Jen Letourneau

Magic 8-ball

    As today is the last day of the shortest month of the year I thought that it might be good to post a new entry. To tell you the truth Celeste mentioned that there were prospects out there that had a bunch of questions that needed answering. My fellow bloggers and I were more than obliged to answer them so here are a few of the questions you guys wanted to know about :)

 

What is it like living in a colder climate?

     Having spent a majority of my life in Maine, I find it difficult to admint that Vermont has a colder climate. In all my life I have never expereience sub zero temperature like I have at Norwich. This may be due in part to the fact that the campus is located in a valley, which makes the weather a little loopy. However you get accustomed to the changes fairly quickly and the gear you are supplied with as a Rook will keep you warm... well expect for the glove liners. I suggest that if you are an incoming rook you purchase a pair of very nice BLACK glove liners. You'll thank me when your the one in your company who doesn't have frost bite.

What is the best thing about Norwich? Or living in Vermont?

    The best thing about Norwich is the rich history as well as the scenic view. Touching on the first one, the campus has so many stories and urban legends that you will be entertained for months. As a rook you don't get to go off campus unless your in the National Guard. The majority of your time will be spent doing homework, hiding from cadre and attempting to have a social life. The library is a great place to be. Not so much for studying since I can garentee that you will get distracted, but if you want to learn about the school go to the archieves. That place is seriously worth spending some time in. There are old posters from when the school was first build, yearbooks, magazines, even picture albums and memory books. The scenery on the other hand is splendid. When I look out my window every morning it takes my breath away. The beautiful tree lined mountains. Fog suspended in the air. And for this time of year the snow makes everything look like a winter wonderland.

How has Norwich made you a better person?

    This is a tough question but if I had to pick one way that I have changed I would say that I'm probably more bluntly honest than I used to be. The fact that in the honor code it states , ' A cadet shall not lie, cheat, or steal' has transformed into not trying to seem like someone I am not. When you have a SSGT yelling in your face about integrity you learn really quick to fess up to what you did. 

 How does Norwich compare to the other senior military colleges?

 Oh this is a good one! Little known fact is that I also applied to VMI, but when I went to visit I didn't get the same feeling that I did here. People always talk about that magic feeling of knowning when that you have made the right choice and I think I did by coming here. Norwich is unique in the aspect that it have a civilian population. It is also the first senior military college established in the United States. RAH! Although it may not be as strict as say the Citadel or West Point it has its own perks. Personally Norwich is the best out of the colleges.

What is your favorite thing about Norwich?

     My favorite thing about Norwich would have to be all the different opportunities that are avaliable to you. Study Abroad is highly stress and they work with you to make it happen regardless of if you have finacial troubles. There are mulititudes of clubs and sports as well as events that are always happening.

How do you feel about the civilians on campus?

    They are really a nonentity. The only time you interact with them is during class or at sporting events. Even then you probably won't have much to say. Persoanlly I have a lot of friends who are civi and I don't think any less of them for making that choice. It's basically all about preference. 

How challenging is The Corps of cadets mentally and physically?

    If you have a hard time memorizing stuff quickly or having someone screaming in your face 24/7 then  you might not be mentally cut out for the Corps life. Its actually not as tough as you would think. I expected an almost boot camp like regime and was handed a more toned down approach to shaping young minds. All you have to do is follow directions and you'll be fine. DO NOT QUIT! Physically it will be challenging because you want to better your self. The only was to do that is work to your max potential and then go a little more. Give until you have nothing left to give.

What is it really like as a Rook?

    If you want to know what being a rook is like read any of the blogs on the NU page. If you don't feel like that satisfies your question feel free to leave a comment below or e-mail me personally about it at jletour1@student.norwich.edu. 

    I hope that answered most of your questions and I will all of you guys a good Spring Break! Stay safe and don't forget to stay motivated! RAH!

Semper Fi!

Today we did a bunch exercise. We started off the day with a battalion PT session down in Shapiro field house. They had it broken down by platoons and we were dispersed between eight different stations. A few of my rook buddies had to do a Corps PT Test and Tours so it left us with about nine rooks in our squad. It was fun though. Afterwards we went on a foot march up Turkey Hill. According to 1st Sgt Keffer, its about 7 miles total. I can attest to that since it was mostly up hill and my ankles were killing me. I'm not very good with inclines. The trek back was better however. People we acting goofy and the road was slick. I must have fallen at least a dozen times. We got back and studied as a platoon for the rookie knowledge test, which we took before chow. It wasn't hard and i'm confident that I got at least at 80% on it. The best part of the day was when SSGT Belcher's rook brother HM3 Allen came and gave us a medical demonstration about how to correctly draw blood as well as insert an IV. Pretty sure we will never need to know how to do that but its always good to have a rounded education. Afterward we went to the hockey game. I didn't really pay attention though. It's not really my think. Instead I hung out with my rook brother Conway. This is the downfall of the day. We have to wake up at 0600 on a Sunday because of an incident with my rook brother. I'm kind of upset about this. This is going to effect my concentration for studying. And I begin to wonder if that's even allowed to change the amount of sleep we get. If it was just 30 minutes I wouldn't complain but an hour and a half of extra sleep is just ridiculous and uncalled for. Maybe i am just ranting but its still messed up.

Well it seems as if I have reached a verdict. The female species is know for making spur of the moment choices, changing there mind a million times and then going back to the original choice that they had made. I can't inform you quite yet as to what has happened but I will let you guess as well as to mention that it is life altering!
We watched the second episode of THE PACIFIC for STT by mandate of Cpl. Griffin. I was the only on in the platoon who had watched the series before. That seems a bit strange since its by the same people who made BAND OF BROTHERS. Anyway it was the episode in which John Basilone earns a medal of honor for his bravery and self sacrifice. The actor who plays Chesty was absolutely amazing. I don't remember the series being as life like as it was before. For those of you who haven't seen this series I highly encourage you to watch it.
Corps PT is getting a lot more practical. I think with the change of instructors its become more worth while. We used to do stuff that barely caused a sweat. Now were doing more OOHRAH moto stuff like buddy carries/ drags. Might have to do with the fact that Cpl. Lennon and CPL. Caputo are both Marine Corps option. Cpl Lennon being on PLC and Cpl. Caputo actually having completed basic this past summer. They are both really motivating and don't give you the option to quit. Equality is what they look for and they instill a sense of pride in those around them. We now do a formation when we get down there. I have actually been made 1st squad leader for the week. ( Its on a weekly basis) Thursdays are known as combat Thursdays because we were boots and Uts. as well as using flack jackets.

Well it appears as if its time for another drop into what Norwich has kept me up to. To be honest the days have been flying by and it seems as if nothing new has happened. My fellow rooks keep saying that the days drag on. I however get up in the morning, blink my eyes and its already passdown. Some fun things that are happening within the next two weeks include; Winter Carnival, the Snow Ball, another blood drive, the Brian Bill memorial challenge, St. Valentines day. Yes, a bunch of fun and exciting things are happening.

With the Junior ring ceremony drawing near, my platoon has to band together and make platoon shirts. A couple of my rook buddies and I designed it together, voted and then came up with a final concept. If anyone plans on making t-shirts in the future and doesn't want to spend a ton of money on your design I suggest that you use Rushtees.com instead of custom ink. The quailty is a lot better and the customer service has 24/7 support. They also give massive discounts! I can't give too much detail about the shirts but I can say that compaired to 1-1 and 6-3 ours are definatly better.

OOHRAH vs. HOOAH

     Welp, I may have hit a brick wall over here. I took a PFT test for USMC PLC Friday and let's just say I didn't do as well as I thought I would. I missed an opportunity because some crazy idea in my head said that working out with corps PT twice a week would be enough to get me in shape.... apparently this was ineffectual and not true at all. Cpt. Bennett suggested that working out 5 times a week would help me become more competitive. Now on top of everything else I am doing I have to fine time to go to the gym every day. Tuesdays and Thursday are pretty swamped since I have Golden Anchor in the afternoon, which only have 3-4 squids left! I'm hoping that no one else decides to quit. That would just be the worst. 

    So switching the subject over to a different branch for a bit. Lets talk about the Army. Most of my platoon is army option and most of them could probably max their PT test. What I have noticed is that they specify mainly on the upper body. Thats one of my weak points. There is this cool thing that the National Guard has that allows you to seek contract with another branch while joining them. So basically you get paid to get leadership experience while you're trying to prepare yourself physically for OCS. Personally I think that's a darn good deal. So naturally after one of my friends told me about this I went to go speak to SGT 1st Class Bell. Well it turns out that such a great opportunity has strings attached. If you don't end up contracting before the end of your sophomore year you have to switch over to the army department. This fact weighed heavily on my mind. In the end I decided that the risk was worth the reward and signed the papers. 

        This weekend I  attended my first drill. Two of my rook buddies, Castonguay and Laskowski are also in Guard so it's kind of cool to finally get some bonding going on. We learned a bunch of stuff about IED ( improvised explosive devices) and the tactics on how to detect and figure out what type they were. That was basically the whole weekend. To say the least it was fun and I would definitely enjoy doing it again. Just have to wait for my papers to get pushed through. The meps I went to down in Fort Lee, VA is being really slow transfering all my paper work over to VT.  I hope you all had a great weekend :) Stay warm!

SEMPER FI!

That's Norwich!

    We have been back a week now and the transition back into corps life was very abrupt. From the time I set back on campus the freewill was gone and I once again belonged to the cadre. Classes are going pretty good so far. I'm taking Chinese, English Lit, Cultural Anthropology, History of Civilizations, and of course Naval Science. Being a Norwich college student is a little more different than being a regular college student. Yeah we both have to take classes and pay for books and blah blah blah but a key difference is with such a small campus your professors know you. That means they can smile at your tear stricken face as you see the total of what your text books come out too. Well maybe thats an exageration. The proffesors are pretty helpful when it comes to situations like that. If you can't afford the book or mayhaps perchased the wrong one they'll find ways to extend the grace period for you. I have only gotten two of my books so far, one of them is rented and the total has come up to $120.00! FOR TWO BOOKS!!!!!!!!! How ridiculous is that? At least Naval science doesn't make you buy the books, just thinking about how much THOSE would cost gives me a headache. 

   All of Norwich is covered in a thick four foot layer of snow. The campus looks like a frozen wasteland. From my window I have a pretty good view of Dole Hill. It doesn't much look like a hill but instead a grand mountain with snow capped peaks!It reminds me of when we had our company snowball fight. That was such a grand day. I hope that they let us do it again this time without rules. I would rather play capture the flag where you could tackle someone to the ground and give them a good white wash than the little kid version on tag. Kind of defeats the purpose of CAPTURING an enemies flag. I love the snow. 

    Big events coming up soon. Such as on Tuesday I take another PFT for Captain Bennett, in regards to the PLC program. Not having a first class is the only thing thats keeping me from contracting. It's really frustrating. So what i'm doing is working on my upper body and my run time. As many of you probably know the Marine Corps is switching from the flexed-arm hang to pull-ups. Well I can probably do half a pull up. This is going to be tough but nothing in life is easy. Got to get that motovation up. Which so far the cadre staff have been pretty motovating! 

 SEMPER FI!

    Welcome to my first post of 2013! Like a majority of my fellow Norwichians' I rung in the New Year with my significant other. I drove down to North Carolina with my guy and got to do a bunch of cool stuff. I met his family, who were genuine and polite and not to mention the plethora of animals at his house! Dogs, chickens, turkeys even a guinea pig. Well for the celebration we ended up at his Uncle's house. There was tons of food and country music blaring. I mostly just sat on the couch and pigged out on the amazing ribs that had been prepared and watched snippets of the Disney movie 'Enchanted'.

    My boyfriend on the other hand decided to hang out with the men, outside on the patio. It wasn't long, before his younger brother came in and announced that M. was throwing up outside. Apparently he had inhaled the smoke. I went outside and brought him water and saltine crackers but that didn’t seem to be working. So we transported him inside to the kitchen sink. He threw up in there. One of his relatives tried to give him a pill for nausea but he threw that up to. Then he moved to the bathroom and threw up in there as well. At this point the ball was about to drop. So I rung in the New Year sitting on the stairs next to the bathroom door listening to my boyfriend throw up. Very romantic.

    For the rest of break I did various activities with my family, went to Quinn's funeral, and reflected upon my mistakes of the past year. I came to a realization that I had fallen from a place I had once so highly cherished. Academics, service, my faith, all of these had been put on the back burner, because when presented with the opportunity to re-invent myself I had shunned away who I really was and became an attention grabbing shadow. My high school self, had disappeared and the person she had been replaced with was someone I didn't like. This brings me to my resolution. I decided I need to stop with the attitude and let my inner self shine. Something’s are harder for me but that’s why I got such joy out of getting them down. This year, 2013, I will do the following:

    Restore my faith in God and let him take me where I am supposed to go

Focus on my school work

Pick up the slack in places that I was being lax in

Follow the morals and standards my father instilled in me instead of trying to act 'cool’

        Just a few more days until everyone is headed back to the Hill! I hope you all had a great Winter break and I can't wait to see what the New Year has in store. Hopfully it will bring as much joy and life lessons as last year.

 

SEMPER FI!

Viva la France

    Hello there all!  To put things into perspective a lot has changed.  I came home to my bedroom being transformed into a storage room, that didn't really both me. What did bother me was that I was expected to help my brothers and cousin join the military..... This is the part I didn't understand.  My younger brother wants to be a Marine but I can already atest to the fact that he has a few medical DQ's. The Navy or maybe even Army would be better suited to him. As for my cousin, he wants to join the Navy, but his ASVAB score was a 29. Since I have been studying with him however we have gotten it up to a 49! That a complete double. I'm very proud of him for that great improvement. Now were trying to increase his physical fitness.

    Les Misarables came to the cinema on Christmas day, and yes I did attend.  I went with my good friend Emmeline and William. We all dressed up for the occassion as well. I got quite a few commpliments on my attire. However sadly we did not get any good pictures together :( But here's one I took with my cellphone.

    I thought that the musical was remarkable. At the beginning I didn't like it but once it got to Sasha Baron Cohen and Helena Bohem Carter my attitude did a 180 and I was in love.  Over all it was a great cinimatic masterpiece. Emmeline ever cried openly in the theater! Very powerful and moving. I highly suggest that if you were a fan of the book that you go see it soon.

    Semper Fi

Life Thus Far

    Sorry for the late post, but i've just been in a whirlwind since break started a few days ago.  Well to start things off It was great to see my dog Shyla. She attacked me as soon as I opened the door and refused to leave my side, following me from one room to another. Sleeping in my own bed however was kind of a hassle. My parents have been renovating the house for what seems like forever and my room is now a storage room..... there were  boxes stacked upon boxes and a closets worth of blankets and sheets obscuring the futon on which I used to slumber. To be completely honest my bed on the Hill is so much more comfortable than the one here. Not to mention all my pillows mysteriously disappeared to I had to make a blanket pillow. I can get kind of OCD about how things are arranged and It ticks me off a little that I can't for the life of me find my diploma nor engagement ring.  Hopefully when my father finishes his home improvement project these items will turn up and be restored to there proper places.

    I also finished all my Christmas shopping. For obvious reasons I can't tell you what I got for everyone but I am 99% sure that they'll like them. My boyfriend drove down from North Carolina and we went to the Civil War Museum and Belle Isle down in Richmond city. He had been bugging me for a couple weeks about getting a straight razor, like the kind that is used in Sweeney Todd. So I bought him one with a white pearl handle. In exchange he got me this dog tag type necklace. Absolutely loved it! I haven't taken it off since. Usually when I wear civi's I wear a golden locket with the EGA on it. Inside is a picture of my Uncle who went MIA back in 2006.  I was a little hesitant to switch over to this one but as it says you just got to stay call and always be faithful. Going to somehow have to figure out how to make they work together.

    Speaking of the Marine Corps, I discovered that I was never discharged from the Delayed Entry Program so technically I have been a Poolee all this time. When I went down to RSS Richmond South the chain of command had changed and  SSGT Simons got a promotion to GYSGT. So I had to get that taken care of. It was all good fun. I got to hang out with my old recruiters and shoot the breeze about everything. They told me about all the new poolees and the adventures of being a recruiter. I have to run a PFT over break, the 27th of December to be exact for PLC application down at the Ashland OSO. Its funny to because the officer in charge of administering my PFT is someone that a know from previously applying to for the NROTC scholarship. It will be interesting to see what he thinks about my improvement in the 3 mile as well as flexed-arm hang.

    Besides all of that I've pretty much had a mellow break. Just relaxing, sleeping in drinking soda. Soda has never tasted so good to me before now. Eating massive amounts of sushi. Spending time with my friends. I got my grades back for the 1st semester and I am not altogether pleased with the results. 2.85 GPA. Just goes to show you what you need to add and subtract from the equation. I think with the new semester starting up in 2013 that I will have to widdle to one extracurricular activity, namely Golden Anchor Society and focus more on my academics. The thing is I get easily distracted and am a massive procrastinator. This is one of the things I want to work on for the new year. You know the saying, A new year, a new you.  Well I am going to take that to the extremely and try and be the best that I can possibly be. Through Christ all things are possible.

 

Semper Fi

Paine Mt.

So I thought that it would be cool to add some pictures up here. I went up on Paine Mountain this Sunday, which I usually do anyway. Its a good place to just clear your head, relax and not let the weight of the world burden you. The above picture is of me just chilling by the campfire my rook cousin and I made. I think that I sort of blend in. haha
My rook cousin trying to light the fire by blowing on it. It seemed to be working pretty good. Kept going out though. :'(
My rook cousin and I acting like goof balls. Trying to make light of the georgous day! Like seriously it was probably the most perfect day temperature wise that we've had in a long time! All blue skies and sunshine.
Our fire that lasted a total of about 5 minutes before extinguishing itself.


    I should probably be writing a paper right now, so I'll post again next sunday when I'll be in Virginia for the Christmas break. Need to finish up my Christmas shopping too. Oh and all the sweaters I am going to buy for myself when I get home.... thats pretty much all I wear in the winter. Sweaters with a tank underneither and jeans with snow boots.  Although I don't think that Virginia will have much snow. :P

 

SEMPER FI

Eulogy of a friend

  There a few things I want to talk about but I think I should start with the depressing stuff. Not to make you guys sad but to help me feel less helpless and alone.
    Yesterday morning I received a very upsetting and heart wrenching message from my friend Quinn's mother. Apperently she had been coming home from a party with her boyfriend and he had crashed the bike they were on. They got rushed to the hospital but it just wasn't meant to be. They both died.  This may sound blunt, but frankly I can not force myself to keep from imagine this happening. All I can picture is mangled bodies and blood everywhere. My BFF at a obtuse angle, eyes rolled back in her head. Bones sticking out and glass and scrap metal everywhere. I still can't believe that this is real. How could it be? I had talked to her the night before about the usual stuff, college, her boyfriend (who she was absolutely in love with) , all the fun stuff we would do over break. I would like to think that I can recall every word, but in truth I can't. I can't for the life of me remember exactly what her last words were to me. I just remember the general premise of our talk. That's the part that bugs me. You think that  when a travesty like this happens you'll have total recall. I wish it was. I wish that I would of told her not to go. In a sick way this is kind of my fault. If I would of been there maybe I could of changed something. Maybe she would still be here right now.  Quinn wanted to be a photographer. Q didn't like to take pictures of people though, she was more into nature and how it compared to the urban world. It hurts knowing that when I go home I can't go bug her at work, or call her and have hour long conversations about absolutely nothing. There will be no more picnics in the tress or river hopping to get just the right angle. All there will be is silence. A hallow piercing silence.