Members of the Summer Seminar group at the Air Force Academy were (back row, l-r) Daniel Guerra, John Lovvorn, Cadet Clinton Ricks, Tommy Hernandez, Timmy Seitz, (middle) Shelley Johnson, Joe Grosso, Danielle Wojtkiewicz, and (front) Savana Reynolds. Every summer three of America's service academies, the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., and the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Co., conduct the Summer Seminar Program. Summer Seminar is a week-long program that brings together some of the nation's top rising high school seniors to give them a taste of life at a service academy.

The application process for Summer Seminar is very competitive because of the limited number of spots. An average of 800 students are accepted at USMA and USAFA, split into two sessions of around 400, and an average of 1,800 students are accepted at USNA, split into three sessions of 600. Applications to Summer Seminar are automatically rolled-over to the respective academy, so applying to Summer Seminar is also applying to the academy. Being accepted into the Summer Seminar Program does not guarantee admission into an academy, but it is a bonus.

At Summer Seminar, students are exposed to many of the aspects of service academy life. Students live in the dorms, are split into small groups of eight to ten students, called "elements" at USAFA, each with a current cadet assigned to it to guide students and answer any questions they have during the week. During the day students take several classes that they sign-up for with their application designed to introduce students to the individual departments, teachers, and facilities. In the afternoon, students participate in intramural sports as an element to help build teamwork. The week ends with students being treated as freshmen for a day.

I attended Summer Seminar at the United States Air Force Academy June 10-15. Everyone arrived Sunday afternoon and was assigned a room, a roommate, and an element. My roommate was Joe Grosso from Michigan, and we were both members of element Bravo-7. We also received our class schedule, a sheet of paper with knowledge we had to memorize by Thursday, and the clothes, bags, and water bottle we had to wear and have with us at all times. We ate dinner for the first time in Mitchell Hall, everyone eating with their element. Afterwards we had a briefing on the seminar, giving us a brief overview and a general schedule for the week. We left the briefing and headed back to the dorms for element leader time, where we could ask our cadet questions we had about the seminar or the academy. When the meeting was over we had time to unpack and shower before we had to be in bed. Our cadet came by at eleven every night to make sure we were in our room.

Monday we were allowed to sleep in. We didn't wake-up until 6:30. We had breakfast at seven and then went to our morning classes. My class Monday morning was Aviation. They bussed us to the airfieldand showed us the gliders and the jump gear cadets use for training during the summers. We came back to the academy for lunch and then had our afternoon classes. In the afternoon I had a math class where we used math models to determine the distance fired by a mini-catapult in relationship to the launch angle. When class was over we formed up by elements and flights and marched to dinner. Afterwards we had another briefing and more element leader time. We were given an hour of free time before room checks to hang out and get to know each other.

Tuesday we had physical training at six o'clock in the morning in drizzling rain. We lined-up by elements and did a variety of exercises including several sets of push-ups, sit-ups, and no weight squats. Being out there shouting out counts with 372 other students and hearing it echo back off the mountains was an incredible feeling. After eating breakfast we again headed off to class. I had Civil Engineering all day Tuesday. We were shown the outdoor CE facilities where CE majors spend several weeks of their summers simulating deployment in a hostile environment. After lunch, the class was split into three teams. Each team was given four two-by-fours, twelve feet of rope, a piece of rebar, a variety of tools and challenged to build a catapult that could launch an empty fivegallon bucket. The teams were given an hour and a half to plan and build their catapults. When time was up, we had a competition to see which teams catapult could launch the bucket the farthest, best of fiveshots. After only one shot by each team, however, a thunderstorm cancelled the rest of the competition. The rest of the afternoon was the same as Monday.

Wednesday was just like Tuesday. We woke-up early and did PT (physical training). My class Wednesday was Behavioral Science. We were introduced to the members of the Psychology department and given brief introductions to several classes offered by the department, including Biopsychology, where we were allowed to hold human brains; Social Psychology, where we discussed the psychology of dating and gift giving; and Aviation Psychology, where we were shown the different psychological affects of flying and spatial disorientation. After our classes we marched in formation to lunch and dinner. After the evening briefing and element leader time, the rest of Wednesday night was spent getting ready for the next day. The rooms had to be cleaned and dusted, and all knowledge had to be memorized for the coming morning.

Thursday was the culmination of the entire week. Known as "Doolie for a Day," Thursday was the day when students got a true taste of the academy. The cadets woke us up at 5:15 and started yelling. My element was lined up at attention along the wall outside my room. Our element leader asked us for different pieces of the knowledge we were given on Sunday and we had to shout it back as an element. If anyone said it incorrectly we had to say it again. The idea of this training and everything else we did Thursday was to teach us teamwork. Everything we did we had to do as an element.

After about thirty minutes of the knowledge we were taken outside for a more advanced PT. We had to encourage and support each other throughout the exercises, even to the point of taking some of a struggling element mate's weight upon yourself to help get them through an exercise. We were given ten minutes to shower and change for breakfast. We had to run along the marble strips of the Terrazzo, the plaza linking all cadet buildings, to formation, greeting every officerand cadet we passed. We formed up and marched to breakfast and had to eat the first half of the meal at attention, staring at the falcon symbol on our plate and not saying a word outside of the seven basic responses: Yes Sir/Ma'am; No Sir/Ma'am; No excuse Sir/Ma'am; Sir/Ma'am may I ask a question; Sir/Ma'am may make a statement; Sir/Ma'am I do not understand; Sir/Ma'am I do not know. This was all we were allowed to say until after lunch. After a while we were allowed to eat at-ease so that we could get enough food in us for the day, but we still were not allowed to talk.

We left breakfast and went back to the dorms for a room inspection. Joe and I had to stand at parade rest while our element leader checked our closet, sink, beds, drawers, shelves, and window runners. Everything had percentage value assigned to it, with a passing score being 80 percent. Following the room inspection was a written knowledge test. We then marched down to the drill field for the element challenge. The element challenge was a physical test of the elements, starting with an obstacle course and ending with a mile run. The obstacle course consisted of ranger push-ups, a log carry, buddy carries, sprints, flutter kicks, and military crawl. Through strategy, teamwork, and encouragement, our element was 30 seconds ahead of the other Bravo elements at the end of the obstacle course. However, we ended up finishing second by two seconds after the mile run.

"Doolie for a Day" ended with all the students eating MREs, Meals Ready to Eat, under the bleachers at the drill field. After lunch we had a scavenger hunt around campus to further familiarize us with the facilities before being allowed to clean-up and change for dinner. We marched to dinner for the last time, and then had our last briefing.During the briefing we were shown a video made from pictures and footage from the week. We were then given two hours of free time to hang out with our friends and element mates before we had to say good-bye. Friday morning we all shipped out for home.

Summer Seminar was an incredible experience for me. It showed me how far I could be pushed mentally and physically, and how support from teammates can help you through anything. The bond formed with my element mates continues today, and several of us are still in touch. The people and atmosphere at the seminar further increased my desire to attend the United States Air Force Academy.