This week marks the beginning of the end for fall semester.  Today is the first day of final exams, bringing mixed emotions to campus.  Certainly everyone’s excited that in a mere 5 days we’ll be leaving to go home for the holidays with school totally out of mind (for those of us not going on Sea Term that’s even easier).  Morning formation is the shortened formation every morning this week to allow for more studying time.  However, obviously there is some anxiousness as cadets are taking tests that can decide singlehandedly what grade they get in a class, or in some cases whether they pass or fail.

For those of us going on Sea Term, we’re also starting to give serious thought to this journey.  I’m sure the freshmen are especially preoccupied by this, as I was last year.

Good luck to everyone on finals, and especially to those cadets whose finals will be deciding their ability to go on Sea Term!

I received a suggestion this week that I talk about how my classes are going so far this year.  To be honest, classes are much tougher than they were last year.  Now that I’m starting to get into the core material for my major, the learning curve is a little steeper.

Rules of the Road is probably my most difficult class, as is the case for many other sophomore Deckies.  This is the class where we learn the regulations for ship movement and traffic, as well as how to identify other vessels.  It is a lot of memorization, and there are many exceptions and differences depending on geographic location to learn.  As if the class itself didn’t provide enough of a challenge, passing it is a requirement for being able to go on 3rd class Sea Term.  As such, it’s a major part of 3rd class deckie study time each week.

Calculus is giving me some difficulty as well.  I have always struggled with math, and calculus is no exception.  I’m pushing through it, but it is definitely a challenge.  A number of my classmates are struggling with it as well.

Fortunately, the semester is close to being over.  We only have another 4 and a half weeks of class time left, including exams.  Once the semester ends, all focus shifts to Sea Term 2009, which I’m very much looking forward to!

I received a suggestion last week (I know, I really need to post more often/faster) that I explain what chart work is.  It took me a little bit to understand that this suggestion is valuable in a couple of ways.  First off, I’m guessing that whoever suggested it is not the only reader of mine that doesn’t know what that term refers to, so it would behoove me to explain it.  Second, it reminded me that I’m not writing this blog for an audience of maritime cadets, or licensed mariners, but for people who are either connected to Mass Maritime, or the maritime industry, without necessarily knowing any specifics about it.  So, thank you to whoever posted that suggestion.

Anyway, what is chart work?  Well, if you ask any freshman or sophomore deck cadet here at MMA, they’ll probably tell you it’s a frustrating pain in the @$!#.  Chart work is short-hand for the homework assignments we receive in Coastal Navigation that involve plotting courses and other navigational evolutions on a chart.  A chart, for those who may not know, is sort of like a map, but for the water.  It shows the depth of a body of water at various points in the water, the shipping channels for that area, buoys, lights, and landmarks along the shore.

A typical chart work assignment can take anywhere from 1-3 hours (if you work steadily).  It can end up taking much longer if you work in groups, as is often the case, because invariably conversation moves very far away from chart work, and stays there for a while.  So, an assignment that is time-consuming on its own can become even more time-consuming, though it’s completely the fault of the people doing the chart work (I’ll be the first to admit that I have that problem).

Once you get the hang of whatever concept the assignment is teaching, chart work can be fun.  I’d equate it to that feeling that some people – other than me – who enjoy math, get from solving a challenging problem.  It’s time-consuming, but it’s satisfying once you understand it and finish it.

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 no longer have to check the cleaning bill to see if I have to be up at 0545 to sweep the decks or scrub toilets, and do it again that night.  I don’t have to keep my door open for two hours each night pretending to get work done while people file in and out of my room, keeping me from being able to focus.  As third class cadets, we pretty much keep to ourselves, and are left alone most of the time, which I like.

We also have fewer inspections, and the ones we do have are at more convenient times.  We only have three inspections a week (instead of six as freshmen), and they’re all on weekday mornings (instead of having one on Sunday night).  As a result, I get to sleep in a little later on mornings that I don’t have inspection.

Unfortunately, my academic work load has increased somewhat.  Mainly, I’ve noticed that I have a lot more reading to do than I did last year.  While I don’t particularly mind reading itself, I have a nasty habit of falling asleep when I am reading from a book for more than about 15 pages, so I’ll have to find a way to overcome that.

I’ve been enjoying watching this year’s fourth class cadets around campus, watching them do the things that we had to do – running any time they’re outside, squaring corners when they’re in the dorms, etc.  I’ve also been greeted as “sir” by at least a dozen fourth class in the past two days, even though I’m only a third class, so I’ve had to remind them that “blue-taggers” (my class has blue name tags) are not sir or ma’am, we’re not much different from them in fact.  I actually find it pretty funny.

This year we get liberty on Wednesdays, starting after our last class of the day until we have to sign in between 2300 and 0000.  While I’m really looking forward to having time to get off campus in the middle of the week, I’m not really sure what I’m going to do with the time, and foresee it providing a good opportunity to waste money.  Still, it’s an opportunity to take a break mid-week, so I’ll take it.

Not much else seems to be going on around here that’s worth reporting on, although tomorrow morning we have a meeting to vote on our ports of call for Sea Term 2009, so once I find out the final decision on those I’ll post it.

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.  I happened to be studying for my Coastal Navigation final today (I’m taking a study break this morning to write this), so it was nice to have an excuse to get out of the room and refresh.

Finals will be going on starting today through Tuesday.  I only have my Coastal Navigation final this week; all my other finals are on Monday, which is kind of a drag.  No big deal though, I’ll have all weekend to study so I should be fine.

Countdown until expected departure for the year: 6 days, 3 hours, 39 minutes!

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.  Once the company and all the rooms are cleared by the company officer on the last day, we are free to go.  Obviously this is a major priority with cadets!

Since the regular regimental routine for freshmen is all but over for us, I’ve been giving some thought to what we did this year, and what we’ll be doing next year.  We dealt with a lot of structure and commitment this year, most of it pretty frustrating (cleaning stations in the morning & evening, musters, study hours, etc.) and seemingly in the way.  However, as much as we may have complained about it, we all had that in common, which I’ve come to realize has really helped bond us as a company, and as shipmates.  That’s not to say that I enjoy those things any more – I don’t, especially cleaning stations – but simply that I can appreciate them for their effect on us.  Next year we’ll have almost no regimental obligations, short of inspections and morning formation.  We’ll basically be regular college sophomores with uniforms.  It’s going to be nice to have more freedom and responsibility, but at the same time it’s going to be weird not having somebody looking over our shoulder constantly.

Anyway, enough personal reflection.  Countdown to expected departure: 11 days, 15 hours, 12 minutes!

So 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. The day starts off with a marching competition between the companies. Each freshman platoon in the regiment represents their competition, just as we did for Recognition back in September. This time is a little different however, because we will be marched by the upcoming company commander for our company, providing them with their first real experience in publicly leading the company as an officer. The afternoon is filled with activities aimed at providing us with some fun near the end of the year, such as an obstacle course done by ROTC and a rock wall. All activities are done by company, and are worth points towards Honor Company. I’ll explain Honor Company in a later post, so stay tuned for that.

Wednesday afternoon is Change of Command. Now that Coasties are over and we’re only weeks away from the end of the year, it’s time for this year’s graduating seniors to step down from their officer positions and hand the reigns over to the upcoming officers for next year. There’s a formal ceremony that will be held Wednesday afternoon on the Parade Field. Since I haven’t seen a Change of Command at MMA before, I’m not really sure the details of the ceremony. Since I’ll most likely have to be in formation for the duration of it I won’t be able to take pictures, but I’ll try to get some pictures to post from someone here at MMA (if there’s anybody reading this who’ll be here and would like to share their photos-maybe the Admissions office-I’d appreciate it, shoot me an e-mail).

Not much else to report from Taylor’s Point, except that the weather’s getting too nice for us to be indoors. I vote that classes start being held outside, who’s with me?

This week the 1st class cadets in license majors are taking their Coast Guard license exams. The exams last all week, and are given in the gym. Since four years of school and training has been leading up to these exams, it’s obviously a stressful time for these seniors.

This week is different for all cadets. We have “short mofo” in the morning, which means that instead of forming up across the entire parade field, we form up in a half circle around the patio by the mess deck. This makes morning formation much shorter, so that we don’t disturb testing. In the dorms, we’re supposed to be quiet to allow the kids taking tests to study. Freshmen have closed door study hours, so we keep our doors shut but have the deadbolt out so that the doors are propped open to allow squad leaders to come in. License seniors are also exempt from all classes this week. A few of my classes are with seniors, so there are a number of people missing.

The school makes efforts to help the license seniors prepare and perform better on the exams. The library has had longer, more accessible hours to allow better studying. There were massage therapists on campus this week to help testers relax, and reduce tension and stress from taking the exams.

1st Company is in a little bit of an awkward situation at the moment, in that we have Admiral’s Inspection next Wednesday. Usually Admiral’s is held on a Monday, but they’ve pushed it back a couple of days to let us prepare after Coasties are over. That said, it usually takes the week before Admiral’s to get ready, so we have to work on cleaning in off hours when testing is being done, so we don’t disturb the seniors who are studying.

I’ve found it pretty interesting to watch the Deck seniors as they’ve been getting ready for, and taking, the Coast Guard exams. Since I’ll be in that position in 3 years myself, I’ve been curious to see how they’re handling it. From what I’ve heard, the Deck tests have gone very well so far.

Good luck to all the seniors in testing right now. Hopefully you all pass with flying colors.

Today I had my whaleboat qual (short for qualification). We’re tested on the boat and line handling procedures we’ve been learning for the past couple of weeks, on a points system for various stages of the operation.

The procedure was the same as it’s been while we’ve been practicing – undocking, maneuvering outboard of the Enterprise, making an approach, and docking again.  This time, however, we were making a starboard landing (starboard side of the boat against the dock) instead of a port landing, which was how we’d been practicing.  At our dock, a starboard landing is much harder because you have to clear the bow of the Enterprise by only about a foot, and then turn hard enough to come in alongside the dock at the right spot.  The real kicker is that you’re not supposed to put her in reverse to slow down or maneuver, since you should be able to properly manage speed and direction going forward.

I wasn’t able to quite hit the mark when making my approach, and ended up about 3/4 of a boat length down from the mark.  However, I did everything else properly, so hopefully I passed.  We find out next week the results.  I’m hoping that doing quals doesn’t mean the end of motor whaleboats for this class, because so far that’s been my favorite part of deck classes!

Today in Basic Seamanship Lab we had our first experience training in the motor whaleboats. For those of you unfamiliar with motor whaleboats, here’s a picture of one very similar to the ones we have here at the Academy:

Part of Basic Seamanship involves small boat handling, so we use the motor whaleboats to learn line handling and boat maneuvering. Today made it particularly interesting for our first time out, since we were fighting very strong crosswinds while docking, and driving rain.

Class today consisted of the procedures for starting and stopping the diesel engine, proper line handling commands and actions, maneuvering away from the dock, coming back to the dock, and properly securing the boat again. One of the things that everyone took a little while getting used to was using the engine and the forward spring line to properly maneuver the boat against and away from the dock. For those of you that don’t know, the forward spring line is a rope that runs from the bow of the boat to a cleat on the dock aligned with the after, or rear, part of the boat. This creates diagonal tension that, by putting the engine in forward and turning the rudder, you can use to push the bow and stern toward and away from the dock in a controlled manner.

Proper operation of the motor lifeboat is one of the qualifications we have to pass in order to pass Basic Seamanship, and eventually get a Coast Guard license. But hey, at least we’re messing around in boats!