Looking forward to Monday at West Point when more than 1,000 new cadets will emerge from these doors on Reception Day. The U.S. Military Academy's Class of 2016 will have just received some of their initial clothing items and their new company assignments.
They'll march up these steps to the central area and spend a few hours learning facing movements and the basics of drill and ceremony; they'll master the salute before stepping up to the line of "the cadet in the red sash." When not being guided by the cadet cadree of upperclass cadets, they're reading from their cadet handbook, absorbing every piece of West Point knowledge they can process under duress.
By day's end, they'll be ready to march onto the Plain to take the Oath of Allegiance in front of thousands of family, friends and invited guests, and have endured the first day of their 47-month experience at the academy.
It's a tough day all around, and I asked some of the Cadet Basic Training regimental team what will be the hardest lesson learned that day for the new cadets. His response: "Everything."