VMI Facebook pictures!

Goarmymom

5-Year Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2011
Messages
164
VMI has posted pictures on Facebook from Matriculation through today (I believe - based on what I saw on the webcam)! :biggrin:

Search for "VMI Cadet Life" and look for "VMI Hell Week." These pictures are different from what's on the website.

I was able to see a couple of pictures of my DS!
 
Thanks for the tip! I hope to see my DS too! The Catholic Campus Ministry sent out some photos yesterday and it was great to see my DS with a huge smile on his face!
 
Yea! These pictures were awesome. Really cool that they made time for cadets to attend worship service in the chapel. Working hard and having fun. Everything he wanted. Got to see my DS running the wheelbarrow race. Never thought something like that would make me so happy.
 
Yea! These pictures were awesome. Really cool that they made time for cadets to attend worship service in the chapel. Working hard and having fun. Everything he wanted. Got to see my DS running the wheelbarrow race. Never thought something like that would make me so happy.

I agree! I slept better last night than I have in the last week. It looked my DS and his BRs were really bonding. I can't wait to hear what he has to say about his experiences this week!
 
By the way, it seems that Facebook is now being updated regularly with more pictures and a video! I'm so glad they are doing this! :thumb:
 
Where to find FB photos

Where are these photos ? ON FB ? I'd love the see them ? Can someone please send a link ? Thanks !
 
Where are these photos ? ON FB ? I'd love the see them ? Can someone please send a link ? Thanks !

In Facebook, search for "VMI Cadet Life". They are posting some great pictures! I am so grateful to goarmymom for helping me find them last week.:smile:
 
Found VMI Cadet Life

Found the photos - should have read the instructions at the top ! thanks !
 
Found the photos - should have read the instructions at the top ! thanks !

Did you hear from your Rat yet?? I hope you have.. It is a tough week on the parents that is for sure. Praying for you all as much as the Cadre and Rats:smile: Hang in there.
 
Did you hear from your Rat yet?? I hope you have.. It is a tough week on the parents that is for sure. Praying for you all as much as the Cadre and Rats:smile: Hang in there.

We heard from DS briefly on Wed night, then again this morning. I wasn't expecting his call this morning, so it was such an awesome surprise! He went to a church off post this morning, and when they walked in, there was a table with a bunch of cell phones for the Rats to use to call home. The church also had a really nice breakfast spread for them. He really sounded upbeat this morning - I think he was really happy that his company won the drill competition yesterday, and that he's really good at rolling his hay. Haha! The things that make them happy! Thanks so much for your prayers! He said he could really feel the spiritual support this past week. :thumb:
 
We heard from DS briefly on Wed night, then again this morning. I wasn't expecting his call this morning, so it was such an awesome surprise! He went to a church off post this morning, and when they walked in, there was a table with a bunch of cell phones for the Rats to use to call home. The church also had a really nice breakfast spread for them. He really sounded upbeat this morning - I think he was really happy that his company won the drill competition yesterday, and that he's really good at rolling his hay. Haha! The things that make them happy! Thanks so much for your prayers! He said he could really feel the spiritual support this past week. :thumb:

The tasks that they accomplish as Rats.. whether it is a perfect shine on their brass, a room inspection without many demerits, or getting an A on that test after pulling guard duty in the middle of the night... They are all beyond what the average kid even attempts. They are in college... A tough college that starts with a bang then becomes an endurance run where every little goal reached along the way is such a confidence builder.. they survived Hell Week. They have learned so many rules, regs, chains of command, how to eat, make your bed, fold your underwear,talk, walk, and pretty much breath in in the appropriate manner. They will appreciate their Dykes and computers immensely not to mention the appeal of classes starting. It is someting normal in their lives..The academic buildings are where they don't get yelled at...(this is very conducive to promoting good study habits) and they generally like leaving barracks to go to class. Just keep reminding your Rats.. Study first.. shine last.. Demerits are a pain to march off etc, but you don't flunk out or have to pay $$ for extra summer school because your shoes aren't shiny. DS struggled with balance... He considered himself a "good Rat". No academic probation or anything but he had to repeat Calc and had to take a few summer classes to get himself back on track.. 6k worth of "But I'm a good rat".....As I wrote the checks and worked the OT this summer.. that's all I could think of.."But I'm a good Rat"..:eek: Part of that was due to changing his major too so I didnt flip my lid over it, but now admittedly, he would have done a few things differently.
All in all, your DS/DD's will find out a lot about themselves. They will realize that they can work harder than they thought they ever could, and they begin to really care about others more..Their BR's have their back and its is reciprocal. If you get the opportunity to take a BR to dinner who doesn't have a parent there, or let them crash in your room with your DS, not only is it the appropriate thing to do if you can, it is also a great way to hear MORE of what is going on in their world. When DS is alone with us it seems like we are prying by asking questions.. If a BR is along.. we just listen to them and learn a lot more. Also if you can feed an extra Rat or two.. don't worry if feeding a few more means a downgrade in the restaurant...THEY WILL LOVE U.. and the FOOD.
 
The tasks that they accomplish as Rats.. whether it is a perfect shine on their brass, a room inspection without many demerits, or getting an A on that test after pulling guard duty in the middle of the night... They are all beyond what the average kid even attempts. They are in college... A tough college that starts with a bang then becomes an endurance run where every little goal reached along the way is such a confidence builder.. they survived Hell Week. They have learned so many rules, regs, chains of command, how to eat, make your bed, fold your underwear,talk, walk, and pretty much breath in in the appropriate manner. They will appreciate their Dykes and computers immensely not to mention the appeal of classes starting. It is someting normal in their lives..The academic buildings are where they don't get yelled at...(this is very conducive to promoting good study habits) and they generally like leaving barracks to go to class. Just keep reminding your Rats.. Study first.. shine last.. Demerits are a pain to march off etc, but you don't flunk out or have to pay $$ for extra summer school because your shoes aren't shiny. DS struggled with balance... He considered himself a "good Rat". No academic probation or anything but he had to repeat Calc and had to take a few summer classes to get himself back on track.. 6k worth of "But I'm a good rat".....As I wrote the checks and worked the OT this summer.. that's all I could think of.."But I'm a good Rat"..:eek: Part of that was due to changing his major too so I didnt flip my lid over it, but now admittedly, he would have done a few things differently.
All in all, your DS/DD's will find out a lot about themselves. They will realize that they can work harder than they thought they ever could, and they begin to really care about others more..Their BR's have their back and its is reciprocal. If you get the opportunity to take a BR to dinner who doesn't have a parent there, or let them crash in your room with your DS, not only is it the appropriate thing to do if you can, it is also a great way to hear MORE of what is going on in their world. When DS is alone with us it seems like we are prying by asking questions.. If a BR is along.. we just listen to them and learn a lot more. Also if you can feed an extra Rat or two.. don't worry if feeding a few more means a downgrade in the restaurant...THEY WILL LOVE U.. and the FOOD.

Thanks so much for your (often tough-learned) insights! I did have the chance to ask DS if he had ever thought about quitting, and he said, "No, never!" And he said he definitely made the right decision to go to VMI. He knows to have short-term goals, to study in an academic building or the library, and to put his academics first. Now that a lot of other things are being thrown in, hopefully he'll remember all that!

I feel so blessed to live only 2 1/2 hours away, so I look forward to taking care of DS and his BRs. We already know that his roommates won't have anyone there for the New Market oath. So we will get to start right away! And thanks for the advice to "downgrade" the restaurant if we need to take more Rats with us. I guess they will be happy to go anywhere. I was starting to wonder how we could afford to visit DS and his BRs!
 
I guess they will be happy to go anywhere. I was starting to wonder how we could afford to visit DS and his BRs!

If it is a choice between cheese steaks at the local pizza shop for 5 people or Ruby Tuesdays for 2, go for the cheese steaks:wink: as long as it is agreeable to your Rat.. Most times they will want to help out their BR's but admittedly there may be a time or 2 where your DS may want to get away alone too though. That happens occasionally for our DS.. I let him make the call. His sister is 7 years older so most of his life has been as an only child at home. He basically has the entire basement in our home to himself so the adjustment to having 5 in a room Rat year (this year 6 in a BIG room) makes him crave a little solitude. Also think about a foreign student over the holidays that can't go home..DS is friends with many of the students from Taiwan. We had a Taiwanese Rat last year for Christmas break. It was awesome. I suspect the same thing again this year. It just depends on who they get close to.
 
bjkuds: Can you give us any insight on what we will need to do to take our Rats off Post and how to take BR's off Post? I know he is inviting at least 1 BR from STP and knows he can invite more. Thank you in advance.
 
bjkuds: Can you give us any insight on what we will need to do to take our Rats off Post and how to take BR's off Post? I know he is inviting at least 1 BR from STP and knows he can invite more. Thank you in advance.

You really don't have to do anything actually except show up. They will have to fill out a permit and put on the permit who they are with and whether it is in county or not etc, What they put is considered to be truth due to the honor system the days of parents vouching for their children are over. Your DS may not understand the permit system completely yet but his Dyke will help him with those so he fills it out correctly. One thing that I will share.. once your Rat signs out on permit he has only 15 minutes to leave post or it is a violation.. and considered a 5-1-5. Which I think means 5 demerits, 1 day confinement, and 5 penalty tours which my son ended up doing. He failed to pay attention to the details written in the permit. He was meeting his Dad and Nephew's age 5 and 7. He signed out and was heading to the car just before they were lowering the flags and shooting the cannon. Of course the boys wanted to stay and watch so he did and someone took note that he was still on post 30 minutes later.
I was proud of DS because his Dad felt bad, and DS would have none of that. There was no issue as to where the responsibility was in my sons mind.

Just make sure that a trip to Wal Mart if offered because they will definitely cherish the opportunity to fill their food boxes.. also a charged cell phone will make you the BEST too.
 
You really don't have to do anything actually except show up. They will have to fill out a permit and put on the permit who they are with and whether it is in county or not etc, What they put is considered to be truth due to the honor system the days of parents vouching for their children are over. Your DS may not understand the permit system completely yet but his Dyke will help him with those so he fills it out correctly. One thing that I will share.. once your Rat signs out on permit he has only 15 minutes to leave post or it is a violation.. and considered a 5-1-5. Which I think means 5 demerits, 1 day confinement, and 5 penalty tours which my son ended up doing. He failed to pay attention to the details written in the permit. He was meeting his Dad and Nephew's age 5 and 7. He signed out and was heading to the car just before they were lowering the flags and shooting the cannon. Of course the boys wanted to stay and watch so he did and someone took note that he was still on post 30 minutes later.
I was proud of DS because his Dad felt bad, and DS would have none of that. There was no issue as to where the responsibility was in my sons mind.

Just make sure that a trip to Wal Mart if offered because they will definitely cherish the opportunity to fill their food boxes.. also a charged cell phone will make you the BEST too.

I can't thank you enough for all of the info, especially the 15 min rule!!! You are truly a blessing to me and all the other new Rat parents following this and the other threads you post on. :thumb:
 
I can't thank you enough for all of the info, especially the 15 min rule!!! You are truly a blessing to me and all the other new Rat parents following this and the other threads you post on. :thumb:

If it weren't for LarrysMom and Bruno along with a few others I would have been totally lost last year ... just remembering what I went through and how I cherished the experiences they shared and still do.
 
Drill Competition

Which company won ? Just curious ? Thanks ! I love this forum - especially since I don't have any news yet !
 
You really don't have to do anything actually except show up. They will have to fill out a permit and put on the permit who they are with and whether it is in county or not etc, What they put is considered to be truth due to the honor system the days of parents vouching for their children are over. Your DS may not understand the permit system completely yet but his Dyke will help him with those so he fills it out correctly. One thing that I will share.. once your Rat signs out on permit he has only 15 minutes to leave post or it is a violation.. and considered a 5-1-5. Which I think means 5 demerits, 1 day confinement, and 5 penalty tours which my son ended up doing. He failed to pay attention to the details written in the permit. He was meeting his Dad and Nephew's age 5 and 7. He signed out and was heading to the car just before they were lowering the flags and shooting the cannon. Of course the boys wanted to stay and watch so he did and someone took note that he was still on post 30 minutes later.
I was proud of DS because his Dad felt bad, and DS would have none of that. There was no issue as to where the responsibility was in my sons mind.

Just make sure that a trip to Wal Mart if offered because they will definitely cherish the opportunity to fill their food boxes.. also a charged cell phone will make you the BEST too.

Just a clarification- 5-1-5 means 5 Demerits, 1 week confinement and 5 Penalty Tours. A Penalty tour may be the ultimate perfect punishment- it is an utter waste of one hour of time, walking around in a large loop in front of barracks in formation- and time is the one thing that a cadet (and especially a Rat) has little of and cherishes. It's the VMI equivalent of the chain gang :eek: and on any given Saturday and Sunday afternoon you will see formations of Cadets with their rifles on their shoulders marching around in circles. By comparison- for a Rat especially- confinement is NBD- they aren't going anywhere anyway! Don't however overstress- punishment is part of life at VMI and most cadets quickly learn to take it "in stride" (no pun intended).

The ceremony at New Market is a special event and just plan on taking a crowd out to dinner as there are a lot of Rats whose parents can't make it down for the day- so you really need to plan on taking them with you. And just for the sake of the others who can't make it- I hope that some parents or siblings or romantic other takes videos of the event and posts them on YouTube, as it really is cool to see them take their oath, charge up the hill at New Market and march thru the town. Think of it as a service for those fellow Rat parents who can't be there to see it in person!:thumb:
 
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