A Letter to My Younger Self
Oh, HEY THERE, Ang!
You are about to have the wildest ride; I am so excited. R-Day is just around the corner, and I’m sure you are stressing about whether you trained hard enough or will make it through BEAST. I’m here to tell you, you will. You’ll struggle on the first ruck, rip your heels, and hobble behind the formation for the next two weeks. You’ll forget how to function as a normal person. You won’t be able to see through the tiny, issued glasses for the BRM, and you’ll barely speak a word to anyone until after BEAST, but you’ll make it through.
But the team and people that God carefully put beside you will help you through it. You will forever be indebted to Nicole for getting your first pair of Garmont boots. Other BEAST cadre will come to give you a sense of home, like that one “LT” that came to speak Chinese with you. You will look like a baby in the issued glasses, but you will do your part and be the great teammate you always have been. You will meet your literal soulmate, Madison Berg, and she will show you what true love is. For your two years, she’ll be able to read your mind in practice and pull you out of your rut. You will be adopted as the younger sister to Kevin and the child of Evan and Acacia. They will be your home away from home.
West Point will allow you to experience things you never thought possible. You’ll swim in the Pentagon. You’ll go to Taiwan, study Chinese, and swim with the University team. You’ll even come back to compete in Army vs. Navy (that was a whole thing, but we won’t get into that). Not only that but after a semester away from the team, you still became the team captain! You’ll meet the love of your life in math class in your last semester. (Classic, right?) And do not worry; those family friends back home will still have no idea what you did at West Point. (Yes, they still think it is all play pretend)
Something that may surprise you, you also grew closer with God. From the moment you struggled in BEAST, you prayed and kept him close. Acacia became your Christian sister, Erica was always there to teach the theology, and you will meet so many people that are good from the heart and good for the heart.
Everything I’ve told you so far probably is making you excited. But I want to warn you that it won’t be the easiest four years of your life. Getting Coach Brandt to agree to you going abroad was no easy task, but you were persistent and fought for what you wanted. You’ll have multiple rolled ankles, suffer from prickly heat (which is horrendous, just a heads up), and your body will be sore every day from the hundreds of early morning wake ups and morning lifts. Your class will start with eight girls and end with two; you will be the only one graduating as planned. Most of the girls that left though, are now closer to you than ever before. Not anything you didn’t overcome, but I want you to know it wasn’t a breeze to get through West Point.
As you progress through West Point (and as you speak with more recruits), you start to realize how lucky you are to have come here. Remember when you started your Common App but never finished it? Sometimes you’ll still wonder what if I went to a UC, but being at West Point sets you up for life, and that is not something other colleges can guarantee. You’ll talk to recruits about how your mom basically brainwashed you to come to West Point, and that you laugh at that because it is partially true.
However, the reason you stayed here is not because of her, but the people you meet and the experiences you get to do each day.
So, I’ll leave you with this. The following 47 months of your life will be the most eye-opening, emotionally draining, and fulfilling experience ever. You never regretted looking at academies because you knew you would make it through and trusted in that. You know what you can do, and West Point is just really good at making you show that.
-Angela Huang, West Point Class of 2023