
The Cadet Creed reads as follows, “As a future officer, I am committed to the values of Duty, Honor, County. I am an aspiring member of the Army profession, dedicated to serve and earn the trust of the American People. It is my duty to maintain the honor of the Corps. I will live above the common level of life and have the courage to choose the harder right over the easier wrong. I will live with honor and integrity, scorn injustice and always confront substandard behavior. I will persevere through adversity and recover from failure. I will embrace the Warrior Ethos and pursue excellence in everything I do. I am a future officer and member of the Long Gray Line.”
The Cadet Creed is chock full of impeccable words. Once put together as a whole they have great meaning to the young men and women who live day-to-day by those words toward a lifetime goal of living a well-respected existence.
As COVID-19 continues to keep the Corps of Cadets away in mass from West Point—now in the fifth week—the cadets continue to drive on and persevere through the adversity that has enveloped everyone’s lives.
The second part of this series touched on how cadets are staying in shape without access to gyms across the country and overcoming the challenges they face without all the equipment they would like to have at their disposal. Now, the focus is how are they dealing academically, socially and what inspires them to persist through the hurdles they now face.
Academics are now accomplished through remote learning within Microsoft Teams, but how have the cadets continued toward their goal of completing the semester and what does that resemble as the 2019-20 academic year rapidly approaches its end.
Academics at home
Class of 2021 Cadet Christopher Bang is a kinesiology major who is currently taking EV350 (Environmental Engineering), KN360 (Biomechanics of Human Performance), KN455 (Psychology of Exercise), MS300 (Military Science), CH387 (Human Physiology) and CH473 (Biochemistry). It hasn’t been painless from the academic side, but he said he is getting the job done.
“As a kinesiology major with a premed track, I have quite the academic load,” Bang said. “It is not ideal to have to take all (my) classes through remote learning, but it is doable. I have found a way to adapt and overcome from an academic standpoint through consistent communication with my instructors and classmates via (Microsoft) Teams.”
Class of 2020 Cadet Jessica Jin is also a kinesiology major trying to find her way through the challenges of working on her schooling at home as compared to being at West Point.
“The biggest challenge for me is the lack of classmate and instructor interaction I have while at home,” Jin said. “I enjoy working with my classmates face-to-face—they motivate me to be the best person I can be. It has been challenging to stay on track at home, but I still have the drive to learn from my classes because the knowledge I learn will be useful when dealing with my future Soldiers.”
Jin, like Bang, has a heavy workload with five classes this semester, however she did want to leave some recreational time during her last semester at the academy.
“I wanted to ensure that my firstie year load would still allow me to enjoy time with my friends and allow me to perform my job to the best of my abilities,” Jin said. “My instructors have all been able to accommodate with remote learning, except for my Aerobic Fitness class with Dr. (Todd) Crowder. Although, this class was a last-minute addition to my semester, I felt like it was necessary to work on my weaknesses with one of my favorite instructors.
“Overall, creating a schedule and new routine for myself has been very helpful for me to stay on top of my classes,” she added. “I know that I want this journey of my academic career to end on a high note, not just barely passing. I feel like I owe it to my instructors, who have put in so much hard work to accommodate teaching us, to still put in all the effort I have.”
Class of 2021 Cadet Lane Peters said his biggest fear academically is to avoid becoming reactive and trying to stay proactive, but his foresight on his academic load for the wrestling season as a corps squad wrestler has paid dividends now.
“With more unstructured time than normal, there is room for complacency to set in,” Peters, who is a human geography major, said. “Personally, I’ve found that staying organized and on top of things avoids that. Thankfully, I have done summer school every summer I could to allow me to lighten my academic load during the wrestling season, so this semester is lighter than normal.”
Dealing with social isolation, what not being at West Point means and the inspiration of being a cadet
Finding it overwhelming dealing with drastic changes to your academic and physical schedules is one thing, but it is a whole different level of transformation dealing with the social isolation of not being around friends and the modification in daily life away from West Point for cadets. But how have Cadets Bang, Jin and Peters been dealing with their new circumstances?
“By being home, it has not been easy,” Bang said. “Home was a place where I went to in order to catch a break from the huge workload that I have been faced with at West Point. This mindset I had about my home had to change for me to stay on top of my tasks and continue to be vigilant in everything I do.”
Bang said what drives him to be the best cadet he can be is the desire to put his best foot forward to show his grandfather he belongs.
“(My grandfather) was my motivation to getting accepted to West Point,” Bang said. “He always told me to be the very best that I can be in whatever I was involved in. I know that he would want me to give 110% in being the best cadet that I can be.”
Unlike Bang and Peters, this is Jin’s last semester at the academy and time that she will never get back, like all the firsties, to create lifelong memories with people she had been close to at the academy.
“I miss the interactions with my classmates and making each day count with them before we would toss our hats in the air,” Jin said. “We knew our time together at West Point was ending soon, but we didn’t know it would be this soon.
“I think I can speak on behalf of the rest of my class, but it’s been difficult not to list off the trips we planned on taking, the places we would have gone to and the memories we would have made with each other,” she added. “Yes, it’s disappointing, but for good reason.”
What inspires Jin to continue forward in the face of adversity is knowing that these next few weeks and months of turbulence aren’t going to take away from the goals ahead, with a clear sight on her objectives and the culminative effect of a lifetime of work that it will lead to being a great leader of character for many years to come.
“The tiny decisions I make every single day can help build me up to be the best leader I can be or can chip away from the hard work I put in at West Point,” Jin said. “The time I spend now can develop me into a knowledgeable officer if I spend it wisely. My development now is less about being a cadet and more about growing into the best officer I can be.”
As the challenges continue for all cadets as the semester nears closer to the end, Peters is reminded of what Army West Point wrestling head coach Kevin Ward says to him and his teammates to keep them focused on the tasks at hand.
“Coach Ward always preaches to us that there is no growth inside one’s comfort zone,” Peters said. “This situation is uncomfortable for most everyone in every aspect. I think our (wrestling) program, and even our institution as a whole, has seized this opportunity for growth in every pillar.
“While other institutions have shut down as a result of the circumstances, our leadership has pushed throughout and challenged us to continue to strive for excellence,” Peters added. “I have no doubt that we will grow because of it. What helps keep me honest most in this time is my teammates and classmates keeping me honest and accountable for my development.”
One day, once COVID-19 has been subdued stateside, both Peters and Bang will be back walking on the grounds along the banks of the Hudson to complete their firstie years, but until then they both miss being at West Point in their own ways.
“I miss my friends that I have at West Point,” Bang said. “It’s been sad knowing that I won’t be able to see them for a while. I feel everybody’s West Point experience is made through the friends they encounter on their journey. I was fortunate enough in finding great friends through my company, D-2 Dragons, my major, my clubs and time spent at Arvin (Cadet Physical Development Center).”
Peters concluded by saying, “Some people don’t realize it at the time, but the quality of people at West Point is abundant. What I miss most about my physical absence there is the interaction with the people—specifically, my brothers on the Army West Point wrestling team.”
(Editor’s note: This is the third and final part of a three-part series that now focuses on how cadets are adapting and overcoming challenges away from West Point during the COVID-19 quarantine.)
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