So far this semester, I have been really disappointed with my courses as a whole. I really haven't enjoyed being a student at Virginia Tech, and with the addition of some pretty horrible professors, and a few classes that I would rather do without, it has been pushing me towards really considering a way of getting away from Virginia Tech earlier than the end of this semester.

There really has never been a time in my life where I ever really wanted to go to college. My whole reasoning behind wanting to go to college was for training to be an officer in the US Army. That is the reason why I have wanted to go to West Point my entire life. I have never really been interested in going to college to earn a degree, but here I am, at a civilian school studying Engineering. Both of those, I am now realizing, were a mistake. My reasons for going to Virginia Tech to study engineering were very thin. Most people in engineering here wanted to come here because of VT's good engineering program and wanted to have that degree when they graduate and look for a job as an engineer. I'm in the Galileo program for engineers, and every one of them wants to do some sort of engineering job where they are designing or creating something new in a particular field of engineering. I am the only one who has no interest in ever having an engineering job. I am also the only one who had made the decision to leave Virginia Tech even before I came here. I knew that the engineering program at VT was very good and well known, and I was sure that it would help me secure a nomination to West Point. So, my reasons for coming here was so that I could leave here as soon as possible.

The first semester, I enjoyed a lot of the freedoms associated with being a college student. The friends I made certainly made most of my time enjoyable, which made me be able accept the fact that I would have to be a student at VT for this year. After the first semester was over, I wasn't sure that I would be able to take another semester because I really didn't enjoy the environment. It just wasn't what I was looking for in a school. My entire life, I looked forward to being at an all military school preparing to be an officer while taking classes to earn a degree. Now that this semester has started, I have realized that I couldn't stay at Virginia Tech, even if something were to happen where I couldn't attend West Point after the conclusion of this semester. The problem remains that no civilian schools offer what I am looking for in a school.

I guess I will just have to push my way through this second semester and see how everything turns out. If I am fully accepted to West Point, then everything will work out great. If not, then I am sure that I will not be staying here. If that is the case, then I think that I may go onto active duty in the US Army and reapply to West Point. My recruiter has an 18X spot open for active duty, which is a Special Forces direct enlistment option. Basically, I would go to a separate basic training and AIT before leaving for airborne and air assault schools and being able to try and pass the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course. Though, I am very confident that I will receive an appointment to West Point, this other route is a realistic possibility for me. If I am accepted to West Point, then I want to major in Engineering Management (which really isn't an engineering degree because it isn't at all technical, but it's more of a systems management degree) and earn a degree with a Military Art and Science Area of Study and minor in Arabic. This is like double majoring and minoring. But what I do know for sure is that I will not be coming back to Virginia Tech after this semester.

Introduction

My name is David Lynch, and I am a freshman at Virginia Tech. I am currently studying General Engineering and am part of the Galileo Engineering Community for male engineering students. I had initially wanted to major in Mechanical Engineering, but have lost my interest in a technical engineering degree. This is mostly due to what I want to do for my career and my academic interests. So far I have enjoyed my time at Virginia Tech, but it is not the school for me.

Next year I will be a cadet at the United States Military Academy, known as West Point. After not getting an appointment last year, I decided to reapply to the academy, and spend a year studying engineering at Virginia Tech. I have been working closely with my Regional Commander (admissions officer) to try and get my application through the admissions process for a second time as fast as possible to increase my chances of receiving an appointment. While at West Point, I will pursue a degree in Engineering Management and a minor in Arabic. I believe that those two degrees will help me out as an Army officer better than a technical engineering degree.

In the meantime, I have joined the Army National Guard and will be serving in the 29th Infantry Division. I have not attended basic or AIT, and have not begun training yet. I will be an 11B Infantryman. I feel a connection to the 29th Infantry Division, and even tough I will not be in the 29th for long, because I will be leaving for cadet basic training in June, I still wish to return to serving in the 29th after a career as a commissioned officer on active duty in the US Army. My grandfather served for 11 years in the 29th infantry Division and was discharged as a Master Sergeant.

After graduating from West Point, I hope to serve a full career as a commissioned officer in the US Army, preferably the Infantry and then in Special Forces. Because I can't go immediately to Special Warfare School to train to be in the US Army Special Forces (The Green Berets), I hope to serve in the 75th Ranger Regiment, which is a Special Operations infantry regiment and part of the US Special Operations Command. I will have to spend at least 4 years in the US Army before being able to try out for Special Warfare School, which is my ultimate goal while in the Army.

Some of my other interests are: competitive target shooting, mountain biking, and working out. I enjoy doing all sorts of shooting sports, including small and large bore shooting, pistol shooting, and shotgun shooting. Small bore shooting is shooting with a relatively weak round such as a .22 which is purely for target shooting within 25 yards, whereas large bore is shooting any high caliber rifle at long distance. My longest shot was made at around 800 yards. I also do various pistol shooting sports as well as skeet and trap, which are both different shotgun shooting sports where you hit a flying clay target. Overall, I like to stay active and always like to be doing something that involves some level of physical activity.

I am looking forward to this semester of english and writing blogs, especially because they dont' have to be as long as the blogs last semester.