The Beginning: An Inexorable Journey

I found out on December 3rd, 2008 that, yes, my sabbatical was approved . To all of my friends at the Academy: Yes, it was a hard decision and I will miss you all quite a bit. The simplest way I can explain why it is that I'm leaving is to say that I'm not a house-dog. All this sitting around has got me all riled up and restless. Why A better question- why not? For me, the default is to DO, not to NOT do. I bet I could write 20 pages about this. And I'm sure it would descend into some sort of cynical, indignant rant about how the academy sucks. And that wouldn't actually be why I've decided to leave. It's almost easier to say what are NOT the reasons that I'm leaving... like "I'm unhappy", "I hate it here", or my favorite, "This place sucks." Yeah, I feel those things like everybody else, but people stay here because of all the good qualities about the academy. Sure, I agree that it sucks being here 90% of the time. I am discontent, which is different from unhappy. You can be very unhappy but content. This is where I was from Swab summer thru part way of 2nd semester 3rd class yr. Also, I feel that the CG may not be the best application of my God-given talents. Anyone who knows me knows that I am the most content after a period of intense suffering- usually physical. I don't necessarily like to run a lot, but I like to have run. I love adventure... a lot. I love the sensation of going to new places, doing new things, meeting new people, doing things that most people don't do. Why... I also want to do some missionary-type work. I want to help people, which I think is self-evident by my being in the coast guard in the first place. Initially I wanted to fly dolphins, but somewhere along the way decided that I don't want to spend that long in the CG, or at least I don't want to commit to that long initially. After this, I decided I wanted to do Law Enforcement in the CG- you know, jump outta helos and shoot pirates. That would be some coooool beans. But then... there are no mountains on the ocean. There's no dirt, no rocks (if there are, you got big problems, man), trees, small woodland creatures, you can't just rely on yourself, your body, and your friends to take care of yourself. There's no running, no carrying heavy stuff, not a lot of cool training. I'm gonna investigate the Combat Rescue Officer/Pararesueman thing in the Air Force... think of it like an AST/SEAL/EMT three-for-one deal. When I'm not coming back to the Academy after Christmas leave, so the last day I think I'll be here is 17 DEC. Where First, goin up to Maine for Christmas with my family. Then Dec 26/27 to NY with Shea Quinn to see Mary Kolars, then flying to Peru on the 29th. I'll be doing some missions work down there with a Catholic ministry (it sounds like a freakin sweet ministry actually... a band of brothers, really). Comin back on January 12, I'll be seein if I got into schools, where I'm gonna go from there. If things with other schools don't work out for some reason, I'll be lookin at NOLS courses Who The group I'm hope to meet up with in Peru is Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, through CreaTio missionaries. How Note that this is the last category... I'm gonna do the footwork and what happens happens. As Esther said, "If I perish, I perish"