cadet blogs

The Final Straightaway

(Academics, Overcoming Challenges, Class of 2015) Permanent link All Posts

As the semester is coming to an end it seems harder and harder to stay focused. Times like these can get really stressful because all the work is piling up. I’m trying to take each day as a cross country race. At this point, it’s the part of the race where you’re tired and you just want to finish and relax. It’s the point when you have to be the most mentally strong, the point where you see the final straightaway, the finish, but you’re not quite there. This part of the race is the hardest because you can’t lose focus of the present with the plans for the future. It’s that final push you have to give yourself to reach the finish successfully. I can feel myself getting complacent, but I realize that like a cross country race if you focus on each step and each breath, the finish will come before you know it. Academically, I have to focus on each class and each exam, and each military obligation and before I know it, it’ll be Thanksgiving Leave and then Winter Leave. It’s definitely crunch time at the Coast Guard Academy. Time to push through the final straightaway so you can cross the finish line, look back, and feel satisfied about what you have just accomplished.

More about Ellie.

Posted by Leann Strickland at 2/16/2012 1:13 PM