Back Again

We went down to see our daughter this weekend.  It was ... interesting.

At first, she told her that she was thinking about quitting the Corps.  Last week was much harder than she had thought it would be, and she did not like the mind games that they played on her.  Like, giving them, literally, one minute thirty seconds to use the bathroom.  (It wasn't until one girl complained, saying 'We aren't boys, we can't just whip it out', that they got a whole two minutes thirty seconds. ) Or, bringing in the marching band to play for them while they were having lunch.... but then insisting that they had to stand and cheer, cheering time being subtracted from their eating time.

Then, after sleeping without interruption for about ten hours at the hotel, and having a decent breakfast, she was relatively cheerful, talking about whether she should pick a college focus that was what she wanted, or what she thought the military might want.  (She decided the former. Good for her.)

She still has to do stupid things, like saying Good morning to each upperclassman she meets, naming them, and doing so in alphabetical order of their names.  She can only leave her room going to the right, so that if the room she wants are to the left, she has to go all the way to the end of the hall, turn, go all the way to the other end of the hall, turn, then into the room - and if she goes past, she has to do the whole circuit again. Things like that. Not just new cadets, either. One senior, standing in a line on the edge of a parade field, watching the new cadets march by, fainted; my daughter said she would unquestionably get into trouble.  Seems harsh, I said.  You sure? She nodded.  They told us, you faint, its because you didn't drink enough water. Your fault.What if it was because you were sick, I asked.  She shrugged.  They'll assume it was your fault unless you can prove it wasn't.  They made my roommate march when her foot was so swollen she couldn't get it into her shoe. Finally she got to see a doctor, who said no marching or running for a week.

But today is the first day of classes, and while she is in the academic building area of the campus she doesn't have to play those games, or even wear a uniform, per se (just khaki pants and a polo shirt with the Corps logo on it) so perhaps life will get a little better for her.  If you can call encountering college-level classes for the first time better.
-------------
Update: She just called with a question.  She says her first day was okay but awkward -- no one talked at all in her classes, and she's usually the only cadet in them.  They'd been told that civilian students usually are not initially sure how to react to then.  And thats with the casual uniform.  When she called, they'd just been told to change into cammo. Why?  She had no idea.  Because. 

Anyone who's been in the military has gone through that kind of nonsense, and sometimes, it really does have a good reason.  But it hurts to see your intelligent, skeptical-of-authority daughter going through it.  Which is why we told her: give it a fair shot.  Then, if you want to get out of the Corps, go for it. But give them a chance, first.