The next day, I decided to play football with some of my classmates and one of our instructors. The game dragged on for a while, and I was one of the last to be playing. On what would be the last play of the game, I caught a pass, turned upfield, and was immediately smashed. At some point between the hit and hitting the deck, I felt a sharp pain and heard and felt my right collarbone move in a way it wasn't supposed to. I got up after a few seconds and wasn't in a massive amount of pain, but I knew that the bone was broken, despite the reassurances that it was only a dislocation (because of my apparent high tolerance for pain they thought I wasn't as badly injured as I actually was). So instead of spending an enjoyable night with friends, I spent the first part of the night in the emergency room having X-rays done and being bandaged up. I spent the majority of last weekend resting the bone as well.
Monday morning, I went to medical, who said that the doctor over at the Naval Hospital didn't need to see the break because it was a closed fracture (it wasn't coming through the skin). Since I was barely in any pain, he wrapped me back up in the Ace bandage and sent me back to class. That was where stuff really hit the fan. First, my immediate supervisor was very surprised that I wasn't in a sling, and was convinced that I had not understood the medical advice I had been given. He called over to medical, and once he was satisfied with the explanation from the staff there he proceeded to take care of some administrative stuff. The thing is this: we had been previously ordered not to play tackle football. Since we did, we were in violation of a lawful order, and in violation of military law. So myself and about thirty of my classmates have been placed on report, and tomorrow we have a nice little meeting with the upper chain of command to explain why we were playing tackle football. I don't think there will be a huge fallout over this (for those familiar with the Navy, we probably won't go to captain's mast). As far as my ability to transfer to prototype with my class, I haven't received any official word. I don't think it will be a problem, but there is still a chance I could be medically held here. That would really really really suck. Big time.
Since it was my right collarbone that got broken, and I'm left-handed, I can still write without pain, and as such was not immediately rolled out of school. So I still got to take the two finals this week, in radiological fundamentals and reactor principles. I scored 3.72 and 3.82 on them respectively. Not bad when you consider everything I've gone through. Just two tests left - the final exam in ETRO on Wednesday, and the comprehensive examination in eight days. I must admit that at points on Thursday night, I was ready to give up - but after pulling the 3.82, I'm still running fast and steady, for every point I can grab.
This weekend was actually kind of boring. I saw "Anchorman" at the free movie theater Friday night, and it was just as funny as the first time I saw it. Then I watched "Animal House" in the lounge on site. Yesterday I got all my homework done, and pretty much just chilled out. Today I went in and studied for Wednesday's test.
The beginning of November always lifts my spirits, as it augurs the return of Cornell hockey. The Big Red actually opened their season last weekend, with 7-1 wins over Army and Sacred Heart. This past Friday night was the annual big rivalry game against Harvard, and the Big Red won 2-0. Last night's 7-2 win over Brown runs Cornell's record to 4-0 ahead of a road trip to Michigan State next weekend. It will be so good to be north again soon so I can once again see the Big Red actually play with my own eyes.