In these last weeks before school, I have been in the throes of paying for college, working a summer job and trying to continue my physical training for Navy ROTC. Our summer projects are due the first week of classes, and I have been cranking on that as well. For the regiment of midshipmen, I have been preparing my material and collecting thoughts and ideas to help as a Midshipman Training Officer for this year’s freshmen.
A frustration for me (and something that makes my friends think I’m nuts) is that when I came home from school, I never truly lost the academy mentality. Unlike high school, which is simply a core education that one can abandon for other things in the summertime, college is a place where one can take his interests and focus on a particular thing.
The season doesn’t change my interests. Summertime doesn’t change the fact that I always want to find ways to be a better officer and leader, be a stronger person, physically and spiritually and mentally, and feel a little pride for my academy.
On the Fourth of July, I attended a town party in uniform and encountered several alumni who greatly appreciated my representing both the school and the uniform on such a day.
Money, money, money. Always the frustration for college students is paying for school. I managed to secure my old summer job with some luck, and it feels good to have a positive cash flow. But then the semester bill arrived.
Some of the strangest items appear on this semester bill, such as the uniform charge. This year, instead of individuals purchasing their own uniform items, a blanket charge is applied to our accounts and we are issued the required uniform items for our class year.
Returns are acceptable if the midshipman has the uniform items on hand, but that still leaves the hassle of having those items inspected and approved and then the other items returned for a refund. Besides that, there are numerous lab charges because of the facilities we use, such as the ship, the tugboat, the navigation boat and the simulator in the BIW building.
Money can be a frustration, but education is not free. However, we all must remember in looking at our bills that we are almost guaranteed choice jobs when we graduate, which yield upwards of $60,000, $70,000 or even $80,000 a year at the age of 22. Not many schools can boast such placement success.
With salary like that rolling in and some financial savvy, college debts can fall like wheat before the chaff.
Summer projects include lots of reading and writing for me, in addition to physical training. I discussed summer fitness with our physical training instructor, Kyle Marshall, and one of the things he recommended was running and swimming—all the time. Every day I have tried to either run or swim, and I have been immensely successful compared to past years.
This year, the academy taught me something about managing my time, and now I am putting it to use elsewhere. Between work, physical training, reading and writing a little, I am trying to fix up the old motor bike with my Dad and develop a relationship—and having success in these fields as well.
Summer projects are tight, but with a little training as a midshipman, they become much more manageable.
Now it’s time to look at the uniform again and iron it out. Time to shine those shoes and polish that belt buckle. Pin all your insignias to that cap and blouse. Gather the tools together in your toolkit. Check that class schedule and make sure everything is in place. Pay your dues and get back in touch with classmates. Summer is rolling into its height, but we are rolling right back into the routine of waking at 0500 and shaving and throwing on that uniform. I have 17 days from the day I write this until I return to that campus and breathe the air of study again. Thus begins the count.
Benjamin Stevens of Islesford (Little Cranberry Island) is a student at Maine Maritime Academy.