Good Mentality to Have Especially During Plebe Year?

D

devildolphin24'

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Perhaps a weird question. Any advice on how to survive plebe year? This is often said to be the hardest academy to graduate from. How do you stay sane? Is there any time at all to relax and recharge, even just briefly? Maybe occasional visits NYC? I know plebes/MIDN are extremely busy and that it is the primary focus; but I would also like to see if DD might have something, no matter how big or small to look forward to besides just schooling to help ease the burden.

Also I stumbled upon this from the forums awhile ago. Anyone think it still holds true?

Year One At Kings Point In 8 Easy, Bearable Phases

Last week at a welcome aboard event I was asked by an incoming Plebe Candidate (Class of 2015) what I could tell him to help him get through his first year at USMMA. There's often lots of advice, most of it good advice in my opinion in this forum, on these sorts of subjects but to me the best...
www.serviceacademyforums.com
 
1. Put in the hours and grind on grades. Get help early, don't get behind because digging out is hard.
2. Stay out of trouble. One stick turns into two, which turns into three, which turns in to a lot of unwanted attention.
3. Be a good dude and a good classmate.
 
LoPro ... aka keep a low profile. Be chill and fly under the radar. It's easy to think its cool when someone "important" knows your name until you realize someone "important" knows who you are from a distance.

Like Beyond said, get your grades as high as you can as soon as you can. A good cumulative GPA can save you with a marginal/poor quarter/trimester (whatever they are these days).

Find something that is a diversion but remember, all things in moderation. The waterfront has a lot to offer but it can suck you in if you're not careful. The same thing with team sports and regimental extracurriculars like color guard or drill team. Same with EMT. These are all things that can add to the KP experience but be mindful that grades come first. You won't get kicked out for sucking at drill team but you will if you suck at Math.

Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize.
 
Good advice here from both @beyond and @KPEngineer. The attachment you included is also still good info. Do not expect to have a ton of fun in NYC your Plebe year. Your liberty will be extremely limited until recognition which will likely be in April. Your first liberty will be Parents Weekend which is in October this year. You will have very little free time as a Plebe. If you participate in a sport, you will be able to leave on team movements, but that can be a double edged sword. You get to leave campus, but it can be a huge time suck. The best thing about being on a team is that you actually can get to know upperclassmen. There are a ton of clubs you can join which will take up less time than a sport and give you many of the same benefits. Time will be your most precious commodity during Plebe year, and looking for diversions will be a distant third to studying and sleeping.
 
Ah, an inexperienced parent. This is what I learned along the way: "Beyond's" no. 1 is most important. Stay ahead. Use all the resources, company on up. Classmates, tutors, professors, review sessions. Make sure you get it before moving on. Grades before fun. Forget about "ease the burden." The pressure is there and the system is designed to keep it there. Parent remember; your job is to support, listen, support, listen. "You got the appointment, you can do it." "Keep your head up." Nothing else. As 2020 points out, we do not know what it's like. And, after a while, DD will probable tell you only bits and pieces, a proud inhabitant of a parallel universe with its own culture. To say again, books, books, books. (Your local parents groups are there to ease your burden.)
 
My DD just finished her Plebe year and I can tell you that they definitely have fun. It may not be what most typically think when we think of college but trust me they are decompressing and they are having fun. Some of the stories we hear are hilarious and I'm sure the stories we don't hear are even more hilarious! Tell your Plebe to stay focused and ask for help early. Help is there and readily available.
 
KPEngineer said:
LoPro ... aka keep a low profile. Be chill and fly under the radar. It's easy to think its cool when someone "important" knows your name until you realize someone "important" knows who you are from a distance.

Like Beyond said, get your grades as high as you can as soon as you can. A good cumulative GPA can save you with a marginal/poor quarter/trimester (whatever they are these days).

Find something that is a diversion but remember, all things in moderation. The waterfront has a lot to offer but it can suck you in if you're not careful. The same thing with team sports and regimental extracurriculars like color guard or drill team. Same with EMT. These are all things that can add to the KP experience but be mindful that grades come first. You won't get kicked out for sucking at drill team but you will if you suck at Math.

Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize.
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Oh, yeah, especially about getting that GPA up. Academically, I found Plebe year to be the easiest, so get those grades up. They won't come as easily second and first class year. . .I was above 3.0 even through Third Class year, and it really helped with those few classes where I squeaked by . . .at least when I went through it, once we had liberty, we could resort to the evils of alcohol. . . but there are those that do not benefit by such behavior. . .
 
All the stuff about grades and flying low are 100% true about making it through, but I read your question a little differently. How do you stay sane? I think that post you referenced is really valid. The milestones were different for me because we were on quarters not trimesters, but I was constantly breaking the year up into smaller blocks. Get through indoctrination, get to acceptance day, get to finals, get to Thanksgiving, get to Christmas, and on and on. I was never focused on the year, just getting to the next thing. The other thing that kept me sane was the gym. I loved to go to the weight room plebe year and lift. It was like therapy. For other people that may have been sailing, or their sport, going for runs, an instrument, or whatever. Having an outlet like that is good for your mental health. Finally, have a sense of humor about the whole thing and occasionally laugh at the absurdity of your world. You don't have to like it, you just have to get through it.
 
cmakin said:
Yeah, sports. . .rugby went miles helping me cope. . .
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My kid credited rugby with helping him get through, not just plebe year, but the other three years as well.. The team had great camaraderie and it was a good way for him to 'lift the safeties' and let off some steam..
 
best advice I have is get involved and leave campus whenever you can although things may be different with COVID restrictions. Plebe year is going to seem like the hardest time of your life when it is going on but other endeavors at KP are significantly harder in the years to come in just 8 months you will be wondering why you even worried about plebe year.
 
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