In 1968, at the tender age of 18 I was sworn in to the US Navy. I was a plebe at the US Naval Academy and I was scared spitless, proud, excited, and worried about flunking out. Those first summer weeks were pretty stressful. The idea is, the upper-classmen running Plebe Summer, want to teach you what you will need to know, they want to raise your fitness level, and they want to get you accustomed to working under duress. And, they suceed. But they do so, or at least in 1968-1972, but screaming, and putting you through intense physical stress, including a LOT of pushups.
Somehow I figured out, fortunately rather quickly, that you did NOT want to stand out. If you were terrible, you drew extra attention to get you "squared away". If you were outstanding, you drew extra attention to see how outstanding you were under extreme pressure. I endeavored, with some success to be BORINGLY average. What fun are the middle-of-the-pack folks? The answer is, not much.
Pretty much every week night, before we went to dinner (we all ate together at the same time), I would set up my academic study materials. Upon returning from dinner, I made it a point NOT to sit down, but to grab my stuff and head off for my special study spot in the Library. Each night of each semester I had ONE study spot, and from about 1900 (7 PM) until 2200 (10 PM), I studied, and did nothing else. That meant that most Saturdays and ALL Sundays, I didn't need to study. I an not sure how I came up with that scheme, perhaps it was G^d-directed, but it worked for me. My plebe year I got a 3.000000000, nothing but "B's" all the way. Boring... but happy.
I started out as a Naval Architect major, solely because that was my roommate's major. Sophomore year, I realized the error of my ways and wanted to switch to Biology. Unfortunately, but now I realize it was indeed fortuitous, USNA did NOT have use for but few Biologists, so that wasn't a major. So, I majored in Oceanography - the closest thing we had to Bio.
In four years, I had my degree, and graduated with distinction, having "kept the Sabbath" the whole time. In retrospect, those 4 years were extremely valuable. The spiritual, academic, military and physical things I learned have served me extremely well ever since. Whether giving a deposition in front of a hostile Harvard attorney, or organizing my self and my schedule to enable me to get a lot done in a short time, those USNA years have paid dividends.
I have a very loose temporomandibular (jaw) joint. I was physically disqualified, BUT G^D worked it out that my brother, Doug (USNA '65) was stationed in Charleston, where the recent USNA chief dental officer had been transferred. G^d used that circumstance, and His provision, to get me there, seen by CPT Frieze, and admitted to USNA. I was too poor to go anywhere else!
Once again, THANKS be to G^D!
Somehow I figured out, fortunately rather quickly, that you did NOT want to stand out. If you were terrible, you drew extra attention to get you "squared away". If you were outstanding, you drew extra attention to see how outstanding you were under extreme pressure. I endeavored, with some success to be BORINGLY average. What fun are the middle-of-the-pack folks? The answer is, not much.
Pretty much every week night, before we went to dinner (we all ate together at the same time), I would set up my academic study materials. Upon returning from dinner, I made it a point NOT to sit down, but to grab my stuff and head off for my special study spot in the Library. Each night of each semester I had ONE study spot, and from about 1900 (7 PM) until 2200 (10 PM), I studied, and did nothing else. That meant that most Saturdays and ALL Sundays, I didn't need to study. I an not sure how I came up with that scheme, perhaps it was G^d-directed, but it worked for me. My plebe year I got a 3.000000000, nothing but "B's" all the way. Boring... but happy.
I started out as a Naval Architect major, solely because that was my roommate's major. Sophomore year, I realized the error of my ways and wanted to switch to Biology. Unfortunately, but now I realize it was indeed fortuitous, USNA did NOT have use for but few Biologists, so that wasn't a major. So, I majored in Oceanography - the closest thing we had to Bio.
In four years, I had my degree, and graduated with distinction, having "kept the Sabbath" the whole time. In retrospect, those 4 years were extremely valuable. The spiritual, academic, military and physical things I learned have served me extremely well ever since. Whether giving a deposition in front of a hostile Harvard attorney, or organizing my self and my schedule to enable me to get a lot done in a short time, those USNA years have paid dividends.
I have a very loose temporomandibular (jaw) joint. I was physically disqualified, BUT G^D worked it out that my brother, Doug (USNA '65) was stationed in Charleston, where the recent USNA chief dental officer had been transferred. G^d used that circumstance, and His provision, to get me there, seen by CPT Frieze, and admitted to USNA. I was too poor to go anywhere else!
Once again, THANKS be to G^D!
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