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.

So here I am, another typical Saturday morning at the USCGA for a 4/c. Avoiding the long list of homework I have to tackle over the next 48 hours, I decided to clean up my room (I promise this is totally normal!). In cleaning my room, I found a box of letters I received over Swab Summer. It was so weird to read them all and realize how quickly time flies. I mean, in about a week I will be on my 3/c summer assignment. I felt like I would never become a 3/c and I would be squaring and yelling at clocks forever! My 4/c year is quickly coming to an end – THANK GOODNESS…I mean, oh darn – how sad! Just kidding, 4/c year can really be a bummer. But honestly, as long as you take everything with a grain of salt you should be fine. I decided to dedicate this blog to giving some of advice from what I learned from my past summer for all of those out there anxiously awaiting your own Swab Summer 2013. So, here it goes:

1. Do NOT take anything too seriously. Respect your cadre and learn from them, but don’t overanalyze the comments they may make. They’re there to point out everything wrong you’re doing, but that’s only to make you a better 4/c. Do not think you are a bad person for doing something wrong because at some point you WILL make a mistake. Learn from them, and grow from them. Most importantly, don’t let it get you down.
2. If you feel like you want to quit, just remember everything that made you want to come here in the first place. Keep in mind how proud everyone is of you back home, and never lose sight of the goals that you have.
3. Learn to be flexible. Sometimes things don’t go the way you planned and be ready for that. This one may not make much sense right now, but once you’re here, you’ll get it!
4. Please, only bring what is required on the packing list…really…take this one to heart. Don’t be lugging around unnecessary things on R-Day.
5. If you ever feel like you want to up and leave and just “be normal” or go to “normal college,” please re-think that. Give this place a shot and never quit. Yeah sure, other college kids get to sleep in and wear what they want to class (if they feel like going), but how many of them get to be on the fast track to leadership within the Coast Guard? How many spend their summer training to save lives and make a difference in the world? Swab Summer may feel very inconsequential to your overall officer career, and it might be in the whole scheme of things, but it’s where we (cadets) all have our start, so I think that’s pretty darn significant! Just keep in mind the impact you will have one day within the USCG while you’re doing your pushups because you looked down for 1/5 of a second. :)

As always, if you have any questions about cadet life or Swab Summer (because that was me just a short year ago!) feel free to ask at Allyson.J.Roesch@uscga.edu.

Good luck to all the future swabs and AIMsters this summer!

More about Allie.

A lot of people have been emailing me asking what cadets do on the weekends. Besides catching up on homework, sleeping, movies at the Waterford 9, and Walmart, most of the cadets are involved with the sponsor family program. For those who have never heard of the program, families in the surrounding New London area, including active duty officers and civilians, “adopt” cadets and become our home away from home. I know I speak for the majority of the corps when I say that for us cadets that now live far away from home, we more than appreciate these families for taking us in. My current sponsor family happens to be two instructors here at the Academy. They try to help out as much as possible. Whether it be a ride to the airport for leave, spending the night to escape the walls of the Academy, or even a simple breakfast after church on Sunday they are more than happy to accommodate my needs. Currently, I am the only cadet that is assigned to the “family.” Normally, families can consist of 4 to 5 cadets providing relationships out of Chase Hall, which fourth class are more than happy to have with some of the upperclassman. With finals quickly approaching, I cannot wait to go over to their house, change into civilian clothes and try to study for the exams.

And for my summer I will be on Eagle going to the Caribbean and then sailing the Coast Guard Cutter Chase Hall for summer school. ¼ of the way done…..1,118 days…

Got a question? Email me Nathan.D.Belanger@uscga.edu!

More about Nate.

It’s crazy to think that freshman year is almost over. It seems like just yesterday that I drove in the front gate with my parents and began this journey. I’m glad freshman year is over, though, it was definitely tough but I know this place well enough to know that it’s not going to get any easier.

There are a lot of exciting things coming my way in these next few months starting with tomorrow when we find out our new companies. Since Reporting-In day I have been with the same group of 28 freshmen and they have become some of my best friends, but I don’t know my other classmates too well. When we switch companies we will remain in those companies until we graduate the Academy. I’m pretty nervous to see where I end up but it’s also pretty exciting. Then, next week is finals week and within no time I’ll be on Eagle for five weeks with my 121 classmates, sailing the Caribbean. I can’t wait! The first two weeks we will be underway with no stops! I m hoping that I don’t get too seasick; when we get to our first port call in Aruba I’m pretty sure we will all be more than excited to see land again. Then we sail to Guantanamo Bay and finally St. Petersburg, Florida where the rest of my classmates will get on Eagle and I will head to the Academy for summer school. Since I am majoring in engineering and started in Introduction to Calculus I’ll be taking Calc II in summer school. I’ll be back at the Academy for six weeks with about 40 of my classmates and from what I have heard, we have a pretty good time. We are here when the class of 2017 reports in so we will be sure to get some good video footage of that. Finally to wrap up my summer I have three weeks of leave and during that time I’ll be attending the Oshkosh Air show in Wisconsin! Before coming to the Academy I attended the air show every summer, and with missing last year due to Swab Summer I’m ecstatic to join my family there this year. Then, back home to Texas for some good ol’ Texas heat before starting my second year back at the Academy.

I’m ready for a change of pace after my first year and there is a lot to look forward to in the upcoming weeks. I have learned a lot this year and if there was any advice I could give to incoming freshman, as cliché as it sounds, I would say rely on your friends to get through it. There are a lot of overwhelming times here, especially during 4/c year, and it’s impossible to get through on your own. I know that the people I have gone through this year with are the ones that are going to be in my life for years to come, well beyond our Academy years.

So have a great summer! And good luck class of 2017!

More about Jessica.

Hello!!

It’s the last day of April and I am so excited! I just finished my last test of the year and all I have left is finals coming up next week. It is really hard to imagine myself underway on Eagle in less than two weeks. I have been keeping up with my school work and I just finished the offshore sailing season last week. It has been pretty crazy at the Academy. We had a luau at dinner last week, the second class just had their ring dance on Saturday, and Castle dance (the firstie dance) was last weekend! We are all getting pretty excited about the summer, no matter where we are going. I just realized that I need to start to pack up my stuff and get ready to leave! We have had carry on for a few weeks now, and it is very nice. Last Thursday, one of my friends from my high school (the Science and Mathematics Academy at Aberdeen High school) came up as a prospective cadet. It was funny because I can’t believe that that was me a year ago. I think that I have come pretty far in the past year. I have been successful in school, I have tried some new sports, I marched in the Inaugural Parade, I was restricted for a week because I had an Instagram account, I got my wisdom teeth taken out, and I have made some incredible friends that I am excited to share my summer with. I don’t know that I have changed much at all, or a lot, but I definitely think that I have matured and I think that I appreciate the small things in life more than I used to. All in all, it’s been a great year, and I have to say that I am not dreading the next three years. Although they are going to be challenging and not always fun, I can’t see myself doing anything else.

My family is coming up right before I leave for Eagle which is nice because I will have been done with all my finals, and I can celebrate my birthday with them! (My birthday is this Sunday! I am turning 19!)

I am going to my friend’s house for the long we get the weekend before finals. I am excited to relax before I get into that last week.

The next time I blog, I will be a third class cadet!

Have a happy May :)

-Lucy

More about Lucy.