VMI Overnight Packing list.

[LongGreyLine Hopeful]

Hey everyone,

As the week begins to count down I'm anxiously awaiting my overnight visit to VMI. I was wondering from anyone, such as Bruno or RahVaMil09 to what exactly I should be packing. So far this is what I've come up with and just wanted to see if you guy think I should bring to the overnight stay. I was thinking a small mid size suit case containing:

1. 1 sleeping bag
2. 1 pillow
3. 1 towel
4. Assorted toiletries (tooth brush,tooth paste,shampoo)

My dilemma is on the attire. The letter states: "Dress is casual". I will be flying in the day before which is a thursday. So I was going to wear normal casual clothes and then bring a set of: 1 polo shirt, khaki dress pants/dress jeans, normal clean tennis shoes. Then a pair of shorts and a t-shirt for the night. Seeing that I will mostly likely have homework for at least one of my professors' classes I was think about bringing my lap top. What would you recommend? I do not want to make it seem rude to my 4/c hosts that I am not interested or trying to kill time until the weekend is over. Lastly, I was interested in bringing my camera to document the campus and the sure to be memorable trip.


Thanks for any help.

 

[RahVaMil2009]

All of that sounds good. Your laptop should be safe, but I'll be honest... we all get slightly nervous on these weekends, because 100+ people who aren't held to our Honor Code are coming into the place we live. I wouldn't worry too much, though.

I also wouldn't worry about seeming disinterested. First of all, you'll be visiting on their first weekend of freedom since they just broke out last Saturday. Hopefully your hosts will set aside their excitement and actually tell you what the Ratline is like! Second, I visited in September of my senior year and had some really awesome hosts, and we definitely all worked on homework after they took me around to introduce me to some other people.

Don't be afraid of being "that guy" who always asks a billion questions. You may not be back again before you matriculate (or attend STP), so you might as well make the most of this opportunity to talk to different cadets of all classes to get their perspectives and learn from their experiences.

Remember to enjoy yourself! Bringing a camera is a good idea.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help.

 

[LongGreyLine Hopeful]

Thanks for all your help. I made the confirmation call today. The lady advised me towards bringing the lap top and the camera seeing like you said RahVaMil09 that their will be around 100 people or so their that do not live under the honor code. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the campus and getting to talk to the cadets on another level. I hear that it's suppose to be cool around the 40-60's (Florida native). I go an email as well as to the cancellation of the Friday Parade. Any ideas of what they are going to fill in it's absence?

 

[RahVaMil2009]

I think the general contingency plan for bad weather is to show a video on the Ratline. This contingency plan was developed after my overnight visit, because we definitely didn't get to watch a cool video way back when I was a pre-strain.