So, you may or may not know that I am an officer in the Canadian...er...ROYAL Canadian Navy (That just changed back to ROYAL this year). I started late in life in this voyage, as with most of my endeavors. It stands to reason that I am going to live to be about 135 at this rate.
I work during the year at my LHQ (Local Headquarters) and with the provincial tri-service band. I guess I spend about 60-75 hours a month working with cadets. I get paid for 21-30 hours, and the rest I just do. During the summers, I spend 7 weeks working at a local cadet camp, teaching music.
Anyway, sometimes the military bull shit gets to me. For instance, I am not the OIC (Officer in Charge) of my division at summer camp. I am the 2IC (figure it out) simply because my rank is lower than my partner's rank. And the fact that I have a master's degree and 20 some-odd years of experience teaching doesn't matter.
And that is just one small, and in the end, insignificant thing. But one of many small, insignificant things. So sometimes I wonder....what the hell am I doing this for???
And then I come face-to-face with what really matters. It sounds cliche. You probably don't believe me. You may think I am just trying to be a martyr or trying to make myself look good. (no one reads this blog, so that doesn't hold much water...)
The cadets show up at camp.
They love being there. They learn a shit-load of 'stuff', from the music stuff to the inter-personal stuff to the intra-personal stuff, to the professional do-your-job stuff to the hang-on-you-can-do-it stuff.
And we, the officers, help do that. We change lives. Really. We make a difference. I know we do.
I know because we made a difference in the lives of all 4 of my children. And these are children with a ton of support at home, and with the financial resources they needed, and the family life that encourages personal growth and development. Imagine what we can do with different circumstances.
I know we change human beings. In a positive way. We build community, personal strength, professionalism, confidence, commitment, dedication, and discipline. And there is an emotion that gets me every time, whenever I really think about the good that we do.
Pride.
There is nothing like it.
That's what the hell I do it for.
