This week was one of the best I've had so far. The biggest reason was that I didn't mess up any upperclassmen's names, so I had no extra papers to write. As you know, I've had a lot of trouble with that in the past. The weather has also been a bit nicer, with temperatures recently maxing out at about 70 degrees. You have no idea how much of a difference clear skies and comfortable afternoons makes when you have to be running around outside as often as I do.
Last weekend was "traditions weekend" for Squadron Sixteen, so after getting smoked for a while (though I wasn't there for all of it, courtesy of AFROTC), we were taken out to some of the important statues and historical locations on campus, such as Sully (Lawrence Sullivan Ross statue) and the West Gate Memorial. After We visited those places, we were taken to the Bonfire Memorial and told the story of Tim Kerlee, who died in the collapse. When we got back to the dorm, we were met in our holes by the sophomores, who gave us hand-down bonfire shirts. These shirts are a big deal, since they are the same ones our seniors, juniors, and sophomores wore to bonfire in the past. They also have never been washed, so they smell like a barbecue pit.
This Friday the Air Force ROTC class had nothing to do with anything we would be expected to do in the military. They took us out to the Rec center had paid for us to climb the rock wall for two hours, then said "go have fun". We had a blast. That rock wall beats the socks off of any I've done before, as it has at least ten different ways to climb, as well as obstacles like backwards angling walls, overhangs, and one spot which has a ridge you have to climb around (it's a lot harder than it sounds). By the end of that session, my arms were exhausted and they're still prone to cramping up if I grab something too hard.
Training has been going about the same as usual, though I think they're having a little more trouble finding things to smoke us about. There's been a couple of hard smokings due to a couple of my buddies doing stupid things like playing World of Warcraft during CQ, or pinning their wheets, both of which are "honor violations", the hardest category of smoking we can get. Needless to say, everyone was pretty mad when they heard about one of our buddies playing games during CQ. The most expressed sentiment is "If you're going to play games, at least aviod doing it during the time you're most likely to be caught".
Since the smokings have generally been shorter, we are now doing things like rack drills and hallway cleaning drill more often. A rack drill is where you have to remake your bed in a certain amount of time. Usually, we have about seven to eight minutes to make all the beds of the fish who are present. So far, we haven't succeeded once. We are getting closer, but I don't expect we'll actually meet one of those goals until second semester.
Speaking of second semester, did you know that I am now done with one twelfth of my Corps career? That's right, two thirds of the way through first semester and one third of the way through fish year. Can you tell I'm looking forward to Christmas break?
Besides approaching Christmas break, we're getting close to starting our push for Corps brass. Corps brass is the pin that you can see on the collar of upperclassmen, with the helmet and crossed swords. During push for brass, we will be doing a whole lot of PT and various other forms of training. It should finish up about the time of the t.u. game, so we can wear our new Corps brass to Austin. We're also going to begin training to earn the Guidon, but we won't earn that until late next semester.
We have two assignments over the weekend. The first is to obtain the largest pumkin we can physically fit into the dorm. The second is to create a "fish guidon". The fish guidon is apparently a very competitive thing among the Corps, so we're going to spend a lot of time on that over the weekend and next week. I'll try to keep you posted on how Corps brass, fish guidon, and "Mr. O'Lantern" are going, so expect an update somtime next weekend.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Various Other
During my time blogging here, I've tended to outline the bare basics of what we've been doing. Now I'd like to tell you some of the other more or less fun things we've done over the past month.
Squadron Sixteen is very much into Bonfire. By the way, you didn't hear that from me, since Bonfire is no longer university affiliated. But anyways, we've been making pots for bonfire. a pot is kinda like a hard hat, but a lot more decorated. Ours look a lot like the sweater that Charlie Brown is always wearing: black with a yellow stripe, and black zigzags inside the yellow stripe. You have no idea what chaos is until you've experienced something like that. We had to get them done over the period of a week, which turned out being a weekend. Over that weekend, we had to get paint, pots, liners, sandpaper (because the pots come with a rough texture that needs to be taken off), and a place to do it all.
Getting the supplies alone took all week, so we weren't able to do anything until after the game that was that weekend (I think it was the Army game). Those of us who had to get up for church in the morning had to finish most of the pot that night, so we were up until about three in the morning. I chose not to stay up, so I had to finish mine on Sunday afternoon, which was rough. I was, however, able to learn from my buddies' mistakes that way, which saved me a few hours along the way.
Another noteworthy event was m16 training with the Air Force. The m16 is the standard issue battle rifle for the United States armed forces, unless you actually plan on getting into combat. Then you'll use an m4, but that's another story. Anyways, for m16 training, we used rifles that had essentially been "dumbed down". They had been converted to shoot .22 caliber bullets instead of the 5.56mm rounds that they normally fire. For those that don't know guns, that's like turning on Ross's Mustang and finding out it has the engine of the Lumina. Basically, the sole purpose of the training was to familiarize us with the was the gun works, but the purpose was defeated because the converted m16's jammed about every third shot. It was a good time, but they really need to train us with real m16's, not dumbed down ones.
We've also had some good bull nights out with Squadron Sixteen as a whole. A few weeks ago was Falcon Night Out, so the entire squadron went out to bowl, then to the Chicken Oil Company for a meal. We got to meet some old "former Falcons", previous members of Squadron Sixteen. They gave us some pointers on how to be better fish, which we have since taken to heart. Basically, these nights out have been a time for the fish and sophomores to relax. Yes, I did say sophomores. Whenever they don't get time off for a while, they start getting annoying. Apparently they're people as well.
One of the pieces of advice that the former Falcons gave us was to every once in a while, do something really, incredibly stupid, and have fun doing it. We've been trying to do that ever since, but it's pretty hard to get up the courage. We did try to recon the skateboard that Mr. Campos (one of our juniors) rides up and down the hall during Call to Quarters. Unfortunately, it wouldn't fit in our lockers, so we had to give it back. One of the rules of reconning is if you can't hide it, they can take it back just as easily.
I've also been writing a lot of papers recently. Whenever we really, badly mess up the names of our upperclassmen, we have to write papers of a certain number of differences between them. Those papers can take up a lot of time, so it's advisable not to mix up names. Generally, the papers start at sixteen differences. If we mess up the names again, or do something wrong on the paper, the differences start to add up. I recently had to write two 61 difference papers at a time. Needless to say, I won't be mixing up those upperclassmen again. At least I haven't been doing as bad as Ross did (116 differences) or as badly as my buddy Brewer (160 differences). I also seem to be the only one who can tell Ross apart from Mr. Wiley and Mr. Stitt.
We've also gotten some new responsibilities. Every week, we need to write squad reports. There are six squads of fish in our class, with about four to five fish each. Every week, we need to detail what exams we have coming up, what grades we have gotten back in the past week, a personal goal for each fish, a squad goal for each squad, and a goal for our entire class. Another responsibility (well, we've had this since about the third day of FOW) is blowing calls. Before any official oufit or corps activity, we have to go to the ends of the hallway and yell at the top of our lungs the activity, ofiicer of the day, junior in charge of call to quarters, sophomore of the day, temperature, uniform of the day, and what we will be having for chow (if applicable). It's really easy to mess calls up, especially if you're easily flustered. I actually did a nearly perfect set of calls yesterday and today.
I'm still doing pretty well, and now that I've got most of the upperclassmen's names down well, I shouldn't have to write many more papers. I'm actually starting to do better on my studying (earlier in the semester I had trouble finding time) and have found some interesting sources for help (ever heard of Wikibooks? Their basic calculus textbook is easier to understand than either one I have, if less detailed). I'm really enjoying hanging out with some of my buddies on weekend nights. I was actually surprised at how many are pretty devoted to abstinence and not drinking. One of my buddies (naming no names) actually broke down in tears afte he heard his girlfriend at another university had gotten drunk. Apparently Sixteen tends to attract these kinds of people. I'm really happy with most of them.
Squadron Sixteen is very much into Bonfire. By the way, you didn't hear that from me, since Bonfire is no longer university affiliated. But anyways, we've been making pots for bonfire. a pot is kinda like a hard hat, but a lot more decorated. Ours look a lot like the sweater that Charlie Brown is always wearing: black with a yellow stripe, and black zigzags inside the yellow stripe. You have no idea what chaos is until you've experienced something like that. We had to get them done over the period of a week, which turned out being a weekend. Over that weekend, we had to get paint, pots, liners, sandpaper (because the pots come with a rough texture that needs to be taken off), and a place to do it all.
Getting the supplies alone took all week, so we weren't able to do anything until after the game that was that weekend (I think it was the Army game). Those of us who had to get up for church in the morning had to finish most of the pot that night, so we were up until about three in the morning. I chose not to stay up, so I had to finish mine on Sunday afternoon, which was rough. I was, however, able to learn from my buddies' mistakes that way, which saved me a few hours along the way.
Another noteworthy event was m16 training with the Air Force. The m16 is the standard issue battle rifle for the United States armed forces, unless you actually plan on getting into combat. Then you'll use an m4, but that's another story. Anyways, for m16 training, we used rifles that had essentially been "dumbed down". They had been converted to shoot .22 caliber bullets instead of the 5.56mm rounds that they normally fire. For those that don't know guns, that's like turning on Ross's Mustang and finding out it has the engine of the Lumina. Basically, the sole purpose of the training was to familiarize us with the was the gun works, but the purpose was defeated because the converted m16's jammed about every third shot. It was a good time, but they really need to train us with real m16's, not dumbed down ones.
We've also had some good bull nights out with Squadron Sixteen as a whole. A few weeks ago was Falcon Night Out, so the entire squadron went out to bowl, then to the Chicken Oil Company for a meal. We got to meet some old "former Falcons", previous members of Squadron Sixteen. They gave us some pointers on how to be better fish, which we have since taken to heart. Basically, these nights out have been a time for the fish and sophomores to relax. Yes, I did say sophomores. Whenever they don't get time off for a while, they start getting annoying. Apparently they're people as well.
One of the pieces of advice that the former Falcons gave us was to every once in a while, do something really, incredibly stupid, and have fun doing it. We've been trying to do that ever since, but it's pretty hard to get up the courage. We did try to recon the skateboard that Mr. Campos (one of our juniors) rides up and down the hall during Call to Quarters. Unfortunately, it wouldn't fit in our lockers, so we had to give it back. One of the rules of reconning is if you can't hide it, they can take it back just as easily.
I've also been writing a lot of papers recently. Whenever we really, badly mess up the names of our upperclassmen, we have to write papers of a certain number of differences between them. Those papers can take up a lot of time, so it's advisable not to mix up names. Generally, the papers start at sixteen differences. If we mess up the names again, or do something wrong on the paper, the differences start to add up. I recently had to write two 61 difference papers at a time. Needless to say, I won't be mixing up those upperclassmen again. At least I haven't been doing as bad as Ross did (116 differences) or as badly as my buddy Brewer (160 differences). I also seem to be the only one who can tell Ross apart from Mr. Wiley and Mr. Stitt.
We've also gotten some new responsibilities. Every week, we need to write squad reports. There are six squads of fish in our class, with about four to five fish each. Every week, we need to detail what exams we have coming up, what grades we have gotten back in the past week, a personal goal for each fish, a squad goal for each squad, and a goal for our entire class. Another responsibility (well, we've had this since about the third day of FOW) is blowing calls. Before any official oufit or corps activity, we have to go to the ends of the hallway and yell at the top of our lungs the activity, ofiicer of the day, junior in charge of call to quarters, sophomore of the day, temperature, uniform of the day, and what we will be having for chow (if applicable). It's really easy to mess calls up, especially if you're easily flustered. I actually did a nearly perfect set of calls yesterday and today.
I'm still doing pretty well, and now that I've got most of the upperclassmen's names down well, I shouldn't have to write many more papers. I'm actually starting to do better on my studying (earlier in the semester I had trouble finding time) and have found some interesting sources for help (ever heard of Wikibooks? Their basic calculus textbook is easier to understand than either one I have, if less detailed). I'm really enjoying hanging out with some of my buddies on weekend nights. I was actually surprised at how many are pretty devoted to abstinence and not drinking. One of my buddies (naming no names) actually broke down in tears afte he heard his girlfriend at another university had gotten drunk. Apparently Sixteen tends to attract these kinds of people. I'm really happy with most of them.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Living for the weekend
This past couple of weeks, our class seems to have messed up a lot of things. First, it was Campusologies (campos for short). Campos are those facts about Texas A&M that all cadets are required to know, and generally learn during fish year. We have been assigned three per week since the start of the semester, and we have not yet managed to memorize all of them by the end of the week. Our Sophomores finally got mad enough about it to start making us push every time we mess up. Last training, we messed up almost every campo we were asked. That would have been the hardest training we've had yet, but we had to get ready for a march-in past Dr. Murano's (the new A&M president) house.
Also, we've been consistently messing up with the Guidon. The Guidon is the flag that is held in front of our outfit whenever we march in. The Guidon Bearer is a sophomore, and the fish are not allowed to go anywhere near him while he's holding the Guidon. You would think that a six-foot-someodd Sophomore holding a six-foot flag would be hard to miss, but he somehow manages to hide at the end of the hall behind some of his buddies. I'm pretty sure he does it intentionally, too. Guidon smokings are the hardest we've had, and we're in for some more on Monday.
On the other hand, the good bull is starting to rack up. On Tuesday night, we gave Mr. Schubert, one of our Juniors, a swirly to commemorate his birthday. While we were dragging him out of his room, Ross handed me one of his uniform parts to bargain for privileges with. This kind of dealing is called reconning, and it's something to take pride in. Usually, it's started by the fish, but I think Ross thinks we need to start pulling this kind of thing out more often. Unfortunately, we have to earn the right to bargain by doing PT. The way it goes (or so I've gathered, we haven't actually done the bargaining yet) is we push for however many privileges we can stand. Monday's going to be rough, but at least it'll be worth it.
Also, this morning, instead of normal outfit PT, we went to the Rec center and did our PT there. It was a choice of whatever you could do at 5:45 in the morning, so Ross and a couple of other upperclassmen started an indoor soccer game. That was probably the best game of soccer I've played in years. When we were done, Mr. Martin, the head yell leader and one of our Seniors, gave me and a couple of my buddies who couldn't walk very well a ride back to the dorm.
I've not had any time this week to do anything, thanks to a couple of papers I have yet to get right. I've gotten to the point where I've told Mr. Towns, the Sophomore to who I owe the papers, that he's just going to have to wait until I can can catch up on my homework. Fortunately for me, in our outfit that's a legitimate excuse. Mr. Porier, our Commanding Officer, has announced that we're pushing for the Joleen award this year. The Joleen award is the award that goes to the outfit with the best scholastics. It's very hard for our outfit to get, being an engineering outfit and still taking training seriously.
This is probably the first time this week I've had to actually goof off, so I'm enjoying it thoroughly. We also got Junior privileges from one of our Seniors because we agreed not to tackle her after Arch Yell. That means I can listen to music and play games, not wear fish dress, not get on the wall, walk in the hallways, talk in the hallways, and generally act mostly like a normal human being. It's great.
Also, we've been consistently messing up with the Guidon. The Guidon is the flag that is held in front of our outfit whenever we march in. The Guidon Bearer is a sophomore, and the fish are not allowed to go anywhere near him while he's holding the Guidon. You would think that a six-foot-someodd Sophomore holding a six-foot flag would be hard to miss, but he somehow manages to hide at the end of the hall behind some of his buddies. I'm pretty sure he does it intentionally, too. Guidon smokings are the hardest we've had, and we're in for some more on Monday.
On the other hand, the good bull is starting to rack up. On Tuesday night, we gave Mr. Schubert, one of our Juniors, a swirly to commemorate his birthday. While we were dragging him out of his room, Ross handed me one of his uniform parts to bargain for privileges with. This kind of dealing is called reconning, and it's something to take pride in. Usually, it's started by the fish, but I think Ross thinks we need to start pulling this kind of thing out more often. Unfortunately, we have to earn the right to bargain by doing PT. The way it goes (or so I've gathered, we haven't actually done the bargaining yet) is we push for however many privileges we can stand. Monday's going to be rough, but at least it'll be worth it.
Also, this morning, instead of normal outfit PT, we went to the Rec center and did our PT there. It was a choice of whatever you could do at 5:45 in the morning, so Ross and a couple of other upperclassmen started an indoor soccer game. That was probably the best game of soccer I've played in years. When we were done, Mr. Martin, the head yell leader and one of our Seniors, gave me and a couple of my buddies who couldn't walk very well a ride back to the dorm.
I've not had any time this week to do anything, thanks to a couple of papers I have yet to get right. I've gotten to the point where I've told Mr. Towns, the Sophomore to who I owe the papers, that he's just going to have to wait until I can can catch up on my homework. Fortunately for me, in our outfit that's a legitimate excuse. Mr. Porier, our Commanding Officer, has announced that we're pushing for the Joleen award this year. The Joleen award is the award that goes to the outfit with the best scholastics. It's very hard for our outfit to get, being an engineering outfit and still taking training seriously.
This is probably the first time this week I've had to actually goof off, so I'm enjoying it thoroughly. We also got Junior privileges from one of our Seniors because we agreed not to tackle her after Arch Yell. That means I can listen to music and play games, not wear fish dress, not get on the wall, walk in the hallways, talk in the hallways, and generally act mostly like a normal human being. It's great.
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