine, thank god) and a biscuit. once i relaxed some and ate my fill, i headed down for the bookstore and absolutely fell in love. somehow managed to escape buying only 2 books, and headed back to the terminal to wait.
by the time i got back, i fell into my book (codex, which, apart from the super anti-climatic ending, was pretty darn good), and time flew by. i boarded, and who should be sitting next to me but the other usf delegate, paul? paul, incidentally, is a fellow member of sii who i met as a freshman, and, fantastically enough, still remembered me. we chatted for a while about oxford and all the amazing things europe has to offer, then went back to our reading. the flight was pretty uneventful, aside from a really yummy snackbox (i'm a simple creature) and the in-flight showing of the devil wears prada. finally, we were at newark airport, and it was off to retrieve our luggage and answer the question that had been nagging us the entire way -- would there be someone there to meet us?
we headed down to the luggage area and had a time wandering around the carousels, trying to find the right one (is it me, or is it just common-bloody-sense to have a SIGN up that states which flight belongs to which carousel? ugh. ineptitude. can't stand it). we finally found the carousel and got our luggage, which solved our first, more pressing, problem, but not our second. so we were standing there, staring around like idiots. west point? cadets? ncea conference? usf? no signs, no obvious military folks, nothing. so we went outside and contemplated. can't call usf, 'cause it's sunday night and no one's there. at last, it was resolved that we would call west point (as i quite brilliantly brought along my handy-dandy FAQs sheet)... only the numbers printed on there were outdated. uh-oh. messages increasing in anxiety and irritation were then left on some LTC's cell phone without any response. at last, success! my cell phone rang with a very courteous cadet on the other end -- are you here yet? can you come to the american terminal? yes, check on all the above! saved, paul and i trundled inside, where we found 2 cadets dressed in their "greys," the ultra-formal USMA uniform. 1 nice boy escorted us to the waiting bus, and at last we were out of the cold. hungry, yes, and tired, to be sure, but we were there. the only question left was 'what the hell have we gotten ourselves into?!'
the bus ride was long, particularly 'cause i was tired and hungry. we finally made it to the school, but it was dark, and all i could make out were tall stone buildings and things that looked old -- always a good sign. after i inhaled part of a subway sandwich, i got handed off to my host, maria, and it was off to the barracks.
her room really wasn't too terrible. it was a good size, with two small beds (mattresses aren't terribly comfortable), two desks, a closet, and a changing space. oh, and a sink. that was nifty. i got settled in and took a shower (the FAQs said 'open showers;' we, thank god, had flimsy curtains, which weren't much but were definitely more than i was expecting). then, i watched the end of desperate housewives and willed myself to stay awake... going to bed before 10 somehow seemed super lame. found out that i had to be up the next morning in time for formation (650.... what?!), so the alarm was set for 6 and we all at last went to sleep. my first night in west point.
the next morning was interesting. staggered out of bed, popped in my contacts, found something to wear, brushed my teeth, put on makeup, and ventured out into the chilly october air for formation. each company lines up all nice and neat, gets greeted by their person in charge... announcements are read, poses are struck, marching is done, and at last all 4,000 cadets stream into the mess hall for a quickie breakfast. maria got to sit with her soccer team, so there i was, sitting with the west point women's soccer team as they sat and discussed their weekend, their boyfriends, their plans, their schoolwork, just like any other college students. then, after about 15 minutes, we were out of there and all the conference delegates lined up on the steps. i was rocking the curly look that day and it turned out pretty darn cute, if i do say so myself. met a couple of guys from eastern kentucky university, then walked down with the masses to eisenhower hall, whcih would be our little home for conference sessions for the next few days. we had a plenary lecture first off -- a motivational speaker who discussed choices and ethics and the like, and then we were greeted by the commandant, who was a pretty awesome guy who made the assertion that because of the human rights violations occuring in iraq, including one abu ghraib incident and one tigris river incident, we were single-handedly upping the number of suicide jihadists. muy interesante, said i. out the window behind him, unfortunately or fortunately, whichever your opinion, was the world's most amazing view of the hudson river. it was right there, all shining and glimmering, and across it were gorgeous fall trees and big ol' houses, nestled into the brush. so beautiful, so magical, so gorgeous, unlike anything i've ever seen. i picked out my house, a wide, expansive one with acres of land up in the hills... sigh. i'd love to go back to that area one of these days...
after that, we were all broken up into our small groups. mine was really interesting -- students from the naval academy, the marine maritime academy, the citadel, west point, vanderbilt, reed college, brigham young university,st. thomas (or was it st. johns? hmm. it was a catholic school in texas somewhere...) and arizona state. together, we made up a super eclectic group of public and private, super-larger and super-small, religious-affiliated and not, civilian and military. the diversity of institutions came in handy because we were discussing honor codes and honor boards, student-run judicial boards, and other interesting things that i never knew existed. it was a little off-putting at first -- honor code? what? all i know is that we're about "educating hearts and minds to change the world," but it was definitely a learning experience. by the time lunch came around, i was wiped out, particularly since we had been working since 8. the week that we were there, the air force was slated to play against the army for the commander-in-chief cup (ah, football), and so the first of the air force's demonstrations were set for noon. about four or five jets zoomed overhead, and it was just gorgeous -- the planes against the blue afternoon sky.... then, everyone arranged in formation again, did pushups, marched a bit, and it was time to flood the mess hall once more.
post-lunch had us back down in ike for another plenary speaker and more group work. a lot went on, stuff that i don't really remember any more, but it was all interesting and fasincating. i hung out with charlie, a guy from asu, over lunch and met a couple of cadets from the air force academy. we shared stories about high school, and interestingly enough, one of the air force guys, joey, found my tales of servant stairs and senior stairs, "freshman welcome week" and the like to be sort of similar to the way new cadets are treated at the air force academy. anyway, small group work happened, and.... oh, right. free time. i went back to the room, checked my email, took care of a few things, and changed. then, we all went down to the firsties' club for some pizza.
the firsties' club, or the 1st class club, as its really named, is the campus "spot" for the seniors (also known as firsties. you get it.). it's a really nice place, with booths and tables and chairs, a room with a jukebox and a pool table and a foosball table and a flowing bar (apparenty the prices were pretty good, too). there was a DJ spinning chamillionare in the front and folks blaring country from the jukebox in back; folks were socializing and having a high old awesome time, the beer was flowing liberally (only for those with the happy faces stamped onto their cards, of course; the millitary is strict on carding), the football game was on... and i was totally wiped out. super sad. ended up sitting with a group of people i didn't know, and it was one of those 'awkward silence' sort of dinners. 'so, what school are you from?' ... long pauses.... 'this conference sure is interesting.' ....yet another pause..... 'so, uh, what's your major?' eventually, though, maria rescued me and we went back up to the room, where i showered (everyone was at the firsties club so the bathroom was empty. yippee!) and collapsed into bed. end of day one; the second night at west point.
posted by jamila at
2:17 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home