{"id":848,"date":"2020-09-28T15:02:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-28T19:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/magazine-2020\/?p=848"},"modified":"2024-08-13T15:06:28","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T19:06:28","slug":"carry-the-boulder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/magazine-2020\/2020\/09\/carry-the-boulder\/","title":{"rendered":"Carry the Boulder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
This summer, with the shock effects of the pandemic reverberating across every facet of daily life, rising Charlie Company Commander Cadet Christian Seidler realized that the coming academic year would test the endurance of the Class of 2024 more than usual, so he composed this letter to encourage and inspire them to accept the challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Summer 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dear\nKnobs,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other day I took a break from the quarantine monotony to go for a much-needed run through my California neighborhood. But this run was different from my typical runs. There was no music, no one accompanying me, no distractions\u2014it was just me and my thoughts. As the sun beat down, warm sweat beaded on my face, and on a steep trek up a hill, three simple words from my knob year came back to me: \u201cCarry the boulder.\u201d My fellow Fourth Battalion brothers and sisters with whom I had the privilege to matriculate will remember these words from a speech given to us by our battalion commander, Chase Shiflet. It was Challenge Week, and the day was a lot like this running day, with the addition, of course, of Charleston\u2019s infamous humidity. Mr. Shiflet, as we knew him, was comparing each year at ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ to climbing a mountain, noting that we each choose how much weight we will carry. Though their gravity was lost on me that day, his words have since guided me and transformed my life, and I would like to share his words and my story with you as you embark upon your journey on the Road Less Traveled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMost people in life carry a pebble. They put\nit in their pocket and walk up the mountain without much pain. When they reach\nthe peak, they are content and move on to the next mountain. Then there are\nthose few who carry the boulder. It\u2019s heavy. It\u2019s painful. You will fall flat\non your face and fail. It will push you to your limit and crush you. But when\nyou reach that peak, you will look back on all that you struggled through, all\nof the pain and hardship, and you will be filled with a full heart because\ndespite all of the pain and adversity, YOU OVERCAME IT. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are two types of pain in life, the\nphysical pain that you grow from and the pain of regret. After these four\nyears, not every senior\u2019s ring weighs the same. When fate hands you a mirror to\nreflect on your life, which pain will you feel? I choose the pain that makes me\ngrow. I choose to carry the boulder.<\/em> So I challenge all of you to do the same. Take\neach year, take each day, take each moment that you have the privilege to wear\nthis uniform and use it to carry the boulder up that mountain. CARRY THE BOULDER!\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n