Daniel L. - My STEM Program Experience

The time I spent at the Naval Academy was over way too soon. My presumptions about the Naval Academy were proven wrong minutes after we arrived. What seemed like a long morning, waking up at 5:30 am, rushing to school late, and getting on the bus while it was still dark outside, turned into one of the most exciting overnight trips of my life. The other was Freshman orientation at Saint Bendict’s Prep . I can honestly say that I have never had this much fun on a school day. 

When we arrived, I was in awe of the hospitality that greeted us. When the lieutenant presented us with gifts, I was a little skeptical. It seemed odd to me that a college like The Naval Academy would give away such exclusive looking sweat suits and bags to students who were already benefiting from the experience. I immediately jumped to the conclusion that we would have to participate in some sort of P.T. Luckily, this was not the case.

The classes that we went into we fun and interesting, I had no idea that technology like those we were exposed to on the trip had ever existed. The hands on experience had me wishing for more time within every class we were presented with. I could instantly tell that these class were consolidated because it we were having too much fun already.

The YP boat was one of my favorite experiences during the trip. We took of tour of the huge ship, and set sail. I enjoyed most the view of the surrounding area from the top of the YP boat. During this time it did not cease to cross my mind of that the fact that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The experience on the yard was just as rewarding. My chaperone was Mr. England. He was a pretty relaxed guy, not much older than this learned a lot about the difficulty of getting into this school from him.  He told me about the responsibilities of the classmates and how the upper divisions basically are in charge. In fact, comparisons to our school, and the Naval Academy came out to be the themes of our conversation.   

                                 

I cannot express everything that I gained out of this Mini-Stem program, and I can barely express my gratitude for the opportunity. What I can do is say thank to the Naval Academy, and all those who made this trip possible.