#009 - Signatures Sheets at the United States Naval Academy with Guest Nicki DeGuzman '16

In this episode, your host Grant Vermeer speaks with United States Navy officer Nicki DeGuzman'16 about signature sheets and his experience at the Naval Academy.

Nicki joins the podcast while serving in the information warfare community. He was in the 4th Company and a computer science and IT double major. He is from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia.

Nicki takes the time to talk about signature sheets. So if you don't know what a signature sheet is, it's a task that plebes get in the first weeks of the academic year.  This episode takes a deep dive into what signature sheets are about, how they work and everything you would ever need to know about a signature sheet.

But over the course of the interview, we share many hilarious stories but also share some really cool sentimental factors that are considered and thought about when it comes to signature sheets as well.

You will learn so much about the academy and after listening to this interview, it will give you many prompts to start a really interesting and funny conversation with a midshipman or an alum.

Be sure to review and subscribe to The Academy Insider with Grant Vermeer podcast on iTunes or where you listen to podcasts.

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Links Mentioned in the Show

Nicki's Book Recommendations

Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. 
A Message to Garcia by Elbert Hubbard.  
Misery by Stephen King 

The mission of Academy Insider is to guide, serve, and support Midshipmen, future Midshipmen, and their families.

Grant Vermeer your host is the person who started it all. He is the founder of Academy Insider and the host of The Academy Insider podcast and the USNA Property Network Podcast. He was a recruited athlete which brought him to Annapolis where he was a four year member of the varsity basketball team. He was a cyber operations major and commissioned into the Cryptologic Warfare Community. He was stationed at Fort Meade and supported the Subsurface Direct Support mission.

He separated from the Navy in 2023 and now owns The Vermeer Group, a boutique residential real estate company that specializes in serving the United States Naval Academy community PCSing to California & Texas.

We are here to be your guide through the USNA experience.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

This is your host Grant Vermeer Naval Academy class of 2017 and on I'm your academy insider. It's my goal to be your guide through the Naval Academy experience by sharing my stories and providing you inside information into the life of a midshipman.

Speaker 2: 0:20

Academy insider is in no way officially affiliated with the United States Naval Academy. All of the content on academy insider is my own and does not reflect the views of the United States Naval Academy, the United States Navy, nor the Department of Defense. Hey guys, and welcome to the academy insider podcast. Today I'm joined by Nicki DeGuzman.

: 0:42

who is a class of 16 graduate from the Naval Academy, a fellow information warfare community officer, and was a member of the fourth company during his time at the academy. But you guys, I don't think you understand. This is a great episode. Um, so me and Nikki take the time to talk about signature sheets. So if you don't know what a signature sheet is, it's a task that plebes get on, but we take a deep dive into what signature sheets are about, how they work and everything you would ever need to know about a signature sheet in this interview. But over the course of the interview too, we just share a ton of super funny stories, but also share some really cool sentimental factors that are considered and thought about when it comes to signature sheets as well.

Speaker 2: 1:21

So make sure to check out this episode. I think you'll get one, a ton of laughs, but to also a lot of really cool, heartwarming, uh, moments. So make sure to check it out. I hope you guys enjoy it. All right. Hey, hey, uh, thanks Nikki. Thanks so much for coming on the academy insider podcast. Really appreciate having you on. Yeah, dude, I'm glad to be a part of it. Thank you. Absolutely. Ah, before we get started today, again, just for everyone, uh, we're going to be talking about signature sheets today. So this is going to be a super fun topic and then we're going to share a lot of really funny stories. Um, as I was preparing for this episode, it brought back so many great memories of all the different things that people made us do for signature sheets. Yeah. Um, so this would be super entertaining, but before we get to that, if you don't mind telling the audience a little bit about yourself, so kind of your company, your major, a little background about you as a midshipman and as a person, kind of where you're from and what brought you to the academy. Sure, sure. Um, so while I was at the academy, I was in a fourth company, so, you know, go horsemen, uh, as a computer science and it double major. Um, yeah, dude, that was, that was a rough life for a little bit, but it was good. That was good. Um, I'm from the Hampton roads area of Virginia, so, uh, not a strange routes in navy life. That's actually what brought me to the navy. My Dad was navy, uh, commissioned through ocs. I, I saw the pride he took in his work and, and what he did, um, and uh, just led me to, to want to go to the academy. So, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. What did he do? What, what community did he serve in? He was a, a supply corps officer. Okay. Awesome. Awesome, awesome. Um, sweet. Well, uh, thanks for that quick introduction. Um, and again, we're here to talk about signature sheets. So before we dive down into a bunch of, a bunch of really funny stories, if you don't mind just kind of informed the audience what a sheet is. Can you just explain everyone what we mean when we're referencing signature sheets?

Speaker 3: 3:03

Yeah. Um, so a signature sheet and the name is pretty self explanatory to a sheet with the names of all of your upper class. Um, so third class, second class and first class. And uh, typically at least the way it was not in my company, it's a, just a, a roster of names and a blank space beside them where a signature would go. Um, and it's, it's a way of integrating the plebes with their company.

Speaker 2: 3:26

Yeah, absolutely. And so that was the same in 26 company go roughriders, uh, was exactly that. It's literally just a roster of all of the people. So in the, they would separate it for us, so they would have like a sheet of third-class names, a sheet, a second class names and a sheet of first-class names. Um, but at the end of the day, that's all it is. It's name and a blank space to earn a signature. Um, so before we jump into that kind of what's the, and you mentioned a little bit in terms of meeting people in the company, but kind of what's the purpose of signature sheets and why do, why do we do those?

Speaker 3: 3:54

It was at the academy. Yeah. So I, there's, there's layers to it, right? So on a surface level, it's, it's a means to get even like the most introverted plebes to, you know, get out of their rooms. He got their upper class and learn a little bit about the company of it becoming a part of, um, on a deeper level. It's just another piece of the like time management puzzle that the academy keeps feeding you through through your years there. So, you know, you got class, you got homework, sports, uh, as a plebe, you're like, ah, designing like upper-class boards, you're studying pro bono and now we're adding signatures on top of that. Uh, just to add to the, the pressure that's on you for

Speaker 2: 4:32

another thing you're accountable for. Yeah, absolutely. And that's a, that's pretty tough cause again, they, they give you, uh, they give you deadlines for these signature sheets, right? So at the, uh, at the first like blue and gold of the year, um, blue and gold, we talked a little bit about it on academy insider earlier when we talked about plebe summer, kind of an end of the night meeting during the academic year. They do it once a week on Sundays. And so that first Sunday, usually during reform, they'll pass out these signature sheets and let you know, like, Hey, you have two weeks or you have three weeks to get all of the signatures of[inaudible] of all the upper-class in your company. Which is tough because it takes a long time to get all of the signatures. Um, so, so like Nikki was saying, it's just that extra added stressor, it kind of throws in another factor and another variable to the time management puzzle, which is the term he used, which I think is awesome is like, hey, how do I prioritize my time? How do I go ahead and meet all these new people in my company and how do I do that while maintaining the academic balance, the athletic balance and just all the different things that we have going on. And like the big thing is like, it's like,

Speaker 3: 5:38

yeah, you can manage your own time perfectly, but um, you know, you're going to be getting signatures from, from varsity athletes who like, you know, haven't help if you're trying to find them at a reasonable time, you know, between between dinner and study period, you're going to be dealing with people who like, you know, maybe the dating somebody out a company and so like they're just never deck.

Speaker 2: 5:57

You're going to be dealing with people that their own classmates are like, I never see. I don't, I never see them. Yeah. Yeah. And so it's a little mixed

Speaker 3: 6:05

so that, uh, you know, that message to Garcia like, hey, you gotta figure it out cause I don't care how you do it. You got to do it.

Speaker 2: 6:11

Yeah. Uh, I love that you just use[inaudible] Garcia. I don't think we ever talked about that to the academy and sirens. Do you mind just taking a second to explain that, the whole message to Garcia story as well as what it means in this scenario?

Speaker 3: 6:23

I feel like that's one of those, uh, academy things that, that sticks with you for ever. Um, and you know, I'll hear people like, like old, old grads, same message to Garcia and I know exactly what they mean. So yeah. You know, for all the people out there, if you're mid, uh, ever refers to message to Garcia. Long story short, what it means is like he got to figure it out. You got to get it done no matter the cost. So what they do is they give us a book. Um, the book is titled Meshes of Garcia and it's a, it's a story about a, I think it's like the Spanish American war is the era. Um, and basically they, they give an assignment to um, a young soldier and I say you have to deliver this message to Garcia. And that's pretty much all they gave them. Um, not a lot of extra detail, like not anything on who is Garcia, where is he? Um, they just say, yeah, get it done. And, and the story is all about how, you know, at the end of the day he gets it done. So yeah, if, if you, uh, you know, it's sort of a unifying thing of from all years of the academy. If, if somebody says, Mrs you Garcia, they basically saying, hey, we don't need excuses, we need results. Um, Yep. Figure it out. Make it happen.

Speaker 2: 7:38

Yeah, absolutely. That's it. Yeah. I'm glad we got the opportunity to talk about that cause that's used constantly at the academy, Right. Is someone will give you a task, someone will tell you to get something done or whatever it is. And you may have a follow up question like, oh, well where should I start or what should I do? Or like w yeah. In the beginning, one of the times they'll look at you and they'll just be like message to Garcia, which literally just means like, hey dude, figure it out. Yeah. Right. Like at the end of the day, take, take the ownership of the tasks that you were given and now use all of your resources to try and make it happen. Sure. Um, which is, which is a test in a leadership and perseverance and just getting it all done. Um, but that, that's a big thing within the naval academy and I think the military at large is absolutely is owning, is owning and embracing tasking when it becomes yours and you, you are the lead on some kind of task or project is, Hey, message to Garcia, figure it out, get it done. Do what you have to do in order to make it happen. Yeah. I've

Speaker 3: 8:29

gotten my fair share of assignments where it's like, I get it and I look and I'm like, what? What do they expect me to do with this? But I know that the end result is, you know, x or y. And so I'm like, alright, you know, I'm just gonna, you know, ask questions where I can and move forward. So yeah. Yeah, it's, it's a good, uh, it's one of those academy lessons that sticks with you. And even in something like signature sheets, which yep. You know, if you ask any employee what feelings on signature sheets, ards, you're probably not going to hear the most glowing reviews, but everything we do has a purpose. And here it's, you know, creative problem solving. It's adding more things onto the pressure cooker and in figuring more things out. Yeah,

Speaker 2: 9:09

absolutely. Um, so yeah, I mean, it's great transition back into the signature sheets on when you were, when you were a plebe, where your first[inaudible], do you remember how long, uh, you were given in order to complete, uh, the signature sheets?

Speaker 3: 9:23

It never seemed like enough time, um, on both ends. Like as a plebe, I was like, they want us to get it done in like two weeks. Like, yeah, that's insane. And that has a first seem like, hmm, that seems like a tight deadline. But uh, yeah, it's, it's normally going to be, um, you know, every company is gonna run things a little differently. Uh, and usually it's going to be done in waves. Uh, so they'll expect you to have all third-class done within one or two weeks, or they'll say like by this date or before liberty on this day. And then, uh, after everybody's moved on and has gotten their third class, they'll move on to second class and so on.

Speaker 2: 10:00

Yeah. Um, and as we talked about that, so I know when I was a plead, we didn't have it in waves actually. We were just given like, hey, three or four, we were given like, hey, you have three or four weeks, get everyone's signature. Um, when I was a Firstie my company, our training staff decided to do it in waves or they're like, hey, you have one week to get all of the third-class signatures and then, hey, you have one week to get all of the second class signatures. And then, yeah. And like you're saying, kind of did it in waves. Um, but regardless of how they do it, do you mind just telling a little bit about the difference of trying to get a signature from a third class? First, trying to get a signature from a second class in first a first class and kind of all the different factors and, um, different things, the different types of tasks that generally come from asking a, a, a youngster or a second class or, sure. Sure, sure. Um, so

Speaker 3: 10:44

typically you'll, you'll find that, you know, as you go up and ask a third class for a signature, it's going to be a little more laid back. Um, they're, if they're doing it right, they're, they're not really in a position to be, you know, very like authoritative or demanding, like they were, you know, you as a plebe, you go to them for signature, you know, they were you a year ago. And so they might just ask you to tell them a little bit about yourself. Uh, you know, what do you want to major in? What are you trying to serve as select? Um, you know, this is my name, here are my roommates, these are my friends. And it'll be just a little more informal, um, as they just try to get to know more about you, uh, because you know, as, as a young steer, you're just glad to not be a plebe anymore. So you see these guys and you're like, okay, you know, it's time to help the rookies. Um, you know, get a little street cred, uh, learn what life is like here. Yeah,

Speaker 2: 11:36

absolutely. Um, yeah and the, and then second class,

Speaker 3: 11:40

yeah, second class. So as a second class they'll typically, they'll find, they put a little more emphasis on training. Um, they might ask you professional knowledge questions, they might ask you to research or write something. But, um, as the usually is like the, the training, um, you know, core of the upper class, they are going to be the ones who put that emphasis on training and, and ask you to, uh, I guess just respond in that pressure environment, um, to whatever assignment that is they give you typically relating to, to something training related, either, you know, at the academy and Academy processes or the Navy at large and absolutely firsties at least in my company, it tended to be a mix of depending on who you got and how they feeling that day.

Speaker 2: 12:22

But, um, and as a rule of thumb, you know, they'll ask you,

Speaker 3: 12:27

I found that, uh, the general themes seem to be, they're gonna ask you to do some research, uh, on a community based on whatever their service selection aspirations were. So, uh, at that time, I, like for example, myself, I wanted to go to the information worker community. So I asked the police to do some research, um, write up a little something and be prepared to answer some questions on the information where her community, um, since especially since, you know, as far as, um, you know, knowledgability uh, up communities, the, it tended to be a little lacking for the athlete of that particular sector. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 13:06

Oh, that's it. Oh yeah. That's one of the big things as a fellow information warfare, you're the person, like people don't know about our community, what we do or like any, any of the things that really is the IWC. So, um, I, I always found that to be a really cool piece of signature sheets. Like you're saying, when people did take that opportunity to I, and I mean we're talking like no more than like five to 10 minutes of like research and do a little thing, but just to enough to be understanding of what this person is interested in. Right. So to kind of get back to the purpose of signature sheets, at the end of the day, this whole point is to meet everybody in the company and get to know a little bit about them, learn their names and all those things. So when they give you that task of learning something about the community that they want to go into, one, you're learning a little bit about that person because you learn about what they want to do. But also it just helps the plebes get exposed to all the different opportunities that they offer that there are, um, in the military and specifically in the navy, in the Marine Corps as well. Um, so, so it is, it is a very co, um, fun kind of cool opportunity for firsties to task, um, different things in order to earn signatures. Absolutely. But there are also the other side of signatures. And so I kinda want to transition this conversation into a little bit about the different cultures, about getting signatures in different companies, um, and not even necessarily cultures between companies, but just cultures, between personalities of people. Um, so if you don't mind talking a little bit about, so we've, we've talked about hey, second class, usually a little bit more training related first-class, usually a little more research related, but that's not always the case. Can you talk a little bit about some of the other other sides of signature sheets and the other different cultures when it comes to signature sheets? Yeah. So yeah, you'll see this bent

Speaker 3: 14:52

depending on what, whatever this the upperclass is interested in. Um, it comes through in, in their own personality and whatever communities they are part of, um, on the yard. So, you know, I had some, some Glee Club, uh, company made two, they would make the plebes sing a song and like, they would have to practice a song and like, not sound awful and they'd make them, they're going to do it like out in the POA. So

Speaker 2: 15:15

everyone's going to hear it, give it. Sounds bad. Everyone's going to hear it. So,

Speaker 3: 15:20

uh, yeah, just stuff like that. We had a really, um, oh man, we had a really motivated, like Marine Corps, a hopeful Lizzie who, yeah, he uh, he challenged one of my classmates who, you know, he was a tennis player and considered himself very fit and he was like, all right, if you want me to signature, uh, you got to get from here. We lived on three, three, you gotta get from briefly to the building code statute in four minutes. And I was like, all right, and as soon as you said that, and my buddy, he just took off and

Speaker 2: 15:48

ignoring Britain, he just started ignoring like

Speaker 3: 15:51

all the Lino approved routes for him. Pleads. He was just like, no, I'm cutting through the Rotunda. I'm like going through all these places where plebes shouldn't be like running across the grass. Like you should walk on the grass anywhere. Even like beyond the academy. Like I'm going to get to the Billy goat statute and have like photo evidence that I was here in four minutes and I'm going to get back so I can get the signature and not have to deal with this guy anymore. So, yeah, you see people's personalities come through, uh, with signatures, which is another important thing, right? It's like, it's an important opportunity for a company to establish what their culture is yet. Um, and so the plebes get a feel for, all right, these are the people I'm going to be spending the next year of my life with for firsties and then, you know, two years and beyond for, for a second class and youngsters, and this is the kind of place that this is and this is, you know, what I'm going to carry forward as it becomes my company and I'm in charge of the culture. Yeah,

Speaker 2: 16:48

yeah, absolutely. I think that's probably one of the biggest things. It's something I talked about on a previous episode with Christian Blanchard. Um, we were talking specifically about brigade organization, but we kind of broke it down to the company level, right? And we was like, Hey, each company at the Naval Academy has their own culture and it's something that's established and they tried to establish in training, but also in these different things that make their companies unique, right. The way they do signature sheets. Um, the way they paint their poster boards that are, you know, in Bancroft Hall, uh, the way they conduct formations, whatever it is. Um, every company definitely has their own little unique culture and everything that has happened is established by the way they do things. So the, when we talked about these signature sheets, right? Like sometimes your company, like if you have a son, a daughter, grandson, granddaughter, whatever it is, it's a play right now. You may hear stories and they may be all training related. And then you may have some other people that have stories that are like the funniest stories you've ever heard, doing like ridiculous things in order and signature sheets, right? Like, yeah, but, but that's just kind of part of the process and part of establishing, um, the culture that your company wants to have. Um, so absolutely. But with all of this being said, um,

Speaker 3: 17:58

everyone wants to know what happens if the plebes don't get the signature. So what happens if you do not meet the deadline? Oh Man. Oh, standby. Standby. Right. So that's it. That's the thing is normally you're going to face some sort of group punishment, right? It's everybody. No one cares if yours were done two weeks early. If, you know, midshipmen, Schmuck, he didn't get his done. Um, and you know, due date was yesterday, nobody cares that you were squared away. Right. You know, refer to your, your laws of the navy on that one, you know, um, yeah, they're going to face some sort of group punishment and it's gonna make life a little less pleasant, which, you know, as a pleading you want to, you want to take all the, the WEC can get. So to, to be handed something like that is, is, uh, is tough on morale. But what it does do is it brings the group together to figure it out. Right? Um, you'll, you'll find out why, why is this one person or why are these people deficient? Um, are they really busy? Are they an athlete themselves? Uh, wasn't my fault? Like, you know, I got mine done two weeks early. Why wasn't I helping them? You know, whatever their assignment was. There's something I can do to be a part of it. Um, if for example, object, just whatever group punishment, cause I know people are gonna hear that and be like, oh, what are they doing to them for my company, I'm like, we've got placed on 24 hour blues. So Yep, you need to get up in the middle of the night because like 1130 and you need to make a head call. Yay. Guess what buddy you're putting on your school uniform.

Speaker 2: 19:28

And before you leave the room at that, that is, oh my gosh, that, that is the worst punishment to me. It's terrible. It's terrible. There's nothing worse than waking up at 2:00 AM and you're like, man, I just gotta pee. And you're sitting there and your PT gear and you're like, I can't believe I have to go put on my all like my entire uniform, my dress shoes, everything just to chop my, my happy, but down the p way to go use the bathroom and then just chop right back, change that everything and go back to bed. And I know,

Speaker 3: 19:57

so I know if like a plebe hears this podcast and they hear this segment, they're like, hmm. You know, my, my, there's no way my upper class are up at one in the morning. Guess what? The Deaf

Speaker 2: 20:06

Oh yeah, they are, they are constantly, I'm doing homework or like they can't fall asleep or whatever it is. Like I know for me I would be up until like two or three in the morning I'm doing homework. Oh, you heard somebody chopping outside. I would probably be like, who the hell is up? Who is hour in the morning? Peak your head out the door and be like, oh wait, aren't they on 24 blues? Interesting. I'll take notes. Yeah. Interesting. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Um, yeah, no, that, that's hilarious. It W in what may seem to be like the most counterintuitive thing ever. Like you probably get the most sleep of all time of all four years of the academy during your pleading. Yeah. Yeah. Like you don't even think about it like the most tired probably plea beards cause everything's going on but you actually get the most sleep. Like upperclassmen are up constantly. Like I don't know how many times a week I was up until like two or 3:00 AM. But like it was pretty consistent and like they were just, you know, and, and the thing is like, it depends on the major of like when things are up. Like you may have some English majors that always have papers due on Friday, so they're app late on Thursday nights. And then you have like cs and cyber majors that have have labs that are due on Tuesday morning. So they're up on Monday night. Right. And then you have all these different majors that have different projects or different things that keep them up on different nights of the week. So you're like, no matter what, if you're up at like 2:30 AM in Bancroft Hall, there's probably at least a, you know, probably like five upperclassmen in your company that are still awake and wandering and like heading to the wardroom to like, you know, get some coffee or get a snack or something. But someone, someone's always up, someone's always open working. Yeah, absolutely. Um, all right. So, so yeah, the point is, is you don't wanna, you don't wanna knock, get your signature sheets done. Um, but the unfortunate truth is that you're probably not going to get them done. Um, so what happens is that basically at that blue and gold, when they realize that not everyone has completed their signature sheets, they will literally make you rip them up. So you're like standing in the hallway[inaudible] sickness, she's out in front of them and they're like, all right, now rip your signature sheets and that, you know, you rip them and tear them up and then in the Hangi new ones and you gotta start all over again. Um, and that, that, that's kind of a, a crazy thing. So a lot of times I've had, you know, please come up to me and be like, or be like, hey, if they're just going to rip me anyway, like why, why should we even try and let me just, let me, let me just say this right now, to anyone who may be listening who don't want to be the person that has like zero signatures on the sheet or it's going to be like so much worse for you. Right? Like you have to try. Cause if you don't try, like it's just, hey, in my favorite southpark reference, you're going to have a bad day. You're just gonna have a bad day. They want it. They want to see effort. Right. And look, even if you understand that, yes, we're going to have to start from square one. Depending on what class you're at. When you start from square one, your third class are going to be pretty understanding and be like, yeah, you know, oh those guys that got ya, you know, happens. Um, they're second class and first he's, they'll probably, you know, give you some other assignments. They'll, they'll switch things up. But the point is you have to put your best effort forward. Right. Um, it might, it might seem like just a, a Sisyphean task to like keep grinding away and then like, hey, you know, these three people couldn't get it done and don't get me wrong. Those people are going to feel terrible. Or you know, if they're good people, they should. Right. But, but the point is if you, even if you were done on time, there's something you could've done to help everybody else. Right. It's, it's a team effort and that's, man, it,

Speaker 3: 23:46

it's just a good life lesson in that coordinating something between 40 people to have everybody like just at their individual effort and they're all contributing to the team. And to have that all go towards one thing and say that, hey, we're all done now. Like we all did this and we've all accomplished it. That's hard. Yeah. That's a hard thing. Especially cause it's period leadership too, which is, you know, the hardest form of leadership, you're, you have to go to your buddy who is a plead just like you and go, hey man, you're jacked up. You're like 26 inches behind. This is doing two days, I gotta help you out. Let's figure this out. Let's find out why you're messed up. And that's not an easy thing to do. Especially like being tactful and being respectful, but still finding a way to lead that person, even though you're on the same level as them, they're experiencing the same hardships and responsibilities that you are. Um, yeah, that's tough. But I mean that's the whole point. That's why we need signature sheets.

Speaker 2: 24:41

Yeah. Um, yeah, no, absolutely. And at the end of the day, it always is extremely difficult because it was a funny comment you made earlier, but a lot of times there are people who are just not around very often, right? Like you're going to have to end season varsity athletes who, um, like hypothetically, let's say there is a girl in your company or a guy in your company who plays varsity soccer, like they are on the soccer team, right? They play a fall sport. Well guess what? They may have to away games in the same week and they're gone like the entirety of the week. And the one night they are back, they're just working on homework constantly because they, they're gone four days. Right. And they're beat. And so like trying to get these signatures from a lot of people is, is difficult a lot of the times. Or, or even you're saying sometimes they're just dating someone in a different company and just never spend time on company, like in your company spaces, anything. Yeah. You talked to their roommate and they're like, dude, that I'm like best friends. I don't even know how you can see. I'm like, he's just never here. Yeah. Uh, so like you're saying, at the end of the day, you're probably not going to get them done, but what they're looking for is for everyone to put in a very solid effort to try and get to know everyone in the company because one, it's great to, as a Plebe, you have to address everyone by name anyway, especially if they're in their company. So it's just going to help you out anyway. Because once you start learning people's names and passing people in the hallways a lot better. So you're not like mumbling like, oh good morning Mr Balloon sir. Cause you have no idea what his name is. Know what I mean? God I remember that. Um, yeah. So I remember doing that. Oh I've mumbled so many names that I did not know in my lifetime. Uh, yeah, absolutely. So I mean, right. So there are a lot of things, but at the end of the day they just want to see you get them done. But kind of in the second round, uh, second and third, second, third, fourth, you know, rounds of signature sheets. Then generally some of those, um, things, as long as they're not like a super motivated, you know, motivated mid, uh, that gives you like a training task every time. A lot of times they kind of turned to funny or more ridiculous things. Or sometimes they're even like, Hey, what's my name? And you got it right and you're like, alright, you know my name[inaudible] you've already done a task with me, I'm just going to sign it. Right. So it gets easier each time you go through. But also sometimes they get a little funnier or kind of more, more ridiculous. They make you do more funnier things to get some signatures. Um, so I just wanted to bounce this one to you and see if you had any like, you know, funny or ridiculous stories that you had to do when you were pleased to earn signature or that you knew your classmates did to make plebes earned their signature when you were firstly.

Speaker 3: 27:10

Okay. So, Oh man, I've got a couple of stories. So, um, yeah, I guess just to start off light, like, so me and my roommates, my room, um, we, you know, we played video games to blow off steam. Like I feel like a lot of kids do that. Yeah. So, you know, any time, uh, you know, some like more timid looking plebes show up at our door and we were just looking at and be like, hey, did you play video games in high school? And Dad would be like, oh, I don't know how to answer this question. Yeah. Yes. And we'd be like, all right, come in. And we'd say like, all right, if you can beat us in Smash Bros, we'll, we'll give you a signature. And so like, you know, they haven't played video games for like all summer and uh, for, for some of them longer because they've been so focused on getting to the academy, really, we didn't care if they could beat us or if they're good. We were just trying to get them to open up and relax and see that like, Hey, not everyone here is like trying to get your head on a platter. We're here to help you out, read it up, you understand what it's like to live here and be here and be a mid. Yeah. And so that's what we were looking for. I was just like, do they open up? Are they conversational? Are they having a good time or are they like super stressed out? We were just trying to find out there's anybody like here, like just really, really uncomfortable with like coming into the academic year. Yup. Um, I guess on the other side of that coin, like as a plea, uh, uh, that was, this was like, so I came in in 2012, um, 50 shades of gray had just come out each day. So some overclass loud to be hilarious if me and my roommate who dropped by, maybe you recited a passage from the book, uh, it's nothing, it's nothing too Raunchy. It was just the beginning of the book with the characters flirting with each other, but it was still weird just having to voice act all of this with my roommate. You're like, yeah, I spent, yeah, I spent plebe summer, which was a very like, you know, a lot of bonding moment. Someone, yeah, you get on it. Like just literally I've, I've known this guy for like three months, so it's like, oh, this is kinda weird. Yeah. If I remember right, I was the girl, so they made me do a high pitched voice and then my roommate just did like a comically low voice for the guy character hitting on me as the woman. Nice. And I was just like, Oh man, this is, and the upper costs were loving it and we were just very uncomfortable, which is the whole point. They just, they wanted to have a laugh. They wanted to make us uncomfortable and see like, hey are they gonna like commit to it and like not cop out and like, yeah. Like, Oh, can I get my signature in other way? So, you know, we, we were, we were good natured about it, so we're like, all right, fine. This is kind of weird. This is really weird. Uh, we'll do it

Speaker 2: 29:43

once you say, we'll do it. Give it, yeah, give us your signature, sir. Please. Yeah. Yeah. Like to me it was, it was always funny cause like I would spend a lot of time, uh, so I lived in eighth wing, which for anyone who doesn't know, it was like all the way to the opposite end of all the academic buildings. So a lot of times I would spend my homework in the computer lab working on a lab for one of my cyber projects. And then I would walk back through Bancroft Hall at night during the first couple weeks of school. And I'd enter usually in like first wing and then just like, you know, traverse my way through Bancroft and the amount of just like utterly ridiculous things I've seen like plebes doing, like I've seen plebes with like a Ukulele, like serenading someone like, so usually a lot of times like a upper class, we'll make the plebes like serenade their respective, uh, significant other or something, you know, and they just like, you have like 40 plebes, like come up to some random person's door and like another company and they just like start, start seeing in a ballad too, you know, and you're like, Ooh, this is really bad. Really uncomfortable. But uh, you know, sure, why not? And then you walk by and you enter another company space and they're like, people acting out a scene from like a movie, like, I don't know how many, like dodge ball quotes I've heard from people as I'm like walking through Bangkok. But like, it's just like, it is just as like a super fun, um, experience a lot of times for signature sheets is just, hey, like you're saying, not everyone here is out to like make your life miserable. Right? Like it, and especially within a lot of the companies, just the setting that, that culture of, hey, we take this very seriously and we train extremely hard, but we also know how to have a good time or we're not here to make your life miserable. Right. Um, and I think that's kind of some, uh, some definitely some fun experiences that you can, uh, here, uh, here about when it comes to signature sheets. Right. And that was my[inaudible]

Speaker 3: 31:32

variance that that was larger than my experience in, um, in fourth company was like, yes, we take like deadlines and like getting things done and doing things the right way. We took that seriously, but as far as like the content of what you're actually being assigned like that was, that was fair game for everybody to have a good time and like understand this is who I am as a person and if you are being good natured and like you have a good sense of humor as a plebe then all right. You know, you and I are going to get along. Yeah. For the most part that's what most people are looking for.

Speaker 2: 32:01

Absolutely. Yeah. I'm, I'm glad you brought that up because a lot of people might be like, Oh wow, you know why they haven't fallen, blah blah blah. Like you were saying like the overall structure and outline was still very strict. Right? Like you still needed to get the signatures down on time and if you didn't, guess what, you're not going to have a good day. You're not going to have a good time. It's like you're guaranteed and one of the morning workouts, a falling week that you're going to get beat down. Right. But when it comes, when it comes to the actual content of getting a lot of the signatures, especially on, you know, a couple rounds through, like then it gets to be a little bit more lighthearted. Um, but yeah, and so I'm trying to think, like for me, probably the most ridiculous thing that I made, um, I plead do is we had a, when I was a man, I might have been a second class. I might've been at first. He, I forget. Um, this girl Kat Rico, she was from my like hometown as well. So she came up to me, she was like, Oh yeah, went to Archbishop Mitty High School. I was like, you what? I was like, that's my rival high school. Like, yeah. First of all, what's up? That's cool. Um, but I was also like, all right, well, your last name's Rico. And that like a couple of weeks before that, Drake had just dropped a new song called Rico. And I was like, well, that's, you know, that's convenient. Um, so I made her, uh, learn and then wrapped to me like the first verse, I think. Oh yeah. And she did a great job. Right? Like she got super into it and it's like I, I think I still have the video on my phone to be honest. But uh, she really killed it, you know, uh, you know, those are, those are like kind of some of the fun,

Speaker 3: 33:28

fun things that you do. There reminds me of a story. It'd be that up. We had a, it must've been, so we were a second class at the time and signature signature sheets were due that night and we have one person come by who like still did not have my room signatures for some reason, which was insane because we are, you know, all things considered pretty like we are more laid back than, than other rooms. But they didn't have ours for some reason and they came to us like before study period and before blue and gold like I need your signatures and before we can even spit on an assignment, they're like, I have a freestyle. I prepared

Speaker 2: 34:05

that. I'm willing to ask for me.

Speaker 3: 34:07

[inaudible] guessing you were seeking the truth. And we all meet friends, look at each other. Look at each other like, yeah. Oh yeah,

Speaker 2: 34:12

yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 3: 34:14

I pulled out my phone, I had like a, like a beat, a beat maker machine on it and I just threw a beat on it. I was like, yeah, hit us with it. Here we go. And she crushed it. And so, um, yeah, that, yeah,

Speaker 2: 34:26

we were like, yeah, you got, yeah. That's good. Yeah, absolutely. Give me your sheet. Give me a sheet right now. Yeah. Go to blue and gold knowing that you are safe in the future. Come to a sooner, but yeah. Good. Uh, man. Um, yeah. So you talked a little bit about uh, making, making some plebes play a smash Bros for your signature. Um, was there anything else you did to make pleads earn your signature?

Speaker 3: 34:49

I would make them, I would change it up from year to year. It's like one year I made them do some research on information warfare. Uh, we had groups come in and, you know, play video games with us and just like see them and get them to relax a little bit and understand, you know, we're, we're all in this together. We're all trying to graduate. We, you know, we get it. One thing I like doing is, so, you know, plebes will, they'll do things in groups then. Like they'll gather up their buddies milk, hey, let's try to get Mr Guzeman signature. Yeah. And so they'd show up at my room and be like, Hey, we want your signature. And so I'll pair them up with each other and be like, do you know this person? And I would wait until they said no and be like, oh, you don't know this guy. You just want to complete something with them but you don't know where they're from and you aren't like super tight with them. I want you to come back to me and be able to answer some questions on this person. Cause like, you know, these are your classmates, you should know where they're from. You should know what they like, you should know who they are as a person. And so I know that like, you know, plebe summer doesn't facilitate all of that. Um, but I would just encourage them to, if you didn't know that person well or you didn't think of them as your friend yet, uh, you're going to come back to me and you're going to get your signature by proving to me that like, Hey, uh, I've sparked a friendship here. Yeah. Can I get who this person is as a person and know where they're from. I know their story. Ask me some questions on him. I'm ready. And then I'd give them, I give my second trip for that.

Speaker 2: 36:08

Yeah, man, I, I, I love that. Uh, this is a good one. Yeah, no, that's super great. And at the end of the day, like the closest friends you'll probably ever make are like some of the people in your company at the Naval Academy, right? Like, like to this day, my two best friends, um, Jeremiah heart and Christian plans are, were like my two best friends to this day. They're my two best friends in my company at the academy. Right? Like, those, those relationships are, are super strong. And, uh, so, so I love that you did that. And it kind of reminds me so of of what I did. So when I made plebes earned my signature, which kind of goes back to what I felt was the intent of signature sheets was, which was to get to know your upperclass. Um, right. And so the biggest thing about who I am is I'm a really big family person and I, I love expressing, um, I'm a very expressive person. I love to express, um, my love, my gratitude, my appreciation for people. So, um, in order to earn my signature, um, because of the hustle and bustle of plebe year and you're going to academics and you have all these things and you have signature sheets and whatnot, right? Like you're just constantly going, I made pleads, draft up a text message or make a phone call, whatever they wanted to do. So basically what I did is, is before they asked me for my suture, I was like, who's the most important person or people in your life? And, you know, some people would say like, oh my, my grandfather, or oh my, my entire family or all my siblings, or, you know, whoever it was. Yeah. And I'd be like, that's awesome to know. I want you to either call them or draft up a text message, just explaining how grateful you are for their presence in your life. Right. And I'll let you appreciate them because it's, it's so easy to get lost in the naval academy and so much of what's going on, right. That you just forget about the people that you love and care about that are on the outside that don't understand what you're going through. Um, so that, that was, that was how they earned my signature every time on a first round through was one they needed to express to me Kinda who the most important person or people were in their life. Um, and then just let them know how much they appreciate it. And, um, so yeah. Um, that, that was Kinda my, my call to action there for, uh, for signature sheets. So I'm glad you were, you know, uh, there were people on the other end making sure you were getting to know your other classmates and kind of getting to know them and building those friendships. But, uh, my thing was also maintaining those bonds with the people on the outside. Yeah. Working, working the family angle. I think that's, that's super important, right? And if you're, if you're a mid listening to this podcast, like, you know, pause the podcast, go call your mom right now. Go Call Your mom and dad, go call somebody back home and let them know your thing about them. And Yeah, if you're somebody listening to this podcast who hasn't made a call them and ask why, why they haven't called, why they haven't called you first, that's really important. I think

Speaker 3: 38:48

the family angle is super important. And yeah, that's, that's another thing about the signature sheets, right? You're, if you're doing it right, if you're a pleading and you're doing it right, you're not going to these rooms and knocking on these strangers doors by yourself, right? You're going with your roommates, you're going with your friends, you're going with other company mates and you're going to go and figure stuff out. Um, and that's really important because you're going to get assigned similar things. You're going to get assigned to test together. And that's all part of the bonding experience. It's all part of what it means to be, you know, first of all, a plea. But ultimately I'm a Midshipman is you're embracing these experiences together. Yeah. You know what, no matter what they are, no matter what weird, difficult assignment you're given, you have somebody who's in the fight with you. And that's, that's really important.

Speaker 2: 39:36

Absolutely. Oh Man. All right, well that was all super sentimental and I love everything about that cause I'm super sensitive. I've said a middle person. Yeah. But I'm, but I'm going to make you tell your story about your roommates, uh, or maybe it wasn't roommates or whatever it was that I noticed you to tell them. Yeah. Your roommates about earning their signatures. Cause I think it's probably where these things I've ever heard. That's okay. So one of my, one of my roommates,

Speaker 3: 40:02

um, uh, David van Vliet, he so upper-class you'll, you'll resonate with the sentiment after you unpack all your stuff, uh, from wherever you stored it for the summer. You get your life together in your new room and you put your name plates up. That's like one of the things. And every year I would make sure that I put my name plate in somewhere super obvious so I wouldn't lose it cause it's just a pain to have to go to the, to the mid shop and like find the guy and fill out a form and then 10 or$15 for a new name plate and then wait a week and then come get it. And the whole time your company officer's just pissed at you cause it's like[inaudible]

Speaker 2: 40:38

why don't you have a name for it on your door? Sending out anchor emails[inaudible] name plates by this date. Otherwise they will not get liberty. Yeah. He's like you sending that email out and he's got a, the screenshot of the pdf from mid rags where it says you need to have a name plate. And you're just like, I ordered it and waiting instead according to regulations, Chapter Blah, paragraph, blog section, blah. Yeah. You have to have name tags because I got it, dude. Got It.

Speaker 3: 41:03

My roommate, uh, one year did not put away his name tape, uh, his name plate in a, a very obvious place. And he, so he didn't have it for a few weeks. And so what he did is he went down in the mid store and he ordered a new one and he came within a week and he put it up. Uh, but then in the interim he found his other name plates and now he had to, and instead of putting his like up on his corkboard or like throwing it away, which would just be a waste or putting him with his stuff, he just like slapped it in our door. So now a three man magically became a foreman for Steve Room, right? Yeah. And so it was me as the goose man, she like is a van fleet and van fleet. And so there's two, there's two of his name played up on the door. And so plebes would come by and ask for a signature and he'd give him whatever wacky assignment. Yeah. And uh, they had come back and he, they approve, they did the assignment. He would sign off and then he, he would look at them after signing and be very serious and go, uh, do you need my brother's signature? And then they look at him and be like, yeah, I guess like you. And he would look at the signet shit again and be like, oh, they didn't, they forgot to include him again on the roster. Insane. It's like over his shoulder. He would look at the pleading and go, all right, give me one second over your shoulder. You'd be like, Hey, uh, hey Derek, they need, they need your signature man. And he would close the door and I really quickly, he would run into his room, uh, run into our room, go to his closet, change his shirt, just put a new shirt on and open the door again. And he would lower his horses and be like, hey, output's up. You need my signature. And so they would, they'd be like, yeah, we need you, we need your signature. And then he'd give them another assignment and pretend that he was a, you pretend he was another guy in company who, you know, had an assignment and needed something done and, Oh God, yeah, we were so buddy. And he is just a year on about it. And that's the funniest thing to me about that story is just like when s when a upperclassman asked you anything as a plebe, you just like, you're like, ah, I made a guess. Like, yeah, he's not, he's not on the signature sheet, but like the moment he asks, he like, looks up at the name plate and like make sure the plead sees that there's two names in the door. And he's like, yeah, do you want my brother's signature? Everyone's like, ah, like, yeah, I guess, uh, yeah, by half two. I mean, might as well. No, we got about, uh, we got about maybe like five or six claims to that before our, like our company SCL swung by and he was like, Hey, you got to stop. Why do you have, why do you have four names and you're take one of these out. I know this was a pretty man. I know this is a duplicate and take this out. Take this. Yeah, fair enough. These door plates will accurately reflect the people that are in this I senior chief. Yeah, we get it. Roger. A classic. All right, well this has been, uh, uh, absolutely super fun episode. Uh, I really appreciate it. But before we wrap up, uh, we're gonna jump into a lightning round of questions that I ask everyone that comes on the show. Are you ready for these? Yeah, let's do it. Alright, first question. What is your favorite spot on the yard? Oh, man. Okay. Uh, I got a couple. Yeah, go for it. I'll along the sea wall outside of the visitors center. There's a huge compass that's paved in the ground there. Yeah. And it's facing the water and on the right day it's like, it's beautiful. Beautiful. Yeah. I'm going to cut you off right there. That is actually where my brother proposed to my now sister-in-law. That compass. Oh yeah. It's a beautiful spot. If you don't know. No, no, you gotta, you gotta check it out. It's gorgeous. Yeah. You go out there and the weather's right and you need, you see all the yachts bobbing and DTAs in the distance. It's beautiful. It's, it's wonderful. Another spot on the other side of the yard. So if you go along hospital point, you'll say you're running an outer or something. Um, you go along the seawall there. Uh, I just thought I love running up that hill there. Cause like once you crest that hill on the outside, uh, corner of hospital point, it just is a great feeling cause from there it's literally all downhill as you like run the rest of your outer. So yeah, it's giving people a, give people a ten second explanation of what an outer is. Uh, an outer is the outer perimeter of the Naval Academy. So, uh, all things considered, it's like five ish miles. Um, so, you know, you've just taken an aerial view of the academy, decided to run along the asset perimeter of all of it. Um, that's pretty good. Pretty good challenge for most mates. Absolutely. Beautiful. Run. All right. You got any others? No. That, those are, those are the two. I love that. Um, all right. Next question. What was your favorite meal at King Hall? I don't even want to thank for this one. This is a buffalo chicken sandwiches. Ticks. Oh wait. So My, here's my, here's my pro tip for anybody who's listening to this. Ooh. You get the buffalo sauce. That's obvious, right? You obviously have that on your bun. Yep. Uh, make some sweet baby Ray's in there.[inaudible] want. Yeah. You gotta you gotta toy the ratio to find out what your particularly flavor is, but yeah. You know, buffalo sauce and some of that barbecue sauce. Yeah, just that little sweet baby. Ray's just a little dab. Just a little Dab. A Little Dab. You don't want to ruin it. You don't want to just make it a barbecue sandwich. You got to have the buffalo in there. Yeah. Like, you know, find, find what your ratio is. You got one. If I do it out yet, that doesn't, hey, those are, those are the kind of insider tips we leveled academies. That's what this is all about. Yeah. All right. Moving on, I know we've kind of given a, a little bit of hard time to officers, company officers and senior list, Dave in this episode, but who was your biggest officer or senior enlisted leader, mentor during your four years at the academy? Oh Man. Um, that's going to have to be Gunnery Sergeant Kimani for a fourth company. Anybody who was in fourth company will instantly recall each of their own special memories with Gunnery Sergeant Committee. He was just this, he was a little shorter guy, but like just like packed to the brim, we were like fire and motivation. I'm just always happy and always motivated to see us. He held us accountable, but he did it the right way. He gave us enough rope to hang ourselves. He gave us responsibility. Um, it's just a fantastic SEL. He tried to convince me to go to the corps, but uh, yeah, I won in the end. So there's that as well. I like it. Um, awesome. Thank you for that. Um, and then, uh, next question. What's your favorite book? Ah, favorite book. So my favorite book of all time, I'm going to recommend, it's kind of out there misery by Stephen King. So I don't usually go for horror. But it was really great book. It was really believable. Had a real feeling villain gave you like an inside look at like psychology and how that part of the mind works. Yeah. Um, so that's a fun read. If you want something fiction. Uh, I'll say on the leadership side, cause I feel like, you know, as, as an officer or as a naval officer hopeful, you should have your favorite leadership book. I'll say you're going to be missing out if you skip on, uh, make your bed by Admiral McRaven. Yeah, that is a great book. It's really short. Um, you can literally, you could find it in a Barnes noble and read it in like 40 minutes. Um, but just the lessons it has as far as breaking down how to lead yourself, you had a very base and understandable level. It's huge. Um, I think the lessons you can gain from that book by Adam and McRaven and also from, you know, listening to his assorted, um, commencement speeches and, uh, his other media. I think that's, that's huge. Definitely check on me. Make your bed. I love that. I, uh, I second that recommendation and fantastic and super quick read. Um, all right. Uh, next is what's your greatest memory? I know this is gonna be a tough one, but what's your greatest memory from your four years at the Naval Academy? Yeah. Oh, that's hard to pick. I think so. Let's, I mean, if we're going to do it, let's just look chronologically. Starting at the academy, there's probably no greater feeling than finishing see trials. Yeah. Um, just feeling accomplished. Like your body is beat down, but your spirit, you just feel like I just accomplished this incredible thing with some of my best friends, some of my closest teammates. Um, and hey, I'm technically not a plebe anymore. I'm a fourth class, right? Yeah. Until, until I move on. You're going to call me before class and no longer please. Yeah, that's an awesome, awesome memory. I'm just like finishing c trials and getting that food that they have catered for for you guys. Yeah. That's awesome. I remember like wrapping up sea trials, like after the whole day's events, feeling beat, taking one bite of my, uh, my Sam my barbecue sandwich and then just like passing out. Yeah. Um, like right on my bed, just passing out. Um, I guess moving onto just like obviously senior year, um, first a year, all of commissioning week is a blast. I know you're gonna feel kind of stressed out cause it's like, oh, I gotta get my parents and my family to like all these events. I got to coordinate this and that. And like, you know, we have families meeting each other for the first time and all of a sudden they stop. It's gonna feel stressful for you, news for you as a firstie but just like try to absorb the fact that you are having probably the most fun you'll ever have with economy drink. And then when you finally like walk across the stage for me, I like shook hands at the SEC def and then getting a throw my cover, like throw my midshipman cover away and put that cover. Yeah, dude, that is great chills. That is an incredible, incredible time. And I'll take this moment to like just PSA for, for anybody who's, you know, gonna toss your cover, write a little note in there. Um, I guess put money in there if you want. It's a kind of a tradition. Uh, but I just, I left a note in mind just explaining like what my story of the academy was so that anybody who picked it up, because after you toss your mainstreaming cover, you're not looking bad things,

Speaker 2: 51:09

right. I to remind you the freaking name, like I'm sure I'm sure

Speaker 3: 51:14

cover like reached orbit and has like still not landed. Um, I, I left a little note in there so that if anyone discovers that they know that who I am, they know what my story is and they understand what it means for me to be in the gym. Absolutely. Cool.

Speaker 2: 51:29

All right. Uh, and then the last question to wrap this up of what has been probably one of the best interviews ever, this has been awesome. Um, if someone is thinking about attending the Naval Academy, we have a couple. Uh, so some of our audience too is either prospective students, high school students or parents in high school students that are trying to learn more about the naval academy. Yeah. Um, when people are thinking, thinking about attending the Naval Academy, what, what advice or thoughts do you have in regards to what they should consider when determining whether or not the Naval Academy,

Speaker 3: 52:00

um, would be the right fit for them? Sure. Um, so first and foremost, you know, you should be very introspective and take a look at, uh, what is service to the country mean to you?[inaudible] um, during my plebe summer, you know, are my details would ask me, uh, why did you come here? And you could give them whatever answer you wanted as far as your personal reasons, but they also wanted to hear the fact that you wanted to serve your country. So if you want to serve your country and you're in the right spot to do it, and the Naval Academy seems to be a good fit, then I say, you know, put your best foot forward and, and try it out. Uh, for anybody who's hopeful about attending, you know, the, the Naval Academy, uh, my advice for you is, uh, just a couple things on the physical side. If you're not much of a runner start now, right? So there's, there's so much of our physical evolutions and our physical, like trials and tribulations that are based around your, your cardio endurance. Uh, if you hate cardio, then you know, you gotta learn

Speaker 2: 53:02

again. I have a bad day. Yeah. You gotta you gotta figure that out, right? I went into the academy thinking like, Oh, I like writing, kind of like, I'm fine with it. And then I got there and it was like, Oh man, I wish I had run a terrible morning.

Speaker 3: 53:17

Um, and then on the, the leadership and like mental side, if you don't do much reflection, if you don't practice a lot of mindfulness, yeah, definitely start. It's, it's just a habit that you want to have built into you and who you are as a person as soon as possible. Yeah. As soon as you can be mindful, like who am I really, how do I react as a person to different situations? The better off you're going to be because the whole point of the academy is to put you through a series of challenges and trials and tribulations, things that you're gonna face that you know, at a base level as a human being, you might be like, this is ridiculous. Why am I doing this? But the point of it is for you to just look inside, to dig a little deeper to see if you can understand like the, the layers of what's going on, the secondary or tertiary effects of, of what we're putting you through and understand the meaning of like what we're putting in front of you and understand that. You know, there, there is even in the most like Asinine, like crazy things. There's a purpose to it. So, you know, if you don't do a lot of reflection, definitely start now. Um, you know, reflect on your day, reflect on how you reacted to certain people that you had to interact with that day. Um, reflect on how you feel, you know, coming up against certain challenges and how you're going to react when it's, you know, it's game time and you are in the midst of plebe summer, plebe year, and you have somebody screaming at you. Yeah, absolutely. Um, wow. Cool. Thank you.

Speaker 2: 54:43

Uh, I would, uh, I would, I would also offer just in everything that you said, just kind of in conjunction with that, um, when it comes to serving your country, right? Like so much of that too, we have to realize about the naval academy and you talked about it when you went to the leadership side of things is that hey, when you come to the Naval Academy, you're coming to graduate as a commissioned officer. And if I, if, absolutely. If I've learned anything in my extensive two years and, um, you know, it, it's that really what it's all about is leading your sailors or your marines, right? Like, it is about people and it is about leadership, right? So what you do is so less important than like how you treat the people that you are there with and how you lead the people and how you take care of them and how you support their personal and professional development. Right? So even if you're not 100% convinced yet, um, that you want to be a surface warfare officer or an information warfare officer or a marine, whatever it is, if you have a passion for people and you have a passion for leading people and just you know, constant growth and development, then this is the right place for you. Right? Like at the end of the day, being a leader in the navy marine corps, being an officer in the Navy Marine Corp is all about being a leader and if you like leading teams and you like helping other people achieve their maximum potential, then then the naval academy is active.

Speaker 3: 56:08

Absolutely right for you. Yeah. So yeah, absolutely. That's, that's their whole, that's your whole reason for being as, as an officer, right? Is to help help other people achieve their full potential. And if that's what you want to do, if that's what you want to do with your life, if you want to help people by, uh, that route by helping them maximize who they can be a both as a person and as a military professional, then absolutely come come to the naval academy because they are going to set you up to make that happen. Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 56:38

All right, well, uh, thanks so much. Uh, Nikki, thank you for taking the time to share all the new stories. Explain this. This has been such a poignant episode. Um, and I hope for all the listeners out there that you learned a little bit about signature sheets through Nikki stories and through my stories. So, uh, this was awesome, Nikki. Again, thank you so much and to all my listeners, uh, take care and I'll be,

Speaker 3: 56:59

you guys have a great day. All right, man. Thanks. Appreciate it

Speaker 2: 57:05

man. Uh, that was probably the most fun podcast I've had recording so far. I hope you guys all really enjoyed it and thank you so much for listening. Please make sure to leave me a review on iTunes and be sure to subscribe to the academy insider podcast. If you want to know more about the Naval Academy in general or any of these fun stories, make sure to check out all of the videos, blogs, and podcasts that I have that are hosted on my website, www.academy insider.com

Speaker 4: 57:38

[inaudible].