Here is a top-10 list I wrote some time back, but is still applicable today.
1) The best of the best. Up until now, you have been in the upper elite of your respective student body population. Now, imagine putting 1000 of you together. In terms of class order of merit, that race begins the day you arrive. There will be only 1 student ranked #1, and the degree still carries the same weight for the 1000th person in the class. While I am not advocating mediocrity, I want you to keep things in perspective when evaluating your own performance. You will have a grade point average for academics, a military performance average, and a fitness performance average. The cumulative score dictates your class order of merit. Historically, there have been more pilot slots than students wishing to fly. The moral of the story is that graduating is the paramount goal. Everything else is a bonus. To finalize this point, the US Naval Academy honors the last person in order of merit at their graduation each year with the Anchor Award. You will make it to the end as a team, and every team is only as strong as the weakest link. The accomplishment is in completing the experience.
2) Focus on the prize. When life gets you down - and it will - remember why you are there. The underlying reason is different for everyone. It may be service, an education, leadership, or showing the world you can take on the hardest of challenges and crush it! Regardless of the reason, it will be the thing you remind yourself when you are starring at the mirror in your room asking yourself if you should keep going. Ask a senior (firstie, or first class cadet) to see their ring. Remind yourself that someone else has made it through this difficult journey and you too will be there in just a short period of time.
3) You're good enough, You're smart enough, and gosh darn it... people like you. With all of the yelling and screaming going on, this one will be hard to believe. Upperclassmen would like you to believe you are not cut out for this and that you took a slot from a more qualified candidate. The truth is, out of 10,000 people who applied, a committee of very senior people chose you because they saw a track record that fits a profile of what it takes to be successful at USAFA. The upperclassmen are just trying to get in your head and make you question yourself. Don't fall for it. You will not get every trivia question right. You will not answer every question right. In the beginning, you won't do much of anything right. Just know that, and be ok with it. Effort is crucial, accuracy is less important in the big picture. Be open minded to instruction, learn what they are asking you to learn, and show improvement over time. When you question why you are being asked to do something, ask yourself what the higher objective is. I would not ask the person yelling in your face the "Why?" question, just keep that one to yourself. In some cases things are just done to make you prioritize. When chaos reigns all around you, we call that the 'Fog and Friction of War.' There are a ton of distractions in life and oddly enough, things like basic cadet training are preparing you to thrive in these situations. You have an objective, and stuff is happening all around you. Focus on what's important to the objective at hand and tune out the rest. It may be training you for an emergency landing in your future. Bells, whistles, and flames may be going off all around you and your Academy training will have trained you to focus on getting out of the sky safely.
4) Radio silence is ok. Let your friends and family know that you will write when you can and call when you have an opportunity to, but... time for this luxury is hard to find. This is more difficult in BCT than during the academic year, but it's all about time. You might find sleep more personally rewarding, or you are busy learning a famous quote, or you are preparing for a room inspection that goes down before your parents wake up - let alone your high school compatriots! You will do more before breakfast than your old high school classmates will do all day. Ask them to write you often, but not to get their feelings hurt if you can't respond to each note in a timely manner.
5) All Inclusive. More so than a killer vacation, your time at USAFA is all inclusive. Tell your parents that everything is included and you do not need to pack a semesters with of clothes. If the Air Force wants you to have it, they will issue it to you. Seriously, I arrived with the clothes I was wearing, a toothbrush, deodorant, a watch, and a comb. Nothing more. On your first day, you will be herded like cattle from station to station getting socks, shirts, measured for uniform alterations, a hair cut, doctors, lawyers... It is an unbelievable site to behold... all executed with military precision.
6) "Life's tough, especially when you're stupid" -Brigadier General Steven R. Lorenz. This quote is what the general over military training (Commandant of Cadets) told us during my time at USAFA. Know what will get you kicked out and what will not. Every decision you make, no matter how small and inconsequential you think it is should be weighed against this simple rule. Trying and failing at reciting a quote will show effort, but will not get you kicked out. Not trying at all will get you kicked out. Failing an exam or a class may get you put on academic probation and place you in mandatory tutoring, but it will not get you kicked out. Cheating on a test, regardless of the reason, will get you kicked out. Not running a mile and a half under a certain time, or failing to pass the minimum pull up total will place you on athletic probation, but not get you kicked out. Repeated failures in these areas will certainly jeopardize your future, but understand what the rules are take them seriously - USAFA does!
7) Know what to say and what not to say. As a Basic Cadet and even as a Fourth Class Cadet, everything you say to an upperclassman will start with one of the 7 Basic Responses. Getting this right will make your life easier. Yes sir (or ma'am)! No sir! No excuse sir! Sir, I do not know. Sir, I do not understand. Sir, may I make a statement? Sir, may I ask a question? Inevitably, you will mess up the sir and ma'am thing. Own it. Take the physical reps that will rain down upon you and move on. By design, a male and female cadre member will corner you and start firing off questions in machine gun rapid fire style just to intentionally trip you up. Don't smile when it's your turn, keep that joy to yourself and go through the exercise.
8) Go Team! Not everyone makes it to the academy with a team first attitude. It is more important to have a team win than personal glory. As we mentioned before, you will not get every answer right. If you put in the time to learn the quote or trivia knowledge, you need your classmates to do the same. Say this with me - "we are waiting for our classmates..."<repeat> Now do it again, this time in the upright push up position we so fondly refer to as the front leaning rest. When you wait for teammates, this is how it's done. People tend to catch on, but you will find yourself rushing so that others can stop from getting the physical beat down. Those making you get "hardened" will be told by you and others behind closed doors that their actions are hurting the team and they need to change or get out. Countless times, I have made the person who knew the quote get down in the front leaning rest while their roommate who didn't know the quote sat in a chair reading the quote over and over. The guy sitting feels bad (or should) about the pain he is putting his roommate through as he leisurely reads while his roommate is quivering and shaking trying not to fall flat on his face from sheer exhaustion. The roommate in the front leaning rest is fuming that he did the work, and his teammate failed him. Somehow, these things work themselves out in the end.
9) Break from the norm! As an Intercollegiate Athlete, remember that unlike a traditional college, your scholarship is not tied to athletic participation and performance. Should anything change in your gymnastics world - consider participating in other activities at USAFA.
Looking past BCT, the Academy offers a ridiculous number of clubs and activities for cadets. Most are free, or very inexpensive. I went with my mind set on playing in the band. The Drum and Bugle Corp was not on the same musicianship or marching level that I had come from in Texas, and it was a let down for me. The travel opportunities were cool, but that isn't the only club that travels. At the end of the first year, I made the painful choice to leave the band program, something I had been heavily involved in since the sixth grade. With free time on my hands, I thought about the other opportunities that were out there and chose to do something I had always wanted to do, but never had the time or money to do it and I joined the competitive karate team. Classes were free, I practiced 6 days a week for 3 hours a day, and at the time, we fought all over the country taking plane rides from Guard and Reserve units needing weekend flying hours. It was a great life. A full time college student, all inclusive education, all expenses paid, and I got paid to do it - not too shabby. They have pretty much anything you can imagine. Cave exploration, falconry, cycling, paint ball, competitive shooting, sky diving, and the list goes on and on and on.
My only tip here - regardless of whether you are an Intercollegiate Athlete or participating in other activities is to keep your focus. Having fun is great, but the graded events have to come first and this should be the first to go if you find yourself struggling. Do this stuff as a freshman. The upperclassmen you meet on these teams and clubs will help you out. Yelling is in the dorms and your squadron - not in your clubs. Keep it professional, but you can let your guard down here and blow off some steam. It is just about your only outlet.
As I am sure you have already seen, the guys on your team will become some of your closest friends at USAFA. They will look out for you, and help if you ask.
10) Listen to Dory. When your world is crumbling around you (and it will - by design), listen to the wise words of Dory from the Pixar film, Finding Nemo. "Just keep swimming... Just keep swimming!" If you haven't already heard the great ESPY award speech by Jim Valvono, look it up. Jimmy V was dying of cancer when he received the award and he knew he would not make it to the next awards banquet the following year. His lasting words of advice were "don't give up... Don't ever give up!"
. Set a GPA goal for yourself....you will inevitably hear other cadets talking about "2.0 and go"....don't let yourself get sucked into that mentality. Set a high standard for yourself (3.5 or better) and work hard to meet that standard.
