To a Student,

If Cal Poly is "learn by doing" then the Training Ship Golden Bear is learn by "going and seeing for yourself". Imagine yourself studying the political relations of Hong Kong and China and then being there the next day and observing first hand what you have studied. In oceanography we are studying wave formations both inside and outside the classroom. There is no better place to see star constellations than on a ship in the middle of the Pacific. If you have an ounce of adventure in you then you have no excuse not to come on this trip. It's about a thousand dollars more than living at Poly, and you get credits for easy classes and traveling the world.

A typical day on a boat in the middle of the Pacific: I like to sleep until ten, wake up and make my bed (because they check to see if your bed is made), go to class for an hour, then we have lunch (something like grilled cheese, tatter-tots, milk, rice, salad, soup, and dessert - the food is very good here). At noon it is time for quarters so we all stand in line with our uniforms on and pretend to be quiet. Then I like to go read and fall asleep for two hours (this is called nap time). I like to wake up for dinner. I have one last class and then the rest of the evening is free to socialize, play games, or study (I like to watch a movie and cuddle with my ship girlfriend). This is another one of the benefits; you get to meet a lot of fun and interesting people. Sundays at sea are the best time to socialize. Every Sunday we have a bar-b-q on the fan tail (the back of the boat), listen to people play guitar and watch while watching the sun set. Then the first mate plays music over the loud speakers and we dance the night away.

You will have many experiences to remember from the ports that you visit. I ate roasted pig in Hawaii, snorkeled on white sand beaches and crawled through caves in Guam, chewed beetle-nut on Yap, purchased a samurai sword in Hong Kong, visited Nagasaki in Japan, and swam through a waterfall on Midway Island. If you do not go on this trip you have something seriously wrong with you.