Senior Profile: William Geddes – Military Man

Next year, William Geddes will embark on the great college journey and become a Fish. A musically-inclined Fish that wakes up at 6:30 a.m. and turns out the lights at 9:30 p.m. and doesn’t skip stepping stairs and that walks on the third tile. A hardworking, disciplined Fish. Or, in laymen’s terms, a freshman in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets.

He’ll wake up in his “fish hole,” or dorm room, to blank white walls and a spotless desktop and an organized closet with three uniforms hanging in it. The sophomores, or Pissheads, will come into his room shortly after and make sure everything is up to inspection; jacket buttons polished, shoes shined and maroon and white bed sheets tucked so tight that a quarter can bounce off of it.

Next, he’ll line up in the quad wearing a uniform with “Air Force” and “Marching Band” patches on each shoulder. He’ll stand tall during roll call before running into the mess hall to eat with 2,000 other Corps members in 20 minutes.

The rest of his day will include a rigorous physical training activity, a marching band class, regular academic classes for his economics major, another formation, a 20-minute meal time and study hours. He’ll go to bed, wake up, repeat.

“They breed you for intelligence, leadership and discipline,” Geddes said.

Despite the intense schedule, there are things to look forward to like the camaraderie of the program, and, most importantly to Geddes, fall football.

Game days are a big deal at most D1 schools, but, like everything else in Texas they’re bigger. As a member of the marching band, Geddes will play his trumpet and march his pristinely shined shoes on Kyle Field in front of 80,000 Aggies.

He used to go to games with his family — the school and Corps are a family tradition his grandfather started 67 years ago — and watch the Corps of Cadets march.

Going to and marching at A&M was a dream that would require his joining of the Corps so he could get scholarship money. Geddes waited until the last possible minute until deciding he was up for the challenge. The same week, he started taking fitness classes at Revolution Gym to get ready for the grueling year ahead.

He chose to be a part of the air force outfit next year because it’s the most math and science heavy. He hopes to be a part of the A Battery company because it’s the most academically strong group, and the “guys are cool,” too.

He admits he feels a little behind since the majority of his soon-to-be classmates were involved in the ROTC program or attended military academy high schools.

“I don’t know if anything in high school really prepared me for this,” Geddes said.

But with the boot camp he’s attending and advice from his grandfather about being in the Corps, Geddes doesn’t expect to be a fish out of water next year.