Life Goes On

One more week down, one week closer to parents weekend. I'm getting excited to see my parents and to get off campus. Eating some real food, at an actual restraunt will be nice. I can't wait for my first hamburger. School here is about the same, a lot of work, but overall it's going pretty well. My english and Engineering classes are the msot fun, with French still being the hardest. I am however, starting to pick up on it.

My squad is still finding fun things to do. Last night we had a waterballoon launcher, didn't hit anyone, but we nailed some windows. Mighty Mach One got pretty mad, and 6 or 7 upperclassmen came up to talk to us. Oops. There's not much you can do for fun around here, so we make our own. We were going to set up a carrier landing last night, but decided not to. A carrier landing is when you soak the halls in soapy water, and turn the halls into a giant slip-n-slide.

My phone was finally taken away yesterday morning :( We were the only squad with them, but not anylonger. Our AOC, Air Officer in Command, is Major Sebren. He is in charge of Deuce, and has the final word on everything we do. This one freshman sent him an emial with his blackberry, and whenever an email is sent from a blackberry, it says just that, sent from blackberry. Major Sebren asked him why he has his phone, and he said that we all have them. Well within 12 hours, we all had our phones taken away. Everyone's mad at the kid, but he just has to be smarter than that.

That's about all that's new here. I'm enjoying the 80 degrees here, considering it's over 100 back at home. Glad I'm not living in that heat. Well I hope everyone is doing great, and thanks for all of the comments. It's good to hear from everyone.

Matt


My Widescreen Picture from my window


Another cool sunrise

Week Three, Done.

Not a whole lot to say about this past week. Once again, things are pretty good for now. I'm swimming in my free time, with either the team or people in my squad, when I'm looking for something fun. I have mastered the dive off the 3 meter board, and although I want to try the platforms, 5 and 10 meter, I cant, the ladder is always locked...

School is still pretty good, with French and Math still giving me the most trouble. I've been seeking extra help, and while that does just that, the classes continue to be the burden of my day.

I have a few more pictures, mostly of my room. Thanks to everyone who reads, it means a lot.

Matt

My very dirty Closet, and yes, this is very dirty


SAMI (Saturday AM Inspection) Bed,


Perfect hospital corner and 18" fold
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My neat and orderly desk


My beautiful view all day


My beautiful view every morning

Random Facts About the Academy

So many people have gone up and down the stairs, the marble has become indented.

This might be the only college where if you leave a new computer in the stairwell, it will remain there 5 days later.

Tornado warnings are bogus, but lightning warnings are real. In the past 7 years 2 people have been hit, 1 killed.

School is set up like high school, 53 minute classes with 7 minute passing periods.

Dining hall staff doesn't enjoy it when food is not eaten 'correctly'. We get in trouble for making special drinks.

Noon meal formation is lame, especially the 30 minute parade every Wednesday before lunch. Mondays and Fridays we only march to lunch, a quick 15 minute routine.

The Academy is the only place where you will get to march in a big square, for over 100 hours, if you're caught drinking under age.

1 Cheat, Lie or even attempt to steal and you're gone, Period.

That's all I have for now, and sorry, no new pictures...

All is well in Colorado

My first full week of school has finished, and all is going pretty well. The schedule is broken up like high school block days, with M days and T days, no relation to Monday or Tuesday however. On M days, I have periods 1-4, to completely fill the time slot between breakfast and lunch, and T days I only go 2 and 4, and have some time between to work and study in the library. Meals are still good, and being allowed to sit at rest in the morning when Mighty Mach One at the table next to me is at attention makes it all the better.

We will have noon meal formation, marching, every Monday and Friday before lunch. Every Wednesday we have a parade, which is about 30 minutes of boring standing at attention. Our squad is pretty lenient about our ‘military bearing’ at events like that, but it’s still pretty lame being out there in formation.

Last Saturday morning we climbed to the top of Eagle’s Peak, the peak right behind the academy. It was a 2 hour adventure up, and about an hour down. It is over a 2000 foot ascent, and the view from the top is quite something. I’d like to do it for sunrise sometime, but we’ll see if that happens.

Other than that, not much has happened around here. I still have my phone, and as I am seeing, my squad is one of the most lenient around, which makes my life much easier. Deuce is a good squad, and I’m happy with everything here, for now at least.

Week One

Week one, wow what a rush. Everything is in full swing, with classes being even harder than I thought they’d be. English has no papers to turn in, everything is online, and there isn’t a final in there which is going to be pretty nice. Math, Calc I looks to be challenging, as we already have homework and are in full swing from day one. My computer science class is going to be very interesting and she seems like a really good teacher, she reminds me of Ms. Dankert, nice but strict and serious about learning. French will be interesting. I see some of the same root words as I did in Spanish, but the pronunciation is so different, I can already see some problems arising with that class.

My last class is an introduction to Air Force Engineering class, which seems pretty laid back and fun. We’re going to build rockets, gliders, and mini bridges to show our understanding for different aspects of engineering. This class covers most of the types of engineering including, Aero, Space, Civil, Mechanical and Electrical. While it may be very challenging at times, I see this class being the most interesting and the most fun. I’m sure this will help me chose my major whether it a type of engineering, or a fuzzy major like Econ.

Overall, life here is pretty hectic, with the running on the terrazzo, greeting everyone along the way, and the mandatory calling of the minutes in the morning. Freshman have to wake up around 6 to take out the trash and clean the hallways all before falling out at 6:45 to yell how much time is left until the morning meal. We also call what the meals are, and we are tested on knowledge. We have our first official knowledge test this Monday, where we will be required to know facts on the A-10, the KC-10, different quotes and the group staff list.

Meals are getting a little better as I am at ease for the morning meal, which means no longer do I have to stare at the eagle, and am now allowed to use my full chair to sit, including the back rest. Lunch and dinner I am eating at the Pole Vaulter’s table, consisting of 4 freshman, 1 sophomore and 3 seniors. Cadet Col. Marshall Wills is a senior, who sits at my table. He was in charge of all of basic training, and was the one guy you didn’t want to come in contact with. Now that we’re out of basic, he is the nicest most funny guy here. He still wears his rank on his clothes and can still boss anyone around, but for the pole vaulters, we’re not allowed to call him sir or even by his last name. It’s all first name basis.

The team should be pretty fun, and it’s what’s going to keep me sane. We played volleyball Saturday for over 2 hours as a team, and after that, I can tell that track time is fun time, that everyone wants it to be a ‘hang out spot’ per say. While I am only better than 3 of the roughly 11 pole vaulters, I can tell I am respected and liked, even after just a few days. The whole track team is real nice, and no one wants to ever be greeted as sir or ma’am. When we’re down on the track, the military life doesn’t follow.

While I’m bummed to be in school already, I am thankful to be out of basic and into what the Academy really has to offer. School will be tough this year, but I’m going to take advantage of all of the different extra instruction sessions ever teacher has, and will use everything I have to keep my grades up. My goal is a 3.0 first semester, which is going to be difficult, but I know with some hard work and good time management I will be able to do what I need to, to achieve just that.

After now being in the school year for a week, I can tell things will be stressful, things will be hard, but best of all, it looks like I should have some fun this year.

This might be my longest post on here, but I will continue to post weekly. Ask any questions and I will get back to you.

Thanks guys, Love you all

Matt

Just one of the many cool sites from my window