Boom! The sound of the cannon fire hits my ear, and I notice it is 6:30 in the morning. Someone is shouting in the hall way, “Notice, sirs! Notice, sirs! First call for reveille, sirs!”
This is how we wake up at Culver Military Academy every morning. What a great way to waste the cannon. We hop out of bed, clean our room, wash ourselves, sweep the common areas, and then start the new day.

Someone is shouting in the hallway again, “Notice, sirs! Notice, sirs! First call for BRC, sirs!” We carry our exhausted bodies and souls outside to the cold and freezing weather. We form up, line by line, side by side, and march in to the dining hall for mandatory breakfast. What a great way to waste our time.

After the breakfast, it is time to put on our poker-faces. School hour begins at 7:50 AM and last till 3:00 PM. At 7:50, we become normal students, not cadets. We study, exercise, socialize, work on homework, eat, sleep. To be successful in this place, balancing both the faces; military and academics, is key.

Culver cadets try to balance two different faces, yet there is one more interruption. “Notice, sirs! Notice, sirs! First call for retreat sirs!” All cadets form up by the flag-pole to hear the cannon fire at 6:15 PM. Gosh, I am saluting the flag of another country when I don’t even salute the flag from my own country? What a wonderful way to kill my Thursday.