Holy smokes, he’s back! Yes, after being cut off from the real world for two months, I am finally finished with boot camp and starting my sophomore year at MMA. I’ve been back at Mass Maritime for two days now, having arrived at school yesterday morning. Already I’ve noticed differences in daily life between being a fourth class and being a third class.
First off, the most obvious differences: We no longer have cleaning stations and study hours.
I know this post is really, really long overdue, but I got a Skribit request that I write it, so I thought it was about time I got around to doing it. I’ve mentioned Emory Rice day before, where I described the planned itinerary for the day and gave a brief description of what the day is.
First off, the marching competition. First Company was, naturally, the first company to march.
You probably thought I’d forgotten about the Photo of the Week this week, didn’t you? Not to worry, I had simply been outside enjoying the day and was waiting to post it when I thought other people would be back inside too. I know it’s a Friday evening in June, but there may be a few people reading it tonight, you never know.
Anyway, this week’s picture is actually one I took last fall after being at the Academy for only a few weeks.
Last night, the mess deck staff put on a Finals Breakfast from 2300 until 0100. I guess they figured that most people would be up that late studying, so they’d give us an opportunity to take a break and grab something to eat. It was pretty good: scrambled eggs, french toast sticks, bacon, sausage, tater tots, and the usual assortment of breakfast sandwiches and omelettes.
There was a very good turnout; just guessing, I’d say that over half the corps of cadets showed up.
“Wait a minute Christiaan, this school year’s not even over and you’re already talking about next Sea Term? What’s up with that?”
Since Sea Term is such a large undertaking, as soon as we return from one the planning begins for the next one. One of the biggest decisions that has to be made is what ports of call we will make. Fortunately, the cadets get to have some input on this decision.
This week is the last full week of classes for the semester, marking the beginning of the end. Starting on Wednesday next week, final exams will be given. We’ll be having closed-door study hours on the freshman decks to allow us to study without disturbances, and prepare for finals more effectively.
We’re also making preparations to go home for the summer. As part of the procedure for closing out the semester, we have to fully clean the company, as well as our rooms, to an Admiral’s-like level.
One of the activities they had at Emory Rice day was the jousting platform. My room mate (on the left) spent plenty of time on it, as he seemed to be the reigning champion. In this round, he was battling our platoon leader, which made it even more entertaining!
This week’s Photo of the Week comes from a training lab I had this week.
Survival suits are an integral part of a survival plan after a maritime disaster. In conditions where an unprotected person might have mere minutes to survive, they can provide many hours of survival time, and even keep somebody alive indefinitely. Because they are so effective, we have extensive training in the proper donning and operating procedures associated with survival suits.
Usually I try to avoid writing these posts because I generally regard them as filler, but I thought it might be appropriate this week. We have some unique events going on over the next couple of days that I felt would be worthy of some introduction prior to my post-event write-ups that will follow (man, it’s just hyphen city back there, isn’t it?).
Tomorrow is Emory Rice day, which is our annual field day at the end of the year.
This week’s photo of the week is of our return to Buzzards Bay after Sea Term 2008. Some of the officers and 1/C cadets from the Deck department went up by the crow’s nest on the Enterprise to watch our transit through the Cape Cod Canal.
I certainly hope that I get to do this my senior year!
