Hello everyone, I am in bit of a conundrum. I am considering a career in Merchant Mariner but I am unsure of how to proceed. I already graduated and have a BA in history (I wanted to be a teacher but quit, the California education system is just not that worth it). I’ve been searching for careers and I ended up here.
I initially thought about going through the SIU program and proceed to get a 3rd Mate Unlimited license. My plan was to save up some money, pay off my student loans (15.8k) then go to a maritime academy.
Then I’ve been told this is not exactly a good path to go through. I was informed that going through a martime academy would be better and that paying off the loans would not take long. However, seeing how much they are per semester is not pretty. I am considering either SUNY or Cal Maritime and unsure of which school to go to, I’m leaning more into Cal Maritime since I live in California.
Which path would be the most ideal? To work, save money, then go to a school or go to school straight away? I have a 2.9gpa (UCSD where I got my bachelor’s) and 3.5gpa (Community college). Thank you for your time and comments.
Going to a grad program is worth the roi if you decide to sail. Depending on what sector of the industry you would like to work in, hawespiping is also an option but can be a lot more challenging. Have you ever worked on boats before? How old are you? Do you have a family, kids, spouse etc? All things to consider when embarking on a non traditional career path. I’d suggest before plopping down a bunch of $$ for school is to go get some sort of part time job on the water first to determine if it what you really want. At the very minimum, try to talk to actual working mariners to get their perspective. Depending on where you are you could probably go ahead and get your MMC and work for a year and then decide if it is what you want to do. Sailing can certainly be a financially and intellectually rewarding career, but it is also hard. Sitting on a boat at this time of the year absolutely sucks and makes you second guess your life choices pretty regularly. Just something to consider…
If you join SIU i’d seriously consider just hawespiping. Its doable if you are serious, you’ll also end up better financially amd you’ll know if you want to sail without any financial commitment
Also look into something called the wok boat academy. Like 2 years, have a buddy that got business degree decided that wasn’t for him and went there and got his 500 ton mate and quickly upgraded to his 3rd.
I applied as graduate in Shipping And Logistics, I have strings attached other than my student loans. I just might try SIU or get MMC to try it as you said. I’m fully committed either way since if I do go SUNY I need to pay everything off. Thank you for your insight.
SUNY grad license program is pretty easy to get through, and as a day student you won’t deal with even a quarter of the bullshit the regular regimental students have to. Most of my classmates who took out loans sailed steadily and paid them off with ease.
Plus, even if you hate sailing it never hurts to have a masters degree.