Barracks the new home that I’ve made for myself where I keep all that I need for making it through VMI but not all that I need to do can be accomplished in Barracks so everyday I must journey out of Barracks. My journey starts with me leaving my room and leaving with a strain and walking the Rat line at that thinking about it brings me back to the summer transition program when we could  leave our rooms without having to strain or walk the line. While walking the rat line I can only use one stairwell for part of the day instead of any stairwell like during the summer program which in all honesty helped speed up getting to where you needed to go. I walk down the stairs straining and I see the familiar sight of Brother Rats doing push ups or getting yelled on the lower levels which has become a daily occurrence a shift from the peaceful walk down of the summer program devoid of upperclassmen. The rest of the walk out of barracks usually pretty easy as long as you don’t do anything wrong and then we get to let out the strain once we’ve made it through the arch. My journey from my room to the outside of barracks serves as a reminder of the shift I experienced from the summer program casualness to VMI’s strictness.