It’s been a little while since my last post, and a lot has happened since. When I left off, I had just finished moving into my new room and was adjusting to new roommates and a much nicer furniture setup.
The Thursday after returning, the USMMA baseball team held its home opener against SUNY Maritime, one of our biggest rivals. Because the entire Plebe class was required to attend, there was a large crowd cheering us on as we proceeded to hammer them 11-6. That weekend we played against the University of Scranton and lost two out of three. Because of my shoulder surgery, I’m not on the traveling roster for the team, so I’m stuck at school for away games.
That weekend was PKT 10, as we had passed 9 the previous Monday. It was a really weird experience for PKT 10 as we were allowed to sit down for the duration of the test as well as the honor test which followed immediately after. In addition to sitting, PKT 10 and the honor test were both multiple choice PowerPoints, unlike any of the previous 9 PKTs. It was a welcome change as nearly all of the questions were very easy with one clear answer for the majority of those. It nearly went without saying that we passed PKT 10 as soon as we finished it. The feelings were the same after the honor test, however, those feelings were smashed when we received an email saying that we had failed and would be required to have a retake the next Saturday morning. We automatically thought something was fishy since that test was even easier than PKT 10. I did hear later that just enough people had screwed around during the test so throw of each company’s scores.
Baseball that week was against the City College of New York, who we pounded 14-3 in a good outing by junior pitcher Will Richey. The weekend’s games were not quite as good… We played host to Drew University in a 3 game series. They entered the weekend 0-12, so we were fairly confident that we would be able to pull a nice little sweep. After a good extra innings in game 1 on Saturday, we were shut down for the subsequent two, even getting shut out 4-0 in the rubber game. Fortunately for us plebes, we still had a reason to celebrate…
Friday afternoon, we received an email just before 1300 to show up at Ackerman Auditorium in boiler suits and tennis shoes. Because that is the uniform for Recognition, many got their hopes up, while many still felt that the upperclassmen were trying to “bag us up”, essentially pull a fast one on us. When we got there, most of our original drill instructors from Indoc were there yelling at us about things they yelled at us for during Indoc. After everybody was there and the accountability sheets were turned in, the RTO came out and threw a black garbage bag onto the stage and told us to bag it up. Because of that, we were a little dejected, but kind of saw it coming.
Saturday morning, we showed up at Ackerman Auditorium at 0800 for the honor test retake with our clipboards and black pens. The tests were passed out and we took them with the CTOs wandering around, ripping up their tests after sniping people for not shaving or having bad-looking uniforms. Surprisingly, the most locked-on plebe in First Company was called out for not shaving that morning. I figured I would die before seeing this kid fail at any plebe task. Anyway, when we handed them in, the RTOA popped out from behind the curtains and asked us how badly we wanted Recognition. We all screamed that we wanted it really bad, so he told us to go back our rooms and return in 5 minutes in boiler suits and tennis shoes. It was at that point that we knew it was the real deal.
Recognition consisted of six different stations: PT on Tomb Field, just like during Indoc, pushups by the War Memorial, a truck pull up the hill on Steamboat Road, log PT, more PT with some seniors, and the infamous “Mud pit”. Because of my shoulder surgery, I was not allowed to participate, so I was able to take pictures and video of all that went on with the First Company plebes. After everybody had completed the six stations, the plebe class assembled in the Oval between Wiley Hall and where the flagpole once stood. It was then that the Regimental Commander spoke to us for a few minutes, and proclaimed us as Fourth Class Midshipmen at the United States Merchant Marine Academy. This was the first major milestone we had been working towards since we stepped foot through Vickery Gate nearly nine months ago. With Recognition comes the privilege of our door being closed all the time, walking outside, wearing our backpacks, and casually talking with upperclassmen. Students at normal colleges take these things for granted because they seem so natural. We’ve grown to realize the awesomeness of being able to do these things.
Baseball this past week wasn’t so good. We were scheduled to have a game Tuesday afternoon; however, rain caused the game to be postponed to an undetermined date. The weekend games against Moravian College were downright terrible. We lost the first game 23-2, and proceeded to lose Saturday’s doubleheader 6-4 and 5-1. It’s really disappointed to see this, as we were really supposed to have a really good season. I guess there’s something to be said for team chemistry.
Saturday night, after the doubleheader, I hopped on a bus right outside of campus and took it to the Great Neck train station, beginning my ride to my friend’s house in Hicksville, farther out the island. Two train rides later, I hopped in my friend’s van and rode to his house. It was so nice to get away for the weekend even though it was just for the night. This morning we headed to his church and then traveled to one of his aunt and uncle’s house for a light lunch, followed by a trip to another aunt and uncle’s house for an Easter dinner. The food at both places was very good. A welcome break from the slop they serve at Delano… As I write this, I’m on my way back to school in a van belonging to my friend’s family. Though I don’t really want to go back, it’s a lot better now that we’re Recognized. This week is looking a little long because of a few tests and quizzes. If I do some studying, I should be just fine. Stand by for further posts.
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