I highly recommend the Cal Poly at Sea program to any and all students at Cal Poly. For four years I passed by the flyer hanging up in Building 52 and thought to myself "I bet that would be pretty interesting", but I never bothered to attend any of the meetings or to put in any more effort than that. I finally decided to see exactly what the program was all about, and I am very glad I did so. In fact, after experiencing the last two months, I kick myself for never having gone before.

Why do I recommend this trip? Well, despite the obvious attractions - horseback riding through a tropical rain forest to get to a secluded waterfall, or tramping through the driest place on Earth only to wind up at a natural hot spring with warmer, clearer water than any hot tub you've ever been in, or just to relax on a warm white beach for three straight days with some great friends - the ideas behind the trip are worth embracing. For example, when will you ever be able to spend two months of your life almost completely unencumbered by responsibilities while traveling to foreign countries? There are not very many times in one's life where two months are freely available to do nothing and just see the world or meet new people.

I took the cruise in my fifth year of school, only one quarter shy of graduating. I, instead, could have foregone the cruise and just finished school. If I had done that, however, I would be heading off to the real world and finding myself a job to pay for my student loans right now. Instead, I'm hanging with friends, taking three GE classes I don't need (and therefore care little about - sorry, Dr. Poling), spending my free time under the sun, and seeing parts of the world I would never get a chance to experience otherwise. Which do I think is better? The question is, which do you think is better?

As far as things one should know before going, I can only think of a few. No matter what anybody tries to tell you, the food is no better or worse than the dorm's cafeteria. However, there will be a barbecue on the back of the ship just about any Sunday that the weather holds, and those are definitely something to look forward to (the food is good and the atmosphere is great). The CMA cadets are good people. Put a little effort into knowing them and you'll have plenty of people to talk to at any time. The ports are as much fun as you can hope for. I highly recommend listening to the teachers or the other students who know what there is to do around the town. It makes it a lot more fun (for example, Chile was much more memorable for the Cal Poly students than the CMA cadets because we knew where to go outside of town rather than just hanging about the same marketplaces and bars). Do bring a lawn chair of some kind; it makes kicking back on the helo deck so much more pleasant.

Other than that, just listen to what the Cal Poly and CMA reps have to say about things like packing and documents and such, and you'll have a great time. Do it, because, for $3500, you'll never get a better deal in your life.