Second Class Parent Weekend 2010

Back in the middle of September Bob and I flew into Baltimore to join John in Annapolis for Second Class Parent Weekend at the USNA.  We got stuck in a rather long line at the stadium so we missed John's first class.  We made it to Theory of Computing.  Okay, it was technically over my head.  But I got the gist of using language and logic to figure out complex computing issues.  I really enjoyed watching the midshipmen deal with the bum chair.  As they sat down on the bum chair the mid would switch the crappy chair for a good one belonging to a late arriver.  This happened about 4 times before everyone in class showed up and the last guy in got stuck with the bad chair.  Perhaps I am easily entertained.  I enjoyed this professor's teaching style.  He named his variables after the students in the class, particularly those giving answers.  For example, if John were to answer a question, the teacher would put up the correct equation on the board using M as one of the variables, standing for Muir.  This seems like a good way to keep the students engaged in a rather dry discussion.

John in EE class.

John and his lab partner.

This is John's Electrical Engineering teacher.  I absolutely would have loved to have had him as an instructor.  At least four times during the lecture he stopped as if to underline the fact that the following material was to be on the exam.  He also told the mids how 90% of the test takers would go wrong on a particular problem.  This guy was so smart and so good, yet about 4 of the 16 students in the class were sleeping.  My, my, my!  How could you possibly sleep when the teacher is giving you the answers to the test?

After EE we went to lunch in King Hall.  We had steak sandwiches, grilled onions and mushrooms, a pasta shrimp Alfredo dish, salad and vegetables, and red velvet cupcakes.  John assures me that they do not have that great of food for lunch on a daily basis.  We enjoyed talking to the other mids in his company.

After lunch we got to go up to Bancroft Hall and see where John has lived for the past two and a half years.

John with his roommate Anthony and his family from Florida.  Anthony is such a good friend for John.  He is an Information Technology major.

I realized that John had very few pictures of his friends.  He is a guy.  Neither he, nor his friends think, "Hey, lets get some pictures of this."  I decided at least during 2nd Class Parent Weekend that I could take some pictures of John and his buddies.

This was one of the bulletin boards in 7th company.  I enjoyed the art work. 

After our visit to Bancroft it was time for John's Web Programming class.  This class was about double the size of the morning classes so we got to see technology geeks in greater numbers.  I bet there is an exponential equation that explains the ever increasing amount of nerdiness as the number of IT and Computer Science majors increases.  Fortunately they wear uniforms at USNA or I would have been able to take some really disturbing pictures of how people dress who are really way too into computers. 

This is John's Web Programming teacher.   I believe she is Czechoslovakian or Russian.

After classes Friday we watched a formal Parade.  Throwing candy, floats, or clowns would dramatically improve the appeal of the parade.

On Friday night we took John out to Chevy's for Mexican food. We had so many leftovers. But John was grateful. On Sunday night he skipped the traditional worst meal of the week and nuked the full to-go boxes for a wonderful treat. 

Saturday came and we had to get John back to the Academy so that he could make formation for the march over to the football game against Southern Georgia.

Almost all midshipmen are required to attend the football games.  Do you see John in the formation?  He is in the 7th company, tall, dark hair, wearing white.

After the game we joined 7th company for a tailgate party.  Good news!  Navy won the game. 

John and his roommate Ceaser.  Ceaser is from the New York area.  He is really smart and I like that.  He is a chemistry major and is shooting for pre-med.  I appreciate how kind he has been to my son.

We enjoyed talking to Ceaser's parents who were also in town for 2nd Class parent weekend.

How in the heck can you find two UofU fans at USNA?

On Saturday night we bought John a bike so that he could get around a bit more easily.  He has to park his car a couple of miles away from the Academy.  It was a birthday present for a wonderful son.

On Sunday we went to Stake conference.  We met some of the other 2nd class LDS mids.  One is from Arkansas, from the Fort Smith Stake.  It was nice to meet them.  They were so welcoming to John. We also met up with the head coach from USNA, Ken Niamatalolo.  He was just standing around waiting for family members after church so I went up to him and introduced myself.  Of course we had to tell him about how Joe follows Navy football and gets so emotionally involved in the games that he sometimes cries if Navy is losing.  He admitted to doing the same thing.  He invited us to bring Joe to anymore future games.  We took a few minutes to visit John's sponsor family.  They are remodeling their house and have done a lot in the last two years.

After church we didn't have too much time before we had to get on an airplane and head home.  We really enjoyed spending time with John.  We love him and appreciate him.