At West Point, you take shockingly few classes solely directed toward your major, only around 10 classes or so out of around 40. This week the Plebes(freshmen) got to declare their majors. In a total reverse from what I have been saying for years(Mechanical Engineering), I declared as a Military History Major. I’ve fallen in love with the History Department here. During my history class last semester, History of the Army, we got to handle actual weapons from both world wars, talk about revolutionary war events while looking up the Hudson River to where they happened, and “wargame” major battles throughout history. The History Department also offers fantastic trips over Spring break and during the summer. During spring break I’m going to Charleston, South Carolina, to tour various Civil War sites and battlefields with 3 instructors and 11 other cadets. Another trip that I hope to get on during my time here is to Normandy, France, and several other D-Day sites. I plan to take classes centered around the first half of the 20th century and I will write a thesis my senior year. The best part about deciding on any major at West Point is that you already have a guaranteed job as a second lieutenant when you graduate so I don’t have to worry about finding a job with my degree.
In other news, my best friend from home, Gage Allen, finished his initial training with the Marine Corps yesterday. He started Boot Camp two weeks after we graduated and has been in training ever since then to become a rifleman. Gage is one of the biggest reasons that I ended up joining the military and I know he says the same thing about me. What he’s done is substantially more difficult than anything I’ve done here and I couldn’t be more proud of him.
