career success for poor students

[bamafan34]

Hi, I'm new to this website and I apologize if this is covered by another thread, but did not find one covering this after searching through the site. Well, I'm a student in Power School right now, and to be honest I'm struggling.  I've only got nine weeks to go, and I havn't failed a test yet, but I have a 2.67 GPA and I average about forty-five hours a week studying.  Up till now I havn't minded because I REALLY want to be a nuke and I've been told that once I make it to the fleet nobody will care what my grades are as long as I work hard, show all due respect to superiors and stay out of trouble.  But just recently I had a chat with one of my instructers, who told me that while I may make it to the fleet I can expect to be passed up alot for advancement by my peers and that I will definately not make chief unless I can learn to actually start memorizing the plant design, operation, and procedures. I dont want to sound like a wuss but I'm definately a little frustrated and discouraged right now, and any advice that I can get on how to fix myself would be GREATLY appreciated. Would I be better off as an A-ganger? Honest opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for all comments and compliments on a great site.

[Fermi2]

Dude, he's feeding you BS. When you get to actually operating this stuff what matters is ,

1: Your willingness to work hard.
2: Willingness to ask questions.
3: Your basic fundamental understanding of the plant and components.
4: Your willingness to advance.

Memorization doesn't play into it, though being able to memorize helps.

Mike

[shayne]

Just keep doing what you are doing.  It is keeping you above the minimum GPA to make it through Power School.  Maybe the spoon feed classroom enviroment is not your strong area.  Maybe when you get to prototype, everything you learned in Power School will start making sense and you will be excellent operator.

[Roll Tide]

Bamafan (yeah, everyone knew I would have to respond to any Bamafan!)
Let me point out a few things.
1. Your NNPS GPA will never matter in the job you do in the fleet.
2. Your NNPS GPA will affect your ability to get instructor duty later on.
3. Possession or lack of instructor experience will affect your eventual promotion (unless you do something else considered just as good or better, such as Recruiter).

That means there is a little bit of truth to the instructor's comments, but it is not set in stone. You still control your own destiny in this.

IMHO the MMs that came through the pipeline that weren't still ticked off that they didn't get ET / EM / ELT / welder were the ones in the lower half of the class. They also made better operators and mechanics in the Navy. At least that was the way they were in my era.

ROLL TIDE!!

[ChiefRocscooter]

OK, I waited on this one so you got some responses to put what I say in context.
I am a Chief and so I know a little about what it take to make Chief.

First off: Yes, your GPA might some day affect the orders you get, say instructor or prototpe duty, but remeber that there is a waiver for every thing and if you perfom well in the fleet you can get a waiver. AND I MEAN THERE IS A WAIVER FOR EVERYTHING!!!

Second: In the fleet work performance carries more weight than book performance (by far).  Guys like you tend to be good workers. WHY? Cause you had to work your ass of just to get there and if you are doing about 45 hours a week studying plus class time you know what it is to put the long hours and hard work.  Guy who fly thru school with little work are often surprised when they get to the boat and the work load is not impressed by thier GPA (valve maintenance is valve maintenance for the 3.9 guy just like the 2.6 guy! and no there is not a smarter way of doing it!!). 

Third:  Some guys (and gals, have to bew gender neutral you know!) are better at the hands on part such as in prototype and on the boat.  In fact Nuc's a ntorious for being book smart and hand dumb, or lacking in common sense. Just cause you are haveing a hard time in power school does not mean you are doomed to struggle the rest of the way, but if you do contine to work hard and you control your own destiny!

Fourth and last:  Even though this instructor went to the George Patton school of motivation! (he did'nt hit you with gloes did he? ). Rember Mr Jordan got cut from his high school basketbell team, Doug Flutie was to short/slow to be a pro Quarteback, Thomas Edison spent a year and a half failing before he finally got his improved light bulb (do'nt you even say he invented it!).  Get the picture hard work is what it take to succed and you are doing it keep you the good work!! (this is what he should have siad to you!!)

Rob

[visserjr]

Grades are for beancounters. Lots of good points here. Bottom line keep your head in the books 9 weeks, and it'll work out. In a year underway you'll long for the "ease" of those 9.

John

[taterhead]

Just for the record, we just made 7 CPO selects.

Of the 7, 1 has instructor experience. 

Instructor experience does not supplant strong, continous leadership at sea.  It may be the icing on the cake for someone who has that other stuff, but does not serve as a substitute.

I was lower half in Power School, and I made Chief in 7 years, 2 months.  There you go.  Your instructor is not correct.

[Roll Tide]

Instructor experience does not supplant strong, continous leadership at sea.  It may be the icing on the cake for someone who has that other stuff, but does not serve as a substitute.

Glad to see the Navy advancing based on your job performance rather than performance in other situations (FINALLY!)

[Wirebiter]

Your hard work and determination will carry you alot further than your GPA.
I am a living example.  I was number 17 out of 18 in "A" school.  217 out of 221 in Power School.  I failed my Power school COMP exam, went to academic review board, passed, transitioned to NNPTU Charlston where I was still lower half. I never scored higher than a 2.98 after "A" school on any exam I took.
Got sent to my first submarine, where 4 months later, I was command advanced to second class Petty Officer (2 of those months I wasn't even part of my division).  I kept doing what was asked of me, whether it took me 2 minutes or 2 days.  I did it by procedure, I did it safely, and I did it without being asked more than once or twice.  When I was elligable for First Class, I made it.  I studied more than the smarter nukes onboard, but to me, I was used to it.

I always tell people it is so easy to stand out in the Navy just by doing an honest job.  Your GPA may close some front doors to you if you decide to make a career out of the Navy, but there is always a back door with a label plate on it reading:
                            "Hard Chargers"

Bama; just do your best to make it to the fleet and take a good laugh when you think back about how worried you where about your GPA.  I know I did.

[rumrunner]

Here is my story:  Waiver for lousy math scores in high school.  Waiver for age (I was 23).  Waiver for prior service (former jarhead).  I was section 2 rock at NPS.  Within two weeks I was on mandatory 40's even though I had been doing more than that voluntarily.  Failed physics, but managed a 3.1 on the comp.  Went to prototype and things didn't get any better.  I got a 2.71 on my MM oral.  Amazingly, I got picked for ELT.  I'm still not sure why.  Made a 2.51 on the ELT oral.  But I was qualified.  Went to the fleet and everything changed.  I found that in practical applications, I was pretty damned good.  This did wonders for my confidence.  I easily went through qual cards.  I only stayed for 6 years but made MM1 in about 4.5 years and ended up being the Master ELT on the Nimitz and someone they chose to be an initial qualifier to requal everyone else when we came out of the yards after 15 months.

So bamafan34 - don't let that instructor get you down.  Stick with it and you'll be a good nuke.  Some of the best nukes I knew were not necessarily hot runners in school.  Your work performance in the fleet is where it counts.

[ChiefRocscooter]

Well said rumrunner!! HUYA!
10% what you know!
90% bust your butt!!

Rob

[rumrunner]

Thanks, Chief Rob.  I just remembered another thing from my MARF days.  We had more than one classmate from the "smart" sections at NPS who struggled at prototype because they couldn't apply their classroom knowledge to hands-on operation of the plant.  Of course, some of us rocks had a hard time too but we weren't the only ones!

Our class had 11 sections at the start.  Section 1 only had 4 or 5 guys left after the 6-week acc board, so they "promoted" them to my section (2) and dissolved section 1.  That was quite motivating!  The rest of them made it all the way through.