Becoming a Cadet at the Virginia Military Institute by Andrew

Becoming a Cadet at the Virginia Military Institute by Andrew - December 2016 Scholarship Essay

I go to a small military school in Virginia called The Virginia Military Institute (VMI). Not many people have heard about this school except horrible stories about the military training and discipline that go on here. Most of these stories originate from the process incoming students endure, called the “ratline.” I can say from first-hand experience that the stories are more than true. People might ask, “Why go through such an impossible system when your main goal is just to graduate?” My answer is that when going to a school like VMI, there is more to strive for than just graduating. More specifically, when someone goes through the ratline they are going through a 7-month-long test of brotherhood and their ability to persevere through tough times. Completing the VMI ratline, called “breaking out,” is the school accomplishment I am most proud of.
The VMI ratline starts out with an initial 10-day training called “Hell Week.” Hell Week starts before the academic semester of college begins. Hell Week is non-stop, starting before dawn and ending late into the night, and consisting of drill, physical fitness, and military discipline. During Hell Week the rats meet their cadre and learn to live in the physically and mentally demanding environment that is VMI. Hell Week is designed to weed out the weak matriculates and the matriculates that realize they made a mistake coming to VMI. For the rats that survive, it is just the beginning.
The goal of the rats in the ratline is for the “rat mass” to work together and earn their breakout. This means that everyone must push themselves past their breaking point on a regular basis. It’s not only the amount of stress that VMI puts on the rats that is mentally and physically daunting, it is also the amount of time that a rat must keep giving it their all. Many people can do something extremely hard for a short amount of time; it is when it lasts months that it tests a person’s true character.
It is exceptionally difficult trying to balance the ratline and academics. Academically, the ratline can do two things: destroy a rat’s grades or help bring them up. In my case, the ratline helped me by keeping me motivated and focused to achieve my goals academically. During this time I made the Dean’s List in mechanical engineering and earned the privilege of wearing academic stars on my uniform. I feel that the ratline gave me the tools I needed to do the best I’ve ever done academically, and I am immensely grateful to the ratline for that.
The culminating event of the ratline is the rat mass’s breakout. Breakout is the day the rats earn the privilege of being a VMI cadet. The rats never know exactly when breakout is, but when it starts it lasts all day consisting of nothing but physical training in below freezing temperatures. For me, personally, it was the hardest day of my life. I’ve never been so exhausted.
After going through Hell Week and the ratline for months, it’s hard to describe the feeling when you know it’s over. Even more important is knowing that you gave it your all — the harder you work for something, the greater the reward. I know that I gave the ratline my 100%, and for that I am proud of completing the ratline. The ratline was also a humbling experience, and completing the ratline required sacrifice. The sense of sacrifice was different for everyone, but for me it was mainly just watching everyone else go through their freshman year normally. That sacrifice made the quality of life after the ratline that much sweeter. I became closer to the saying that you don’t know the good until you’ve experienced the bad.
The ratline is my most proud school accomplishment because there isn’t anywhere else I could have grown as much as I did during that time. I learned what hard work and brotherhood were, and I learned from personal experience that through great struggle I can achieve great reward.