I woke up last Monday morning far, far earlier than anyone should (especially college students). But believe me; I had a flipping good reason to. Today was the diagnostic Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT). I’ve never figured out why they hold them so early as one good friend pointed out; they fight wars in the early afternoon, too. But these things are figured out far above my rank (“Cadet” Drill Sergeants consider us one step below Privates, who are themselves considered one step below dog-stained fire hydrants). Either way the Army, with its wicked penchant to confuse the ability to run long distances quickly and do many push-ups or sit-ups with things like intelligence, leadership potential, and degree of motivation, tested all the hundred-odd Cadets this early, early morning. Basically the APFT records how many push-ups and sit-ups you can knock out in two minutes apiece followed by a timed two mile run. As fun as it is, there are a few other things we’d all like to be doing.
But I’ve been training all summer and I was able to hold my own 73 push-ups and 85 sit-ups with a 12:37 run for a total score of 312 out of 300 (extra points for each push-up or sit-up past the maximum and each six second decrease from the max run time). Comparatively, I finished second only to one of the new super-Freshmen. Having said
that, I suppose it’s redundant to say that the Ranger Challenge season is going very well. This year’s captains are big on (read: addicted to) smoking us each session, but that’s a good thing. By October 15th, we should have a solid shot at the first place. I’ll let you know how we did when it rolls around.
In non-athletic news, my beautiful sister Anna and our wonderful cousin Micah flew out to see me last weekend. They seemed to have a great time: fine
Academically, things are going great. I’m loving all my classes except Chemistry 100. The professor has delusions of grandeur and believes it’s his responsibility to educate us more on metaphysics than, oh, say
Chemistry? For anyone who’s ever read Starship Troopers, he’s a wannabe Mr. Dubois. It’s pretty lame, but my Rhetoric, Advanced Public
Speaking, Military Science, and German profs are all way cool (each in their own little way). One bad instructor to every four good ones is a ratio I can live with.
My roommates are awesome, too. Fun, open-minded and considerate, they let me go to bed around 8PM the nights before those early morning Ranger Challenge PTs. What more could I ask for? College is fantastic. I hope you’re all having as great a time as I am.
Josh Springsteen
PS- the attached files are pictures of my digs, just in case anyone wanted to visualize la casa de Fenton
