Reflections on Flight

Prior to starting our latest novel in class, Sherman Alexie's Flight, we did a group project to learn about the history of Native Americans and the United States. My group was responsible for Pine Ridge, the American Indian Movement, and the Massacre at Wounded Knee. Although I was gone for the first day of research, and thus not assigned one of the major parts, I was able to learn a lot about all three through proof reading my classmate's work.

After a week of preparation, we presented to our class. I was horrified at how Natives were treated. I knew that they had been treated poorly, but some of the things the US has done to them are horrible. Our presentations were almost all about how awful the Natives were treated. The novel focused on how both sides did horrible things. This surprised me because I expected Alexie, a Native, to focus more on the horrible things the US did rather than on the horrible things the Natives did, but instead he focused on how both sides were wrong.

Learning about the back story of things such as the Ghost Dance and the Battle of Little Bighorn helped in my understanding of the story and some key aspects of it.

The Last Christmas Tree

Yesterday our family did what we've done every year since before I was born: we went tree hunting. About 3 miles from our house there is a small tree farm selling all sorts of Christmas trees. We always seem to get a balsam fir tree, which is a short needle tree with strong branches perfectly suited to hold ornaments. While we were wandering the ranks of trees at the farm, I suddenly realized that this was probably the last time I would ever cut down a Christmas tree with my family. Instead of making me sad I felt happy, which really surprised me. I thought back to the years we would have to wade through thigh deep snow to get to the trees, and the years there was no snow at all. I remembered the year we had to buy our tree from a sketchy-looking man in a parking lot on December 23rd. Looking back on those memories made me feel happy to have spent such great times with my family. 

Football

On Saturday, October 26, I played my last football game.  Even now, almost a week after the game, I still don't think the fact that my high school football career is over has hit me. I don't know if I want it to. Every fall for the last six years my life has been dictated by practices, games, and recovery from said games. It has taught me to learn from my failures and be respectful in victory. It taught me that teamwork is the key to success. After six years of being on a football team, one third of my life, I will probably never put on pads again. Probably. 

One of the varsity sports offered at the Naval Academy is sprint football. Sprint football is exactly like regular football, except everyone has to be 172 pounds or lighter. This makes everyone on the field around the same size. I would have to drop a little weight, but according to some sprint football players at the Academy I talked to, if someone really wants to play they can get down to the weight requirement. I am going back and forth on the pros and cons of trying to play. Obviously I love football and continuing to play it would be amazing, especially at the varsity level. I am concerned about the weight restrictions, however. I've heard of wrestlers who keep their weight at a constant number in order to stay in their weight class but end up stunting their growth in the long run. This is something I have to spend some time thinking about, and I have plenty of time to make a choice. 

What I Learned From My Shawshank Project

I learned many things about modern prisons and solitary confinement during this project. I never knew how big of an issue prison overpopulation is until I began researching it. I learned that solitary was invented by the Quakers as a way to force a criminal to come to peace with himself or herself. This sounds good, but after all my research, I believe that current solitary practices alone can not help an inmate become rehabilitated, and in many cases can actually hurt the inmate more. Solitary is used freely to combat prison gangs and violence, but gang activities and violence have increased in spite of it. I believe that solitary, while sometimes necessary, should come second to active rehabilitation programs that work towards helping the inmates re-asses their morals and reintroducing themselves back into society.

Learning about solitary helped me understand parts of Shawshank for several reasons, mostly because solitary was commonly used as a punishment for the inmates. Prisoners could be punished for things like talking back to guards, not doing work, or fighting. The actions that warranted solitary at Shawshank were not set in stone, rather it was up to the guards who went to solitary and how long. While solitary was a popular punishment in Shawshank, it was never talked about in detail. Learning about modern prisons also helped me understand a little about life inside Shawshank. While there were no "gangs" in Shawshank, the Sisters would be close to one. I'm sure there are guys in modern prisons who are similar to Red in that they can smuggle things into prison fairly easily. 

Summer of Brotherhood

Last summer was filled with with brotherhood and camaraderie. Between football, the Naval Academy, and UCOIN, I created many new relationships and strengthened old ones. 

My class has always been into football. Since seventh grade, we have had a core group of players. We have always been close, but last summer we realized this was our last season. I think that knowing this has brought us even closer together. It shows this season. We are currently four and one and have created some great team chemistry. While I don't always totally like all of my teammates, when we step onto the field it doesn't matter. That's one of the reasons I love football.

The next experience I had with camaraderie was at the Naval Academy. As I said in my last blog, I was there for six days for their Summer Seminar Program. I became very close to my squad mates because we were all similarly minded and driven to succeed. I sincerely hope that we can all see each other again next June at the Academy's Induction Day. 

The last and most extreme brotherhood experience I had was at UCOIN. As I touched on before, I would do anything for my fellow cadets. The strongest bonds are made through hardship, and hardship was the one thing we had plenty of at UCOIN. This is one of the major reasons I want to join the military. The relationships forged through shared suffering are very hard to break, and I want to experience that.

Throughout my summer, brotherhood has been a recurring theme. I experienced deeper and more meaningful relationships than I ever had before. It makes me excited about what my future can hold.

Give In To Get By, or Hold Out And Pay The Price

In Stephen King's Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, his characters are almost daily faced with the choice between giving in to get by or holding out and paying the price. I faced a similar situation this summer at a Sea Cadet training.

After an operation that resulted in the better part of the day spent hiding in thorny bushes, the last thing we wanted to do was pull night watch. To make things even better, half of our platoon was captured or injured, and thus unable to stand watch. This meant that the remaining half-dozen plus of us had to stand watch all night, which was not improving our already stressful situation. 

Although I knew we needed rest for tomorrow, we couldn't risk more of our team getting captured, so I argued that we just suck it up and stand watch. Some of my other teammates argued that the OPFOR, our cadre, would pull back to their trailers because of the rain. They said we should all sleep and get rested for whatever tomorrow might bring. Collectively we decided to pull watch in groups of two or three, so one of us could sleep for fifteen minutes while the other one was awake. 

After an hour of sitting out in the rain and not seeing any movement on our perimeter, we talked about pulling back into the huts surrounding our village. I knew going inside would fatally limit our lines of sight, but I compromised with my teammates and spent the rest of the night indoors.

The night passed uneventfully. As we had thought, the OPFOR withdrew to their base as soon as the rain really started coming down. Looking back on our decision, I think it was the right one considering the circumstances. We were undermanned, tired, stressed, and facing a night of little sleep in addition to the pouring rain. 

Snapshots of My Summer

The main entrance to the Academy

Last summer two major things happened, both military related. The first was my week long visit to the US Naval Academy in June. From June 15 until June 20 I was lucky enough to be a part of the Academy's Summer Seminar program. Summer Seminar is a summer camp put on by the Academy to let prospective candidates spend an extended period of time on the Yard (The Academy's campus) to see what life as a midshipman is like. We stayed in the same dorms, ate the same food, went to some of the same classes, and did many of the same things actual midshipmen do. 

Before attending Summer Seminar, I was considering the academy, but afterwards, it became my number one choice. I loved everything about it: the military structure, the campus, the people, and the food. I was Bravo Company, First Platoon, First Squad. I developed great relationships with my squad mates, and we still keep in touch.

McDonald, Lindsey, and me after graduation

The second military-related thing I did last summer was attend an advanced Sea Cadet training: UCOIN. UCOIN, or Urban Counter-Insurgency training, was a seventeen day long training held at Camp Atterbury Joint-Maneuver Training Center in Indiana. It was modeled after the seventeen week long Seal platoon pre-deployment build-up. We survived off two hours of sleep a night and 1000 calories a day. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. This being said, it was also one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. The sixteen cadets at the training became closer than brothers. I would do anything for those guys, and they would all say the same. 

Last summer I learned a lot about myself, the military, and what I want to do with my future. I learned that I can push myself farther than I think I can.I learned how much brotherhood and camaraderie are a part of the military, and how I feel surprisingly at home in the military culture. I hope I can return to the Academy next June to fully join the culture.