Hello my name is James and I just recently received my acceptance letter to attend Texas maritime academy this fall… I am currently taking classes at a community college and am only about 12 credits shy of getting my AA. I will be attending using my post 9/11 GI bill, In 2012 I was honorably discharged from the navy as a BM2. After reading other posts I gathered that I will not be getting any credit for my sea time at the school… Oh well, my question here is, is there anything I should be doing now that will make my time at Texas maritime academy smoother or less stressful???
Haha, well besides the above, go ahead and get your twic, passport and mmc. Don’t wait. Also you could start studying seamanship in the merchant seaman’s manual, terrestrial navigation, and lifeboatman, as those are three classes that you cannot go on your first cruise without passing, and they have a high fail rate. You don’t want to miss a cruise and be set back. Other than that, just get your mind set ready to put up with bullshit and complaining from classmates (you will see quickly), and get ready to study most nights with a good group of people. Try not to listen to the rumors from others so much, but rather do what you need to do, and play the schools game. I got out in three years doing that.
Be prepared to ignore the stupid and annoying and focus on doing a good job at your tasks, even the stupid and annoying ones. You will get stupid demerits (or some other such punishment) for stupid reasons and you will be treated unfairly on occasion, just like in the Navy or in many other workplaces.
Sometimes I think the Academies are intentionally made to cull the people who can’t perform well when they don’t like their supervisor or feel they are being treated unfairly. That is probably a good thing, I’ve seen may AB’s stop trying to do a good job because they don’t like their pay or the way they are being treated. Clearly the Longshoreman were pulling that on the west coast with their work slow downs. There is no room for that as a deck officer.
So expect your ability to stay focused on the most important tasks despite people you don’t like or respect in a position of authority over you to be tested. If you can do that you won’t just be successful at TAMUG, you’ll be successful at whatever you decide to do.
Oh, and I probably wouldn’t talk about the Navy stuff too much, the school will be full of idiots who think they are hot stuff because they’ve spent 5 minutes at sea. Having more than that makes them feel belittled, and there is no point in making idiots angry.
the school will be full of idiots who think they are hot stuff because they’ve spent 5 minutes at sea.
Yessir, beware… beware of the little retards who are full of themselves, and love to complain, whine and talk crap about everyone else. They are easily identifiable by the frat boy demeanor and frat boy uniform alterations, and expectation to be handed a drill ship DP job. Annoying lot to say the least.
Find out who the financial aid person is at the college. This person is usually the representative that handles the GI Bill. Make sure they have all of the required documents. When transferring it can be a long and painful processes with the VA. Have some cash on hand, so if they mess it up you can pay your bills. Being a vet and going to an academy sucks. But it’s worth it in the end. Good luck.
I appreciate the advice guys…
RichM - Where in hell did you find THAT video? - No, I really don’t want to know.
In terms of what you can do now, I assume that you are in your last semester of your associates degree program, so the most important thing is to work hard, do well in your classes and graduate this spring.
Lone Star gave good advice to get your passport, TWIC, and MMC now. You probably have enough seatime to get at least an AB Special.
I recommend that you buy a copy of Bowdich. Read through it lightly first, then study the topics you are likely to encounter in your first year. Most importantly, start brushing up on your math skills. Find out what math is required and make sure you get a good head start on it.
My hat is off to RichM, that is the funniest thing I’ve seen on gcaptain in awhile, and unfortunately too true.
I couldn’t resist posting the video. Googled the word masturbation and punched the video link. There are many more, but I just copied the first one.
Looks like I’ll hopefully be there with you starting in Fall 2015, pending paperwork for Victor company acceptance.
I had to take 20 units this Spring to try and catch up on some transfer credits obviously our degree paths in CC may have differed. Here is what I pulled off TAMUG website.
All TAMUG degree programs require English 1301, HIST 1301 and 1302; and GOVT 2305 and 2306.
[ul]
[li]Marine Transportation majors can take MATH 1324 and 1325;
[/li][li]PHYS 1401 and 1402; ECON 2301.
[/li][/ul]
So, I’m taking GOVT 2305, 2306 right now, and I’ll try to do Hist in the Summer. It will be cheaper to take Physics at the CC as well. I have Math completed already.
I’m in Houston if you ever want to carpool down to Galveston for paperwork my name is my FB.
I have no advice, just want to say congrats and best of luck.
[QUOTE=Lone_Star;155254]Also you could start studying seamanship in the merchant seaman’s manual, terrestrial navigation, and lifeboatman, as those are three classes that you cannot go on your first cruise without passing, and they have a high fail rate. [/QUOTE]
Wait, what? Those were the “basket weaving” classes when I was there… well, aside from Terrestrial Nav taught by Pistol Pete… errrr, Captain Bourgeois. Hard course, but it was taught by one of the finest gentlemen I’ve ever had the pleasure to sail with. Guess things have changed. With a BM rating in the navy, you’ll probably wind up helping the instructor with the slow studies. There are always a few students that grew up on boats or former Navy that get asked to step up and tutor classmates.
[QUOTE=RichM;155250]
//youtu.be/hHdibfqT8XY
[/QUOTE]
Was about to question this, but then I remembered, there are no more “Prep Cadets” or “Pick-A-Prep” parties before cruise… ahh the good old days. Seriously though, MARB students… 
Other than that… if you survived “Great Mistakes” and the Navy, you should be set for TAMUG, most of the regiment stuff (granted there’s a s***load more now than back in '95 when I did FOW) will be old hat for you and no problem.
One last thing:
For God’sakes… don’t be like me and try to heist a life ring off the Bolivar ferry to toss on the Bonfire your freshman year. I still have cadets come up to me on boats saying, “Wait… are you the guy…” Yes… yes I am. 
Cadets do not masturbate!!! That is not natural! A cadets sexual pleasure should be limited to memorizing COLREGS’s & reading CFR’s!