Gymaniac

This past Saturday I witnessed my second West Point graduation. Watching them one by one receive their diplomas, and then watch them take their oath and be finished with their 4 year experience make what we go through that much more worth it. It is such an awesome ceremony, filled with so many traditions, it makes you proud to be attending this school. Something that big and that important definitely gives you a sense of pride to be a part of it. This past weekends graduation marks the fourth occasion that I have seen/heard the President of the United States in my two years at West Point. How many people can say that?

With only two and a half more weeks of STAP (summer school) I can't think of anything else than finishing up and getting back home to Louisiana! This stretch from Christmas until now has been my longest time spent without going home. It's funny to look back and to think that before I came here, the longest I spent away from home was a week and here I am now going on 5 months. Crazy. It's great but also scary to say that I am half way done with West Point. It's awesome to think that I am half way through, but I still have to question "where has the time gone?" These past two years have flown by and I've got a feeling the last two will too. These next two years promise to be full of several very memorable times. My official commitment for the next 7 years is coming up in August. The official 500 day mark until graduation, my "cow" loan and then Firstie year! So much is going to be happening in these next two years and I am definitely looking forward to it all! This school has done things for me that I will never forget and offered me so many memories that I want to make sure I document here in this blog to keep for years to come! Well, until next time...

Well, the time is 1:00AM (0100 for all you military people) and it is officially my last day of academics for my second year here at West Point. I really didn't think it would go this fast but, here we are.

I realize I should probably be asleep right now but I was getting all of my stuff together for my English final in the morning when I came across a page of quotes I found online a few months ago. I read through them and realized that they couldn't fit any better with the way I am feeling. My hardest final, my last final, is tomorrow and I am a little nervous. I've always been taught that "what you think about, you bring about" and that's what these quotes are all about:

"You've got to say, I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it. It's called perseverance." --Lee Iacocca

"Persist and persevere, and you will find most things that are attainable, possible." --Lord Chesterfield

"Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy." --Norman Vincent Peale

"If it is to be, it is up to me." --William Johnson (This has been my favorite quote for years, and I was really glad to finally find who said it.)

"Never give in! Never give in! Never, never, never, never,- in nothing great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense." --Winston Churchill

"Never mind what others do; do better than yourself, beat your own record from day to day, and you are a success." --William J.H. Boetcker

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination." --Tommy Lasorda


Hopefully these quotes will inspire you to keep working towards your goals and to keep pushing through. They were definitely the words I needed to hear as I go into my last day of finals of my Sophomore year.