academy

academy                                                                 04Jun15

  Acceptance to Starfleet Academy is not easily gained. The entrance exams 
  consist of a variety of simulations and tests designed to measure all major
  areas of a candidate's moral, mental and physical capacities. In addition,
  candidates receive a psychological evaluation: Starfleet officers routinely
  encounter stressful situations, and it is important that they are as 
  emotionally capable of handling these situations as they are physically and 
  mentally equipped. Many candidates must take the entrance exams more than
  once; even more never pass the exams at all.

  Once admittance to the Academy is granted, cadets are expected to 
  consistently meet or exceed rigorous standards in disciplinary and academic
  fields. Future departments are chosen for most cadets very early on in their
  Academy career; thereafter, students study a variety of subjects intended to
  better prepare them for their post-graduation duties. In addition, the
  Academy offers a culturally diverse variety of sports teams, clubs and civic
  groups. It would be unusual -- and, in fact, at least mildly frowned upon --  
  for a student to refrain from participation in some sort of extracurricular
  activity.

Continued: academy2                                              Top: starfleet
&academy2
academy2                                                                04Jun15

  For a cadet, perhaps the most stressful portion of the Academy experience is
  the Cadet Cruise. Not only does the location of this six-month to one-year
  "internship" at a Starfleet facility have a large bearing on future career 
  options, it is also the time when careers themselves can be made or broken 
  via networking and the cadet's own actions. Said actions, for good or ill, 
  are the largest consideration in the making or breaking of a career; 
  reprimands from cadet cruises can haunt officers for years if not decades. 
  However, the contact that a cadet has with his or her superiors, and the 
  networking that can occur during this pre-graduation assignment, is almost
  as important. 

  Upon successful completion of his or her cadet cruise, a cadet returns to
  Starfleet Academy for commencement exercises, and thereafter receives his or
  her first assignment as a newly-made ensign.
                                                                 Top: starfleet