Menlo senior RJ Babiera spent part of his summer participating in a military academy. Photo courtesy West Point Military Academy

Amanda Crisci | Co-Spread Editor
 

Today we are going to look at senior RJ Babiera’s summer experience attending the United States Military Academy at West Point’s summer seminar for high school students. Babiera attended the camp as a cadet candidate, and lived on campus for the weeklong seminar. To get this opportunity, Babiera had to apply for this program, needing to complete a candidate questionnaire and send in PSAT and SAT scores. Babiera describes the application process as being very competitive because of the low acceptance rate into the program. Out of the 6,000 students who apply, only about 1,000 students are accepted to attend. “[The main goal] in this program was just to get exposed to West Point and all that West Point has to offer you while you attend the college and after college during active duty,” Babiera said.

Coat of Arms: What is one unique experience you had at West Point?

RJ Babiera: There were definitely a lot of unique experiences there but one that can easily stand out is the mock R-Day. R-day stand for Reception Day, and real cadets who are entering the academy as freshmen will experience the full version of this. During R-Day, the sergeants, or Juniors at the academy, would shout at you to get in line or hurry up to tag your bags or quickly get your clothing needed for the week into a small bag. It was probably a stressful moment for kids who have never been shouted at, but I maintained composure. It was a really hectic couple of hours, but it was fun to experience something a lot of students may never experience.

COA: How long have you been interested in joining the military?

RJB: I’ve been interested in joining the military since junior year when my dad told me about the academies, and we attended a few meet ups that the academies had around the Bay Area. I [came] to like the academies for what they did and how determined the cadets are.

COA: How did you hear about this program/what made you want to join?

RJB: When we were at the meet ups, they talk about these summer seminars, and I started to become intrigued. And my dad told me it wouldn’t hurt to apply, so we did. I wanted to join just to visit West Point and again, get exposure to what a cadet may encounter at the academies.

COA: What is the biggest skill you learned/improved during your time there?

RJB: Two skills I definitely improved were leadership and communication qualities. We had a full day that was dedicated to all military and we went out to a section of West Point that included obstacle courses and a lot of other cool things. In one of our events, we had to work as a team to get from one side of an obstacle to the other. These obstacles required the whole team, and I was able to lead us in working our way through the obstacle.

Check back in on the Coat of Arms website tomorrow for another Summer Profile!