EX3-4

Or: Academics Phase is DONE.

So, I haven't posted as much as I thought. It's been fairly busy and, really, rehashing days and days of sitting in the classroom enjoying death by powerpoint doesn't sound like anything anyone would willingly read.

But, I have to wait for the weekend duty brief in a few hours and we secured early, so I might as well do a little revision of what happened over the last 5 weeks of the course.

It's been hard, fun, and fast-paced, just like it should be. I learned a lot, though I'm sure my retention is hardly 100%. However, I've done well on everything, got a 90% average overall in academics (wish I'd done that well at RMC!), and other than a few admin problems that are still nagging at me and my girlfriend still living in Ontario, I'm enjoying life a lot more now. I did really well on everything and, except for the Meteorology exam, I was within a few percentage points of the top mark... and for Formation Manoeuvering, I got top mark by 1%. I'd say I'm doing pretty well.

We have "pause" week next week, which is really a misnomer because we have to show up, some people have re-tests for exams they've failed, and some of us who haven't used SDM (electronic vice paper charts) before have a "refresher"/tutorial and will need to practice planning on the computer. After that, a few weeks of the Navy's very own MMORPG, the NABS (full-blown bridge simulators), where we will practice manoeuvres, be assessed, and, from what I understand, conduct some simulation navigation passages during the day and at night.

After that, DC school and then we go to sea for six weeks. Well, not six weeks of 24/7 sailing, but six week-long voyages. I'm not sure where we're going or anything, but we'll find out soon enough.

After sea phase, we have a week or two before graduation and then we'll be posted to the Fleet and truly start our careers as junior officers onboard Her Majesty's Canadian Ships.

Can't wait.