ARCANUM – Arcanum 2023 graduate Aiden Psczulkoski is home for the summer after completing his first year at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and playing his first organized baseball game in a year, starting for the American Legion Post 140 baseball team.
“My first year went very well,” Psczulkoski said. “Grades were good, got a lot of different challenges that VMI throws at you with being a freshman or a rat as they call it and going through the different things you have to do to become a class and unite with your brother rats, your peers. It was an incredible experience, one I wouldn’t trade for anything.”
Psczulkoski initially majored in Physics, but after completing the first semester, he realized his schedule was fairly easy, allowing for a lot of free time and low credits, resulting in a course correction.
“I ended up double majoring and declaring a double major in Applied Math,” he noted. “Pilot is also very intriguing.”
Like all branches of service, military academy freshmen are subject to very rugged and heavy structure at the beginning before loosening up as time passes. Aiden played baseball and basketball for the Trojans, giving him structure that paid big dividends during his first year at VMI.
Upon graduation from VMI, Psczulkoski will be commissioned as a United States Air Force officer.
“In a way, it was very similar,” Psczulkoski said. “You get sent a schedule with different meeting times and show up on time, and you’re good. The main problem is, especially during rat year, your freshman year, finding time to fit in all of your school work with all of your rat activities they have, whether that is physical training or different training on how to become a cadet at VMI. After ‘breakout’ it got a lot easier, but there are also many things you can involve yourself in if it gets a little boring.”
Psczulkoski weighs in the same as he did during his playing days at Arcanum and is in tip-top physical condition. The Air Force fitness test requires maximum pushups at 67 a minute, and it’s no surprise that Aiden can accomplish that in well under a minute.
And for the game, Psczulkoski had an impressive night at the plate with two hits and a walk and was hit by a pitch while working 11 solid innings behind the plate in the extra-inning game with Muncie.
