KPMidshipman
5-Year Member
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2010
- Messages
- 1
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am writing this letter as a concerned member of the regiment at the United States Merchant Marine Academy. Parents without a doubt play a crucial and even primary role in developing and protecting the young men and women who enter the academy through Vickery Gate. After exchanging hugs and farewells before entering into O’Hara Hall for the first time, each incoming member of the regiment realizes they are on their own and must quickly become adults. From this point forward their triumphs and failures, joys and pains, trial and tribulations are their own to bare.
I know that it is difficult for a parent to have their child make the courageous decision to cut all ties and enter into the honorable course of military duty at a Federal Service Academy. Every person who chooses this course knows it will not be an easy one. No one enters blind to the fact that they will be pushed to their physical, emotional, and mental limits. The methods used in training your children have been tested and proved effective through years of trial and refinement. At times they are not the most enjoyable but every midshipman and graduate can tell you that they are indeed effective and necessary. The training program is what makes graduates from USMMA a sought after asset in the Maritime Industry, Military, and any other field a Kings Pointer enters.
The purpose of this letter is to help parents understand that the training system, while it sometimes may seem crazy and even a little cruel, is effective. Making phone calls to school administrators, congressmen, and senators, with complaints about how your child is being treated causes disruptions in many ways. The first is that often times the person receiving a complaint will demand a change without fully understanding the system. This may seem like a good response to your complaint but will ultimately make your child less prepared to operate as a leader. One of the major parts of training is to learn to resolve our own problems and conflicts. At the Academy, at sea, and after graduation we are responsible for resolving our own problems, a skill which is gained only trough practice. In a warzone or thousands of miles from land, or even in an office board room, we have only our own intuition and ability to quickly resolve issues to help ourselves. Kings Point is such a respected program because our graduates have these skills enabling them to think quickly and act independently.
I write this letter to ask parents to please stop hovering over your children in an attempt to protect them. I know this is the easiest route to take as your child ventures into the mysterious and unknown world that is Kings Point. Instead I suggest that you advise your children on possible methods to resolve their own problems, help them to act as independent adults, and realize that while some training methods seem strange or malicious they have a purpose and are proven to work. I cannot imagine how difficult doing this would be, but I can promise that your child will develop on both a personal and professional level at a rate that you could never imagine. In only four years, and in fact during their time at the academy, your midshipman will be responsible for helping to resolve issues and problems for both themselves and subordinates, allowing them to learn this skill on their own will make them infinitely more effective as both a person and as a future leader.
Acta Non Verba
I am writing this letter as a concerned member of the regiment at the United States Merchant Marine Academy. Parents without a doubt play a crucial and even primary role in developing and protecting the young men and women who enter the academy through Vickery Gate. After exchanging hugs and farewells before entering into O’Hara Hall for the first time, each incoming member of the regiment realizes they are on their own and must quickly become adults. From this point forward their triumphs and failures, joys and pains, trial and tribulations are their own to bare.
I know that it is difficult for a parent to have their child make the courageous decision to cut all ties and enter into the honorable course of military duty at a Federal Service Academy. Every person who chooses this course knows it will not be an easy one. No one enters blind to the fact that they will be pushed to their physical, emotional, and mental limits. The methods used in training your children have been tested and proved effective through years of trial and refinement. At times they are not the most enjoyable but every midshipman and graduate can tell you that they are indeed effective and necessary. The training program is what makes graduates from USMMA a sought after asset in the Maritime Industry, Military, and any other field a Kings Pointer enters.
The purpose of this letter is to help parents understand that the training system, while it sometimes may seem crazy and even a little cruel, is effective. Making phone calls to school administrators, congressmen, and senators, with complaints about how your child is being treated causes disruptions in many ways. The first is that often times the person receiving a complaint will demand a change without fully understanding the system. This may seem like a good response to your complaint but will ultimately make your child less prepared to operate as a leader. One of the major parts of training is to learn to resolve our own problems and conflicts. At the Academy, at sea, and after graduation we are responsible for resolving our own problems, a skill which is gained only trough practice. In a warzone or thousands of miles from land, or even in an office board room, we have only our own intuition and ability to quickly resolve issues to help ourselves. Kings Point is such a respected program because our graduates have these skills enabling them to think quickly and act independently.
I write this letter to ask parents to please stop hovering over your children in an attempt to protect them. I know this is the easiest route to take as your child ventures into the mysterious and unknown world that is Kings Point. Instead I suggest that you advise your children on possible methods to resolve their own problems, help them to act as independent adults, and realize that while some training methods seem strange or malicious they have a purpose and are proven to work. I cannot imagine how difficult doing this would be, but I can promise that your child will develop on both a personal and professional level at a rate that you could never imagine. In only four years, and in fact during their time at the academy, your midshipman will be responsible for helping to resolve issues and problems for both themselves and subordinates, allowing them to learn this skill on their own will make them infinitely more effective as both a person and as a future leader.
Acta Non Verba