05 JULY 2012
1737
I went through and was reading the stats to my blog and I figured I could answer some questions to some of the searches that my blog came up under.
Yes, you can bring your cell phone and laptop and electronics to CORTRAMID. In fact, I highly recommend bringing your phone, camera, and laptop.
Yes, you will spend all your stipend money. You'll spend it mainly on food too. It's inevitable.
Bring lots of civilian attire. You'll be wearing it more than you think.
Yes, you can bring an extra suitcase and backpack with stuff.
If you have any other questions, feel free to leave a comment. I see the comments and can answer them, no problem :)
Thursday, July 5, 2012
CORTRAMID overall.
05 JULY 2012
1732
FINALLY finished blogging about my entire CORTRAMID experience. I know this post is a little late, but for all future CORTRAMID attendants and their moms and dads who read and any random stumblers who happened on to this blog, I'll go ahead and finish with this last post.
I had an awesome experience at CORTRAMID and wouldn't have traded that month for a lazy month of summer in a million years. Coming into the whole thing, I thought we'd be living in barracks and hate our lives for the next 4 weeks. I imaged 30 second communal showers and having my hair glued to my head in a bun 24/7. But it turned out to be so much BETTER!
The highlights of my month included:
Marine week: shooting mortars, the IIT, and sleeping in the field.
SWO week: shooting the .50 cal and M240, the roller coaster room, pretty much all the mischief we got into.
Sub week: the wet trainer and all the food.
Aviation week: the helo ride and the T-34 flight! The SEAL O-course was a great way to end the week too.
And in general, all the friends I made, the mandatory fun, the lazy beach days... I truly enjoyed it all. In fact, today I finally vacuumed out my truck and there was so much sand in there. I actually found it depressing because it just made me miss the beach.
One thing I did speculate though, was the extreme difference in the enlisted and the officers. The enlisted are the ones who actually do all the work and I admired them for how intelligent and dedicated I found many of the sailors that I encountered to be. Hearing their sea stories and learning about their jobs was definitely something that humbled me. Especially after being treated like officers during SWO week in the wardroom. Right now, as MIDN, we're nothings. We go to college and occasionally have to wake up early. That's nothing compared to what the sailors are doing out in the fleet, yet we come on their ship/sub and are waited on hand and foot like officers are. We're 'future' officers, we don't deserve that yet. I guess that was something I found difficult to wrap my mind around... I also found the amount of opportunities within the Navy to be greater to enlisted than officers. I don't want to get into my rant about that, but I did reevaluate why I chose the officer path over just enlisting.
I also learned what kind of officer I respect and do not respect. Those who unnecessarily yell, talk down to their subordinates, and demand respect simply because they're wearing gold, will NEVER earn my respect. There were multiple officers I encountered that were flat out rude. I am a firm believer in by earning respect you must give respect. And yes, while I will always honor an officer and properly salute him/her, because yes, they have put in their time to be where they are, I will only respect their rank and not them as a person. A young Marine answered to the question "Do you have any advice to us as future officers?" during Marine week, "Earn respect as a person. Do not demand it simply because of your rank." That's definitely something that will stick with me throughout my career.
I was also told that CORTRAMID would help me choose a community that I really want to go into. But really, it just confused me more. Going into the month, I thought I wanted to go into the SWO Nuc community and now I'm not so sure. Contrary to a lot of MIDN's, I really enjoyed SWO week and would be happy being on a ship, preferably a destroyer and/or carrier. However, now, I'm interested in the aviation community, specifically helo's... Aviation had never really been under my radar because I've never been exposed to it. I loved it though and wouldn't mind researching the community to learn more about it all. Except I also seriously enjoyed Marine week and would I consider being on an Amphib? Maybe. Actually, hmm, no. I don't know where I'm going with that one. Except I admire the Marine Corp in a whole new light and if I could find a way to work with them but still be in the Navy, I would.
Plus, if you knew me and knew my desires to work my way into the Pentagon and all that I want to do there... that might have an affect on the course of my career as well. But that's getting to know me on a whole new level and I don't want to share my entire life goals on here. Story for another day.
So as you can tell, I have options and am probably too "open-minded." I have 3/4 years left to decide though and am in no rush. I'll enjoy college in the mean time, cross things off my bucket list that I won't be able to do once in the fleet, and spend as much time with my family and friends back home as possible.
If this is the first post you're reading because it's at the top, or the last one you're reading because you've read my blog from the beginning, thank you. To the MIDN's on future CORTRAMID experiences, bring lots of civi clothes with you, don't go crazy spending all your money the first couple of weeks, volunteer, make friends, and make the most of every opportunity given to you. The month goes by so fast and you'll soon find yourself bored at home wishing you were back in San Diego with something to do. Bring books, your laptop, stuff to occupy your self with in the down time too! There's LOTS of down time. Trust me.
Now that CORTRAMID is over, I'm traveling, spending time with my family, and crossing things off my summer time bucket list. This includes lots of concerts, outdoorsy activities like hiking in Yosemite and exploring the Calaveras Big Trees, going to 3 different theme parks (crossed out 1 already!), cooking dinner for my family, and trying at least 3 new baking recipes. School starts in about 6 weeks and I am in no rush to get back to business but I look forward to my sophomore year as a 3/c. I look forward to my cruise next summer too... who knows what that has in store for me!
Oh, and I miss all my CORTRAMID friends, but I'll see them one day in the fleet! :)
1732
FINALLY finished blogging about my entire CORTRAMID experience. I know this post is a little late, but for all future CORTRAMID attendants and their moms and dads who read and any random stumblers who happened on to this blog, I'll go ahead and finish with this last post.
I had an awesome experience at CORTRAMID and wouldn't have traded that month for a lazy month of summer in a million years. Coming into the whole thing, I thought we'd be living in barracks and hate our lives for the next 4 weeks. I imaged 30 second communal showers and having my hair glued to my head in a bun 24/7. But it turned out to be so much BETTER!
The highlights of my month included:
Marine week: shooting mortars, the IIT, and sleeping in the field.
SWO week: shooting the .50 cal and M240, the roller coaster room, pretty much all the mischief we got into.
Sub week: the wet trainer and all the food.
Aviation week: the helo ride and the T-34 flight! The SEAL O-course was a great way to end the week too.
And in general, all the friends I made, the mandatory fun, the lazy beach days... I truly enjoyed it all. In fact, today I finally vacuumed out my truck and there was so much sand in there. I actually found it depressing because it just made me miss the beach.
One thing I did speculate though, was the extreme difference in the enlisted and the officers. The enlisted are the ones who actually do all the work and I admired them for how intelligent and dedicated I found many of the sailors that I encountered to be. Hearing their sea stories and learning about their jobs was definitely something that humbled me. Especially after being treated like officers during SWO week in the wardroom. Right now, as MIDN, we're nothings. We go to college and occasionally have to wake up early. That's nothing compared to what the sailors are doing out in the fleet, yet we come on their ship/sub and are waited on hand and foot like officers are. We're 'future' officers, we don't deserve that yet. I guess that was something I found difficult to wrap my mind around... I also found the amount of opportunities within the Navy to be greater to enlisted than officers. I don't want to get into my rant about that, but I did reevaluate why I chose the officer path over just enlisting.
I also learned what kind of officer I respect and do not respect. Those who unnecessarily yell, talk down to their subordinates, and demand respect simply because they're wearing gold, will NEVER earn my respect. There were multiple officers I encountered that were flat out rude. I am a firm believer in by earning respect you must give respect. And yes, while I will always honor an officer and properly salute him/her, because yes, they have put in their time to be where they are, I will only respect their rank and not them as a person. A young Marine answered to the question "Do you have any advice to us as future officers?" during Marine week, "Earn respect as a person. Do not demand it simply because of your rank." That's definitely something that will stick with me throughout my career.
I was also told that CORTRAMID would help me choose a community that I really want to go into. But really, it just confused me more. Going into the month, I thought I wanted to go into the SWO Nuc community and now I'm not so sure. Contrary to a lot of MIDN's, I really enjoyed SWO week and would be happy being on a ship, preferably a destroyer and/or carrier. However, now, I'm interested in the aviation community, specifically helo's... Aviation had never really been under my radar because I've never been exposed to it. I loved it though and wouldn't mind researching the community to learn more about it all. Except I also seriously enjoyed Marine week and would I consider being on an Amphib? Maybe. Actually, hmm, no. I don't know where I'm going with that one. Except I admire the Marine Corp in a whole new light and if I could find a way to work with them but still be in the Navy, I would.
Plus, if you knew me and knew my desires to work my way into the Pentagon and all that I want to do there... that might have an affect on the course of my career as well. But that's getting to know me on a whole new level and I don't want to share my entire life goals on here. Story for another day.
So as you can tell, I have options and am probably too "open-minded." I have 3/4 years left to decide though and am in no rush. I'll enjoy college in the mean time, cross things off my bucket list that I won't be able to do once in the fleet, and spend as much time with my family and friends back home as possible.
If this is the first post you're reading because it's at the top, or the last one you're reading because you've read my blog from the beginning, thank you. To the MIDN's on future CORTRAMID experiences, bring lots of civi clothes with you, don't go crazy spending all your money the first couple of weeks, volunteer, make friends, and make the most of every opportunity given to you. The month goes by so fast and you'll soon find yourself bored at home wishing you were back in San Diego with something to do. Bring books, your laptop, stuff to occupy your self with in the down time too! There's LOTS of down time. Trust me.
Now that CORTRAMID is over, I'm traveling, spending time with my family, and crossing things off my summer time bucket list. This includes lots of concerts, outdoorsy activities like hiking in Yosemite and exploring the Calaveras Big Trees, going to 3 different theme parks (crossed out 1 already!), cooking dinner for my family, and trying at least 3 new baking recipes. School starts in about 6 weeks and I am in no rush to get back to business but I look forward to my sophomore year as a 3/c. I look forward to my cruise next summer too... who knows what that has in store for me!
Oh, and I miss all my CORTRAMID friends, but I'll see them one day in the fleet! :)
Day 30. Farewell Day.
05 July 2012
1722
To all my CORTRAMID friends who just discovered my blog thanks to having the link posted on our Facebook page, hi :)
I realized I didn't finish the last day, soooooo I'm doing that now :)
A lot of the MIDN's had ridiculous shuttle to the airport times, starting at 3am! I felt bad for my friends who had to leave that early and it was hard to say goodbye too. I spent Friday evening with some of my favorite friends that I had made and probably won't get to see again for a long time. We went to the liberty center, played pool, ping pong, and watched a movie. Even though I was having fun, it was bittersweet because I knew it was the end.
The next morning I said goodbye to my favorite and best roommate ever Colleen. I was so sad to see her go. I tried to sleep in a little later after she left at 7, but just tossed and turned so I got up to finish my packing. Fortunately, I got to say goodbye to some of my best friends before they headed home for the summer. We'll all be back in SD in about 6 weeks to help out with our unit's freshmen orientation, but I'll still miss them over summer.
Thankfully, Stroms needed a ride to the train station so he joined me as we departed Donelly hall. It was great to be in his company, but after I dropped him off, it was instant loneliness. I realized that that was the first time I was riding in the car all by myself for the first time in 4 weeks. Since we go with battle buddies everywhere, it was always me and a friend.
My mom didn't fly into the airport until 1630, and it was barely 1100, so I went to Coronado and plopped myself down on the beach. I was in the 'usual' spot, but no one was there to accompany me. It was ok though. I was happy to hear that all my friends had made it home safely and trust me, my newsfeed was taken over by "I MISS SAN DIEGO" and "get me back to Cortramid!" and "I miss SD weather" so I knew my friends wanted to be back in SD as much as I wanted them there too.
1722
To all my CORTRAMID friends who just discovered my blog thanks to having the link posted on our Facebook page, hi :)
I realized I didn't finish the last day, soooooo I'm doing that now :)
A lot of the MIDN's had ridiculous shuttle to the airport times, starting at 3am! I felt bad for my friends who had to leave that early and it was hard to say goodbye too. I spent Friday evening with some of my favorite friends that I had made and probably won't get to see again for a long time. We went to the liberty center, played pool, ping pong, and watched a movie. Even though I was having fun, it was bittersweet because I knew it was the end.
The next morning I said goodbye to my favorite and best roommate ever Colleen. I was so sad to see her go. I tried to sleep in a little later after she left at 7, but just tossed and turned so I got up to finish my packing. Fortunately, I got to say goodbye to some of my best friends before they headed home for the summer. We'll all be back in SD in about 6 weeks to help out with our unit's freshmen orientation, but I'll still miss them over summer.
Thankfully, Stroms needed a ride to the train station so he joined me as we departed Donelly hall. It was great to be in his company, but after I dropped him off, it was instant loneliness. I realized that that was the first time I was riding in the car all by myself for the first time in 4 weeks. Since we go with battle buddies everywhere, it was always me and a friend.
My mom didn't fly into the airport until 1630, and it was barely 1100, so I went to Coronado and plopped myself down on the beach. I was in the 'usual' spot, but no one was there to accompany me. It was ok though. I was happy to hear that all my friends had made it home safely and trust me, my newsfeed was taken over by "I MISS SAN DIEGO" and "get me back to Cortramid!" and "I miss SD weather" so I knew my friends wanted to be back in SD as much as I wanted them there too.
Day 29. SEAL Day.
05 JULY 2012
1707
(The actual date of the day I'm going to talk about was 22 JUNE.)
Even though the idea of running the SEAL O-course sounded fun, the majority of us were burnt out and didn't feel like doing anything. It was our last day and we just wanted to spend it with each other or go home already.
However, once we got to the SEAL base on Coronado, I was pretty motivated. We watched some pretty sweet videos show casing the SEALS and SWCC community. We ran over to the O-course and were split in a few different groups after having a demonstration on how to do the different obstacles.
I've ran the Marine O-course numerous times at MCRD, but never the SEAL one. I like O-courses though, they're a great workout and are so fun to do. Plus, this O-course was WAY cooler than the Marine one.
At the end of running the O-course, there was a rope swing obstacle competition. A lot of guys and a couple girls too, started out, but it was narrowed down pretty quickly. In the end, it was Chris and Bryan who took the win. Chryan for the win and Bristopher for the gold! Hahaha.
After we finished at the SEAL base, we went back to North Island for our Aviation week debrief. Longest briefs of my life. It was really cool to hear from the different types of aircraft pilots though. It was pretty hard to stay awake, but I really enjoyed hearing from the female helo pilot. She graduated from the Naval Academy, went to flight school to become a helo pilot, became a test pilot for a few years, currently works for a 3 star admiral and put in a package to become an astronaut and work with NASA. Wow! What a career. I can only hope that one day, I can share my career story with a bunch of MIDN's and have mine be that exciting too.
1707
(The actual date of the day I'm going to talk about was 22 JUNE.)
Even though the idea of running the SEAL O-course sounded fun, the majority of us were burnt out and didn't feel like doing anything. It was our last day and we just wanted to spend it with each other or go home already.
However, once we got to the SEAL base on Coronado, I was pretty motivated. We watched some pretty sweet videos show casing the SEALS and SWCC community. We ran over to the O-course and were split in a few different groups after having a demonstration on how to do the different obstacles.
I've ran the Marine O-course numerous times at MCRD, but never the SEAL one. I like O-courses though, they're a great workout and are so fun to do. Plus, this O-course was WAY cooler than the Marine one.
At the end of running the O-course, there was a rope swing obstacle competition. A lot of guys and a couple girls too, started out, but it was narrowed down pretty quickly. In the end, it was Chris and Bryan who took the win. Chryan for the win and Bristopher for the gold! Hahaha.
After we finished at the SEAL base, we went back to North Island for our Aviation week debrief. Longest briefs of my life. It was really cool to hear from the different types of aircraft pilots though. It was pretty hard to stay awake, but I really enjoyed hearing from the female helo pilot. She graduated from the Naval Academy, went to flight school to become a helo pilot, became a test pilot for a few years, currently works for a 3 star admiral and put in a package to become an astronaut and work with NASA. Wow! What a career. I can only hope that one day, I can share my career story with a bunch of MIDN's and have mine be that exciting too.
Day 27. Aviation Week.
01 JULY 2012
1302
It seems like the last week after CORTRAMID ended has just flown by. I wanted to finish my blog, but I went to Disneyland and being home has been just as busy. I'm currently riding in the car right now on the way to my Grandma's, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to blog.
On Wednesday of Aviation week, we flew T-34's! They were AWESOME. a group of about 10-12 of us left Donnelly to go straight to north Island for our flights. However, everyone else was sent to random other places sucks as the Helo rides, squadron tours, etc.
My group sat in this little waiting room on our flights, they too groups of 3 at a time to grab their gear and head to their planes. One by one they came back, smiles ear to ear. It seemed like forever before my turn. Colleen and Sam were a couple of the first ones to fly and loved it, so I was getting antsy for mine!
In the weeks before, we heard horror stories of people getting super sick. Thankfully, Colleen, Sam, myself, actually everyone in our group was in the clear. It was honestly like a roller coaster, except 29848383 times cooler!
It was finally my turn (I was the LAST ONE in my group to go). My pilot was AWESOME! We took off and of corse I'm like a 5 year old in a candy shop admiring all the controls and buttons and looking out my window at the gorgeous views. All of a sudden I hear in my ear phones, "you've got control!" I didn't think he'd actually let me fly the plane, but sure enough I took control and tilted the plane left and kept the nose up so we did like a led corkscrew up. It was totally wicked! Once we leveled off at 8,000 ft. the pilot asked of I wanted to do some aerobatics. And of course I did! Faster than I could blink we were in a series of barrel rolls, s-curves, back flips, and a whole bunch of crazy nonsense.
I've never felt a more exhilarating feeling than looking upside down at the ocean and feeling like it was gonna fall down on me. I LOVED every minute of the T-34 flight. And was so sad when it was over.
After my flight, I dropped of my gear and headed back to Donnelly. It was a gorgeous day (thankfully, I'd it wasn't we wouldn't have gotten to do aerobatics) so I went to the beach. Coronado of course :)
It was funny because we always wanted to go out and eat out and spending money seemed like no big the first two weeks. But now we times everything around getting back to the galley for free dinner.
1302
It seems like the last week after CORTRAMID ended has just flown by. I wanted to finish my blog, but I went to Disneyland and being home has been just as busy. I'm currently riding in the car right now on the way to my Grandma's, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to blog.
On Wednesday of Aviation week, we flew T-34's! They were AWESOME. a group of about 10-12 of us left Donnelly to go straight to north Island for our flights. However, everyone else was sent to random other places sucks as the Helo rides, squadron tours, etc.
My group sat in this little waiting room on our flights, they too groups of 3 at a time to grab their gear and head to their planes. One by one they came back, smiles ear to ear. It seemed like forever before my turn. Colleen and Sam were a couple of the first ones to fly and loved it, so I was getting antsy for mine!
In the weeks before, we heard horror stories of people getting super sick. Thankfully, Colleen, Sam, myself, actually everyone in our group was in the clear. It was honestly like a roller coaster, except 29848383 times cooler!
It was finally my turn (I was the LAST ONE in my group to go). My pilot was AWESOME! We took off and of corse I'm like a 5 year old in a candy shop admiring all the controls and buttons and looking out my window at the gorgeous views. All of a sudden I hear in my ear phones, "you've got control!" I didn't think he'd actually let me fly the plane, but sure enough I took control and tilted the plane left and kept the nose up so we did like a led corkscrew up. It was totally wicked! Once we leveled off at 8,000 ft. the pilot asked of I wanted to do some aerobatics. And of course I did! Faster than I could blink we were in a series of barrel rolls, s-curves, back flips, and a whole bunch of crazy nonsense.
I've never felt a more exhilarating feeling than looking upside down at the ocean and feeling like it was gonna fall down on me. I LOVED every minute of the T-34 flight. And was so sad when it was over.
After my flight, I dropped of my gear and headed back to Donnelly. It was a gorgeous day (thankfully, I'd it wasn't we wouldn't have gotten to do aerobatics) so I went to the beach. Coronado of course :)
It was funny because we always wanted to go out and eat out and spending money seemed like no big the first two weeks. But now we times everything around getting back to the galley for free dinner.
The T-34 we flew in.
Austin and I waiting for our flights.
All suited up!
Stephanie.
This was actually on our bus ride home, but same day.
Me! Ready to go.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Day 28. Aviation Week.
01 JULY 2012
1316
Figured I might as well just finish out my CORTRAMID experience :)
So day 28 was also known as... MY BIRTHDAY! And let me tell you, it was absolutely perfect. A lot of my friends thought it was too simple and I should have done something crazy like sky dive or spear fish (actually, that was just Bryan) but I love my day just like it was.
That morning we toured the USS Carl Vinson. It's an aircraft carrier. It was HUGE! It was in port getting all fixed up for the upcoming deployment. We were greeted by the Captain and XO, before being split into 4 groups to see the ship. My favorite part was standing on the flight deck because it's breath taking. It's 4.5 acres! Unfortunately there were no aircraft on it at the time, but still I could totally imagine it full of jets and helo's and what a beautiful sight it would be.
Fortunately, a tour of the carrier was the only thing we had planned, so we had the entire rest of the day free! Such great planning on the Navy's part for my birthday :)
We got back to Donnelly and got our stuff together for the beach. Sadly, liberty didn't start until 1300, so we passed some time watching the guys play volleyball outside. It was a beautiful day and we all couldn't wait to get to Coronado.
I was such a happy birthday girl because all my favorite friends from CORTRAMID spent the day with me. This included: my favorite boys Jake, Rayne, Scott and then Matt, Eric, Ashley, Colleen, Bryan, Chris, Zack, JJ, Cleveland and so many more that we ran into :) We laid on the beach in the sunshine, us girls read magazines while the boys went in the water (unsuccessful at trying to throw me in of course) we played football and the old game of monkey in the middle. I couldn't have been happier :) once we all started to get tired of the sun (correction: when some of the guys were tired of the sun, I never am) we got ice cream at Moo Time! I got watermelon and mango sorbet. MMM!
After we walked to Panera bread because we were hungry for dinner. Yes, we got dessert before dinner. Awesome, I know!
Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better birthday. Every year I don't think it's possible to top that birthday, but I always do. I'm so thankful for the friends that made my day special.
1316
Figured I might as well just finish out my CORTRAMID experience :)
So day 28 was also known as... MY BIRTHDAY! And let me tell you, it was absolutely perfect. A lot of my friends thought it was too simple and I should have done something crazy like sky dive or spear fish (actually, that was just Bryan) but I love my day just like it was.
That morning we toured the USS Carl Vinson. It's an aircraft carrier. It was HUGE! It was in port getting all fixed up for the upcoming deployment. We were greeted by the Captain and XO, before being split into 4 groups to see the ship. My favorite part was standing on the flight deck because it's breath taking. It's 4.5 acres! Unfortunately there were no aircraft on it at the time, but still I could totally imagine it full of jets and helo's and what a beautiful sight it would be.
Fortunately, a tour of the carrier was the only thing we had planned, so we had the entire rest of the day free! Such great planning on the Navy's part for my birthday :)
We got back to Donnelly and got our stuff together for the beach. Sadly, liberty didn't start until 1300, so we passed some time watching the guys play volleyball outside. It was a beautiful day and we all couldn't wait to get to Coronado.
I was such a happy birthday girl because all my favorite friends from CORTRAMID spent the day with me. This included: my favorite boys Jake, Rayne, Scott and then Matt, Eric, Ashley, Colleen, Bryan, Chris, Zack, JJ, Cleveland and so many more that we ran into :) We laid on the beach in the sunshine, us girls read magazines while the boys went in the water (unsuccessful at trying to throw me in of course) we played football and the old game of monkey in the middle. I couldn't have been happier :) once we all started to get tired of the sun (correction: when some of the guys were tired of the sun, I never am) we got ice cream at Moo Time! I got watermelon and mango sorbet. MMM!
After we walked to Panera bread because we were hungry for dinner. Yes, we got dessert before dinner. Awesome, I know!
Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better birthday. Every year I don't think it's possible to top that birthday, but I always do. I'm so thankful for the friends that made my day special.
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