Wow - last weekend was so cool. It's hard to really explain. I'm going to try anyway... cause that's what you all pay for. (LOL - there's no one paying anything...)
We went down to Charleston not really knowing what to expect from Recognition weekend. We also went not really knowing where Spencer's head was. He has had some rough re-entries from break back to school and this post-spring break return was no different. He left on Sunday and the next few days we received a series of texts and messages from him that left me pretty worried about him. He didn't seem happy and I, honestly, was a little unsure about our future at The Citadel.
So we get to campus and show Zane and Beckett around. If you've never been to The Citadel campus, you should try to drive through sometime. It's really not a big place, but it's pretty unique. It's steeped in history and tradition and just really unlike any other campus I've been on. So they were all excited and we visited the bookstore and bought new hoodies (always a favorite) and were waiting for the gauntlet to start.
Side note - I'd heard about the gauntlet and there was much discussion about it on Facebook. The guidance we were given is that if your child asks you not to attend, to honor their wishes and stay away. I knew it was a series of physical tests - think obstacle course, kinda - and I knew it was designed to be difficult to complete. There were a series of 10 stations that each company rotated through over the course of 2 hours. The stations were things like Buddy carries, medicine ball tosses, army crawls, etc. All of this would be followed by a 1.5 mile victory run around campus. And then some stuff - including many pushups - behind the walls of their barracks. I wasn't, honestly, worried about the physicality of the gauntlet. I figured that Spencer is physically fit to begin with - and was just coming out of wrestling season. Wrestling workouts are no joke... so I figured he would be better prepared than the vast majority of cadets.
At some point I got a text from Spencer asking me to bring him food. I practically ran to the market to buy him snacks and then met him and his friend Bradford (the one looking at the camera in the picture of the 4 dudes) in the athletic building where the wrestling room is - aka his home away from home. I could not have been more pleased with Spencer's attitude and demeanor. It was like he was a different person than the texts and messages from the last week. He was happy, slightly apprehensive about what was going to happen, but ready to tackle it. Seeing him smile made my day!
Then the gauntlet started. And it was intense. It was way more intense than I expected. Watching the kids struggle through the stations was hard. Watching them helping each other get through it was AMAZING. It makes me a little emotional just thinking about it. This comradery they have built is NOT something that happens at normal college in a normal dorm. It's awesome to see.
I was wrong about the gauntlet being easy for Spence. It was not. He got pulled out of the group on his third station by a couple of upper-class wrestlers and they FRIED him. They worked him until he was toast... and the rest of the stations were a struggle. I mean, if it's any indication, he was doing push-ups with his butt in the air like an 8 year old - and he could regularly drop and do like 100 without even breaking a sweat. I spent the time alternating between trying to find him in the mass - and not wanting to watch.
But they all made it through! By the time they returned to the parade field after the run they whole group was spent... and also ecstatic.
Spencer told us this week that he had underestimated how big the shift from knob to "normal" cadet would be. I think they all had learned to live with the stress of being a knob for so long that with all the additional restrictions and requirements lifted, it's been a way different experience. He has talked to me/called me more this week than he has since last summer. He sounds happy and settled - and is busy making plans for the future... at the Citadel.
It makes me so happy, so proud to see him thriving there. My mama heart knew that this school was a good fit for him. I knew he could manage the road less traveled. I knew he had the grit and determination he needed to handle the Citadel. Now he knows it too. And there's just no better feeling than watching your son figure that out.
The rest of the weekend was a lot of pomp and circumstance - and it's all cool! But that Friday when the class of 2025 cadets were recognized will be a day I will remember for a long, long time. I can't even begin to imagine how meaningful it is to the young men and women who lived it all.
Here are my favorite 2 pictures from the weekend. One is the family - minus Quinn. I love this picture because of how happy Spencer was in it. And I also love that Beckett is obviously enamored with everything his biggest brother does. He was SO proud of Spencer. And also the bulldog mascot - he was very proud of the dog too. The second picture is Spencer's best buddies. He spends a LOT of time with that group right there. They are all wrestlers. They are all freshmen. They all went through all the knob stuff, the wrestling stuff, all the stuff together. Those dudes very likely know my son better than he knows himself. I'm so very thankful for them!!! Also, that's just a really cool picture! It's going in a frame on his wall...
Things for me now shift to Quinn-focus. I leave with Q and 3 of his friends and their moms on a Spring Break trip to Sandestin on Saturday. I'm looking forward to chilling with him and his friends for a few days at the beach. These are the guys he's going to room with at Georgia Southern next year. Good group of guys!
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