The Academy Insider Podcast - Your Guide to The Naval Academy Experience
The mission of Academy Insider is to guide, serve, and support Midshipmen, future Midshipmen, and their families. Through the perspective of a community of former graduates and Naval Academy insiders, this podcast will help you learn about life at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. Through our shared experiences, Academy Insider guides families through the anxiety and frustration caused by lack of understanding, misinformation, and confusion. This platform is designed to better relationships between midshipmen and their loved ones. This podcast is not affiliated with the United States Naval Academy, the United States Navy or Department of Defense. The thoughts and opinions are exclusively those of your host and his guests.
The Academy Insider Podcast - Your Guide to The Naval Academy Experience
#058 Inside PLEBE YEAR: Learn about Plebe Signature Sheets with Nicki DeGuzman
Did you hear your Plebe say they have to complete their signature sheet and you have no idea what that means? Join Nicki DeGuzman and I as we unravel the humor and camaraderie behind this quirky tradition.
However here is a ⚠️ WARNING ⚠️
Much of what you'll hear in this episode is no longer continuing at USNA. Tasks associated with earning a signature are no longer allowed. Therefore, a Plebe will earn a signature by going to meet the upperclass midshipman, learning where they are from, and talking to them about their major, intended service selection, and other personal & mentorship topics.
So many of these sea stories you hear in this episode will not take place for the class of 2028.
But in this episode, Nicki shares how signature sheets helped him break the ice and form lasting bonds amidst the rigors of Academy life. From professional tasks to hilarious impromptu performances, discover the multifaceted approaches upperclassmen use to engage plebes.
Explore the diverse and entertaining methods midshipmen employ to make plebes earn their signatures. Whether it's through challenging physical feats or lighthearted assignments like freestyle raps and video game duels, Nicki and I recount the numerous ways in which these tasks reveal the unique company culture at the Academy. Listen to stories of plebes pushing their limits, navigating Bancroft Hall, and balancing academics, all while forging strong connections with their upperclassmen and peers.
Get ready for a hearty laugh and some heartfelt moments as we recount the lengths to which plebes go to meet expectations and secure those coveted signatures. Hear about inventive tactics like the "brother" switcheroo and the importance of learning everyone's names within the company. By the end, you'll understand how these traditions not only build internal unity but also encourage plebes to maintain connections with loved ones outside the Academy. Tune in for a delightful episode that highlights the essence of the Naval Academy experience through humor, challenge, and camaraderie.
The mission of Academy Insider is to guide, serve, and support Midshipmen, future Midshipmen, and their families.
Grant Vermeer your host is the person who started it all. He is the founder of Academy Insider and the host of The Academy Insider podcast and the USNA Property Network Podcast. He was a recruited athlete which brought him to Annapolis where he was a four year member of the varsity basketball team. He was a cyber operations major and commissioned into the Cryptologic Warfare Community. He was stationed at Fort Meade and supported the Subsurface Direct Support mission.
He separated from the Navy in 2023 and now owns The Vermeer Group, a boutique residential real estate company that specializes in serving the United States Naval Academy community PCSing to California & Texas.
We are here to be your guide through the USNA experience.
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Welcome to Season 2 of the Academy Insider Podcast. Academy Insider is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that serves midshipmen, future midshipmen and their families. At its core, this podcast is designed to bring together a community of Naval Academy graduates and those affiliated with the United States Naval Academy in order to tell stories and provide a little bit of insight into what life at the Naval Academy is really like. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you so much for listening and reach out if you ever have any questions. The Academy Insider Podcast is sponsored by the Vermeer Group, a residential real estate company that serves the United States Naval Academy community and other select clientele in both California and Texas. If I can ever answer a real estate related question for you or connect you with a trusted Academy affiliated agent in the market which you're in, please reach out to me directly at grantatthepremiergroupcom. You can also reach out to me on my LinkedIn page, grant Premier, and I'd be happy to respond to you there. Thank you so much, and now let's get back to the episode. Hey everyone, and welcome back to the Academy Insider Podcast.
Speaker 1:In this episode, which is a republished episode from a couple years ago, I'm joined by Nikki DeGuzman and we talk all about signature sheets. If you've never heard that term, this is one of these really unique, cool and funny aspects of the plebe experience at the United States Naval Academy. Long story short, plebes have to go around and get the signature of every single upperclassman in their company. It's designed for the plebes to get out of their box and get to know all the upperclassmen in their company, but usually in order to earn a signature, there's some funny task involved. So if you want to learn more about the process and learn a little bit about the unique experience that is being a plebe at the United States Naval Academy, then check out this episode. Let me know if you have any questions. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy it. Thank you so much and have a great day.
Speaker 1:Hey guys, and welcome to the Academy Ins. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy it. Thank you so much and have a great episode. So me and Nikki take the time to talk about signature sheets. So if you don't know what a signature sheet is, it's a task that plebes get, but we take a deep dive into what signature sheets are about, how they work and everything you would ever need to know about a signature sheet in this interview, but over the course of the interview too. We just share a ton of super funny stories, but also share some really cool sentimental factors that are considered and thought about when it comes to signature sheets as well. So make sure to check out this episode. I think you'll get one a ton of laughs, but two also a lot of really cool heartwarming moments. So make sure to check it out. I hope you guys enjoy it. All right, hey, thanks, nicky. Thanks so much for coming on.
Speaker 1:The Academy Insider Podcast Really appreciate having you on. Yeah, dude, I'm glad to be a part of it. Thank you, absolutely. Before we get started today, again, just for everyone, we're going to be talking about signature sheets today, so this is going to be a super fun topic. I think we're going to share a lot of really funny stories. As I was preparing for this episode, it brought back so many great memories of all the different things that people made us do for Signature Sheets. Yeah, so this will be super entertaining. But before we get to that, if you don't mind telling the audience a little bit about yourself, so kind of your company, your major, a little background about you as a midshipman and as a person, kind of where you're from and what brought you to the Academy?
Speaker 2:Sure, sure. So while I was at the Academy, I was in the fourth company, so you know I was a computer science and IT double major. Yeah, dude, that was a rough life for a little bit but it was good.
Speaker 1:It was good.
Speaker 2:I'm from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, so not a stranger to Navy life. That's actually what brought me to the Navy. My dad was Navy commissioned through OCS. I saw the pride he took in his work and what he did and it just led me to want to go to the academy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. And what did he do? What community did he serve in?
Speaker 2:He was a supply corps officer.
Speaker 1:Okay, awesome, awesome, awesome, sweet. Well, thanks for that quick introduction. And again we're here to talk about signature sheets. So before we dive down into a bunch of really funny stories, if you don't mind just kind of inform the audience what a signature sheet is. Can you just explain to everyone what we mean when we're referencing signature sheets?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so a signature sheet and the name is pretty self-explanatory. It's a sheet with the names of all of your upper class, so third class, second class and first class, and typically at least the way it was done in my company it's just a roster of names and a blank space beside them where a signature would go, and it's a way of integrating the plebes with their company.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, and so that was the same in 26 company. Gogrowthriders was exactly that. It's literally just a roster of all of the people, and they would separate it for us. So they would have a sheet of third class names, a sheet of second class names and a sheet of first class names, but at the end of the day, that's all it is. It's a name and a blank space to earn a signature. So, before we jump into that, what's the and you mentioned it a little bit in terms of meeting people in the company but what's the purpose of signature sheets and why do we?
Speaker 2:do those at the academy. Yeah, so there's layers to it, right? So on a surface level, it's a means to get even like the most introverted plebs to, you know, get out of the room, seek out their upper class and learn a little bit about the company that they're becoming a part of. On a deeper level, it's just another piece of the like time management puzzle that the academy keeps feeding you through your years there. So you know you got class, you got homework, sports. As a plebe, you're like designing, like upper class boards, you're studying pro-no, and now we're adding signatures on top of that, just to add to the pressure that's on you. For another thing you're accountable for.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:And that's pretty tough because, again, they give you deadlines for these signature sheets, right?
Speaker 1:So at the first blue and gold of the year blue and gold we talked a little bit about it on Academy Insider earlier when we talked about Plebe Summer, kind of an end of the night meeting During the academic year they do it once a week, on Sundays, and so that first Sunday, usually during reform, they'll pass out these signature sheets and let you know, like you have two weeks or you have three weeks to get all of the signatures of all the upper class in your company, which is tough because it takes a long time to get all of the signatures. So, like Nikki was saying, it's just that extra added stressor. It throws in another factor and another variable to the time management puzzle, which is the term he uses, which I think is awesome. Yeah, it's like, hey, how do I prioritize my time, how do I go ahead and meet all these new people in my company and how do I do that while maintaining the academic balance, the athletic balance and just all the different things that we have going on?
Speaker 2:Sure and just all the different things that we have going on. Sure, and like the big thing is like, yeah, you can manage your own time perfectly, but you know you're going to be getting signatures from varsity athletes who, like you know, haven't helped you if you're trying to find them at a reasonable time, you know, between dinner and study period. You're going to be dealing with people who, like you know, maybe they're dating somebody out of company and so, like they're just never on deck. You're going to be dealing with people that their own classmates are, like I never see that.
Speaker 1:I never see that, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And so it's a little mix of that. You know that message to Garcia, like hey, you got to figure it out because you don't care how you do it, you got to do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that you just use message garcia. I don't think we ever talked about that to the academy. It's our audience. Do you mind just taking a second to explain that the whole message to garcia story, as well as what it means and absolutely?
Speaker 2:I feel like that's one of those academy things that sticks with you for ever.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, I'll hear people like, like old, old grads say message to garcia, and I know exactly what they mean so yeah, you know, for all the people out there, if your mid uh ever refers to message to garcia long story short what it means is, like you got to figure it out, you got to get it done, no matter the cost. So what they do is they give us a book, um, and the book is titled message to garcia and it's uh, it's a story about, I think, think it's like the Spanish-American War is the era.
Speaker 2:And basically they give an assignment to a young soldier and they say you have to deliver this message to Garcia and that's pretty much all they give him, Not a lot of extra detail, like not anything on who is Garcia, where is he. They just say, yeah, get it done. And the story is all about how you know, at the end of the day, he gets it done. So, yeah, if you, you know, it's sort of a unifying thing from all years of the academy. If somebody says message to Garcia, they're basically saying, hey, we don't need excuses, we need results. Figure it out, Make it happen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. That's a yeah. I'm glad we got the opportunity to talk about that, because that's used constantly at the academy right. Someone will give you a task, someone will tell you to get something done, or whatever it is, and you may have a follow-up question like oh well, where should?
Speaker 1:I start, or what should I do? Or like message to Garcia, which literally just means like, hey, dude, figure it out Right, like, at the end of the day, take the ownership of the tasks that you were given and now use all of your resources to try and make it happen. Sure, which is a test in leadership and perseverance and just getting it all done, but that's a big thing. Within the Naval Academy, and I think the military at large is owning and embracing tasking when it becomes yours and you are the lead on some kind of task or project is hey, message to Garcia, figure it out, get it done, do what you have to do in order to make it happen yeah, I've gotten my fair share of assignments where it's like I get it and I look at it and I'm like what?
Speaker 2:do they expect me to do with this, but I know that the the end result is you know x or y, and so I'm like, all right, you know, I'm just gonna, you know, ask questions where I can and and move forward, so yeah yeah, it's, it's a good.
Speaker 2:Uh, it's one of those academy lessons that sticks with you. And even in something like signature sheets which, yep, you know, if you ask any plea what their feelings on signature sheets are are you're probably not going to hear the most glowing reviews. But you know, everything we do has a purpose, and here it's. You know, creative problem solving it's adding more things onto the pressure cooker and figuring more things out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely so. Yeah, I mean it's great transition back into the signature sheets. When you were a plebe, orbe or your first year, do you remember how long you were given in order to complete the signature sheets?
Speaker 2:It never seemed like enough time on both ends, like as a plebe I was like they want us to get it done in like two weeks, like yeah that's insane.
Speaker 2:And then, as a first year, I'm like that seems like a tight deadline, but yeah, it's normally going to be. Um, you know, every company is going to run things a little differently, uh, and usually it's going to be done in waves. Uh, so they'll expect you to have all third class done within one or two weeks, or they'll say like by this date or before liberty on this day, and then, uh, after everybody's moved on and and has gotten their third class, they'll'll move on to second class, and so on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and as we talked about that, so I know when I was a plebe we didn't have it in waves, actually, we were just given like hey. We were given like, hey, you have three or four weeks Get everyone's signature, all of it. Wow, when I was a firstie, my company, our training staff, decided to do it in waves. They're like, hey, you have one week to get all the third class signatures and then, hey, you have one week to get all the second class signatures. And then, yeah, like you're saying, kind of did it in waves. But regardless of how they do it, do you mind just telling a little bit about the difference of trying to get a signature from a third class versus trying to get a signature from a second class and first of first class and kind of all the different factors and different things, the different types of tasks that generally come from asking a youngster or a second class or a first year?
Speaker 2:Sure, sure, sure. So typically you'll find that you know, as if you go up and ask a third class for a signature, it's going to be a little more laid back.
Speaker 2:They, if they're doing it right, they're not really in a position to be, you know, very like, authoritative or demanding, like they were. You know, as a plebe, you go to them for a signature. You know they were you a year ago and so they might just ask you to tell them a little bit about yourself. Uh, you know, what do you want to major in? What are you trying to service, select? Um, you know, this is my name, here are my roommates, these are my friends and it name. Here are my roommates, these are my friends, and it'll be just a little more informal, um, as they just try to get to know more about you. Uh, because you know, as a youngster, you're just glad to not be a plebe anymore. So you see these guys and you're like, okay, you know it's time to to help the rookies, um, you know, get a little street cred, learn what life is like here yeah, absolutely, um yeah, and then second class yeah, second class.
Speaker 2:So as a second class they'll typically they'll find they put a little more emphasis on training. Um, they might ask you professional knowledge questions, they might ask you to research or write something, but, um, as the the usually is, like the, the training um, you know, core of the upper class, they're going to be the ones who put that emphasis on training and ask you to, I guess, just respond in that pressure environment to whatever assignment that is they give you, typically relating to something training related, either, you know, at the academy and academy processes or the Navy at large.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Firsties, at least in my company, it tended to be a mix. It depended on who you got and how they're feeling that day, but as a rule of thumb, you know they'll ask you. I found that the general theme seemed to be they're going to ask you to do some research on a community based on whatever their service selection aspirations were. So at that time, like, for example, myself, I wanted to go to the information warfare community. So I asked the police to do some research, write up a little something, be prepared to answer some questions on the information warfare community, especially since you know, as far as um, you know, knowledgeability, uh, of communities, the it tended to be a little lacking for, yeah, for that particular sector, yeah, oh, absolutely.
Speaker 1:oh, yeah, that's one of the the big things as a fellow information warfare community person, like people don't know about our community, what we do or like any any of the things.
Speaker 1:That really is the iwc, so, um, so I always found that to be a really cool piece of signature sheets, like you're saying, when people did take that opportunity to and I mean we're talking no more than 5 to 10 minutes of research into a little thing, but just enough to be understanding of what this person is interested in. So to get back to the purpose of signature sheets, at the end of the day, this whole point is to meet everybody in the company and get to know a little bit about them, learn their names and all those things. So when they give you that task of learning something about the community that they want to go into one, you're learning a little bit about that person because you learn about what they want to do. But also it just helps the plebes get exposed to all the different opportunities that there are in the military and specifically in the Navy and the Marine Corps as well. Yeah, so it is a very fun, kind of cool opportunity for firsties to task different things in order to earn signatures.
Speaker 2:Yeah absolutely.
Speaker 1:But there are also the other side of signatures and so I want to transition this conversation into a little bit about the different cultures, about getting signatures in different companies, and not even necessarily cultures between companies, but just cultures between personalities of people. So, if you don't mind talking a little bit about so we've talked about, hey, second class usually a little bit more training related, first class usually a little more research related, but that's not always the case. Can you talk a little bit about some of the other sides of signature sheets and the other different cultures when it comes to signature sheets?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah. So yeah, you'll see this depending on whatever the upper class is interested in and it comes through in their own personality and whatever communities they are a part of on the yard. So you know, I had some some glee club company mates who they would make the plebs sing a song and like they would have to practice a song and like not sound awful, and they'll make them. They're going to do it like out in the PUA.
Speaker 1:So everyone's going to hear it If it sounds bad, so everyone's gonna hear it.
Speaker 2:If it sounds bad, everyone's gonna hear it. So, uh, yeah, just stuff like that. We had a really um, oh man, we had a really motivated, like marine corps, uh, hopeful, who, yeah, he, uh, he challenged one of my classmates who you know he was a tennis player and considered himself very fit and he was like all right if you want my signature uh, you got to get from here.
Speaker 2:We lived on 3-3. You got to get from 3-3 to the Build-A-Goat statue in four minutes and I was like all right. And as soon as he said that, my buddy, he just took off and just ignoring.
Speaker 1:He just started sprinting.
Speaker 2:He just started ignoring, like all the you know approved routes for plebes. He was just like no, I'm cutting through the rotunda, I'm like going through all these places where plebe shouldn't be like running across the grass, like you shouldn't walk on the grass anywhere, even like beyond the academy. Like I'm gonna get to the bill of goat statue and have like photo evidence that I was here in four minutes and I'm gonna get back so I can get this signature and not have to deal with this guy anymore so um yeah, you see, people's personalities come through, uh, with signatures, which is another important thing, right, it's like it's an important opportunity for a company to establish what their culture is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, and so the plebs get a feel for all. Right, these are the people I'm going to be spending the next year of my life with, for firsties and then, you know, two years and beyond for for second class and youngsters, and this is the kind of place that this is and this is you know what I'm going to carry forward as it becomes my company and I'm in charge of the culture.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, absolutely. I think that's probably one of the biggest things. It's something I talked about on a previous episode with christian blanchard.
Speaker 1:Um, we were talking specifically about brigade organization, but we kind of broke it down to the company level, right, and it's like, hey, each company at the Naval Academy has their own culture and it's something that's established and they try to establish in training but also in these different things that make their companies unique. Right, the way they do signature sheets, the way they paint their poster boards that are in Bancroft Hall, the way they conduct formations, whatever it is, every company definitely has their own little unique culture and everything that has happened is established by the way they do things. So, when we talk about these signature sheets, sometimes your company If you have a son, a daughter, grandson, granddaughter, whatever it is, it's a plea. Right now you may hear stories and they may be all training related, and then you may have some other people that have stories that are like the funniest stories you've ever heard doing ridiculous things in order to earn signature sheets, but that's just part of the process and part of establishing the culture that your company wants to have.
Speaker 1:So, absolutely. But With all of this being said, everyone wants to know what happens if the plebs don't get the signatures. What happens if you do not meet the deadline? Oh man, oh, stand by.
Speaker 2:Stand by, right. So that's the thing. Is man normally you're going to face some sort of group punishment, right?
Speaker 1:You know, it's everybody.
Speaker 2:No one cares if yours are done two weeks early. It's everybody. No one cares if yours were done two weeks early. If you know Mitch Chipman Shmuckatelli didn't get his done and you know due date was yesterday, nobody cares that you were squared away, right, you know? Refer to your laws of the Navy on that one, you know. Yeah, they're going to face some sort of group punishment. It's going to make life a little less pleasant, which you know.
Speaker 2:As a plebe, you want to take all the the w's you can get so to to be handed. Something like that is is, uh, is tough on morale, but what it does do is it brings the group together to figure it out, right, um, you'll, you'll find out why. Why is this one person? Or why are these people deficient? Um, are they really busy? Are they an athlete themselves? Uh, was it my fault? Like you know, I, I got mine done too early. Why wasn't I helping them? You know, whatever their assignment was, there's something I can do to be a part of it. Um, for example, just whatever group punishment, because I know people are going to hear that and be like, oh, what are they doing to them? For my company, um, like, we got placed on 24-hour, so if you need to get up in the middle of the night, if it was like 1130 and you need to make a head call.
Speaker 2:Guess what, buddy? You're putting on your school uniform before you leave the room.
Speaker 1:That is, oh my gosh, that is the worst punishment to me. It's terrible, it's terrible. There's nothing worse than waking up at 2 am and you're like man, I just got to pee and you're sitting there in your PT gear and you're like I can't believe I have to go put on my entire uniform, my dress, shoes, everything, just to chop my happy butt down the peeway to go use the bathroom and then just chop right back, change out everything and go back to bed.
Speaker 2:And I know if, like a plebe hears this podcast and they hear this segment, they're, like you know, my there's no way. My upper class are up at one in the morning. Guess what? They definitely are, they are, they're working constantly they're doing homework, or like they can't fall asleep or whatever it is like. I know for me I would be up until like two or three in the morning I'm doing homework so if. I heard somebody chopping outside, I would probably be like who the hell is up at this hour in the morning.
Speaker 1:Peek your head out the door, yeah, and be like whoa wait.
Speaker 2:Aren't they on 24-Hour Blues. Interesting, I'll take notes. Interesting, interesting, interesting, yeah, cool, cool, cool, cool yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. No, that's hilarious because in what may seem to be like the most counterintuitive thing ever, like you probably get the most sleep of all time, of all four years at the academy during your plebe year. Yeah, like you don't even think about it.
Speaker 1:You're still like the most tired, probably plebe year, just because everything's going on, but you actually get the most sleep. Like upperclassmen are up constantly, like I don't know how many times a week I was up until 2 or 3am but it was pretty consistent. And the thing is it depends on the major of when things are up. You may have some English majors that always have papers due on Friday, so they're up late on Thursday nights, and then you have CS and Cyber majors that have labs that are due on Tuesday morning, so they're up on Monday night.
Speaker 1:And then you have all these different majors that have different projects or different things that keep them up on different nights of the week. So you're like, no matter what, if you're up at like 2, 3 am in Bancroft Hall there's probably at least you know, probably like five upperclassmen in your company that are still awake and wandering and like heading to the wardroom to, like you know, get some coffee or get a snack or something. But yeah, someone's always up.
Speaker 2:Someone's always up and working, yeah.
Speaker 1:Absolutely All right. So, yeah, the point is is, you don't want to not get your signature sheets done, but the unfortunate truth is that you're probably not going to get them done. So what happens is that, basically, at that blue and gold, when they realize that not everyone has completed their signature sheets, they will literally make you rip them up. So you're like staying in the hallway.
Speaker 1:Everyone will put their signature sheets out in front of them. They're like times I've had plebs come up to me and be like, or be like, hey, if they're just going to rip them anyway, why should we even try? And let me just say this right now to anyone who may be listening you don't want to be the person that has like zero signatures on the sheet, or it's going to be like so much worse for you. Right Like you have to try, because if you don't try, like it's going to be like so much worse for you. Right like you have to try, because if you don't try, like it's just it. Hey, in my favorite south park reference, you're gonna have a bad day you're just gonna have a bad day.
Speaker 2:yeah, dude, they want it, they want to see effort, right? Yeah, and look, even if you understand that, yes, we're gonna have to start from square one, depending on what class you're at, when you start from square one, your third class are going to be pretty understanding and be like, yeah, you know, ah, those guys, they got you. You know it happens. Yep, um, your second class and firsties they'll probably, you know, give you some other assignment.
Speaker 2:But the point is you have to put your best effort forward, right, it might seem like just a Sisyphean task to like keep grinding away and then like, hey, you know, these three people couldn't get it done. And don't get me wrong. Those people are going to feel terrible, or you know if they're good people, they should Right. But the point is, even if you were done on time, there's something you could have done to help everybody else.
Speaker 2:Right, it's a team effort and that's man. It's just a good life lesson in that coordinating something between 40 people to have everybody like just at their individual effort and they're all contributing to the team and to have that all go towards one thing and say that, hey, we're all done now, like we all did this and we've all accomplished it. That's hard.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's a hard thing, and especially because it's peer leadership too, which is, you know, the hardest form of leadership. You have to go to your buddy, who is a plebe just like you, and go hey man, you're jacked up.
Speaker 2:You're like 20 signatures behind. This is due in two days. I got to help you out. Let's figure this out. Let's find out why you're messed up, and that's not an easy thing to do, especially like being tactful and being respectful, but still finding a way to lead that person even though you're on the same level as them. They're experiencing the same hardships and responsibilities that you are. Yeah, that's tough, but I mean, that's the whole point. That's why we do signature sheets, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, absolutely. And at the end of the day it always is extremely difficult, because it was a funny comment you made earlier but a lot of times there are people who are just not around very often, right, like you're gonna have in season varsity athletes who like hypothetically, let's say, there is a girl in your company or a guy in your company who plays varsity soccer, they are on the soccer team, they play a fall sport. Well, guess what? They may have two away games in the same week and they're gone the entirety of the week, and the one night they are back.
Speaker 2:They're just working on homework constantly because they've been gone for four days, right.
Speaker 1:And they're beat and so, like, trying to get these signatures from a lot of people is difficult a lot of the times. Or even you're saying sometimes they're just dating someone in a different company and just never spend time on company like in your company spaces anyway.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you talk to their roommate and they're like dude, I'm like best friends with that guy. I don't even know him, I don't even see him Like he's just like never here.
Speaker 1:See him like he's just like never here. Yeah, uh. So, like you're saying, at the end of the day you're probably not going to get them done, but what they're looking for is for everyone to put in a very solid effort to try and get to know everyone in the company, because, one, it's great. Two, as a plebe, you have to address everyone by name anyway, especially if they're in their company. So it's just going to help you out anyway, because once you start learning people's names and passing people into hallways, a lot better. So you're not like mumbling like oh, good morning, mr Blaster, because you have no idea what his name is.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean? Oh God, I remember that. Yeah, I remember doing that.
Speaker 1:Oh, I've mumbled so many names that I did not know in my lifetime. Yeah, absolutely so, I mean right. To not know in my lifetime? Yeah, absolutely so, I mean right. So there are a lot of things, but at the end of the day they just want to see you get them done. But kind of in the second round, second and third, second, third, fourth, you know, rounds of signature sheets, generally some of those things, as long as they're not like a super motivated, you know motivated mid, that gives you like a training task. Every time, A lot of times, they kind of turn to funny or more ridiculous things. Or sometimes they're even like hey, what's my name and you got it right and you're like all right, you know my name, You've already done a task for me, I'm just going to sign it right. So it gets easier each time you go through. But also sometimes they get a little funnier or kind of more ridiculous.
Speaker 2:They to get some signatures, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I just wanted to bounce this one to you and see if you had any, like you know, funny or ridiculous stories that you had to do when you were plebe to earn a signature or that you knew your classmates did to make plebes earn their signature when you were firstie.
Speaker 2:Okay. So, oh, man, I've got a couple of stories. So yeah, I guess, just to start off light, like so, me and my, my, my roommates, my room, um, we, you know we play video games to blow off steam, like I feel like a lot of mids do that. So you know, anytime, uh, you know, some like more timid looking plebs show up at our door, we would just look at him, be like, hey, did you play video games in high school?
Speaker 2:and they would be like, oh, I don't know how to answer this question uh, yeah, I guess, and we'd be like all all right, come in and we'd say like all right, if you can beat us in Smash Bros, we'll give you a signature. And so, like you know, they haven't played video games for like all summer, and for some of them longer, because they've been so focused on getting to the academy. Really we didn't care if they could beat us or if they were good, we were just trying to get them to open up and relax and see that like hey, not everyone here is like trying to get your head on a platter.
Speaker 2:We're here, to help you out. We're here to help you understand what it's like to live here and be here and be a mid yeah, and so that's what we're looking for is just like do they open up? Are they, you know, conversational, are they having a good time or are they like super stressed out? We were just trying to find out. Is anybody like here like just really really uncomfortable with like coming into the academic year? Yeah, I guess on the other side of that coin, like as a plea, this was like so I came in in 2012. Fifty Shades of Grey had just come out oh good.
Speaker 1:This is going to be interesting.
Speaker 2:So some other class thought it'd be hilarious if me and my roommate who dropped by, if you recited the passage from the book oh, there's nothing. There's nothing too raunchy. It's just in the beginning of the book where the character is flirting with each other but it was still weird just having to voice act all of this with my roommate. You're like yeah, I spent, yeah, I spent plebe summer, which was a very like you know it's a lot of bonding moments, you get to know someone.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you get to know someone real well, but I still like, just literally, I've known this guy for like three months, so it's like that's kind of weird, yeah, and so if I remember right, I was the girl. So they made me do a high pitched voice and then my roommate just did like a com voice for the guy character hitting on me as the woman, nice, and I was like, oh man, this is, and the upper class were loving it and we were just very uncomfortable which was the whole.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, they just they wanted to have a laugh.
Speaker 2:They wanted to make us uncomfortable and see like, hey, are they gonna like commit to it?
Speaker 1:and like not cop out and like yeah, like oh, can I get my signature another way?
Speaker 2:so?
Speaker 1:you know we were.
Speaker 2:We were good natured about it, so we're like all right, fine, this is kind of weird, this is really weird. Uh, we'll do it. We'll do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, give it now give us your signature, sir, please yeah uh yeah, like to me it was. It was always funny because, like I would spend a lot of time, uh. So I lived in eighth wing, uh, which, for anyone who doesn't know, is like all the way to the like opposite end of all the academic buildings.
Speaker 1:That's the well, so a lot of times I would spend my homework in the computer lab, working on a lab for one of my cyber projects, and then I would walk back through bancroft hall at night during the first couple weeks of school and I'd enter, usually in like first wing and then, just like you know, traverse my way through bancroft and the amount of just like utterly ridiculous things I've seen like plebs doing like. I've seen plebs with like a ukulele like serenading someone like so usually a lot of times like a upper class will make the plebs like serenade their respective, uh, significant other or something you know, and they just like you have like 40 plebs like come up to some random person's door and like another company and they just like start start singing a ballad to you.
Speaker 1:You know and you're like oh, this is really bad. It's really uncomfortable but uh, you know sure why not. And then you walk by and you enter another company space and they're like people acting out a scene from like a movie, like I don't know how many like dodgeball quotes I've heard from people as I'm like walking through bankrupt um but like it's just like.
Speaker 1:It is just like a super fun experience. A lot of times for signature sheets is just hey, like you're saying, not everyone here is out to make your life miserable, right, and especially within a lot of the companies just setting that culture of hey. We take this very seriously and we train extremely hard, but we also know how to have a good time. We're not here to make your life miserable, right, and I think that's kind of some definitely some fun experiences that you can hear about when it comes to signature sheets.
Speaker 2:Right, and that was my experience that was largely my experience in 4th Company was like, yes, we take like deadlines and like getting things done and doing things the right way we took that seriously. But as far as, like the content of what you're actually being assigned like that was that was fair game for everybody to have a good time, and like understand, this is who I am as a person, and if you're being good-natured and, like you, have a good sense of humor as a plebe, then all right, you know you and I are going, I are going to get along. Yeah, for the most part, that's what most people are looking for.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and I'm glad you brought that up, because a lot of people might be like oh well, you know why are they having fun? Well, like you're saying, like the overall structure and outline was still very strict, right Like you still needed to get the signatures done on time and if you didn't guess what, you're not going to have a good day.
Speaker 2:No, you're not. You're not going to have a good time.
Speaker 1:It's like you're guaranteed in one of the morning workouts the following week that you're going to get beat down right. But when it comes to the actual content of getting a lot of the signatures, especially on a couple rounds through, then it gets to be a little bit more lighthearted.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And so I'm trying to think, like for me, probably the most ridiculous thing that I made um a plea do is we had, uh, when I was a man, I might have been a second class, I might have been a first year, I forget, um, this girl, cat rico. She was from my like hometown as well, so she came up to me. She's like oh yeah, I went to archbishop middy high school. I was like you, what I was like that's my rival high school. Like yeah, first of what's up, that's cool. But I was also like all right, well, your last name is Rico, and a couple weeks before that, drake had just dropped a new song called Rico.
Speaker 2:And I was like well that's convenient.
Speaker 1:So I made her learn and then rap to me the first verse of Rico.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was pretty good.
Speaker 1:And she did a great job. She got super into it and it's like I think I still have the video on my phone, to be honest, but she really killed it, you know. You know, those are like kind of some of the fun things that you do.
Speaker 2:That reminds me of a story we had a. It must have been so. We were second class at the time, yeah, and signature sheets were due that night. And we, yeah, and signature signature sheets were due that night. And we had one person come by who, like still did not have my room signatures for some reason, which was insane because we were, you know all things considered pretty like we were more laid back than than other rooms, but they didn't have ours for some reason. And they came to us like before study period and before blue and gold, like I need your signatures, and before we could even spit out an assignment. They're like I have a freestyle rap prepared for you that I'm willing to perform if it gets me your signatures.
Speaker 2:And we all me and my friends looked at each other. Look at each other.
Speaker 1:You're like yeah, oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I pulled out my phone, I had like a like a beat beat maker machine on it. And I had like a beat maker machine on it and I just threw a beat on it. I was like, yeah, hit us with it, here we go. And she crushed it. And so, yeah, we were like yeah you got the signature.
Speaker 1:That's good, absolutely. Give me your sheet. Give me your sheet right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, go to Blue and Gold, knowing that you are safe. But in the future, come to us sooner.
Speaker 1:But yeah, good, oh man, um yeah, so you talked a little bit about uh making, making some plebs play uh spash bros for your signature. Um, was there anything else you did uh to make plebs earn your signature?
Speaker 2:I would make them. I would change it up from year to year. It was like one year I made them do some research on information warfare. Uh, we had groups come in and, you know, play video games with us and just like, see if we can get them to relax a little bit and understand, you know, we're we're all in this together, we're all trying to graduate. We, you know we get it.
Speaker 2:One thing I like doing is so, you know, plebes will, they'll do things in groups. Then, like, they'll gather up their buddies and be like, hey, let's try to get you know Mr Doogoo's signature. Yeah, and so they would show up at my room and be like, hey, we want your signature, and so I'll pair them up with each other and be like, do you know this person? And I would wait until they said no and be like, oh, you don't know this guy, you just went through pleb summer with them, but you don't know where they're from and you aren't like super tight with them. Yeah, I want you to come back to me and be able to answer some questions on this person Because, like you know, these are your classmates.
Speaker 2:You should know where they're from, you should know what they, they are as a person, and so I I know that, like you know, cleebsommer doesn't facilitate all of that, um, but I'll just encourage them to. If you didn't know that person well, or you didn't think of them as your friend yet, uh, you're gonna come back to me and you're gonna get your signature by proving to me that, like, hey, uh, I've sparked a friendship here yeah, I get I get who this person is as a person.
Speaker 2:I know where they're from, I know their story. Ask me some questions on them, I'm ready, and then I give my signature up for that.
Speaker 1:Ah man, I love that yeah this is a good one. No, that's super great, and, at the end of the day, the closest friends you'll probably ever make are some of the people in your company at the Naval Academy right.
Speaker 1:Like to this day. My two best friends, Jeremiah Harding and Christian Blanchard, were my two best friends to this day. They're my two best friends in my company at the Academy. Those relationships are super strong and so I love that you did that and it reminds me of what I did so when I made Plebes Earn my Signature, which goes back to what I felt was the intent of Signature Sheets, which was to get to know your upper class.
Speaker 1:And so the biggest thing about who I am is I'm a really big family person and I love expressing. I'm a very expressive person. I love to express my love, my gratitude, my appreciation for people. So, in order to earn my signature, because of the hustle and bustle of Plebe Year and you're going to academics and you have all these things and you have signature sheets and whatnot, right, You're just constantly going I made Plebes draft up a text message or make a phone call, whatever they wanted to do. So basically, what I did is, before they asked me for my signature, I was like who's the most important person or people in your life? And some people would say like, oh, my grandfather, or oh, my entire family, or my siblings or whoever it was, yeah, and I'd be like that's awesome to know. I want you to either call them or draft up a text message just explaining how grateful you are for their presence in your life right.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 1:And how much you appreciate them, because it's so easy to get lost in the Naval Academy and so much of what's going on right that you just forget about the people that you love and care about, that are on the outside, that don't understand what you're going through Absolutely. So that was how they earned my signature. Every time on a first round through was one they needed to express to me kind of who the most important person or people were in their life and then just let them know how much they appreciated them. So that was kind of my call to action there for signature sheets. So I'm glad you were. There were people on the other end making sure you were getting to know your other classmates and kind of getting to know them and building those friendships. But my thing was also maintaining those bonds with the people on the outside.
Speaker 2:Yeah, working the family angle. I think that's super important, right? And if you're a mid listening to this podcast, like you know, pause the podcast. Go call your mom right now. Go call your mom or your dad Go call somebody back home and let them know your thing about them. And if you're somebody listening to this podcast who has a mid, call them and ask why they haven't called you first.
Speaker 2:That's really important, I think the family angle is super important. And yeah, that's another thing about these signature sheets right, if you're doing it? Right, if you're a plebe and you're doing it, right, you're not going to these rooms and knocking on these strangers' doors by yourself, right? You're going with your roommates, you're going with your friends, you're going with other company mates and you're going to go figure stuff out. Um, and that's really important because you're going to get assigned similar things. You're going to get assigned to tasks together and it's all part of the bonding experience, it's all part of what it means to be, you know, first of all plea. You know first of all a plea, but ultimately a midshipman is you're embracing these experiences together.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, no matter what they are, no matter what weird, difficult assignment you're given, you have somebody who's in the fight with you.
Speaker 1:And that's that's really important, absolutely. Oh man, all right, well, that was all super sentimental and I love everything about that, because I'm a super sentimental person, but I'm, but I'm going to make you tell your story about your roommates or maybe it wasn't roommates, or whatever it was but I need you to tell your roommates about earning their signatures, because I think it's probably one of the funniest things I've ever heard.
Speaker 2:That's okay. So one of my roommates, david Van Vliet so upper class, you'll resonate with this sentiment. After you unpack all your stuff from wherever you stored it for the summer, you get your life together in your new room and you put your nameplates up. That's like one of the things, and every year I would make sure that I put my nameplate in somewhere super obvious so I wouldn't lose it. Because it's just a pain to have to go to the mid shop and like find the guy and fill out a form and then $10 or $15 for a new nameplate and then wait a week and then come get it and the whole time your company officer just pissed at you because it's like why don't you have a nameplate on your door?
Speaker 1:Sending out anchor emails. Yeah, people need nameplates by this date.
Speaker 2:Otherwise sending out anchor emails. Yeah, people need nameplates by this date, otherwise they will not get liberty. Yeah, yeah, he's like you know, he's sending that email out and he's got a the screenshot of the pdf from mid-rags where it says you need to have a nameplate. And you're just like I.
Speaker 1:I ordered it, I'm waiting said according to midship regulations, chapter blah, paragraph, section blah. Yeah, you have to have a name exactly. God I got it, dude got it.
Speaker 2:So my roommate, uh, one year, did not put away his name tape, uh, his name plate, in a very obvious place, and he so he didn't have it for a few weeks, and so what he did is he went down in the mid store and he ordered a new one and he came within a week and he put it up, uh, but then in the interim he found his other name plates. Now he had two, and instead of putting his like up on his cork board or like throwing it away, which would just be a waste, or putting it with his stuff, he just like slapped it in our door.
Speaker 2:So now a three-man magically became a four-man thirsty room, right, and so it was me, it was the Guzman, shalekis, van Vliet and Van Vliet, and so there was two of his name played up on the door, and so Plebes would come by and ask for his signature and he would give him whatever wacky assignment yeah, and they would come back and they would prove they did the assignment. He would sign off and then he would look at them after signing and be very serious and go do you need my brother's signature? And then they would look at him, be like, um, yeah, I guess like. And he would look at the signature sheet again and be like, oh, they didn't, they forgot to include him again on the roster. That's insane.
Speaker 2:It's like he would, over his shoulder, he, he would look at the pleading and go, alright, give me one second. And over his shoulder he would be like, hey, derek, they need your signature, man. And he would close the door. And then, really quickly, he would run into his room, run into our room, go to his closet, change his shirt, just put a new shirt on and then open the door again and he would lower his voice and be like hey, yeah, what's up, you need my signature. And so they would. They'd be like yeah, we need you, you know, we need your signature. And he'd give him another assignment and pretend that he was. Uh, you pretend he was another guy in company who you know had an assignment and needed something done and oh god yeah, we were.
Speaker 1:That's so funny. He was just agreeing about it, and yeah, that's it that's the funniest thing to me about that story is just like as when a upperclassman asks you anything as a plebe, you just like. You're like, oh, I'm gonna guess.
Speaker 1:Like yeah, he's not, he's not, he's not on the signature sheet, but like the moment he asked, he like looks up at the name plate and like, make sure the plebe sees that there's two names in the door. He's like yeah, yeah, do you want my brother's signature? Like everyone's? Like uh, uh, like, uh, yeah I guess you know like uh, yeah, if I have to, I mean might as well. No, we got about.
Speaker 2:Uh, we got about maybe like five or six plumes of that before our our, like our company sel swung by and he was like, hey, you gotta stop.
Speaker 1:Why do you?
Speaker 2:have. Why do you have four names in your? Take one of these out. I know this is a free man. I know this is a duplicate.
Speaker 1:Take this out and take, okay, take this out right now this yeah these door plates will accurately reflect the people that are in this room. I, senior Chief.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah we get it, yeah sure.
Speaker 1:Roger Classic. All right, well, this has been an absolutely super fun episode. I really appreciate it, but before we wrap up, we're going to jump into a lightning round of questions that I ask everyone that comes on the show. So are you ready for these?
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's do it.
Speaker 1:All right. First question what is your favorite spot on the yard?
Speaker 2:Oh man, Okay, I got a couple.
Speaker 1:Yeah, go for it.
Speaker 2:Along the seawall outside the visitor center there's this huge compass that's paved in the ground.
Speaker 1:I know exactly what you're talking about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's facing the water and on the right day it's beautiful.
Speaker 1:It is so beautiful. Yeah, I'm going to cut you off right there. That is actually where my brother proposed to my now sister-in-law.
Speaker 2:Oh wow, it was right on that compass.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, it's a beautiful spot. If you don't know, you got to check it out. It's gorgeous.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you go out there and the say you're running an outer or something. Yeah, um, you go along the seawall there. Uh, I just I love running up that hill there because, like, once you crest that hill on the outside uh, corner of hospital point. It just is a great feeling because from there it's literally all downhill. As you like, run the rest of your outer so yeah, and give people a.
Speaker 1:give people a 10 second explanation of what an outer is.
Speaker 2:Oh, OK, an outer is the outer perimeter of the Naval Academy. So all things considered it's like five ish miles. So you know, you just take an aerial view of the Academy, decide to run along the outside perimeter of all of it. That's a pretty good, good, pretty good challenge for, yeah, you know, most mates absolutely beautiful run all right, you got any others?
Speaker 1:no, those are. Those are the two. Yeah, I love that for sure. Um, all right. Next question what was your favorite meal at king hall?
Speaker 2:I don't even think for this one.
Speaker 1:This is buffalo chicken sandwiches yeah, the buff chicks all the way.
Speaker 2:So my here's my, here's my pro tip for anybody who's listening to this. Uh, you get the buffalo sauce, that's obvious, right? You smear that on your bun. Yep, uh, make some sweet baby rays in there, right, you want? Yeah, you gotta. You gotta toy the ratio to find out what your particular flavor is. But yeah, you know buffalo sauce and some of that barbecue sauce yeah, just a little sweet baby rays.
Speaker 1:Just a little dab. Just yeah, just a little sweet baby Ray, just a little dab, just a little dab, just a little dab. You don't want to ruin it, you don't want to just make it a barbecue sandwich. You got to have the buffalo in there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but like you know, find what your ratio is.
Speaker 1:You got one.
Speaker 2:Figure it out, yeah.
Speaker 1:Those are the kind of insider tips we love on Academy.
Speaker 2:Insider.
Speaker 1:That what it's all about. Yeah, yeah, man, all right. Moving on, I know we've kind of given a a little bit of hard time to officers, company officers and senior enlisted uh in this episode. But who was your biggest officer or senior enlisted uh, leader, mentor, during your four years at the academy?
Speaker 2:oh man, um, that's gonna have to be gunnery sergeant kimony for fourth company. Anybody who's in fourth company will instantly recall each of their own special memories with Gunnery Sergeant Kimoney. He was just this. He was a little shorter guy but like, just like, packed to the brim with like fire and motivation, just always happy and always motivated to see us. He held us accountable, but he did it the right way. He gave us enough rope to hang ourselves. He gave us responsibility. Just a fantastic sel he.
Speaker 1:He tried to convince me to go to marine corps, but, uh, yeah, I, I won in the end. So there's that. Yeah, that's right, I like it. Um, awesome, thank you for that. Um, and then, uh, next question what's your favorite book?
Speaker 2:Oh, favorite book, so my favorite book of all time I'm going to recommend it's kind of out there Misery by Stephen King.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So I don't usually go for horror, but it was a really great book. It was really believable, had a real feeling. Villain gave you like an inside look at like psychology and how that part of the mind works. Yeah, so that's a fun read. If you want something fiction, that part of the mind works, yeah, um, so that's a fun read. If you want something fiction, uh, I'll say on the leadership side, because I feel like you know, as as an officer.
Speaker 2:As a naval officer, hopeful you should have your favorite leadership book, I'll say you're going to be missing out if you skip on make your bed by admiral mcgraven. Yeah, that is a great book. It's really short. Um, you can literally you could find it at barnes noble and read it in like 40 minutes. Um, but just the lessons it has as far as breaking down how to lead yourself at a very base and understandable level, it's huge. Um, I think the lessons you can gain from from that book by adam mcraven and also from you know, listening to his assorted commencement speeches and his other media, I think that's huge. Definitely check out Make your Bed, I love that I second that recommendation.
Speaker 1:Fantastic and super quick read. All right. Next is what's your greatest memory? I know this is going to be a tough one, but what's your greatest?
Speaker 2:memory from. I know this is going to be a tough one, but what's your?
Speaker 1:greatest memory from your four years at the Naval Academy? Yeah, oh that's hard to pick.
Speaker 2:I think so let's I mean, if I'm going to do it, let's just look chronologically starting at the Academy. There's probably no greater feeling than finishing sea trials. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Just feeling accomplished, like your body is beat down, but your spirit. You just feel like I just accomplished this incredible thing with some of my best friends, some of my closest teammates, and, hey, I'm technically not a plebe anymore. I'm a fourth class, right, until I move on, you're going to call me a fourth class. I'm no longer a plebe. That's an awesome, awesome memory, just like finishing sea trials and getting that food that they have uh catered for for you guys is, yeah, that's awesome. I remember like wrapping up sea trials, like after the whole day's events, feeling beat, taking one bite of my, uh, my sand, my barbecue sandwich, and then just like passing out, yeah, um, like right on my bed just passing out, um, I guess, uh, moving on to just like passing out yeah, like right on my bed just passing out.
Speaker 2:I guess, moving on to just like, obviously, senior year, first year, all of commissioning week is a blast, I know it's a first year.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's the best.
Speaker 2:You're going to feel kind of stressed out because it's like oh, I got to get my parents and my family to like all these events and I got to coordinate this and that and, like you know, we have families meeting each other for the first time and all this other stuff.
Speaker 2:It's going to feel stressful for you as a firstie, but just like try to absorb the fact that you were having probably the most fun you'll ever have at the academy during commission week. And then, when you finally like, walk across the stage for me, I shook hands with the sec def and then getting a throw my cover, like throw my midshipman cover away.
Speaker 1:Straight chills.
Speaker 2:Yeah, dude, straight chills. That is an incredible, incredible time and I'll take this moment to like just PSA for anybody who's you know going to toss your cover. Write a little note in there, I guess, put money in there if you want. It's kind of a tradition, but I just left a note in mind just explaining, like, what my story at the Academy was, so that anybody who picked it up because after you toss your Machinimum cover, you're not looking for that thing again I threw mine to the freaking moon, like I'm sure.
Speaker 2:I'm sure my cover like reached orbit and has like still not landed. I left a little note in there so that if anyone discovers that, they know who I am, they know what my story is, yeah, and they understand what it means for me to be in the gym and absolutely cool.
Speaker 1:All right, uh. And then the last question, to wrap this up, of what has been probably, uh, one of the best interviews ever. This has been awesome. Um, if someone is thinking about attending the naval academy, we have a couple. Uh, so some of our audience, too, is either prospective student, high school students or parents of high school students that are trying to learn more about the Naval Academy.
Speaker 1:When people are thinking about attending the Naval Academy, what advice or thoughts do you have in regards to what they should consider when determining whether or not the Naval Academy would be the right fit for them?
Speaker 2:Sure. So, first and foremost, you should be very introspective and take a look at what does service to the country mean to you? During my plebe summer, you know my detailers would ask me, why did you come here? And you could give them whatever answer you wanted as far as your personal reasons, but they also wanted to hear the fact that you wanted to serve your country. So if you want to serve your country and you're in the right spot to do it and the NALO Academy seems to be a good fit, then I say you know, put your best foot forward and try it out. For anybody who's hopeful about attending, you know, the NALO Academy, my advice for you is just a couple of things. So, on the physical side, if you're not much of a runner, start now right.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:There's so much of our physical evolutions and our physical like trials and tribulations that are based around your cardio endurance. If you hate cardio, then you know you got to learn a lot. You're going to have a bad day, yeah, yeah you got to learn a lot.
Speaker 1:You're going to have a bad day, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:You got to figure that out right. I went into the academy thinking like, oh, I like running, kind of like it, I'm fine with it. And then I got there and it was like oh man.
Speaker 1:I wish I had run a little bit more.
Speaker 2:And then on the leadership and like mental side, if you don't do much reflection, if you don't practice a lot of mindfulness, definitely start now. It's just a habit that you want to have built into you and who you are as a person, as soon as possible.
Speaker 2:The sooner you can be mindful of like who am I really?
Speaker 2:How do I react as a person to different situations, the better off you're going to be, because the whole point of the academy is to put you through a series of challenges and trials and tribulations, things that you're going to face that you know at a base level as a human being, you might be like this is ridiculous. Why am I doing this? Yeah, the layers of what's going on, the secondary or tertiary effects of what we're putting you through, and understand the meaning of like what we're putting in front of you, and understand that you know there is, even in the most like asinine, like crazy things, there's a purpose to it. So you know, if you don't do a lot of reflection, definitely start now. You know. Reflect on your day, reflect on how you reacted to certain people that you had to interact with that day. Reflect on how you feel, you know coming up against certain challenges and how you're going to react when it's. You know it's game time and you are in the midst of a plebe summer, a plebe year, and you have somebody screaming at you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely Wow Cool, thank you. Um, wow cool, thank you. Uh, I would, uh, I would. I would also offer, just in everything you said, just kind of in conjunction with that, um, when it comes to serving your country, right, like so much of that too, we have to realize about the naval academy and you talked about it when you went to the leadership side of things is that, hey, when you come to the naval academy, you're coming to graduate as a commissioned officer, right, absolutely.
Speaker 1:If I've learned anything in my extensive two years, it's that really what it's all about is leading your sailors or your Marines, right, it is about people and it is about leadership, right? So what you do is so less important than how you treat the people that you are there with and how you lead the people and how you take care of them and how you support their personal and professional development, right? So even if you're not 100% convinced yet that you want to be a service warfare officer or an information warfare officer or a Marine, whatever it is, if you have a passion for people and you have a passion for leading people and just constant growth and development, then this is the right place for you.
Speaker 1:Right, like at the end of the day being a leader in the Navy and Marine Corps. Being an officer in the Navy and Marine Corps is all about being a leader, and if you like leading teams and you like helping other people achieve their maximum potential, then the Naval Academy is absolutely right for you. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah absolutely. That's your whole reason for being as an officer. Right Is to help other people achieve their full potential, and if that's what you want to do, if that's what you want to do with your life, if you want to help people by that route, by helping them maximize who they can be, both as a person and as a military professional, then absolutely come to the Naval Academy, because they are going to set you up to make that happen.
Speaker 1:Absolutely All right. Well, thanks so much, nicky. Thank you for taking the time to share all these stories and explain this. This has been such a fun episode and I hope for all the listeners out there that you learned a little bit about Signature Sheets through Nicky's stories and through my stories, so this was awesome, nicky. Again, thank you so much and to all my listeners, take care and I hope you guys have a great day.
Speaker 2:All right man. Thanks, Appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Man. That was probably the most fun podcast I've had recording so far. I hope you guys all really enjoyed it and thank you so much for listening. Please make sure to leave me a review on iTunes and be sure to subscribe to the Academy Insider Podcast. If you want to know more about the Naval Academy in general or any of these fun stories, make sure to check out all of the videos, blogs and podcasts that I have that are hosted on my website, wwwacademyinsidercom. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Academy Insider Podcast. I really hope you liked it, enjoyed it and learned something during this time. If you did, please feel free to like and subscribe or leave a comment about the episode. We really appreciate to hear your feedback about everything and continue to make Academy Insider an amazing service that guides, serves and supports midshipmen, future midshipmen and their families. Thank you.
