This Weekend

My weekly blog will have to be done in segments this week. I have my engineering group project presentation this evening, which will be interesting to see how it goes with the unreliable student, and a lot going on Friday after class through Saturday. The last time I wrote on the subject of the ACT testing for West Point, the transportation details made it impossible for me to retake the ACT in Roanoke this weekend. (The bus that runs from Blacksburg to Roanoke would get me to the bus station several miles from the high school where the test is being administered after the test is to begin.) I had communicated with my West Point regional representative and told him that the ACT people would not allow me to take the test at Virginia Tech because it is less than 50 miles away from the nearest testing location (it’s more than 50 miles if they look at the public transportation route I would have to rely on.) What surprised me is my regional representative suggested that I get a hotel the night before! Because the nearest hotel is 12 miles away from the high school and no hotels have a bus route to the high school, my parents will be coming down tomorrow afternoon and we will be staying in a hotel in Salem Friday night so they can drive me to the ACT test in Roanoke.
I think my regional representative is testing me or something, or not thinking. I did very well on my ACT test last year and have two friends from my high school who do not have the leadership or academic qualifications that I do, both who were shocked that I came close but did not get into West Point yet they got into an Academy. My regional representative is new and has told me to get “all As” in college this year and to retake the ACT, neither of which my old regional representative said to me. (He told me that I came so close, was in the top 12 of the South East US but they did not have enough slots, and to reapply this year, and continue to do well in school.) I am trying my best to get all As, but for engineering curriculum, that is very difficult and unreasonable, and the ACT test is just taking away time from sleep and studies this weekend. (I already have to travel to northern Virginia on November 6th to interview the next morning in an attempt to get a Congressional nomination, because since I am not in a military family, without a nomination, West Point won’t even be an option for me.) I know it sounds like I am complaining, but I do not mean to be. I know that reapplying to West Point is my decision and would be time consuming again without any guarantees, but something like the ACT test while I am already in college and proving myself as capable is silly at this point. (I was already over 90th percentile on it.) I am so tired from this week; I might even do worse on it. And taking standardized tests are long and draining, after which I will need to catch up on my normal work. Good news is my parents say they will take me out to Ryan’s in Christiansburg before heading to Salem/Roanoke on Friday. I ate there last month and the food is pretty good, especially the steak. A big meal and early night to bed will be nice.

This has been a pretty good weekend. I met my parents after class on Friday afternoon and went with them to dinner in Christiansburg and then to Salem to the hotel. We watched a movie and went to bed around 10pm. My cold is still pretty bad and coughing kept me up for a little while, but I slept ok after that and got up at 5:30am to eat and drive to the ACT test at Cave Spring High School. The lady checking me in did a double take when she saw my Virginia Tech student ID. She hesitated for a moment but continued the process. The test itself went well, except for having to blow my nose, which I tried not to do too often so I wouldn’t disturb other people. I got done around 1pm and went to Golden Corral near the Roanoke airport before heading back to campus. Since the weather was nicer on Saturday, my parents and I walked around campus before they left for home around 5:00pm.
I tried to get some homework done after that, but I was pretty tired and the dorms were rowdy. I worked on some math problems off and on until late, and then I lost my voice. I really don’t feel as badly as I did earlier in the week, but this cold affecting my voice had bad timing. Because I was supposed to have a 1:00pm phone interview today with my new Military Academy Liaison Officer (MALO), Mr. O’Brien, I had to send him an email to post pone it until my voice was better. He has had the flu this past week and said it was ok to call him later in the week when we both were feeling better. I am very disappointed to have to reschedule the interview because I would like to get everything taken care of as soon as possible. The biggest part will be the nomination interview with Congressman Connolly’s team on November 7 and interviewing with my MALO will be good practice. My group presentation last Thursday went well. A few friends said the two of us did a good job, so the instructor should realize who really worked on the presentation.