A Summer Blog from the Last Frontier

Greetings from Sitka, Alaska, the most beautiful (and rainiest) place on Earth! I know it’s been a little while since my last blog, but this summer has been a whirlwind of exciting travel and new experiences. This past spring I arrived to my first unit, the great Coast Guard Cutter Douglas Munro in Kodiak, Alaska. Kodiak was […]
Whale That Was Fun! An Admissions Trip to Sitka, Alaska

Well, here I am back at the Coast Guard Academy after an amazing weekend in (you’ll never guess it) SITKA, ALASKA!! How lucky am I, right?! Well, as some of you may know I had an internship this summer through the Marine Sciences department at the Sitka Sound Science Center in Sitka, Alaska, which is […]
Choosing Marine and Environmental Sciences as a Major

I am a Marine and Environmental Sciences (MES) major here at the Academy. I chose my major because I was originally interested in biochemistry and the Marine and Environmental Sciences program is most closely related. There are three tracks in the major; Physical Oceanography, Biological Environmental Science, and Chemical Environmental Science. I had to choose […]
Selecting A Major: Marine & Environmental Sciences

The academic majors offered at USCGA are of critical importance to properly supplying the United States Coast Guard with officers that are prepared to serve in a demanding environment. The goal at USCGA is to graduate and commission an evenly distributed number of officers in each academic major every year. It is essential that CGA […]
Ice, Ice Baby

President’s Day weekend can only be described as one thing: awesome. I and eleven other cadets spent the weekend taking an American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) level one course. I took it in Gorham, New Hampshire with the Adventure Club. The first day was in a classroom where we discussed case studies […]
ORCA, Not the Whale

Time flies when you’re having fun…or really busy. I always forget how that saying goes. The school year has quickly ramped up and I can’t believe we’re at midterms and selecting classes for next semester. I’m an Operations Research and Computer Analysis (ORCA) major, which is applied math. I just started my in major classes, […]
Operations Research and Computer Analysis: Thinking Logically and Analytically

When I first came to the Academy, I was a Marine and Environmental Sciences (MES) major. In the early spring of 4/c year, I switched to be an Operations Research and Computer Analysis (ORCA) major. Since then, I have loved my major and am blown away with the cool stuff we do. ORCA is more […]
What I Learned from Parent’s Weekend

Hi everyone! The month of October has been crazy busy, filled with Columbus Day Weekend, Midterms, Parents’ Weekend, and of course, Halloween. It’s crazy to think that I am already half way through the semester, especially because it seems like forever ago that I reported in on July 1st. After the first few weeks of […]
I’m Designing an Icebreaker

This semester has been a whirlwind. We were assigned our Capstone groups for the Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering major almost as soon as we returned to the Academy after summer training. I am part of a group of four who are working on creating a medium icebreaker with a focus on scientific research. For […]
How Much This Place Has Changed Me

Recently, the 4th class at the Academy, myself included, experienced an annual tradition called 101st night, where we become ‘swabs’ again for a few hours and it’s mainly compromised of a lot of yelling and a few push-ups. However, it was a sharp contrast to Swab Summer, when I felt like I drifted through the […]