Well, things have been going alright in the Corps so far. In fact, we've done well enough that we've earned some new "privileges". In the Corps, privileges work differently than the name implies. They're not things you can do, they're things you must do. It's also really good "bull" to get them done. Dont' worry that's not an obscene reference, it refers to good times with the upperclassmen. Usually good bull is between the fish and the seniors or juniors, and almost never with the sophomores.
So, this weekend we earned the "right" to do our first class set of pushups. For us, the class of 2012, a class set is 112 pushups. It's really hard, but they don't have to be perfect pushups. By doing our first class set, we earned our first slapboard. A slapboard is a wooden board hanging from the ceiling with mottos written on them. We have earned the slapboard closest to the stairs on the north end of the dorm. The idea behind a slapboad is that you slap it whenever you pass beneath it. It's a lot bigger deal than it sounds.
The other set of privileges we earned was a temporary set of junior privileges. We won our fish football game this weekend, so whoever showed up got the same privileges that a junior would have, such as the right to be out of uniform in the hallway, the right to walk in the hallway, and other related things. Temporary privileges are awarded based on some kind of good behavior, or (apparently) can be bargained for with a piece of upperclassmen's property (known as a recon). Another example of temporary privileges is if we catch a squirrel and bring it back to the dorm without hurting it, we get senior privileges for a week. So it's not uncommon to see fish chasing squirrels around.
I'm still doing pretty well personally. I'm enjoying being done with my history paper and I'm almost certain I aced my physics exam. I also have a math exam on Thursday, so I'm studying hard for that. I'm also likely to pass the next physical fitness test I take, shich is a big deal because I couldn't when I got here. I'm a lot better at pushups than I once was.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Football Weekend
As you may have noticed, last weekend was my first Aggie football game as a member of the Corps. With football weekends come quite a hectic schedule, though not quite as bad as the rest of the week.
The football weekend really starts on Friday night at Midnight Yell (don't bother asking what time it's at). At Midnight Yell, we get to hang out for a bit in Kyle Field and yell our heads off. We also get stories and jokes from the Yell leaders. It's a great time, but I wish it was a little earlier, because we got up at 5:15 that morning. Needess to say, on Saturday I was exhausted.
On Saturday morning we had to get up early for marching practice, since this would be our first real march in. You could tell the upperclassmen were fairly nervous from the way they frantically rearranged, reorganized, and yelled at us. Even all the practice didn't do the job, since one or two fish were still out of step during the march around Kyle. We had a brief period after the march in to gather water and tickets before going to the game itself. During that time I was supposed to get a picture with Ross and Caleb, but Ross never showed up. Apparently he had to be in "boot line", when the seniors make a path for the football players onto Kyle.
The game itself was not that great. With about ten minutes to go the Aggies were up 14-9, so all the fish started to take the brass off of their uniforms and head to the field level to tackle the Yell Leaders. When the Aggies win, the fish are supposed to chase down and tackle the Yell Leaders, then take them to the Fish Pond and throw them in. Unfortunately for us, Arkansas came back with four minutes left and all us fishies were left standing awkwardly on the edge of the field.
In other news, I've been doing a lot of boot pulling. When the seniors come back from class and want to get out of uniform, they cannot get their boots off on their own. So they call for a fish to pull boots. It's a win-win situation, since the senior can get his boots off and the ifsh is often rewarded with some candy or just some normal talking time with a senior. Occasionally they'll also give tips on uniform care or time management. It's worth the effort.
I personally am still doing fine, though I expect life is not going to be so easy for much longer. We've been having major messups all week which means we're going to get smoked a lot, and I couldn't manage to get enough pushups to pass my Physical Fitness Test, so I'm on remedial PT. That means every day I'll be getting up an hour leader and training with some really mad sophomores.
The football weekend really starts on Friday night at Midnight Yell (don't bother asking what time it's at). At Midnight Yell, we get to hang out for a bit in Kyle Field and yell our heads off. We also get stories and jokes from the Yell leaders. It's a great time, but I wish it was a little earlier, because we got up at 5:15 that morning. Needess to say, on Saturday I was exhausted.
On Saturday morning we had to get up early for marching practice, since this would be our first real march in. You could tell the upperclassmen were fairly nervous from the way they frantically rearranged, reorganized, and yelled at us. Even all the practice didn't do the job, since one or two fish were still out of step during the march around Kyle. We had a brief period after the march in to gather water and tickets before going to the game itself. During that time I was supposed to get a picture with Ross and Caleb, but Ross never showed up. Apparently he had to be in "boot line", when the seniors make a path for the football players onto Kyle.
The game itself was not that great. With about ten minutes to go the Aggies were up 14-9, so all the fish started to take the brass off of their uniforms and head to the field level to tackle the Yell Leaders. When the Aggies win, the fish are supposed to chase down and tackle the Yell Leaders, then take them to the Fish Pond and throw them in. Unfortunately for us, Arkansas came back with four minutes left and all us fishies were left standing awkwardly on the edge of the field.
In other news, I've been doing a lot of boot pulling. When the seniors come back from class and want to get out of uniform, they cannot get their boots off on their own. So they call for a fish to pull boots. It's a win-win situation, since the senior can get his boots off and the ifsh is often rewarded with some candy or just some normal talking time with a senior. Occasionally they'll also give tips on uniform care or time management. It's worth the effort.
I personally am still doing fine, though I expect life is not going to be so easy for much longer. We've been having major messups all week which means we're going to get smoked a lot, and I couldn't manage to get enough pushups to pass my Physical Fitness Test, so I'm on remedial PT. That means every day I'll be getting up an hour leader and training with some really mad sophomores.
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