Monday, February 25, 2013

Cold in Rhode Island

I am in Newport at Surface Warfare Officer School (SWOS) Advanced Shiphandling And Tactics (ASAT) course. It's great to have the break and be able to return to the states in the middle of deployment. One month here and I have to return to Bahrain. But soon I will earn my pin and be a qualified surface warfare officer. That will be a great relief.
I heard that my class date for nuclear power school in Charleston, SC is November.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Officer Of The Deck

I qualified officer of the deck the day before yesterday. It is a major milestone. I know just have to attend a three-week advanced shiphandling and tactics course in Rhode Island then pass another oral board with my captain and I will earn my surface warfare pin.
I am living a very fast-paced life. There is so much going on every day, everything is time-sensitive, there is always something coming up and always something due. I have experienced a lot of change in my education and work life. It is funny to me how I have incrementally become a part of larger and larger communities. I was homeschooled (6 siblings), went to small public high school (graduated with 115), went to major university (18,000 students), and now in the Navy (323,000 active duty Navy). Of course with each jump, I get a more accurate perception of just how insignificant being one person in the whole world really is.