Today was the Welcome Aboard event at the Academy. This is a day specifically for high school seniors who have been accepted into next year’s freshman class. It allows them to get a more in-depth sense of some of the things MMA has to offer, such as firefighting, cold water survival, small boat handling, and basic engineering. I was one of the cadets running the Semester at Sea seminar, where future cadets got to see pictures and videos from previous Sea Terms, get information about life as a freshman on the Enterprise, and have a question and answer session.

There were four sessions today, so my group got to talk to about 120 students about our experiences on cruise. We had two juniors and four freshmen (including me) so we were able to offer a wide array of information. We showed a video that one of the juniors had put together after his freshman cruise, the year they went to Europe. Then we showed a slideshow of some pictures 2/C Wilson took this year. While we were showing pictures, we each discussed a specific aspect of Sea Term. We talked about division rotations, the Enterprise itself, deck & engine watches, classes, and port time. We also fielded a lot of questions from the future cadets about life on Sea Term, from watch to life in the holds and time off.

I think today went well overall. If you were there and have any additional questions or comments, or weren’t but still have something to share, please post a comment.

I’d imagine that one of the big questions that most prospective cadets and parents have, such as this parent, is what life in the dorms is like. In general, it’s similar to that of most other colleges: there are two people to a room, we share the heads, and we’re always in each other’s business.

However, we have unique aspects of dorm life, such as cleaning stations and inspections. Cleaning stations are only for freshmen, and are done in the morning at 0550 and at night at 1900. The assignments for cleaning stations rotate each week, so depending on the size of the company you may only be on the cleaning bill once every 3 weeks or so. There are different specific jobs assigned to each person, so that the entire company gets cleaned twice a day.

Interaction between males and females is also heavily regulated. Men and women are not permitted to be in a room with the door closed. There is also no fraternization permitted, meaning that upper and underclassmen can’t date each other. That’s not to say that it doesn’t happen; it’s simply not supposed to happen due to potential abuse of power issues as a result of the regimental structure.

Tonight’s events in 1st Company are a perfect example of what life in the dorms is like for freshmen. Due to a series of events related to poor cleanliness in the rooms and the company’s public spaces, 1st Co freshmen have morning and evening inspections every day this week (instead of just morning inspections). We also have all-hands cleaning stations from the end of evening inspections until study hours, which will be over an hour’s worth of cleaning.

The dorms are, for the most part, pretty quiet. Since we can’t throw parties, it keeps the noise level pretty low, except for during study hours (go figure) when everyone on deck has their hatches open and is talking and working together on homework. It’s helpful when it comes time to sleep though, since there isn’t a lot of disturbance to keep people awake.

One of the things I like most about living in the dorms is the view out my window. I can’t think of too many places where I could watch ships & barges going past, and have a 540′ ship docked a few hundred feet from my building.
(The new version of the blogging software I use is giving me trouble with posting images, so once I get that resolved I’ll put up some pictures of my view.)

On a side note: I may be at the Welcome Aboard event this Saturday, depending on whether or not I’m sailing this weekend. So, I might have the chance to meet some of the incoming freshmen for next year; I’ll keep you posted.