4th Class Here to Help

Colleges and Universities A-Z Coast Guard Academy - New London
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<p>Bossf51 is spot on. Crew has a reputation for being "the team that actually wins stuff" to put it in less than eloquent terms. They, along with mens and womens rugby, have done very well in recent years despite taking in lots of kids who have never rowed before. Rugby I believe went (and placed?) in nationals last year and is starting to get a lot of recognition within the sport.</p>

<p>edit: Even though we are a DIII school, crew rows against big D1 schools like Harvard, Yale, MIT, etc... and wins. It's worth noting that even though we're DIII for football and most other sports, pistol and rifle are both D1 and have recently competed at West Point and Air Force and recently hosted MIT.</p>

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<p>Well let's not get crazy. We don't usually beat Yale or Harvard but we hold our own.</p>

<p>Crew is known as "The Cult." It's that intense. :D</p>

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<p>Yes, crew is referred to as "the cult" because all of the swabs seem to be interested in it, though few stay past the first week. I did crew in the fall season, but I stopped a few weeks ago to do Rifle this winter which is also a great sport here and we win a LOT and do extremely well in competitions. Also, in December, our Gunner is all going to qualify us in rifle, so we'll get a ribbon to wear on our tropical blues. Same with pistol. So if you want more ribbons than everyone else, shoot!</p>

<p>But crew is great. The coach is intense though and you can't really miss any practices. Rifle is more laid back with that.</p>

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<p>I was also interested in doing crew. What is the female team like? or is it coed? What were the practices like. Also, what kind of intramurals do they have? I was also interested in playing soccer but I do not have a lot experience and wanted to participate in an intramural soccer team before I attempted the varsity team.</p>

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<p>The women have their own very successful crew program. Most of the girls come in with no experience in the sport so don't let that hold you back. They have great coaches. It is a rugged sport with both indoor and outdoor practices, during all three seasons.</p>

<p>As far as intramural sports, there are a lot of them from softball to touch football to soccer to basketball. You can play them in place of a varsity sport if necessary.</p>

<p>There are also club sports such as rugby, water polo(coed), ice hockey and lacrosse. Everybody does something.</p>

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<p>Crew is not co-ed, however my boat did have a female cox because we only had one male cox and we needed 2.</p>

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<p>Thanks :) I have a question...okay so maybe a few questions haha What was R-day like? What were you feeling? What was swab summer like? Do you regret accepting your appointment? (Btw, I am not trying to be nosy, I would just like a honest answer with some emotion other then what the CGA website says )</p>

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<p>Ah yes, well that is the classic question I am always asked, and that I ask myself.</p>

<p>Occassionally, I say to myself... "I can be in Daytona right now flying over the beach." I was enrolled in Embry-Riddle with AFROTC and I was all set. I was accepted in May I believe, and I had 2 weeks to decide. And I knew very little about the CG because I thought I was going to get into the USAFA.</p>

<p>I decided to accept because, after some deep thinking, realized that I would like a career in which I SAVE lives rather than END lives. Once I understood that about myself, the decision was easy, and i'm happy I made it. Sure I could be in Daytona now where it's probably 70... but I wouldn't have eet the people here that will be my life long friends, and I wouldn't be training to save lives.</p>

<p>It's very hard to explain, but that's what it boils down to... do you want to be normal, or do you want to be elite? Not elite as in BETTER than other - we work for citizens, we do not look down upon them... but elite as in... special... unique...different in a good way. It's a great feeling when you're in public to have people come up to you and thank you for what you're doing. This may sound odd but... for the occasional people who oppose the military and who may say something (thinking you're in the navy or something), it's always nice to know that all I have to say is "Oh, no no sir, I don't kill people, I save people." Take that with a grain of salt, i'm not hitting upon other services, but the fact that our main mission is the HUMANITARIAN mission makes us special.</p>

<p>R-Day was hell... that's all i have.</p>

<p>Haha but really is was a lonnnnnnnnng day. Swab summer the days were long but the weeks were short. The best advice is to do what you need to do, know your indoc, and ALWAYS STICK UP FOR YOUR SHIPMATES and do not sandbag! Once you're defined as a sandbagger, you WILL NOT earn your respect back. That happened to some people from my company but I won't say any more about that.</p>

<p>Sorry if this reply is a little unorganized but it's been a long day... have a great Thanksgiving everyone!</p>

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<p>Thanks for replying so quickly! Whats a sandbagger?</p>

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<p>sandbagger = one who weighs down ones shipmates by not doing their job and relying on others to do it; one who doesn't put enough effort in, though they are capable</p>

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<p>I know that during the fourth week of swab summer there is the "Mystic Flag ceremony" and the 4/c get there class banner (flag?). Is that kind of the turning point of swab summer? Did you think it got any easier?</p>

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<p>aight there can be alot of debate of this question......it pretty much depends on how much your company has developed as a team and the company's overal performance. they'll probablly even give you a whole speech as they gave us saying "your performance depicts how these next few weeks of swab summer will be..blah blah"...After the first 4 weeks most of the basic military indoctrination will be over and it Can change to more them prepping you for the school year life. For our company this didnt really happen until a week or two after the ceremony..As our company final got its act together they gave us more responsibilities, however we didnt follow through we were also punished even worse..There was a good amount of debate becuase apparently the year before this turnining point was much earlier as the swabs got their act together closer to the mystic ceremony, so i think they were really trying to figure out why it took many of us longer this year..Anyways...there will be a slight turning poin towards the end of the summer, but it all depends on your companies peformance and development.</p>

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<p>Dear Everyone,</p>

<p>I have decided to no longer use these forums due to the potential of it going against the academy rules. I wanted to delete my account but that is not possible. In conclusion, I am no longer affiliated with these forums until the end of the school year. Thank you for understanding, and good luck to everyone applying!</p>

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<p>glock they wont care....not to mention you woulda gotten bagged for it way back if they actually did</p>