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A Memorable Summer

(The Cadet Experience, Class of 2014) Permanent link All Posts

Last year some upper-class cadets said that they lived for their assignments during the summer. I came to realize what they meant by that the summer after finishing 4/c (freshmen) year. The previous two summers were nothing but stressful. After graduating high school, I went to CGAS (Coast Guard Academy Scholars) and then on to Prep School in New Mexico. Then a summer later was Swab Summer; so last summer was one of my most memorable life experiences. For five weeks I was stationed in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The small boat station was mostly used for law enforcement along with search and rescue on the rivers, and sound surrounding Elizabeth City. The next assignment was on USCGC Eagle, which we boarded when it was docked in London, England. Originally we were only going to be in London for three days, but because of gyrocompass malfunctions our stay was extended for 10 days. In those 10 days, I was able to tour all different parts of London. Reykjavík, Iceland was the next stop and on the transit there we experienced what its like to be in a storm. From Iceland we went up to the Arctic Circle then turned around to reach Halifax, Nova Scotia. From Halifax we sailed back to Boston where our journey ended. The whole experience was amazing; I wish I could do it again.

Returning to the Academy from the summer was different, because my classmates and I were no longer 4/c. Being a 3/c meant that we had more responsibilities, but with that came more privileges. For example, we can go out Friday nights, we don’t have to wear our uniforms out in town, among other things. I played rugby for a month into the school year, but then stopped to focus on academics, which is the most important thing. At the moment I’m taking part of intercompany sports, which is a variety of games like football, softball, basketball, volleyball and soccer. A couple of weeks ago, I did all my required community service hours by helping at an ovarian cancer event. I thought I was only going there to receive my required hours, but I was moved by the event and I was able to meet some people from the area. As a Management major, the Introduction to Business class I am taking right now has me writing about two papers a week. But if I do most of it on the weekend, it opens up a lot of time during the week. Physics is a required course for every major and is the class that takes up most of my time. During the class period we work on labs to reinforce concepts, which I like to do. If you are interested in aviation, last weekend some buses took us out to a nearby airport where we got the chance to see and go aboard many Coast Guard aircrafts. On nights like this one when I have a decent amount of work, I have to sometimes do part of it during the day so that later at night you have time to maybe catch a sports game. Speaking of homework, I better turn to that.

More about Carlos.

Posted by Leann Strickland at 2/15/2012 11:23 AM