cadet blogs

So, Why Here?

(Choosing the Coast Guard Academy, Class of 2014) Permanent link All Posts

The end of the semester is rapidly approaching. As I near the halfway point of fourth class year and see all the prospective cadets walking around, I am reminded of this time one year ago, when I was one of those prospective cadets. That got me thinking: What were my reasons for choosing the Coast Guard Academy?

Maybe it was for economic reasons. A free education would really ease financial strain on my parents and myself. Plus, upon graduation, I will have a guaranteed job, something that can be quite hard to come by these days. So yes, there are some economic benefits, but that wasn’t my main reason.

Maybe it was a desire for adventure. Enforcing federal laws, busting drug smugglers, interdicting migrants, rescuing mariners in distress, and protecting our coastline, what could be more adventurous than that? Even with all the excitement I will experience over my career, I still hadn’t found what it was that pushed me toward CGA.

It was a memory from the previous weekend that reminded me why I was here. I, along with 29 of my classmates, had taken a trip to Coast Guard Sector New York. Some CGA grads gave us a tour, told us a bunch of their stories, and we had a great time. At one point, we were walking down the street from Sector New York to Station New York. A car drove by and honked wildly at us, and one of the passengers stuck his head out the window and yelled, “Thank you for your service!”

That’s why I am here. To serve. To protect and defend the citizens of the United States. It’s something I’ve wanted since I was young. I love the water, so that narrowed my preference to either Navy or Coast Guard. In seventh grade, I joined the Naval Sea Cadet Corps. Then in high school, I enrolled in JROTC. I applied to both the Naval and Coast Guard Academy, but I chose Coast Guard.

And now I sit here, finishing my Calculus and writing this entry, confident that I made the right choice.

More about Nick.

Posted by Leann Strickland at 2/16/2012 10:14 AM