Twenty Years Ago...

Twenty years ago today I journeyed up that ramp (I believe figuratively as I can't distinctly remember actually marching up it, but then again that day was a blur in my memory, followed by days of fog!). Today the language is no longer there with higher ups thinking it was sexist and anti-women. Personally I think it is a shame because the language was from a poem and any poetry can take on a greater meaning. Is it a crime to think that men can't include both male and female? Either way I digress, the Academy being a federal institution has to grow and change with the times. For a young school it is unfortunate that folklore and tradition can be erased simply because of public image but having spent four years there I can say that times change. When I arrive the pay phone was my weekend savior, computer hard drives were a fantasy, CDs were still "new", VCRs were the thing to have, and Super Mario was still fun to play. How things must be different today with social networking and what not. Do freshman still feel isolated?

It was a beautiful place to go to school, in retrospect. I remember waking up on weekend mornings after a winter storm and looking out at the mountains and thinking how peaceful it looked. An awe inspiring place. But also bittersweet looking back...often times I think I wasted time there while other times I feel content that I made it through, that it didn't get the best of me. It wasn't pretty but not everything can be. A momentous day arriving, getting of the bus, getting yelled at, having my head shaved, and realizing that my life had certainly taken a new path...