Back to reality
Turns out there’s this weird thing that happens when you go on courses with the NZCF.
When you do a course you get to spend time with new people in a really intense kind of environment – you’re thrust together and made to spend almost every waking hour together for 7 or 8 days. This is an incredibly rewarding experience – especially for staff. We get to watch young cadets walk into the course with a lot of the knowledge and skills required to take them to the next level. We then get to help them build upon those skills and walk out again at the end of the week as confident young leaders in our organisation. The Junior NCO course I’ve just staffed was my first experience staffing a Cadet course. I’ve always gotten a real kick out of watching Cadets grow and progress over the course of their 3-5 years in our unit, but nothing had really prepared me for the sheer concentration of that experience at a course level.
I had two particular wee gems in my syndicate during last week. One who just seemed like she was going to have to be spoon fed the whole way, and another who just faded completely into the background. The Cadet staff that I had assigned to me turned to me during leadership exercises and said “who is that guy? No really… I know he’s been there all week, but I have no idea who he actually is” (okay, so paraphrased slightly, but you get the drift). By the end of the week we’d changed number 1 into a complete drill pig (that’s a good thing), and number 2 ended up blitzing all his assessments and lead the falling out parade at the end of the course. Now THAT is a reward for me!
Being a first timer on course I really counted on the backup of my fellow officer and cadet staff. I certainly couldn’t have gotten through without their help. So cheers muchly to Jo, Dave, John, Tim and especially to Sophie who was unfortunate enough to be stuck as my assigned cadet staff for the week. Whenever I needed advice or assistance you were always there. For that I’ll always be grateful.
The only real problem I had was adjusting back to reality. I’ve heard it’s pretty common amongst NZCF personnel, but I’ve totally been suffering from post-course blues. I love my job… I really do. I’ve worked pretty hard to get to where I’m at, but in comparison to the kind of non-financial rewards I got out of doing the course, a 9-5 just doesn’t compare – not even slightly. Sadly, this has meant a completely unfocussed, super tired Bren who has been performing completely substandardly for the last four days. So this… this wee blog entry is my unwind. Getting it all out there, out of my head so that next week I can really get back to the business of being awesome. Thank god i’ve got a four day weekend in which to do that!!
On a completely unrelated note… Prometheus is dead. My laptop died last week while on course – just as I was typing up course reports. NUTS! Good news? Adrastea has arrived. Toshiba Core i7, 4GB RAM, 1GB GFX and 650GB HDD. Niiiiiiiice. Installed FSX tonight and cranked the gfx up as high as they go. And Adrastea? Does. Not. Slow. Down. At. All.
I think I’m in love.
21
Oct
and thank you too your wonderful wife for Adrastea
Completely get where you’re coming from. Doesn’t matter how many courses you staff, that kind of experience commonly happens. That’s why I staff courses.
Nice hearing from you Wombat! & thanks for the moral support!