My eldest offspring, Thing One, has been involved with Canada's best kept secret for over 9 years now.
She has been a Cadet since the age of nine.
First with the Navy League, then with the Sea Cadets.
In both instances, she started at the bottom and progressed steadily through the ranks, eventually becoming Chief of the Corps, the top ranking Cadet.
As a parent, getting her involved with Cadets was an easy choice. It was free to join, taught her skills, and gave her incentive to serve.
I knew what she was in for if she gave it a chance. I had been a Cadet as a young lad. I learned values and made friends there that I still have over 30 years later.
She retires this week, at the ripe old age of 18, passing on her charge to another deserving young person, willing and able to take on a leadership role.
Below is the text of her Farewell Message to her Corps.
Camp, Cadets, and the Real World.
Firstly, I would like to take this time to congratulate all of our camp-bound cadets on an excellent summer. I got a chance to see most of you, teach some of you, and watch you become leaders in your Divisions and in Cadets. Congratulations to MS Johnson on being named top in his Division, and to QPO1 Jackson on earning his watch ticket.
Now, I’ve come to the point in my Cadet career where I can look back and reflect not only on what I have gained from the Cadet Program, but what I could pass on to you, the future leaders not only of our corps but of our camps, our town and our country.
Sounds a bit cheesy or romantic, I’ll admit, but let me explain. Throughout my Cadet career I’ve been presented with unique and fantastic opportunities, from traveling across the country to train at our two coastal SCSTCs, HMCS QUADRA and HMCS ACADIA, to volunteer opportunities through cadets and the Royal Canadian Legion. While the latter part, volunteering, might seem less than thrilling, it’s given me the skills to ‘get ahead’ or survive in what I call the ‘real world’, basically everything outside of your school, home, video game and computer chair. The real world is learning how to survive, how to succeed, how to explore what everyone else has to offer and find yourself in the process.
Have I lost you yet? I hope not. Everything you learn in Cadets: teamwork, initiative, leadership, discipline; down to the little skills like knot tying, orienteering, musicianship and sailing are tools you’re going to use again, unlike in some of your classes in school where you memorize dates and formulae you may never use in your entire life (apologies to Slt Messecar and Lt(N) Downey for that bit, no hard feelings against teachers or historians!). I won’t drag on too much longer, but I want you to remember this: anytime you’re sitting in a class at Cadets and you don’t want to pay attention, you don’t want to tie this knot or work with that person, just do it. Anytime you think “I can’t!” or that something is impossible, just do it. Like a bad Nike commercial, anytime something is difficult and you just can’t face it—you guessed it—just do it.
Trust me on this one.
Well done, Chief.
Bravo Zulu.
DJW aka Daddycab
4 comments:
Congrats To Chief.
I would like to add a special thanks to her parents that made this opportunity possible. A cadet becomes a large part of your life. We think we send our kids there because it is free and never look back, but for some very special cadets this is not the situation. Their parents are at every event, getting up at ridicules times to make sure their kids has arrived at a bus somewhere on time then waiting hours after their arrival time due to delays. We shuttled our kids around the city or volunteer where ever needed.
It is also the volunteers that make a difference in these kids lived not just the many hours of training that these cadets do for some these volunteer show a interest when no one else does.
Thank you Alice and DJ for your dedication to the Cadet Program.
Excellent - very well put!!! Hopefully someday you will come back to Cadets and give back to the system that has taught you so much. You would make an excellent Officer!!! Good luck in your future endeavours!!!
Your Cadet Corps is proud of you too! May I also add that a Cadet Corps is only as good as the Volunteers that give so generously of their time too!!!
Hey, how come your kid got to join at age 9? I was told we had to wait until our kid is 12. Oh well, we only have to wait until April.
Great to hear she enjoyed it and did really well by the sounds of things.
Cheers
9 yrs old is for Navy League Cadets.
Too bad you didn't know about them sooner.
DJW
Post a Comment