The Corps Experience

My first day attending Texas A&M University approached. Feeling naivete and eagerness, I did not know what to expect from college in those long and eventful four years. At the time, I was unaware only two thousand people in the University called themselves “Cadets” and that their journey is difficult yet rewarding. My parents forced me into this organization by making the final decision: I am going to develop my social and academic skills in the Corps.
The Corps of Cadets is acclaimed for cultivating honor, courage, integrity, discipline and selfless service. The Corps life was not what I thought I desired in my college experience. The commencement of freshman year was especially difficult. I dreamed of a peaceful and relaxing college life,

Upon my Corps induction, I joined an all male dorm where every freshman and upperclassmen would be living together. Seeing all the upperclassmen with their uniforms on, I thought about how intimidating it would to make this suit my skin, my identity. After finding my roommates, and my fellow freshmen comrades that I would be living with for the remainder of the year, I found ways that I would assimilate into them effortlessly.
The time had come for the parents to leave their children behind, returning to their former daily lives without them while the children embarked on new experiences. The upperclassmen were ready to train the new freshmen, known as “fish.” Although most of my comrades had joined the Corps because they wanted to enter the military, I was forced along into the program because of my parents’ decision. Thus, I knew nothing about the Corps.
We were told to stand with attention behind the walls of the dorms and stand side by side as freshmen. Summer was still in session, and there were only 18 freshman cadets. We began to sweat within the first few minutes of rigorous military instruction. Though I did not know it at the time, this became the pivotal moment of my life. I was no longer a young boy playing games endlessly without motive or

Every physical activity was performed in the same outfit, and often the pissheads would use commanding shouts about how we should work out. They forced us to do everything until perfection was achieved, and tried to make us suffer if we were not perfect. While we suffered, the upperclassmen told us that the pain we are experiencing is not due to their disapproval of one individual, but of the entire fish class. They wanted us to become better. The fish class learned that an individual’s hardship is shared with the group. Each time we suffered together, we grew