Chapter 10: Senior Year - Fall 1983 through Spring 1984

The first day of school was Tuesday, September sixth. This semester would be filled with AP English, AP Psychology, AP Calculus, and AP Biology. There were the other classes they had to take, like Regents Spanish, Art, R.E., and Physical Education. They shared all their AP and Regents courses, but the rest were separate. David was promoted to Cadet Commander, and had their program been big enough he would have been made Cadet Captain. The promotion was based on his hard work, grades, volunteer activities, and more. No one else did as much as he did. He pushed well beyond what any normal person should be able to do and still do well. Even his PT scores were top notch, as were his marksmanship and every other area of consideration in any JROTC program. He could easily have gotten entrance to Annapolis, West Point, or Air Force Academy. If it weren't for Meri, he would have; not that he ever told her that, though she probably suspected as much.

David and his fellow Cadets entered into a number of events across the state against other JROTC programs, just as they had in years past. As a group they did well overall, but did not take top honors, though it was close. As an individual, David out performed everyone. He actually had to hold back, so as not to bring too much notice to himself. It's one thing to win by a hair, another to win by large margins in sports and physical fitness events. His shot groups were exceptional, even the sniper on site said so. His knowledge of military history spanned all four major branches and the US Coast Guard, too. He could unerringly name the rank of any of the services without fail. His performance during D&C was nothing short of amazing. He never got a movement wrong when commands were issued. Even his uniform was a step above the rest, thanks to some advice from Walter on how to make the creases hold better, and other little things that made the difference when wearing the uniform. It didn't go unnoticed just how charismatic he could be, when he wanted to be, or the command presence the young man exuded, along with confidence that was bordering the unnatural.

Meri and David took part in Varsity Cross Country and Basketball, again. He took the Ministry/Leadership one final time in the spring, and they both aced every course and all their Regents tests, while taking the time to tutor other students and continue their visits to the Masonic Home. The level of their papers were even better than their prior two years. Those whom they tutored also turned in papers on par with the two wiz-kids, but not quite up to the same standard, but far better than most of their peers.

As a side project, they discussed writing a comprehensive history based on the stories they'd heard from the people they'd gotten to know from the Masonic Home. With two plus years of visits to many different people there, some no longer with us, they had the makings of a multi-volume set of books. First, they would contact those who were still alive to get permission. In the case of those who had passed away, they would attempt to get permission from family. It turned out that getting the permission was easy. The people they knew liked the idea of their stories getting out. If they had thought about it, they might have recorded those stories, or parts of them. At the time, however, they hadn't thought of it, thought they were well aware of the NPR program that would come into being in the future that did just that. The books took them two years, during college, to write. Getting them published was a little more difficult, but eventually they did find someone interested. They donated 50% of all proceeds to the Masonic Home.

On a side note, David eventually improved his own voice. He never had liked it, so he (with Meri's help) changed it to be slightly lower with the ability to project when desired. They also gave him a much better singing ability. This allowed him to be less self-conscious when singing with Meri. Between their voices and Meri's guitar playing, they made quite the duet. It may not be something they would ever pursue, but they had always enjoyed singing together or to one another.