I hope your girl gets released from the sick rooms! mine was there for 3 days and she said the food was not great but she was not really hungry bc of the plebe hack - she slept and read books her detailer gave her for 3 days and then went back and is fine now. hopefully yours will get better soon - mine said the food is amazing in king hall! and she has gained weight! cant imagine gaining weight with all the running they do!!!
The reality is , PPW is a nice respite, but not even a false summit. In the big scheme of things, Plebe Summer is just a small foothill on the USNA journey, and in many ways its the easiest part. Plebe Year is even harder -- instead of facing a relative handful of Detailers, the Upperclass to Plebe ratio becomes 3:1, and Plebes have to deal with a pretty rigorous collegiate class load in addition to military training. While some of the military training pressures ease off after Plebe year, the academic pressures increase, and I don't think any Midshipman is truly relieved until they throw their hat up in the air at graduation. Just like the Admissions process, this is a marathon -- not a sprint.
Rollercoaster #1: Admissions process, with all kinds of loops called CFA, nominations, DoDMERB, etc.
My DD is a first set detailer and her whole detail group succumbed to plebe hack last weekend and she was the only holdout until today. They are tired! Up before the plebes and to sleep after they put the plebes to bed to review and plan and on the go all day long. Lots of marching and drilling. With the OIC being a marine, she tells us that the training is different than she had last year. She is able to do things she didn't last summer as a Plebe (museum, fireworks, baseball game) She finds it crazy to be working alongside those that trained her last year and she is honored to be accepted as one of them. She is sad to transition off but ready as she is exhausted!
Watch this movie. It will change your life. The Forks Over Knives website has all the recipes and encouragement you will ever need. Good luck, friend! Bonus: cocktails allowed
https://www.forksoverknives.com/wellness/the-film-that-started-it-all-now-streaming-for-free/Oh, this is encouraging. So glad to hear your girl has healed! Thank you so much for confirming SIQ room food is not the same as King Hall. Mine did not get books. She's written me lots, though. I even got drawings of the view from her window!
I must have missed that one. I never thought I'd miss USNA !
I wouldn't focus on milestones as being the finish line per se (PS, Plebe Year, first couple of years, first four years, etc etc etc.) However it's a way, actually it is THE way, to eat the elephant- one evolution at a time. Mentally, completely acceptable and actually encouraged because if you sit on day 1, 10, 30, 60, 90, 365 etc and focus on the next 3285+ days you are screwed. Agree, it's a marathon, but in a marathon you don't run it by thinking about the next 26, 25, 24 miles- you break it down into mentally digestible intervals. In reality, you just do it- not to be cliche (again and again). Parents probably should be cognizant (but not dwell on) the entire commitment, I am not sure that a MIDN, Sailor, or Marine should spend that much time on that broad of focus (but they MUST be cognizant of how their performance etc will or will not open doors or provide opportunities down the road).
A great exercise of what they might (should) experience in the fleet- I recall my officers being up before me, performing along side me, eating after me, and going to bed after me.
I didn’t see meat on their menu.Watch this movie. It will change your life. The Forks Over Knives website has all the recipes and encouragement you will ever need. Good luck, friend! Bonus: cocktails allowed
Is she 2024? I have heard things are different and I think that’s great for everyone….nobody ever gets complacent with “the way things are done”, always evolving!
Follow @admiral_ernieking (official page of MFSD) on IG if you really want to see what they eat. They eat VERY well during plebe summer. Last year? Everything was mostly cold, in a styrofoam box. Staff had to absorb all the “extras” that COVID required, cost wise, in their budget. And they got through it.
Not a rumor. And 17$ was also an increase. So two increases in a short time. Food is to be substantially better than it has been. And “special meals” will increase if they can get their waste numbers down. Which they also have a plan for. This was all addressed in the Fall conferenece, (for Parent clubs….join yours for more info), and a recent training I attended. So it’s true, not rumor.
My DD reports the food is tons better. Her words and I quote, " I am in heaven." Mind you she only has last year's clamshells to compare to but I never thought I'd hear those words about the food.
awe....that is great!! drawings from her window!!! I have been keeping her in my prayers since I read your post!!!
I can only imagine what LCDR Neeb could have done with $22 a day. 86 the "Neeb's Loaf" and the "Tom Ray's Hot Brown Sandwiches" for sure.