What does summer mean for the Officer Cadets…?
Article by 25366 Mike Shewfelt
It is a well-known fact that life for the Cadets at the College follows a cycle, with different pillars taking the forefront at different times of the year. This is true for the staff as well, who,although they face a busy summer (is there ever a time on the peninsula that’s not…?), they still see life taking on a somewhat more relaxed pace as members take leave and others post in or out of the peninsula (last week’s Change of Appointment Ceremony being a good example of this). But what does summer mean from a Cadet’s perspective…? Training, training, and more training, right…? For the hundreds of Cadets on courses all over the country right now, that is their summer in a nutshell. For the Cadets still on the peninsula, though, the answer is not as clear cut.
The Cadets doing Second Language Training, On the Job Education, or Engineering Decompression certainly have their training to do, but there is much more to their summer than that. Summer, for them, is about sitting in class, looking at the beautiful weather outside, and hoping your professor will notice the blue sky, realize that no one really wants to be there, and let you go early for the day. (It actually has happened before.) Summer is the good times in Kingston on the weekends (like the 5 day weekend some had for Canada Day), or for those lucky enough to have a car, getting out of town for a day or two. It’s the Civi Fridays, beach volleyball behind the parade square, the dreaded Sea Cadet invasion, and much more besides. In short, it’s the memories, and the (somewhat) relaxed atmosphere that makes those memories possible.
Walking around the College right now, one gets the impression that, whatever summer is about this year, it’s not that. “Only 4 more days until I’m out of this place,” was a common sentiment in the week leading up to the Canada Day long weekend, and similar ones have been heard about August (most summer courses at the College are done in the first week of August). Granted, Cadets are always griping about something, but it’s summer on the peninsula, and life could always be much worse. They could be in Gagetown, for example.
So what to do about it…? From a Cadet perspective, make the memories, and hope that your professor notices the beautiful summer weather and wants to be out enjoying it as much as you do.