[color="#cc8899"] It's amazing how quickly a high pressure situation can change you - having to adapt to everchanging demands, leadership challenges, and the general stress of being underway for long stretches of time. I feel that I've grown more as a person, as a sailor, and as a leader in the past 2 months than I have in the previous 2 years. I've been presented with endless opportunities to prove myself, most of which I've taken and a small few of which I've failed. But more opportunities are constantly appearing, so I'm learning what I can from my mistakes and applying it where I can. I've been witness to some of the best and worst examples of leadership available, with something to learn from each one - what to do, in the case of the best leaders, and what not to do, in the case of the worst.
I've made great friends, but some of my decisions have also spawned negativity. Doing the right thing, the right way, is not the easiest choice to make. People don't like the extra time and attention it demands, the extra work, the increased difficulty vice simply "gundecking" something - it's much easier to spend 5 minutes on a task and declare it done than to spend an hour doing it correctly. In gaming, this is hacking, glitching, cheating, scamming - people looking for the easy way to do something, not the right way. It's easy to make friends by allowing it to happen or encouraging it and even easier to make enemies by fighting it. Call it a character flaw if you wish, but it's never something I've been able to ignore or participate in and I fight it wherever I can. It's irritated people I play games with and it's ruined my standing in guilds or with friends when I've taken it too far, but I've learned a lot on how and when to take a stand and when doing so won't help and will instead cause me problems. Gundecking isn't going anywhere anytime soon, but I'm able to recognize a lot more readily where and when it can be dealt with, and how.
Overall, I'm impressed with what I've learned in such a short time frame. I'm excited to become a better person and a better leader, and am finally getting what I wanted out of the navy (even if I'd rather be at a shore command, where things are more stable) - I joined to better myself, to grow up, to learn. My teachers were confused when I passed up scholarships to go into the Navy, but I finally have some evidence that the decision I made was the right one for me. I'm not the person I used to be - I'm more capable, less susceptible to stress, and more dedicated to tasks than I used to be. The "I'm too smart for this" attitude I had in high school was promptly and thoroughly squashed, and, while I wouldn't call myself humble, I've accepted that I don't know everything and that putting honest effort into studying does occasionally teach me something new. I hope to have an opportunity in the coming months to share with you all the experiences I've had this year so far underway, but for now I've got other things that need to get done - there's always more work to be done in the military.
Fair winds and following seas,
-MasPan[/COLOR]
I've made great friends, but some of my decisions have also spawned negativity. Doing the right thing, the right way, is not the easiest choice to make. People don't like the extra time and attention it demands, the extra work, the increased difficulty vice simply "gundecking" something - it's much easier to spend 5 minutes on a task and declare it done than to spend an hour doing it correctly. In gaming, this is hacking, glitching, cheating, scamming - people looking for the easy way to do something, not the right way. It's easy to make friends by allowing it to happen or encouraging it and even easier to make enemies by fighting it. Call it a character flaw if you wish, but it's never something I've been able to ignore or participate in and I fight it wherever I can. It's irritated people I play games with and it's ruined my standing in guilds or with friends when I've taken it too far, but I've learned a lot on how and when to take a stand and when doing so won't help and will instead cause me problems. Gundecking isn't going anywhere anytime soon, but I'm able to recognize a lot more readily where and when it can be dealt with, and how.
Overall, I'm impressed with what I've learned in such a short time frame. I'm excited to become a better person and a better leader, and am finally getting what I wanted out of the navy (even if I'd rather be at a shore command, where things are more stable) - I joined to better myself, to grow up, to learn. My teachers were confused when I passed up scholarships to go into the Navy, but I finally have some evidence that the decision I made was the right one for me. I'm not the person I used to be - I'm more capable, less susceptible to stress, and more dedicated to tasks than I used to be. The "I'm too smart for this" attitude I had in high school was promptly and thoroughly squashed, and, while I wouldn't call myself humble, I've accepted that I don't know everything and that putting honest effort into studying does occasionally teach me something new. I hope to have an opportunity in the coming months to share with you all the experiences I've had this year so far underway, but for now I've got other things that need to get done - there's always more work to be done in the military.
Fair winds and following seas,
-MasPan[/COLOR]