Having heard previous nightmares about cadets failing to complete their TRB or coming home with inadequate signatures, I put a great deal of importance on understanding my TRB tasks and planning ahead for all targets to be met. As a whole, your TRB can come across as rather daunting initially but what saved me from disaster was breaking down each section into monthly and even weekly targets. To start with, I drafted a spreadsheet on my computer of all tasks I needed to achieve in my first sea phase and completely eradicated anything I could put off until my second sea phase. I then broke down the tasks into monthly, weekly, and daily, targets (e.g., by the end of my first month onboard I want all system drawings to be traced and such corresponding descriptions written to be checked and approved by my chief engineer, so this equated to roughly one drawing and description every other day in order to stay on track). This meant I could relax about what was yet to come for the future as I only needed to focus on achieving my daily targets which took care of weekly targets which then accumulated to completing monthly targets etc. Before I knew it, I was ahead of schedule with more than enough time to spare at the end of my contract because I had just taken things day by day, doing a little bit of something each afternoon.
One of the biggest areas of growth I noticed from this summer were my social skills. Doing the job that we do as seafarers can require us to make cool-headed decisions whilst under immense pressure or in very uncomfortable environments. Especially in the engine roomwhere you spend hours a day in a hot, noisy machinery space, being able to communicate clearly and pull your weight as an equal member of the team is absolutely vital for healthy working relationships. It is inevitable that as an officer you will come across colleagues whom you may not get along with or disagree with their style of work. But I just set out to be the best version of myself possible. Being able to handle a firm talking to from your seniors is something I did not like but it was sometimes my only option to keep things running smoothly even if I believed I hadn’t done anything wrong. I didn’t take it personally, and I reminded myself that I was only on this ship because I wanted to be there, and not because I was being forced. So, in other words, I needed everyone on that ship much more than anyone there needed me. This attitude helped me to keep a smile on my face and keep my relationships amicable even through the tensest of moments. If I were to give any piece of advice to a cadet about to join their first vessel, it would be: learn how to adapt to your circumstances and grow an appreciation for the smaller things, for example, it could be as simple as having your favourite cookies replenished when the ship is given new provisioning or it could be that you’re given permission to get off the ship and have a few hours to yourself exploring a new city in a part of the world you would have never imagined yourself in.
A life changing experience
Overall, I think my time away this summer was life changing and I left my ship feeling like a different person than who I was when I joined because of my attitude to soak up as much knowledge as possible and I did the most to take advantage of all opportunities afforded my way. I travelled to 18 new ports in 12 different countries, I picked up some conversational Russian and Filipino vocabulary on the way and even made relationships with people from all over the world within a matter of months. However, if you ask me, I think the most exciting part is that this is only the beginning...
Working out a consistent routine helped me to focus and gave me the opportunity to over-achieve on targets when I had the extra time or energy. It also meant if I didn’t have the time or energy on any given afternoon, I could afford to prioritize rest because I was not falling behind any danger of deadline and whatever wasn’t covered today might only take me an extra 20 minutes to cover the next day when I did have the extra time/energy.
We would like to thank the Captain, Officers and Crew on board Eco Loyalty for the warmwelcome of our cadets and the excellent training and mentoring they offer. This is a very valuable experience for both the vessel and especially the cadet. Thank you!
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SEAS MAGAZINE // ISSUE 5
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