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go through is difficult, though less so than in the past.
“Hazing is changing at West Point,” she said. “There is a new Army ethic of professionalism. Each year they are doing away with more and more of the fourth class system. They aren’t supposed to call us Plebes any more; we’re fourth class. This year we don’t have to eat ‘square meals’ or ‘ping’ (square the corners) when we march. ”
They are not allowed to talk with their classmates or address the upper classmen unless they are asked a question. Inside their rooms with the door closed they can socialize though.
One of her classmates from high school is also at West Point, but a year ahead of her. “I know him from high school, but I can’t talk to him, and I have to call him ‘sir,’ ” she said.
“The fourth class has to do all the work,” she said. “The purpose is to discipline yourself to always do what you have to do.
“Being a plebe is no fun at all, but I wouldn’t quit. I know why I’m there, and I have a lot to learn,” she said.
“I want to do the most I can for my country and serve,” she said. “It seems the best thing I could do is to be a career Army officer. ”
Still she is looking forward to being an upper classman. “There are so many clubs and opportunities, but as a plebe you’re too busy doing fourth class duties. There are awesome athletic facilities. Everyone is looking forward to being an upper classman so we can really use the facilities.”
Jenny is on the cycling team and that has given her “a real break.” She is allowed to cycle within a 50-mile radius of the campus “so you can get off the post and think.” ,
Her father prepared her for what life at West Point would be like. “Dad said, ‘When you get there, they take away all your rights. Then they gradually give them back to you as privileges,’ ” she said.
She has found that to be true. Soon she will be allowed to have music in her room. When she is in her last year, she will be able to have a car. “But before we got there, we could have music and cars,” she noted.
The events in the Persian Gulf are immediate to Jenny and others at West Point. Most of the enlisted military personnel from the post are already there, she noted.
Last year’s graduates are there or on their way, and this year’s seniors know they will be going. “But there are no debates or anything,” she said. “Everybody’s in the Army, ready to do what they have to do.”
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