Essay #4
When I was seven and living in Corte Madera, California, my parents and I hiked from our home to Ring Mountain to get a clear view of the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels demonstration. I’ll never forget that awe-inspiring day and the chills I felt when the sixth plane shattered the air with a sonic boom. I witnessed the pilots’ aeronautical expertise from a unique perspective hundreds of feet above the magnificent air show.
My grandmother introduced me to aviation by giving me my first airplane kit. She nurtured my passion for the military by sharing relics from my grandfather’s Korean War service with me. Seeing his army captain pin, impeccably preserved green jacket, gleaming wings, and aged photos of him with his division instilled in me a sense of duty, pride, and motivation. From these keepsakes, along with my grandmother’s enthralling stories, I constructed an image of my modest yet heroic grandfather. Since kindergarten, marvels such as those created by Wilbur and Orville Wright also captured my attention, and my favorite trip as a kid was touring the Boeing factory in Everett, Washington. This visit made me yearn to fly my own F/A-18c Hornet─the plane used in Blue Angels’ performances─and even inspired me to design a blueprint of a superior aircraft.
I started regularly dragging my parents to air shows and sought out every warrior, airman, and captain I could find. Mesmerized by the aircraft at the Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia, I pictured myself in an olive-drab flight suit. At a Blue Angels exhibition at the Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia, a charismatic officer introduced me to the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps. Intrigued by our conversation, I attended an information session at the renowned Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Sea cadets in pristine dress uniforms. Officers adorned in ribbons and medals. Images of cadets piloting unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). From that moment, I envisioned myself as a United States Naval Sea Cadet.
A few months later, I found myself at recruit training in Great Lakes, Illinois. Like any recruit, I was clueless. Our chief introduced us to the petty officers with a series of incomprehensible screams. All I heard was to stay at attention and get in line. Panic-stricken, I scrambled to follow instructions. I sputtered, “Yes, Petty Officer” and “No, Petty Officer.” I shuddered at the words, “EVERYBODY, DROP,” the dreaded command to fall into push-up position. While listening to commands from three steaming-angry petty officers, we often forgot our left from right. When one recruit faltered, the entire division faltered, so we learned to take responsibility for our own actions, which was a way of taking responsibility for each other. When I finished recruit training, I was dead tired but overcome with pride, a profound sense of duty, and sincere respect toward my superiors.
Confident and competent, I am now a Petty Officer Second Class─zealous about the structure and order of the military. The discipline and drive I’ve developed as a sea cadet have had a positive impact on my athletic and academic performance. On my squash team, I became a third eye for teammates by pointing out opponents’ weaknesses and advising them on how to improve their strategies. In physics labs, I supported group members who struggled to understand complex concepts. I also feel more comfortable expressing my opinions about political and military conflicts. Although there is a strong anti-military attitude in my high school, my peers respect my perspective even if they disagree with it.
Sea cadets has allowed me to understand how thoroughly embracing collaboration and community ultimately leads to personal development and growth through multiple training events, including UAV design competitions and field operations. The program has also fueled my engineering ambitions, and with the knowledge, experience, and resources I obtain in college, I hope to turn some of my blueprints into supersonic aircraft.