The first time I saw House Mountain I was in high school and was visiting Lexington to see my brother, a cadet at the Institute. It was his first year at VMI and he had plenty of stories to share with our family. He told us of the hardships, the laughter, and the pride he shared with his brother rats. However, the one story that stuck with me was his run up House Mountain. I remember we asked which mountain was House Mountain then he simply looked off to the right and pointed to the biggest, steepest mountain in view. I marveled at its enormity and how it overlooked the town as if a giant guardian. Although I didn’t want to admit it, something deep in my being told me that this wasn’t the last time I see House Mountain and certainly not the closest.

Four years later, I found myself standing at the base of House Mountain surrounded by my brother rats. I gazed up at the formidable mountain, it glowed bright green in the sunlight that shown though the blanket of clouds that covered the sky. I glanced back at my brother rats; there was determination on their faces, they were eager to begin the long hard trek up the mountain. We set out that day to compete with the other companies to see who could climb House Mountain the fastest. Our company was known for winning most competitions, so there was no option for us other than victory. I refocused, finished stretching, and took my place with the fast group that would be leading the charge up the mountain. We formed a column at the base of the trail and waited for the signal to begin. Those few seconds were some of the longest in my life.

“Begin!” And we were off. We bounded for the trail, the dirt kicking up beneath our boots. We rounded a corner concealed by a thick bush and discovered what looked to be almost half the trail that led to the summit of the mountain. However, the revelation wasn’t reassuring; the trail only promised that we would have to work to achieve what we wanted. The trail had a gentle incline, but quickly punished us for any thoughts of an easy climb as it rapidly developed into the steep incline we had previously anticipated. With each stretch of the trail, our breath became labored and our legs screamed for relief, but still we pressed on. I found myself staring at the trail for fear of miss stepping and causing a delay that could be fatal to our time. The front of the column began to slow as we hit an outcrop of boulders. We quickly mounted the large chunks of rock, reduced to all fours using nearby branches and roots as hand and foot holds to speed the climb. The rock was rough and soon became wet with our sweat and blood, but with the obstacle came a barrage of encouragements to keep moving with speed and intensity. “Come on brother rats!” we shouted, “Good job guys we’ll be to the top in no time!” we roared. Our strength was renewed and once we cleared the boulders we realized we were nearly there.

I lifted my head and saw my brother rats in the front of the column moving at an astonishing rate, then looked behind and saw they too were filled with a determination that could not be dampened. I marveled at the spectacle I was watching. The column was pushing up the trail, a cloud of dust and dirt surrounded us and the sunlight from a part in the clouds filtered down through the treetops bathing us in rays of beauteous gold. It was as if God himself were shining a spotlight upon us, showing the world the challenge that we were facing. A sense of pride rushed through my body, I couldn’t have asked to be with a better set of men or be a part of a better Corps of Cadets.  My resolve was renewed not just for the hike, but for the rest of the challenges that came with being a rat at the Virginia Military Institute.

I once again refocused my attention to the task at hand. We could see the top now, but to get there we had to climb an almost vertical incline lined with more boulders. The column continued up the mountain, one by one each of us climbing from level to level up the rocks. Before we reached the end of the vertical climb, we had to climb up a boulder that posed an intimidating challenge. It was far larger than any boulder we had encountered thus far, it required one our taller men to climb it first so that way he could help the shorter of us up. When it was my turn to climb the boulder, I approached the wall of grey that stood before me and stood in awe of its sheer size. Then a hand appeared from its top and then a face, both gestured me to grab hold. I reached and took hold and before I knew it I was clear of the wall and on my way to the summit.

The rocks turned to thickets and bushes, the trail leveled off and we knew we had made it. The excitement welled up inside me as I glimpsed the horizon through the foliage. My brother rats let out a roar as they found the same excitement, “We did it!” Then it hit me. The landscape opened before my eyes, the rolling mountains and hills of Virginia like green waves of the sea. The sun greeted us once more through the clouds, telling us we had achieved our goal. I looked to my brother rats and said “I guess this was that ‘one more mountain’ that the CO was talking about last time we came up here.”