Power School Question

[solarwave]

Hey I'm currently in the first half of power school (mechanic section), just wondering how hard the second half is comparatively. I hear a lot of horror stories about RP and cross-rate, I'm just curious as to how tough it really is. I've got a 3.38 right now (math is my worst subject believe it or not) so if anyone could give me some useful advice i would appreciate it.

thanks

[JustinHEMI05]

Sounds like you are doing well so you must be doing something right. I suggest you continue that. If you feel it is getting harder, ratchet up your hours as you see fit. Of course, if you don't, they will in the end anyway. Goodluck


Justin

PS It just hit me that about the time you graduate power school I will graduate from the navy

[Rad Sponge]

Fret not my little Sailor.

Uncle Jay is going to tell you a little bed time story so you can fall asleep and dream away in a magical land of poison bushes and power trees.

When I was a wee lad of 22 (wee being relative to the fact I was 230 lbs, then) and struggling with math and basic physics, I was scared that the big bad power school was going to have its way with me and soon I would be scraping barnacles on the USS Waste Of Life.

There were braniacs acing the math tests and laughing at the newtonian examinations, while I was figuring how the hell to move an x from left to right and up and down, while having to take verbal lashings from some chunky dildo in khaki fashion ware.

All was lost.

But then I discovered a latent talent hidden in the recesses of my worried mind.

Conceptual Ability.

First Half GPA: 2.95

Graduating GPA: 3.46 (You do the math, I cannot)

Glory Glory Glory

The nerds, falling by the wayside as concepts, and relationships, and graphs, and schematics, and pretty colors and logic diagrams filled the chalk board, and I, the barbarian king, climbed to the top on stairs made of feeble dweebs basking in the awe of my memory and my excalibur: the white board.

Their GPAs plummeted, their egos waned, their smugness died the slow painful death of mandatory 20s and 40s deep into the 24th week as I, the anti-math, jubileed in my VOLs, danced on my Sundays, but still averaged over 35 hours a week (880 hours total) just to spite them and constantly remind those human calculators that I really did not have to be there. HA HA HAAAAAAAA.

Fear not, for you too shall be king.

Gather ye trusted white board and your quiver of markers. Slay them. Slay them. Slay them all with your mind.

Night Night.

[goobs22xx]

Hey fella, Ill throw my two cents in.

I'm senior class right now (701-7) and was much the same way. First half wasnt great to me,  But I went from a 3.06 average in A-school, to about a 3.2 gpa for first half (math was my bad subject as well) and right now I'm number thirty in my class with a 3.59.

Dont let yourself get overwhelmed before you get there. Attack each new course with a new enthusiasm, make sure you hit the ground running, and dont settle for anything. The guys who have struggled the most are the ones who have set the roadblocks up in their mind by assuming they cant possibly learn the material, and then end up not doing it. Surprise, surprise, huh?

Dont listen to the horror stories, but be mindful of the challenge. But you can do it, hang in there.

[Charles U Farley]

Fret not my little Sailor.

Uncle Jay is going to tell you a little bed time story so you can fall asleep and dream away in a magical land of poison bushes and power trees.

When I was a wee lad of 22 (wee being relative to the fact I was 230 lbs, then) and struggling with math and basic physics, I was scared that the big bad power school was going to have its way with me and soon I would be scraping barnacles on the USS Waste Of Life.

There were braniacs acing the math tests and laughing at the newtonian examinations, while I was figuring how the hell to move an x from left to right and up and down, while having to take verbal lashings from some chunky dildo in khaki fashion ware.

All was lost.

But then I discovered a latent talent hidden in the recesses of my worried mind.

Conceptual Ability.

First Half GPA: 2.95

Graduating GPA: 3.46 (You do the math, I cannot)

Glory Glory Glory

The nerds, falling by the wayside as concepts, and relationships, and graphs, and schematics, and pretty colors and logic diagrams filled the chalk board, and I, the barbarian king, climbed to the top on stairs made of feeble dweebs basking in the awe of my memory and my excalibur: the white board.

Their GPAs plummeted, their egos waned, their smugness died the slow painful death of mandatory 20s and 40s deep into the 24th week as I, the anti-math, jubileed in my VOLs, danced on my Sundays, but still averaged over 35 hours a week (880 hours total) just to spite them and constantly remind those human calculators that I really did not have to be there. HA HA HAAAAAAAA.

Fear not, for you too shall be king.

Gather ye trusted white board and your quiver of markers. Slay them. Slay them. Slay them all with your mind.

Night Night.

I want my two minutes back.

[Rad Sponge]

I want my two minutes back.

That took you two whole minutes to read?

[Charles U Farley]

That took you two whole minutes to read?

I'm a little slow, but I got through it.

I don't remember last week, let alone what powerschool was like.  But, yes, JMK is right.  There will be a point where, regardless of how well you are doing to date, things will make sense.  It will come together, and you will do better.

[Rad Sponge]

I'm a little slow, but I got through it.

I don't remember last week, let alone what powerschool was like.  But, yes, JMK is right.  There will be a point where, regardless of how well you are doing to date, things will make sense.  It will come together, and you will do better.

Its all good CUF, I had a feeling for a little story and felt compelled to add a little spice (if you can call bs a spice).

But in all seriousness, that is what happened to me. I was sucking in Math 1-2, Physics 1-2 etc. Once all the straight math was gone it was on. I think I nearly aced Physics 3-4, HTFF, RP, RF, and X-rate.

I was serious also about getting the white board, and dry erase. I wrote down key words and tricky phrases over and over again until I could do it auto. I drew systems hundreds of times day and night. I never stopped. I was ordered by MMCS Raposa to take my weekends off. I could not come in between 0000 Saturday and 1600 Sunday. I stayed after nearly every Friday til 2400 and did all my homework. I used lunch and breaks to work problems. I was a manically dedicated machine.

Its all about dedication, finding out your strengths and exploiting them.

I discovered I had a knack for memorizing concepts and drawings and capitalized on that.

It saw me through all the way through the pipeline.

[Floydbob]

For me, the first half of power school wasn't very kind.  Came close to failing out despite putting in more hours than I care to remember.  It was at the half way point I decided that killing myself studying wasn't working so I chose a different path.  I decreased my study hours considerably and made sure I got eight hours of sleep a night.  I spent as much time away from school as I reasonably could and my GPA went from the brink of failure to an average of over 3.60.  What works for each individual will vary but there is a lot of great advice here.  Just stay focused and good luck.

[Fermi2]

As in MMCS Al Raposa?

Mike

[Rad Sponge]

As in MMCS Al Raposa?

Mike

I guess. Big guy.

[Fermi2]

LOL Yeah that's the guy. I knew him when he was MM1 Raposa.

Mike

[Rad Sponge]

LOL Yeah that's the guy. I knew him when he was MM1 Raposa.

Mike

He really helped me get through the program. He recognized that I was going a bit overboard in my endeavors and helped me find that work-life-balance around week 20.

To the original poster I will say that "get r dun" has its limitations when you reach the point of diminishing returns i.e you can't sleep, feel stressed out beyond what is called eustress, and have problems focusing.

Some of your classmates will drink, some will screw around with Goose Creek's finest, some will reek havoc, or a combination of the three. I guarantee you that it is a bad idea.

Luckily I found my best friend during boot camp and we spent our time exercising, hiking, sight seeing, and other less risky activities. There are all kinds of hidden gems around the low country that don't cost much money and have less chance of screwing up your career. Its nice on a Saturday to get up early, go down to the Battery and bike around historic Charleston. I did this with my wife when I was a SPU at prototype and it was a great break from rotating shifts and Goose Creetians.

That park behind the power school has great trails for running, finding good fishin spots, and has fields for sports.

If you ever need any advice or just want to vent, just PM me.

There are many active and lurking guys and gals here who have experienced what you are going through.

Good Luck.

[Bighouz107501]

Cycoticpenguin,
Good to hear...but anyways good luck to you on comp.

[Rad Sponge]

Haha thanks man!

Good luck.

Let me know what distance you achieve on exploding pieces of calculator as you destroy it after comp.

I remember one guy got a good 50 feet on some part.

Creativity is the key, however you are responsible for your own methods and safety iaw the best traditions of the US Navy.

[Fermi2]

Good luck on your comp!

Mike

[parker3693]

Everyone seems to have the same take, so I will throw in my concurrence.

I sat behind a guy who majored in math in college, so he kicked my tail on the "light side" (anyone who went to Power School in Orlando knows what I'm talking about - class 9207, BTW). 

Then we moved to the "dark side" for RP, CMR and cross-rate, and I began to beat him to death.  He was not amused, and actually got pretty irate after a few test scores came back.  I laughed heartily - at him, not with him.

Now, as far as comp goes, here was my brilliant plan.  Comp was on Monday - I went to a Metallica concert on the Saturday before and stood at the railing of the stage, mere feet from James and the boys, for three and a half hours.

Sunday I went in to study for comp.  Since I couldn't hear anything but ringing in my ears, it was easier to concentrate on studying.  Blew comp away!  My final GPA was a 3.55 or something like that. 

Don't know that I'd really recommend that plan to anyone else, though...

Just keep your nose to the grindstone, and remember - stronger, more brittle, less ductile.

[Fermi2]

I spent the last 10 nights before the Comp "studying" out on The Trail Of the Citrus Blossoms.

Mike

[Rad Sponge]

Takes diff'rent strokes to move the world.....

hmmmmmmmmm!

Never tried that method.

My method for comp in prototype was as follows:

Comp on Tuesday following 4-day.

Left Charleston on Thursday afternoon and took train to South Florida.
Saw then girlfriend-now wife until Monday.
Took train back to Charleston Monday night.
Took Comp Tuesday morning.
Failed EO portion. Overall 2.9. I was the golden boy up until that.

Retook after intensive 2 week remedial coupled with taking crap for 12 hours/day.

Scored 3.80 overall, and nearly 4.0'd EO portion, however the re-test maximum was like 2.8 or something.

They set a new policy: no student will ever take comp immediately after a 4 day.

Years later I met my class director in KB when I was MM1(SS) and he still gave me "grief".

[Rad Sponge]

Yeah... I kicked butt on my comp oddly enough... Overall comp score wasnt sexy but some notable scores - MTMO - 3.86... highest in my section, and perhaps highest in the class, I didnt see anyone with higher so far. RP - 3.52 (awesome for me) C- 3.65 M - 3.72 . RF, HTFF, and ETMO were quite ugly though...


glad i passed OH YEAH - only TWO recompers in the ENTIRE class. No mechanic failed.

Excellent. Well done. Get some much deserved rest (just don't do anything to screw you, well, I mean your career

[Roll Tide]

RF, HTFF, and ETMO were quite ugly though...

You will see a lot of ETMO equivalent if you decide to get out and go commercial OPS. Try to stay up on that. HTFF is a big one in commercial as well. RF is important if you decide to go RadCON.

[Fermi2]

Good job, you have every right to be proud.

Mike

[Roll Tide]

I apologize for giving an old friend a hard time. I guess I can make comments like that when I've been "in the fleet".

My bad.

Comments made to a flesh and blood friend via a worldwide web component can be misconstrued easily by the firefighters (I mean Moderators) who are always having to put out the flame wars.

Admitting you are responsible for a mistake and moving on is an excellent preparation for the fleet. You will do great if you maintain that attitude. And if you and PO Penguin had been exchanging your mutual admiration for months, it would have been less likely to have been moderated.

[parker3693]

Good job on your comp.  Just don't let your guard down at prototype.  Had a few guys in my class that did well in NNPS, but bombed out at prototype.  Couldn't handle the whole "Get hot, you're dinq" thing.  NNPS is the definition of structured, but at prototype you're more on your own, at least until and unless you start to get seriously behind.  Then again, I was there 15 years ago, so the atmosphere may be different.

So, pat yourself on the back, then move that hand up to back of your head and use it to push your nose back to the grindstone.

[Rad Sponge]

Since I am a fair and just ex-nub and ex-fleety, I removed all the threads that were off topic.

R/

JMK