Sponsor Question

JerseyJoe

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Joined
Apr 9, 2015
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I understand there are Sponsor Families. How does this work? Will these folks actually pick me up from the CGA, bring me to their home, let me fall asleep on their sofa, feed me dinner, and then take me back to the CGA? That would be incredible. What else would we do together? Would they take me golfing?
 
From the FAQ section of the Coast Guard Academy Parents Association website:

http://www.cgaalumni.org/s/1043/index_1col.aspx?sid=1043&gid=1&pgid=1095

What is the Cadet Sponsor Program?
The cadets meet with the coordinator of the sponsor program during swab summer. Cadets have the option of signing up to have a sponsor family assigned to them. Cadets who ask for sponsor families are assigned based the distance between the cadet's home town and the Academy; cadets whose home towns are the furthest away get assigned first and then it works back geographically towards New England. There is a 'meet-the-sponsor-family day' at the beginning of the semester. Cadets fill out a survey to get 'attached' to a compatible sponsor family; the survey asks about certain preferences (e.g., kids-w/o kids, pets-w/o pets, religion, etc.) The sponsor family offers a place for the cadet to crash off campus when they have liberty or leave. They can also be available for rides to the airport, etc.
 
It's a great program and I highly recommend signing up for it. Even if you don't 'connect' with your sponsor personality wise it is still worth trying. We never sign up as official sponsors but inherit 4/c cadets who didn't have an ideal connection with their official families. There are also lots of local civilians that participate as sponsors too.

The program tries to pair hobbies, activities and even religious affiliations between those involved so if you are a golfer and put that on your form, they might try to pair you with a family with golfers.
 
@ CoastiePilot..you allude to the fact that a lot of these families may be military. Do cadets find it uncomfortable being back in the situation of having superiors (officers) around when they're supposed to be decompressing? I don't like the idea of asking for rides to the airport, I don't need a chauffeur, and it could look like the only time I call is when I need a ride. I do like the idea of getting a call when someone needs a 4th person for a scramble.
 
JerseyJoe - I'm sorry, but I don't think you are going to have much time for golf.
 
Sponsor families can be civilian or military, either way, they're great. My sponsor family (and my fellow cadets who were also sponsored by them) were fun. It was a place to go and chill. We could switch into something more comfortable (as long as we were there) and watched TV and played Battlefield 1942.

There's nothing weird about your sponsor family being members of the military. There's a time and a place for the officer life, and the sponsor families know that. They're not going to do the military thing to you. In fact, if they're Coast Guard officers, there's about a 50% chance they went to CGA too, so they'll know what you're going through and how important it is to "get away" from it all. At home they might be "Bill" or "Beth" and back outside, at CGA they'll be Lt. Cmdr. Smith or Cmdr. Brown. As a 4/c cadet it may take you a couple of visits to get comfortable with the two faces of the same person, but that's OK (and it's something you'll experience throughout your career).

My sponsor family was really special. My sponsor dad was a 1979 CGA grad who had retired and was a school teacher. His wife and three kids (and dog) were really nice to me and the other cadets. I ran into my sponsor dad two years ago at a CGA homecoming and we caught up.

Now, as I got more senior at CGA, I went there less and less, because I had more freedom and other options. Once I had a car and a girlfriend from the outside, I wasn't around New London as much during liberty. But I can't overstate how helpful the sponsor family program is.
 
JerseyJoe - I'm sorry, but I don't think you are going to have much time for golf.

Haha, eventually you'll golf. By my firstie year, I took "advanced golf" which essentially meant we could go off base to play golf (which we did).
 
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