Personal Narrative: My Experience At The Summer Seminar

Over the summer, I spent a week at the United States Naval Academy participating in the Summer Seminar program. Created to replicate life as an actual plebe, the Summer Seminar gives an opportunity for rising seniors to experience the Academy for themselves as they hope to attend the school. Visiting the campus for the first time, I finally witnessed the historical implications of the campus for myself. While walking through the hallways of history, I gazed upon the diverse landscape of the rural Annapolis area. Situated at the confluence of the Chesapeake Bay and the Severn River, USNA lies on a flat area suited for training. Individuals use many different hills and walking trails. Both the military and the moral aspect of the school separates the Academy from other rigorous schools. This principle of moral and military respect derives from the mission of the Naval Academy. According to the Naval Academy mission , “To develop Midshipmen morally, mentally and physically and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, honor and loyalty in order to graduate leaders who are dedicated to a career of naval service and have potential for future development in mind and character to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government." USNA commissions future Naval

Within the constraints of the walls, history unfolds as framed photographs, line the hallways of several buildings such as Bancroft Hall, Hubbard Hall, and Mahan Hall. Each one provides a slight glimpse into the potential midshipman who should strive to carve their own name in Naval History. As a visitor, one truly experiences all their senses. They will hear the sounds of cadence calls, grunts, and yells by eager midshipman striving to complete PEP. As you walk past Bancroft Hall, the dormitory, you hear the clicking of the heels of the Midshipmen's shoes as they scurry to