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Your plebe will receive his/her report time, which can range from
6:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Parking on the Yard is very limited, so take
advantage of the shuttle bus that runs from Navy Marine Corps football stadium
to the Yard. (Note that there will inevitably be long lines for the
shuttle buses at the conclusion of I-Day activities; some families make the
decision to simply walk back to the football stadium, a distance of about one
mile.) Allow yourself one hour between arriving at the stadium parking lot and
the report time. A line will form outside of Alumni Hall; parents are
allowed to wait with their children until they walk through the door.
Once your child enters Alumni Hall you will not
see him/her again until after the swearing-in ceremony Tecumsah Court
(T-Court). Once inside Alumni Hall, your child will begin a long day of acquiring uniforms and supplies, getting blood tests, learning rates and how to march and a myriad of other tasks. Lunch will be served, but be aware that your child may be too stressed to eat much. Plebes must "learn" how to eat and the process of learning is very stressful. Also some plebes may be running around retrieving certain forms or waiting in line for medical tests during the lunch period, so our advice is always to have some kind of drink and snack waiting at the end of the induction ceremony. You may catch a glimpse of your plebe as you wander around the Yard, just be aware that you should not call attention to yourself or your plebe if you see him/her. You do not want to do anything that would draw unnecessary and unwanted attention to your plebe. Two places to look would be the back of Alumni Hall where the plebes load the busses and the terraces on either side of Mitscher Hall where the plebes wait to be brought into Bancroft Hall with their squads. Some parents enjoy seeing the process of Induction Day; most parents find the sight of seeing their children being subjected to intense "detailing" too much to bear and choose to tour the Visitor's Center or walk into town or escape to the air conditioning in the Mid Store during the day. There is a picnic lunch sponsored by the USNA Alumni Association on Worden Field for families of the new plebes. It is also quite interesting to wander around the Yard getting accustomed to the place you will revisit many times over the next four years. As the day goes on your plebe will fill a very large seabag with all their uniforms and supplies; they will be expected to lug around the bag with them, up and down stairs, across expansive courts in blazing sunshine, and through long halls. The bag will end up weighing about 70 pounds and it can be painful to watch your child struggle with this task. Knowing all this will give you a sense of their exhaustion at the end of the afternoon; however, their day is still hours away from being finished! I-Day is mentally and physically exhausting for all involved. The detailers (upperclassmen) who work during Plebe Summer have been preparing for many weeks for this task, one they take very seriously. They have been working extra hard to get in shape for plebe summer, since they must do all the physical tasks assigned to plebes alongside them. If a detailer gives a plebe an order to drop and do 20 push-ups as a "punishment" for not knowing rates, the detailer is required to do the "punishment" along with the plebe. The detailers/cadre also put in longer hours than the plebes, as they must complete paperwork and plan the day after your plebe's long day has ended. |
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The
swearing-in ceremony takes place in T-Court. (Don't worry if you are
unable to see your mid - they will all look alike! The plebes who must
wear the issue glasses are a tad easier to spot.) Following the ceremony, the new plebes will have a few minutes (sometimes up to 30 minutes, sometimes more) to find their parents and say goodbye. All along Stribling Walk (which cuts through the grassy area beyond Tecumseh Court) there will be placards with the first letters of last names. This is where you should wait for your mid to find you. Your plebe may look totally overwhelmed. A lot has already happened to him/her and a lot more is to come. Wish them well and be upbeat. Your plebe will have spent an exhausting day and will be terribly thirsty and hungry by now. Have with you a bottle of water and a snack for him/her to drink during your good-byes. Most plebes will collapse into bed that night thinking, “What am I doing here?” That continues to be a question, sometimes up until commissioning, that is answered in a variety of ways, usually one day at a time. For parents, it will be a very emotionally draining day.
Depending on how long a drive home you have, you may want to plan to spend
another night in Annapolis. If you do, be sure to buy the local paper, The
Annapolis Capital, the next morning, which will have covered the events of the
preceding day and will probably contain some interesting facts about this new
class – and it will be a great memento. |
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