You have to remember that, back when this was happening for me (summer 1990), we didn't have cell phones and the internet was just getting started. So plebe year at USNA was REALLY isolating. I think I had phone privs on weekends. I didn't get many letters. But I was (am) really outgoing, so it was HARD, only having informal contact with classmates. Even in my chain of command, upperclassmen and plebes had very formal relationships until Herndon. So, being in a home with two happy and well-adjusted adults, going to work every day, socializing with friends on the weekends - it was great.
Like I said I never looked back. I figured out, for real, that I didn't want to be an officer in the USN. I didn't hate the place (well, any more than any other plebe!) and I loved my time there as much as one can. I just had a different idea of what I wanted to do in life.