cadet blogs

Chugging Along

(Academics, The Cadet Experience, Class of 2015) Permanent link All Posts

For cadets, winter leave is the epitome of awesome. Aside from our three-week break in the summer, this is the only time you can go home without a single thing to worry about. During winter leave, there are no upcoming finals to worry about, nor any impending homework assigned by unsympathetic instructors. It is the best time to just relax and practically do anything you want. After spending an entire semester upholding our fourth class duties, I embraced my break whole-heartedly. My favorite part of going home was seeing my parents’ faces light up at the airport. Our dogs were a riot too, and even my cat took the time to acknowledge my existence upon my arrival. However, the grandeur of winter leave had to come to an end sometime. Although it was rough leaving home again, coming back to my Coast Guard family was exhilarating.

Our first few weeks of school have not been easy. Just like last semester, I’ve struggled to get my priorities in line. Once again, though, it’s just all about balancing your responsibilities. For me, this includes finding stability between academics, spring crew, and 4/c boards. In case you didn’t know, 4/c boards are an indoctrination exam that we have to pass in order to earn carry-on at the end of the semester. We are asked an array of questions; basically anything that pertains to the Coast Guard (information found in our running light). I will admit that it has been fairly stressful, but I’m keeping my chin up and chugging along. After all, the “dark ages” are just around the corner; better to be semper paratus than SOL.

More about Alexis.

Posted by Leann Strickland at 2/27/2012 2:28 PM