| Bachelor of Science Degree-undergraduate |
The differences in quality of life between the academy experience and a
regular university experience are probably the most profound in the
arena of Quality of Life. From the first day of the Basic
Training "BEAST" summer until that graduation day 4 years later, you
live and breath the academy lifestyle, there is no alternative. The
first day of BEAST summer, you gather various uniform and army pieces
that all piece together into an overall uniform and army field gear,
which will become part of your life from that day forward. You will
wear a uniform 99.9% of your time at the academy, going to class,
working out, playing sports, studying, even sleeping. Only the
upperclassman are authorized to wear civilian clothes on very limited
basis, basically when they are going home on leave for holidays or going
on weekend pass. The housing is one choice and one choice only, the
barracks. These are actually quite roomy in space, with normally at
least 1 roommate, depending which portion of the barracks you live in.
They are clean thanks to the freshman cleaning sessions and daily room
inspections. The facilities are top-notch, sometimes a little
over "gothic" in appearance, especially during those 4 wonderful gray
months of a New York winter! Spring is a very welcomed reality as green
reappears. The dining hall is like no other in the world, all 4000
cadets are fed at the same time in minimal time. Each table is
comprised of 10 cadets, a collection of all 4 classes, with the 2 or 3
plebes (freshman) acting as the "cold beverage corporal", or "gunner".
These cadets are forced to announce to the table all the difference
dishes for that particular meal, cut the desert (invariably a pie of
cake is served which requires cutting into equal pieces), and serving
drinks to the upperclassmen's liking. Often the plebes rarely get to
eat much of the meal, and if they do it is after the upperclassmen are
long gone. Each successive class gets to leave the table at a different
time, seniors first, juniors second and so on. The plebes are left to
wait out the whole meal, scrounging at the last few minutes before the
bell sounds to exit the mess hall. The dining experience begins as a
hazy, stressful annoyance and ends as a good social gathering to hang
out with your friends. Once again, the dining experience at a service
academy is like no other university in the world.
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