I certify, on honor, that I was born at ________, in the County of ________, State of ________, on the ____ day of ________, 18__, and that I have been an actual resident of the Congressional District of ________ for __ years and __ months. (Signature of appointee) ____________ I hereby assent to the acceptance by my ________ of his conditional appointment as Cadet in the military service, and he has my full permission to sign articles binding himself to serve the United States eight years, unless sooner discharged. I also certify, on honor, that the above statements are true and correct in every particular. (Signature of parent or guardian) ____________ CHAPTER II. THE PREPARATION. After examining the papers received from the War Department, I found one that required my father’s signature before I myself could accept the appointment. My parents both objected to my leaving home, and therefore did not wish me to go to West Point. I argued that I wanted to go to college somewhere, and why not let me go where Uncle Sam paid the bills. At last I won my mother on my side, and then my father, seeing that my heart was so fixed, signed the paper requiring his signature, and mailed it to the Honorable Secretary of War, Washington, D. C. This done, I let the secret out, and all of my boy friends wanted to know how I had gotten the appointment. I told part, but I did not tell just how I did get it. After seeing the kind of examination[5] I would have to pass at West Point the next year, my father decided to send me to the High School at Ann Arbor, Mich., and to send my brother Charley there with me to prepare him for the University of Michigan. We entered the High School early in September. About two weeks afterward the University of Michigan (also at Ann Arbor) opened, and we observed that many of the candidates for the freshman class seemed no farther advanced than we thought ourselves, so we applied, were examined, and admitted to the University. I thought that if I failed at West Point I could return and graduate at the University in three instead of four years.