Well first things first I made a 94 on Rules of the Road
exam!! Woo Hoo🎉🎉! Now one stressor is down. I get to mentally rest now before more stress
begins in my life with this NSS Exam. With one lesson down it is time to
relive the one thing I did not care to about in ROTC because it was so
confusing, maneuvering boards (mo board). A simple explanation of this device is a large
piece of paper with a compass layout
with a few conversions so that you can be correct. You are given a course and
speed to plot then you are given the contact ship’s course and speed that you
have to plot and at the end you should be able to determine where they should
reach within a certain period of
time. It is a lot to figure out but once you
understand the basics you get hit with more confusion. This piece of paper is
so evil, especially when you get confused on the beginning steps.
Of course I am learning other things in class since NSS
really stands for Navigation, Shiphandling, and Seamanship. On the first day of class
we actually started learning this stuff while learning Rules of the Road. I
didn’t notice this until after one of the instructors said we were learning NSS
the week before. So now I have to mentally play catch-up and review all of the
PowerPoints we covered the previous week. On top of that my days are still super long.
8-4/5 everyday can be draining when you actually want to be productive in life
lol. I just pack my gym bag in the car daily so I can go right after class
before I get super lazy. And speaking of lazy after lunch everyone is mentally
ready to clock out. I pack snacks and gum to stay awake but this sweet
bubblegum flavor isn’t cutting it. I NEED STRONG MINT FLAVOR!!! I’m referring
to the mint that when you inhale your nostrils feel like you just entered
the Arctic in the peak of winter.
Along with fighting sleep by eating there are two instructors
that have this spunk to them that makes the class stay awake. They are both
prior military but they quote lines from the movie Friday. Before you assume,
no they are not what you expect lol which makes it even greater. Only like 4 of
us know the reference but of course the other students get a laugh because they
are always saying “Bye Felicia”. On top of these guy being our instructors they are the head people in charge of the simulator (cove). I STILL hate the cove more for the fact that it never takes my commands and the headset has broke out my forehead😖😭. And before I forget I took another test this
week and I pass it EVERY time, the urinalysis (drug test). All individuals
should pass this with no issues but of course there are those who like to push
their luck and careers and end up popping positive for durgs *inserts Jordan
crying meme*.
Later this week we were granted the opportunity to get a
lesson from the commander of BDOC. She presented us with the SWO Career Path which are the different paths we can take as Surface Warfare Officers. The pipeline has
changed so much so it is important that we all know that we can stray away from
the traditional path. Yes there are individuals who don’t want to be on a ship
their entire career but this is and opportunity to sell us into the “what if I
fall in love whith my job” thoughts. There are tons of benefits and of course
those career bonuses if we do take that next step to become department heads 6
years down the line of our career. We are still young so there is really no
pressure to make that decision right away but once we get screened to be
elgible department heads the clock starts ticking on if we will take that bonus
and agreement to stay in the surface community for a number of years.
Weekend Shenanigans
To maintain sanity in new locations you end up making
friends. With that being said there are a few girls in class that I’m pretty cool with and we decided to have a girls night in town. All of us are stationed in
different locations so we might miss each other when school actually ends and
we go back to our respective locations. Since I passed my exam I have been
enjoying my week of light stress and decided to “treat myself” this weekend. I
don’t blow money like that so I deserve it. I got a much needed pedicure and
did some shopping. That night the girls and I went out to the Cheesecake
Factory. This was my second time going here but the first time I ate an
appetizer because I really wasn’t hungry. But it is safe to say the food was
trash 😅. Sometimes those chain restaurants aren’t even worth the money.
I enjoyed my night and of course I do have friends that are
stationed here so one of them named Mickens invited me to go to a day party the next
day. I was cool with going but when your friend doesn’t hit you up the next day
of the plans you mentally just say you’ll stay in bed and be a bum lol. Well
about and hour before the event starts I get a flood of text and long story
short I ended up getting out of bed and going to the day party. I will say the
vibe was super different at first but then it went in the direction that I
liked. Can’t beat a FAMU related event but when Alumni are in the building we will still have fun.
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