‘25 PS so far

Capt MJ said:
He does know. That’s his “mid number” that he has sharpied onto dozens of uniform items by now and pieces of gear. M+two-digit class year+unique 4-digit number.

They will be full-up with laptops in new room soon enough. I was thinking you all could send a welcome email to wait in their inbox.
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I didn’t even think to ask DS so I appreciate you letting us know…
Excellent idea…will definitely send him a welcome email! 😁
A1Janitor said:
Haha This is the first I heard about this email thing. My son certainly has never emailed me. Not sure if I should use a laughing or crying emoji.
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both! 😭🤣
 
93RN said:
Needed to read this today…thank you @justdoit19! Yesterday pulled at my heart ❤️ strings way more than I-Day. DS verbalized multiple times over the weekend that they were “gonna get killed” this week 😭 So I am heavily praying 🙏 that these last few days ARE different and exciting.

Counting down to Friday…anxiously awaiting his call! Detailers will probably give them their phones back at 11:59 pm and 59 seconds 🤣
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These last days, and the ensuing days, will be different and exiting for him and his classmates. The Brigade becomes whole with return of the 1/C, 2/C, and 3/C. New faces, new personalities, new routines. There is excitement in the air in more ways than one. He will relocate to a new company area and get a new room. If lucky, it will be with a nice view within easy walk to his classes. If not, he could get stuck on 7-4 or 8-4 which would entail more than his share of chopping. He will have his class schedule with probably 19 units. He’ll will sign for his books, thumb through them, and think: “I’m gonna learn all this stuff?!” He’ll be issued more uniforms and will be constantly on the go. The Navy football season kicks off on 4 September and his company will march to the stadium in whites. They’ll do the same on September 11th when Navy plays Air Force. You can catch the game on CBS, if you aren’t there. Maybe you’ll get a glimpse him and his classmates doing push-ups each time Navy scores – and I hope it’s a lot! The start of the academic year will bring a whole set of new challenges. When he calls, encourage him to get off to a good start in the classroom. The Class of '25 party is just getting started.
 
WT Door said:
When he calls, encourage him to get off to a good start in the classroom.
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^^^ THIS x 100! ^^^

I teach at our state’s flagship university, and this I notice among the students who struggle:

They don’t start fast. Faced with new freedoms and minimal supervision, they procrastinate from day one. Instead, students should jump all over their assignments and strive to not just keep up, but to get ahead.

They don’t seek help early and often. So many students don’t realize how eager and willing professors are to help, and that there’s no shame in asking for help. What exacerbates this issue is point #1 above. Those who fall behind early discover too late that they need help. So many students ask for help after the damage is done, when they could’ve preempted it.
 
Capt MJ said:
He does know. That’s his “mid number” that he has sharpied onto dozens of uniform items by now and pieces of gear. M+two-digit class year+unique 4-digit number.

They will be full-up with laptops in new room soon enough. I was thinking you all could send a welcome email to wait in their inbox.
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Hah yes he knows that number but alas neither me or DW remember it as we did not deem that necessary for us to know 😭
 
MidCakePa said:
^^^ THIS x 100! ^^^

I teach at our state’s flagship university, and this I notice among the students who struggle:

They don’t start fast. Faced with new freedoms and minimal supervision, they procrastinate from day one. Instead, students should jump all over their assignments and strive to not just keep up, but to get ahead.

They don’t seek help early and often. So many students don’t realize how eager and willing professors are to help, and that there’s no shame in asking for help. What exacerbates this issue is point #1 above. Those who fall behind early discover too late that they need help. So many students ask for help after the damage is done, when they could’ve preempted it.
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I stated this exact concept to my DS this weekend. I told him:
-pace of work will be faster than HS
-find a study buddy and set a schedule for each class. I did not learn this trick til I was a Jr and was barely treading water in engineering school
-ask for help early
 
I’m still in FB exile so cannot see current USNA parent posts but I love hearing about the weekend and your experiences. I am very happy that you all got this experience and the memories.

Recently in a state parent meeting I described this journey as two roller coasters. Parallel rides if you will. Your plebe and eventual MIDN is on one track. You as a parent are on the other. Both require seat belt and safety gear. But they are different tracks. You will hear about the ups and downs of your plebe. You may carry the struggles. You may worry.

Both rides have their ups and downs. For me personally, the sooner I recognized that their low didn’t have to be mine, the better. I am lucky and blessed to be our DS’s person (for now). But that means I get all the stuff. The good and bad. Learning to hear it and move on to the next loop de loop is invaluable.

I am so excited for my first visit to the Yard for the Air Force Game —I can’t stand it. My rooms are confirmed, the Marine inspired uniforms are revealed, my kid pulled some G’s in San Diego today….. all good things.
I am looking forward to the Parade at 1600 on Friday leading into the weekend. GO NAVY!
 
93RN said:
I didn’t even think to ask DS so I appreciate you letting us know…
Excellent idea…will definitely send him a welcome email! 😁

both! 😭🤣
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My son prefers to keep his USNA email for USNA stuff. He says because he gets so many 'official' emails every day on his usna account, he never uses it for personal messages. I still use his gmail account for personal emails.
 
I am excited for you parents, especially the ones who have a son or daughter being the first in the family to join "the military". It is a new extended family to which they will belong and by extension, to which you will be welcomed. You will find that the MIDNs at USNA will be strangely similar to your son or daughter and you will immediately want to have them join in on your visits to The Yard. You will be interested in their lives now, as well as your own son or daughter and you will want to add things for them when you send a care package. You will also meet other parents who are doing the same thing and are actually looking forward to seeing your MIDN. The support that you find there just makes you feel good.
 
The best part of their USNA email is that they use proper grammar, and sign it "... Respectfully, MIDN 1-4C John Doe."

Emails from phone using google account just reads, "Dad can you send me more ..."


We talked with DS maybe every 2 weeks or so during Covid AC. But, we likely had one or two emails a week as a quick update on sibs' sports or asking about supplies, etc. When we talked, we generally texted asking when a good time was, so he was in complete control of his schedule.
 
brewmeist said:
My son prefers to keep his USNA email for USNA stuff. He says because he gets so many 'official' emails every day on his usna account, he never uses it for personal messages. I still use his gmail account for personal emails.
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Excellent point. Use whatever mid prefers.

I email our sponsor mids on Thursdays to coordinate for the weekend and use their USNA.edu email, because they pay attention to that due to the many taskers they receive there. They may not get around to looking at personal email if they are crazy busy.
THParent said:
I am excited for you parents, especially the ones who have a son or daughter being the first in the family to join "the military". It is a new extended family to which they will belong and by extension, to which you will be welcomed. You will find that the MIDNs at USNA will be strangely similar to your son or daughter and you will immediately want to have them join in on your visits to The Yard. You will be interested in their lives now, as well as your own son or daughter and you will want to add things for them when you send a care package. You will also meet other parents who are doing the same thing and are actually looking forward to seeing your MIDN. The support that you find there just makes you feel good.
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Two of our sponsor plebes are already booked for Thanksgiving with us. Their parents’ relief was palpable. Too logistically challenging or expensive to go home and then do it again in a few weeks.
 
WT Door said:
These last days, and the ensuing days, will be different and exiting for him and his classmates. The Brigade becomes whole with return of the 1/C, 2/C, and 3/C. New faces, new personalities, new routines. There is excitement in the air in more ways than one. He will relocate to a new company area and get a new room. If lucky, it will be with a nice view within easy walk to his classes. If not, he could get stuck on 7-4 or 8-4 which would entail more than his share of chopping. He will have his class schedule with probably 19 units. He’ll will sign for his books, thumb through them, and think: “I’m gonna learn all this stuff?!” He’ll be issued more uniforms and will be constantly on the go. The Navy football season kicks off on 4 September and his company will march to the stadium in whites. They’ll do the same on September 11th when Navy plays Air Force. You can catch the game on CBS, if you aren’t there. Maybe you’ll get a glimpse him and his classmates doing push-ups each time Navy scores – and I hope it’s a lot! The start of the academic year will bring a whole set of new challenges. When he calls, encourage him to get off to a good start in the classroom. The Class of '25 party is just getting started.
Click to expand...
and the word on the street is that ESPN College Game Day will be there for the 9/11 game- if that is true, then that also brings a nice level of fun, excitement and positive exposure for USNA and its Mids.
 
THParent said:
I am excited for you parents, especially the ones who have a son or daughter being the first in the family to join "the military". It is a new extended family to which they will belong and by extension, to which you will be welcomed. You will find that the MIDNs at USNA will be strangely similar to your son or daughter and you will immediately want to have them join in on your visits to The Yard. You will be interested in their lives now, as well as your own son or daughter and you will want to add things for them when you send a care package. You will also meet other parents who are doing the same thing and are actually looking forward to seeing your MIDN. The support that you find there just makes you feel good.
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That is one piece we missed dearly last year. Our two visits to MD last year were under enough Covid restrictions that we basically swooped DS and hid for 8 hours before pushing him out the van each night. We haven't actually been able to meet any roommates, teammates, etc. or even watch them interact.

Here's hoping for a much more "parent friendly" year...
 
Capt MJ said:
Excellent point. Use whatever mid prefers.

I email our sponsor mids on Thursdays to coordinate for the weekend and use their USNA.edu email, because they pay attention to that due to the many taskers they receive there. They may not get around to looking at personal email if they are crazy busy.

Two of our sponsor plebes are already booked for Thanksgiving with us. Their parents’ relief was palpable. Too logistically challenging or expensive to go home and then do it again in a few weeks.
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South Jersey, Western Maryland, are too logisticaly challenging to get home? I think the sweet gouge is out that your and DH's place to be for Thanksgiving! Parents are probably wanting some of the recipes too.
 
WT Door said:
South Jersey, Western Maryland, are too logisticaly challenging to get home? I think the sweet gouge is out that your and DH's place to be for Thanksgiving! Parents are probably wanting some of the recipes too.
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I typically ask the mids to get a recipe from home and we’ll make it together just so something feels like home. The baklava from scratch (Greek heritage) one year nearly defeated me, but cooking it with wine helped. Another year it was a Polish stew with beans and sausage.

And no, these are true many-states-away plebes.
 
Another fun Thanksgiving with mids memory. I half-jokingly told our Peruvian mid that once all the cooking and eating was done on Thursday, the rest of the weekend was variations on leftovers and she was free to eat anything she wanted for any meal. My tradition is to have a big piece of warm apple pie and Turkey Hill vanilla bean ice cream on Friday morning for breakfast. As I sat and ate that, I watched our mid take me literally, and assemble a massive plate of turkey, gravy, dressing, potatoes and green beans to heat up and eat for breakfast. She got totally into the spirit of things. We cheerfully shared the maple-basted crisp turkey skin on T-Day. She was also amazed by DH heating up the waffle iron and doing shredded turkey and dressing waffles with cooked bacon, with the house cranberry sauce spooned on top in his special ritual concoction. If you’ve never done that, do try. Plenty of internet guidance.
 
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