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Category: Communication

Open Doors

One woman’s lived history in the second wave at the Naval Academy One of the strangest reflections for me now, as a mother and after decades of working with teens and college students, is remembering that, in those early years at the Naval Academy, plebe doors had to remain open at all times.All times.Even at night.Some of my women classmates remember being issued nightgowns. I only remember sleeping in a T-shirt and gym shorts, knowing…

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Induction Day, Continued

Twelve Hours That Changed Everything It is astounding how much change occurs in less than 12 hours. Induction Day had only just begun. Within an hour of reporting, we were already in formation, learning basic marching commands, dressed in the simplest version of a Naval Academy uniform: a USNA T-shirt and a Dixie cup. A complete uniform issue followed quickly, and with it the unmistakable sense that whatever we had been before was being set…

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Induction Day

I walked in knowing exactly where I was going.I just didn’t know what I was doing. Inside Halsey Field House, Induction Day began with an unsettling calm. Everything looked orderly, almost polite. The ferocious part was waiting its turn. Rows of folding tables stretched across the floor, aligned alphabetically by last name. I found A and stepped up to a table. The upperclassman behind it didn’t smile or look at me for long. “Plebe Andrews,”…

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Before the Doors Opened

Growing up in Annapolis, Maryland, with the outline of the Naval Academy just on the other side of the Severn River, I never gave much thought to attending the Naval Academy. That’s the simplest truth. I roamed freely through buildings and fields, along the water, across spaces that felt familiar and unremarkable. The idea of attending the Academy never entered my mind. There were no women there, because there had never been women there. Since…

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A Seed Grows

I am currently a student at the Renovaré Institute, a two-year online and in-person school dedicated to learning how to live in deeper intimacy with God. The program blends academic study with practical exercises aimed to shape us to become more like Christ. In August, our practice was to pray the “Jesus Prayer”,  an early Christian prayer dating back to the 6th century. The invocation of Jesus’ name began even earlier, and the “Jesus Prayer” has…

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When Good Ideas Catch You by Surprise

It seemed like a good idea three months ago—doesn’t it always? The kind of idea that feels manageable at first, then suddenly grows bigger and barrels toward you like D.C. rush-hour traffic. For me, that idea was planning a family vacation for eighteen people, complete with celebrating Gary’s 70th birthday and retirement. Balancing Structure and Flexibility When you’re responsible for organizing something this big, there’s a delicate balance: you need enough structure to guide people…

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