Plebe Summer
By Ray Shay
7.22.14
After dropping our middle son Raymond at La Cross Camp at the US Naval Academy we took a tour of the campus. That is where we learned about Plebe Summer.
It is the indoctrination of the new class of 2018 cadets as they start their military career. Their trademark round white sailor caps with the blue stripe and their small blue notebooks made them easy to recognize. What made them even more easy to spot is that if someone was yelling you could bet that a Plebe was at the receiving end of the tirade.
As it was explained to us the new cadets were the "lowest of the low" and before you can lead you must learn to follow orders. Plebe is a word derived from "Plebian" the working class of ancient Rome. Over 20,000 people applied to the US Naval Academy this year. Only about 7% were selected. I hope each of the 1200 Naval Officers realize they are as lucky and fortunate as "Charlie" when he opened the chocolate bar and saw Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket. It does not get any better. |
The men and women of the current class were being repeatedly tested on a wide variety of rules and regulations.
They could be seen marching and repeatedly standing at attention as they reviewed their small blue notebooks packed with information. Information they must memorize and be able to repeat on command.
Once selected as a Plebe you are committed to five years of service after graduation from the Naval Academy. As tough as the journey may be, both the location where they are trained and the quality of instruction is off the charts. Most graduates of the Naval Academy have double degrees with one of them in the sciences.
As luck would have it while watching the above, I received a text from a friend who was visiting India who sent me a picture of people loitering around a street market. I thought to myself how incredibly blessed we are to live in America and how very lucky each of these Plebes are to be screamed and yelled at today. There are literally millions of young people or their parents that would sacrifice anything to be standing at attention or have their children attend this prestigious academy.
I hope they each realize they are honestly living the dream.
Have a great week,
**If you know anyone who attended the Naval Academy and would like to share a photo please send it to Kevin@shayrealtors.com and we will run the photograph in next weeks Eweekly.
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