Hi from Brazil!

BillSL

USMA Class of 2016
5-Year Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2011
Messages
906
Hello everyone!

I will be one of the few applicants from overseas... So excited!

West Point's campus is really beautiful, isn't it? And marching and doing PT will definitively be a lot of fun! Hehe :shake:

Anyways, I joined this forum because, well, it is about service academies... Besides that, I saw many people talking about SLS and how they want to attend WP (or any other academy for that matter), and these people will be future fellow cadets and, obviously, friends. I also noticed a post by an Admissions Officer, which means that things around here are serious business :cool:

In another forums I have talked to a cadet from USAFA and another one from WP. Both have been invaluable sources of information, besides the Admissions Officers, which were quick to answer any questions I had. I also have a friend at USAFA, and my brother has some Cadet friends as well... perhaps someone knows them?

I sure love sports, but everytime I go to the U.S., I never find a single person who has played Team Handball... Actually, I met just one person who knew what that was. He agreed with me it was a great sport... not for the faint of heart though! Has anyone here ever played it?


Well I hope this has showed everyone a little bit of who I am (if anyone in fact reads this section besides me)... I'm glad to have found these forums, and I hope I'll have some good chats with people with the same mindset as I!
 
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Hi and welcome!

Where are you from in Brazil? I went to Rio, Salvador and Lencois last year with my school. Its beautiful there. Hot, but beautiful. A few kids from my school are from Brazil. One lives in Rio, and the other lives in Brasilia.
 
I'm from São Paulo, about 200 miles away S/SW from Rio.

Rio is pretty nice, though I wouldn't like to live there... São Paulo is a major city (one of the, if not THE, biggest city in the South Hemisphere), so it's better to live here I suppose :)

Salvador is nice, I went there diving last year (or the year before that... can't remember now!), did my checkout.

Brasilia is the Capital... nothing great about it, though (besides the builings and the airplane shape of the city...), but that's my opinion... don't tell that to your friend, otherwise I'll have an enemy before even meeting that person XD

What school do you go to? I mean, you traveled to Brazil for any specific reasons? What brought you here?


I see you are from NH... I actually went to Summer School in Phillips Exeter Academy twice, ever been there?
 
Welcome Bill, it's a small world, indeed....my grandfather used to teach French and Spanish at Phillips Exeter back in the late 1970's. I lived in a small town in NH, called Peterborough..it's beautiful back there.

Good luck to you!
 
I went to Brazil as a part of my Humanities class. We traveled to Brazil to learn about native religions and the political climate in the country, as it is a BRIC country ( an upcoming world power). I loved the experience. It was great.

Haha, yes I have heard of PEA. Phillips Exeter is a great school. I go to a prep school too. Im a day student at Northfield Mount Hermon. Its in Mass. We play each other in sports all the time.
 
I sure love sports, but everytime I go to the U.S., I never find a single person who has played Team Handball... Actually, I met just one person who knew what that was. He agreed with me it was a great sport... not for the faint of heart though! Has anyone here ever played it?

Welcome! I've never played team handball but I have heard of it. You can tryout for the club team or play at the company level if you get into West Point. Here is the link to their page: http://wpteamhandball.wetpaint.com/
 
Welcome Bill, it's a small world, indeed....my grandfather used to teach French and Spanish at Phillips Exeter back in the late 1970's. I lived in a small town in NH, called Peterborough..it's beautiful back there.

Good luck to you!

That's awesome! He must have been a pretty smart guy to teach in a school such as PEA!

Peterborough looks like a very nice town, typical packed house district ;)

http://www.neairphoto.com/Lg_photos/peterborough_close.htm

Now that's a nice picture!

And the town's website also looks pretty nice, pretty organized!

http://www.townofpeterborough.com/

Where do you live now? Anything like Pete?



I went to Brazil as a part of my Humanities class. We traveled to Brazil to learn about native religions and the political climate in the country, as it is a BRIC country ( an upcoming world power). I loved the experience. It was great.

Ah, that's great! Tell me about the highlights!


Haha, yes I have heard of PEA. Phillips Exeter is a great school. I go to a prep school too. Im a day student at Northfield Mount Hermon. Its in Mass. We play each other in sports all the time.

That IS awesome! Which sports do you guys play each other in? I remember walking down the gym corridor and seeing many (many many) 1st place awards and such... Most were PEA vs Phillips Andover Academy, though!


Welcome! I've never played team handball but I have heard of it. You can tryout for the club team or play at the company level if you get into West Point. Here is the link to their page: http://wpteamhandball.wetpaint.com/

Wow thanks for that link! I read through one of the many WP prospects and papers around and I was, well, actually not surprised when I didn't see Team Handball as one of the sports. I am surprised by that link, however! Thank you again!

I play as a goalie... I'm not tall... It will be amazing to be on those guys' team!

Being a goalkeeper is normally not a pretty sight :cool: Imagine a player of that size running towards you... Imagine now he is jumping, and he has the ball in his hand... And he is getting ready to launch it at the goal... He launches it... And you defended it!... with your face!

I'm not gonna lie, people say that, for you to be a Handball goalie, you have to be crazy... Really crazy... But I am glad I am a Goalie. I mean, in the Army, courage is one of the most important atributes a soldier can have... Talk about guts with a Handball goalie! Haha. Interestingly, a website about Handball says that the atributes of a Handball Goalie (and any goalie for that matter) are "Courage, self-control, concentration/focus, decision, style". I found that interesting because those are the atributes of a good soldier... or so I've been told. Anyone knows about this? (Please, don't read this as a brag of sorts. I am not the best goalie out there, so I have no bragging rights... no one should have those, by the way :) ).



But I have always wondered how the admissions board would consider a Team Handball Goalie. I mean, I am not the Team Capitan (nor I was for Volleyball when I played it), but I have my leadership responsibilities - my view of the field is fundamental. I have to keep my team posted on gaps of the defense, tell them about good attack routes, and most importantly in my opinion (surely the most noticeable) is deciding whether to launch the ball for a counter-attack or a regular attack... I remember the feats I've achieved on that situation, launching the ball over the entire opposing team at the perfect strength so it fell right on the wing's hand... Launching the ball to a wingman who was right next to the opposing defender (to the angriness of the opposing team, hehe!)... Getting screamed at when I decided to launch a counter-attack... and seeing my teammates killer eyes when I failed... or seeing the priceless kudos when they saw I actually made it XD



Does any of you guys have funny stories about situations that happened during your sports (or your sons' sports)?



P.S. WAMom68, your son is a Firstie, right? If so, who knows, he might be my cadre during this year's SLS, week 1!
 
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P.S. WAMom68, your son is a Firstie, right? If so, who knows, he might be my cadre during this year's SLS, week 1!

He's a Firstie but he won't be at SLS because he graduates on May 21st! While you are at SLS he'll be enjoying 60 days of graduation leave. :thumb:
 
He's a Firstie but he won't be at SLS because he graduates on May 21st! While you are at SLS he'll be enjoying 60 days of graduation leave. :thumb:

Congratulations to your son, you must be so incredibly proud of him. I hope he thoroughly enjoys every minute of those hard earned 60 days :thumb:
 
He's a Firstie but he won't be at SLS because he graduates on May 21st! While you are at SLS he'll be enjoying 60 days of graduation leave. :thumb:

Haha that's great! Finally some rest for him, after 4 intense years, right?

Do you know which job is he taking?
 
Haha that's great! Finally some rest for him, after 4 intense years, right?

Do you know which job is he taking?

Yep, he is looking forward to a two week trip to Europe with some buddies and then time at home doing nothing.

His branch is infantry. After basic officer leadership course (BOLC) and Ranger school at Ft. Benning he'll be stationed at Ft. Campbell.
 
Yep, he is looking forward to a two week trip to Europe with some buddies and then time at home doing nothing.

Backpacking, huh? I heard some great (and some terrifying...) stories about backpacking in Europe!

Will he be heading to East Europe, or hanging around West?


His branch is infantry. After basic officer leadership course (BOLC) and Ranger school at Ft. Benning he'll be stationed at Ft. Campbell.

Haha, that's what I hope to get (Ranger School) when I graduate from WP. That will be a long time from now... But who knows!

Wish him good luck in Ranger School! If he's any interested in "Ranger Stories" (stories about some soldiers going through Ranger School, most are WP graduates), I suggest he reads "No Excuse Leadership". It was a pretty interesting read indeed. He might find it amusing (until he's part of it, lol!)
 
Backpacking, huh? I heard some great (and some terrifying...) stories about backpacking in Europe!

Will he be heading to East Europe, or hanging around West?




Haha, that's what I hope to get (Ranger School) when I graduate from WP. That will be a long time from now... But who knows!

Wish him good luck in Ranger School! If he's any interested in "Ranger Stories" (stories about some soldiers going through Ranger School, most are WP graduates), I suggest he reads "No Excuse Leadership". It was a pretty interesting read indeed. He might find it amusing (until he's part of it, lol!)

I'll tell him about the book. He reads so much that he may have already read it. I also like to read and have been reading lots of books about the Army so I'll add it to my reading list too.

I know he is going to Austria for sure but other than that I don't know where they will be traveling. He is friends with an Austrian cadet that did a semester exchange at West Point. The cadet invited him to come visit his academy so that is a definite stop on the trip. I am sure he'll have more details closer to the trip.
 
Hello there!
You are from Brazil and will try West Point?
Why not Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras? :thumb:

By the way, I'm from Brazil...SP... and my son is trying to get in the Air Force Acedemy. However we live here and we are both American Citizens now.
It is a miracle to get in...so competitive...but keep up with the hard work!

Good luck to you!!!!

And hug Brazil for me...I miss it!
 
Hello there!
You are from Brazil and will try West Point?
Why not Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras? :thumb:

By the way, I'm from Brazil...SP... and my son is trying to get in the Air Force Acedemy. However we live here and we are both American Citizens now.
It is a miracle to get in...so competitive...but keep up with the hard work!

Good luck to you!!!!

And hug Brazil for me...I miss it!

Hey!

I sure hugged Brazil for you!

Anyways, I want to get into West Point (I am a US-born citizen) because, well, I want to be trained at the best Military College as the best Officer in the best Army in the World.

I am also from SP! Great city, right? Well, pretty populated... :wink: Loads of traffic, but I live near my school (a single block away!) so it is pretty nice!

I have a friend at the Air Force Academy, and another cadet I met in a forums recently. If he has any questions, ask me and I'll forward the concerns to the cadets, or ask away in these forums!

Good luck for him... And thanks!


I'll tell him about the book. He reads so much that he may have already read it. I also like to read and have been reading lots of books about the Army so I'll add it to my reading list too.

I know he is going to Austria for sure but other than that I don't know where they will be traveling. He is friends with an Austrian cadet that did a semester exchange at West Point. The cadet invited him to come visit his academy so that is a definite stop on the trip. I am sure he'll have more details closer to the trip.

Well if your son is any interested in becoming a Green Beret, there is a book, which he has probably already read if he is interested in this, called "Chosen Soldier". It is about all the phases and the training which the candidates undergo. It was a pretty intriguing book! And if he (or you) would like to know a bit more about the war in Afghanistan, I suggest you read Sebastian Junger's "War". I believe the book was made at the same time as the documentary "Restrepo" (both are by the same author/creator about the same place at the same time... Just one is a documentary and the other one is... documented in words? lol).

I went to Austria once when I was younger. From what I remember, it was a pretty nice place. I hope he enjoys it!
 
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