Hello, I am curious to know what an average day for a 4th class cadet (freshman) is like at USAFA, for the academic year. For example, when do you normally wake up? when do you normally sleep? what is minutes? how many afternoon training sessions are there in a week? How much "free time" do you have to study per day? (like time between classes, mandatory study time, etc). How are the classes? (can you do homework in class? can you have a laptop to take notes?) Can 4th class cadets use gyms? Thanks in advance!
As a current 4-dig I might be of use to answer some of these questions.
1) When do you normally wake up? - That depends laargely on the day and squad. Typically you can expect to be up between 0530 and 0600 when you have to call minutes for a mandatory formation or breakfast. On days where minutes arent called, expect to be out of bed by 0700. Some squads may or may not let you sleep in past this time if you don't have a morning class but doors must be opened before morning inspection time.
2) Sleep? - TAPS is at 2300 on school nights. You can go to sleep earlier than that after Academic Call to Quarters (ACQ) by filling out an early rest card.
3) Minutes? - Short version, think human alarm clock with no snooze button. You wake up the upperclassmen by calling the time before a formation or meal, usually every 5 minutes, and give pertinent information for that day... don't want to spoil too much of the fun with this one but expect to get a good workout during this time
4) Training? - Again, largely depends on squadron training staff. We did typically 2 or 3 per week.
5) Classes and Homework - You will have off hours during the day. I cannot stress enough the importance of using this time to accomplish homework. You will always have something to study for (classes, military knowledge tests, staff lists etc.) You can't really do homework in class. The teachers expect you to focus on their class when in the classroom, however you can use your laptop in class to take notes. I highly suggest it and also suggest finding digital copies of your textbooks. They are usually much cheaper and it cuts down on the weight you have to lug around in your left hand!
Hope this was helpful and if you or anyone else has questions I'll try my best to answer them =)