1.) Don’t think you’re special. This trips a lot of people up, starting on the first day.
If you got into the U.S. Naval Academy, like any top tier or elite school, you probably were in fact pretty special wherever you came from. On Induction Day, you’ll be getting your head shaved (guys) / hair cut (girls) alongside 1,200 other people who were special wherever they were from. In the land where everyone’s special, no one is special. Get in line with everyone else, keep your mouth shut, do your best at whatever gets tossed at you, and help your classmates in the early going. Your specialness will reemerge after a while, but it’s a shock for a lot of people not to be the smartest / fastest / strongest person in the room for the first time in their lives.
2.) During Plebe Summer, don’t test into a harder class without testing out of a class.
The Naval Academy doesn’t take transfer credit, and you have to stay on track to finish in eight semesters unless something like running a 4.2 40 was a major part of how you got accepted. Validation exams, or exams that allow you to skip a class and start at the next level that are administered over Plebe Summer, can be a huge help down the road when your requirements start stacking up in your major classes. If you can start ahead of the game compared to your peers by testing out of Calculus I, Physics I, Chemistry I, or even the required semester of Naval History if you did a lot of outside reading in high school, it can make your schedule much more manageable later on. However, don’t do what I did and test well enough on the Calculus validation exam to get placed in a special, advanced Calc I for engineering majors, but not well enough to skip straight to Calc II.
Sure there’s things to avoid, but there’s also 5 Things You Must Do at U.S. Naval Academy.
3.) Don’t spend the career starter loan on a car, or partying.
The career starter loan can be a great asset. You can use it on part of the down payment on a house at your first duty station instead of renting, you can invest it, or you can save it. The worst thing you can do with it is use it for what it’s colloquially named: the car loan. You have no idea what your living situation after graduation will be when you get the loan, and in most situations, you’ll move at least once or twice in your first couple years. Don’t blow your loan on a gently used sports car, then watch the paint slowly bleach itself when you have to park it outside next to the ocean for a couple years because you got stationed in Hawaii and only million dollar houses have garages there. Also, don’t spend it all on partying. A good friend of mine did this; you’ll be a legend for a while, but it will be a very short while. There’s nothing you need to buy in school that will make you feel better in the Fleet than a largish and growing number in your bank account. In that vein…
4.) Don’t blow all your money and time at Drydock and Steerage.
It adds up, and that half hour or more waiting in line feels like a study break, but it’s really just a huge time sump. Besides, there’s no better way to ensure you don’t eat more than necessary that eating only what they serve in King Hall when not on liberty.
5.) Don’t get fried unless you’re going for a Black N.
Small time conduct offenses put you on the radar of your Company Officer for nothing, and you obviously you don’t want to do something really wrong and get thrown out because, well, you’re doing something really wrong and they throw you out for that. However, if you’re going to break the rules at all, minor glory and acclaim among your peers can be found in pushing the envelope without breaking it. My Black N for jumping the wall is still one of my prized possessions two decades later. That said, my understanding is tolerance for well meaning shenanigans has decreased a bit since I was there, just like in the Navy as a whole, so take this one with a grain of salt.
Also, unless you’re a Rhodes Scholar or team captain, avoid any situation that could lead to the Commandant recognizing you by name when you’re not in uniform.
Ray Francis is a graduate of the Naval Academy and current active duty Naval Officer.