cadet blogs

Wow... We really made it. The class of 2016 really made it through 4/c year. The seemingly endless year is over. So, you know some days you just get really nostalgic and reflective. Well, now that the school year has come and passed, I have been doing that a lot. This has been, guaranteed, the biggest year of my life in terms of change, and we are about to be thrown into the real world for the summer.

A year ago I was getting ready for, quite frankly, a summer I wasn't looking forward to. My world of sailing and going to school only when I wasn't traveling was nearing its end as I prepared to go to the CGA for Swab Summer. I knew what I was getting into and I knew it was going to be worth it in the long run, but I wasn't totally stoked about not going to "normal college."

Now, looking back, I see that I was honestly just worried about not getting the same experience as my friends. But that's not me, and I wouldn’t change this year for any of that. The friends I've made and my teammates are closer than I think you could get at any other college. We have all been through so much together, so many ridiculous things – squaring, yelling at inanimate objects, and cleaning on Friday nights. It's not always fun, and I thought I would hate it, but seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now puts everything in perspective.

It is the last day of class, and I feel like I still don’t even have a chance to come up for air. I’m dead exhausted, but I’m so excited for the summer that I know I can get through it. Spring semester was definitely a lot more chaotic and stressful than the fall for me, but it’s over. I made it. The summer is definitely an experience that I will not forget. My friends at other colleges will never get opportunities like my classmates and I get at the Academy. I have friends going to operational units in Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, Alaska, and everywhere in between. I will be staying around good old Chase for a while, participating in post-season sailing leading up to national semi-finals in Florida, and hopefully qualifying for finals, and Summer Ocean Racing. My classmates and I get to spend our entire summer on the water at some of the coolest places. Personally, I think that beats working to try and pay off student loans.

Sometimes, it is really easy to get buried because the work never stops, but the end is here and we made it! My first year of college is over, and it went by faster than I could have imagined.

As always, feel free to send me any questions at Christina.M.Frost@uscga.edu.

More about Christi.

Welp. As I look around at my half-packed up room inside Chase Hall, I can proudly say that I’ve made it through two years of academia at the Coast Guard Academy. In my time here, I’ve accomplished far more than I thought I could prior to arriving here. For instance, I’ve taken 75 credit hours of classes in only four semesters, which is an absurd amount that only service academies can give you the pleasure of taking in such a small amount of time. Although my GPA isn’t exactly where it was in high school (nowhere near it, actually…oops) the transition into collegiate-level academics has proved to be quite the experience, and finally with my foot in the door, I can see some good advancement in my GPA.

Athletically, I couldn’t be more proud of our lacrosse team. We finished a regular season best 10-1, beat Stonehill to get to the PCLL Tournament Final…and then lost to our rivals, Briarcliffe, 9-7. It was one of the most nerve-racking games I’ve ever been a part of. Despite the setback, we were still granted an at-large bid to Nationals, and the team will be heading down to South Carolina next week to play in the MCLA National Tournament!

Militarily, things only got better and better for me as I progressed here. Starting as a 4/c with demerits falling everywhere, I now have three semesters of no demerits, and will be getting my second silver star for military excellence for the past semester. On top of that, my roommate and I were selected as Masters-At-Arms for Echo Company, so we’ll be running our department-specific incoming 4/c as they progress from swab to cadet.

So overall, after two years here, things really have shaped up. Being halfway done with my time here at the Academy is a unnerving thought, as it feels like just a few days ago I was getting screamed at by 1/c Sykes to keep my eyes in the boat. Well, in just a few weeks, I’ll be yelling at some swab myself. 2/c summer is coming quick!

More about Sam.

Tomorrow is the last day of classes for me 3/c year, which is completely unbelievable. Although time has gone by so fast that I still feel like a swab sometimes and I am almost halfway to graduating!

The spring semester was probably the most challenging academically for me, although I’m proud with how classes have worked out. As of this moment, I have completed my first navigation brief, written my first 30-page paper, finished two additional group projects, taken two tests, and finished another 14-page paper, all due, by the way, within four days of each other. I think of my only final (Physics) as a reward for finishing this past week with my sanity intact. To recover I am planning on (eventually) sleeping for approximately two full days when I go home for break.

After a couple of months of our spring season, the women’s soccer team pulled away with two wins (shutouts) in our tournament last weekend! It was nice to see how our hard work in the offseason paid off during both of our games.

Looking ahead to leave, I am excited to focus all of my energy toward mentally and physically preparing for Swab Summer. I feel that it is important to be able to do absolutely every exercise and more with the swabs in order to be a respected leader, and also be able to intrinsically motivate them. My classmates and I have already started preparing specific things for certain situations as well as funny things we can pull off when the time is right.

More about Lindsay.

This past year at the Academy I have been a member of the lacrosse team. We compete in Division II of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association, meaning that the lacrosse team in the Academy is a club sport. Don’t let the word club fool you, we compete against bigger schools than many of the varsity sports and club sports at the Academy and are in many aspects just as competitive as the varsity sports.

This past Sunday we played against our biggest rivals, Briarcliffe College. We played them seven times in the past four years, losing all the games including last year’s conference championship game – by one in overtime. Needless to say that we had had the game circled on our calendar all season. The anticipation built in the week leading up to the game as practices became more and more intense. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, it was the day of the game.

After waking up at 9:00 and getting some breakfast, I went down to the locker room at 10:00 and dressed for a team photo at 10:30. We were all excited to finally play the game, and could hardly wait to get on the field. After a couple pregame speeches, we took the field for warm ups at noon. As we warmed up, more and more Academy cadets, alumni, and other fans came down to the field. By the time of face off, Cadet Memorial Field was packed. Each goal we scored brought louder and louder cheering, as the intensity in the stadium ramped up. It was great seeing the whole Academy come out to support the team, but the best part was winning, 17-7.

After the game the team hung around a while and celebrated the victory with friends and family. It was great to see the seniors finally beat a team that they had never beaten before, and get the Briarcliffe monkey off our backs before the playoffs. I can’t wait to continue on into the playoffs, and hopefully bring a championship back to CGA.

More about James.

Never in my right mind would I have ever imagined myself to be in the position that I am today. Twice a week, instead of rushing down to the gym after class, I find myself quietly making my way to the bowels of Chase Hall and onto the rifle range. For the following two hours I stand, kneel, and lie prone through round after round of practice. On the weekends, we whisk ourselves away in the Academy vans to compete against other teams. Other times, we stay here and host matches.

Rifle is one of the two NCAA Division I varsity sports offered here at the Academy (the other is sailing). However, despite this unique position, our sport usually goes unnoticed by most. Rifle does not require the kind of physical exertion that other sports are known for. There is no impact, little sweat, and a peculiar kind of athleticism associated with our sport. In light of this downplay, I am finally giving credit where it is due. Not only do we work as hard as any other sport, we have one of the longest seasons here.

Rifle has opened many doors for me. Initially, I was skeptical about the sport and joining was a shot in the dark for me (pun intended). I had no idea what to expect. However, the outcome has presented me with many more possibilities than I could have anticipated. For starters, rifle allowed me to participate in a varsity extracurricular activity despite my injury. As I have found out that I will not be able to row for the remainder of my time here, rifle has also given me the opportunity to learn a new skill and improve myself in a whole new way. I have many new friends on the team; people I would have probably never spoken to otherwise. Also, since the start of the 2012-2013 season, our team has come a long way. We even moved up from the sharpshooter to the expert small bore division. Every single person on the team has achieved personal records this year, and we fought our way into the Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship for air rifle. Although we didn’t win, everyone shot really well and we are really excited about what we will be capable of next year.

More about Alexis.