Personal Log #2

Posted on Monday, 27 June 2022 - 6:13am by Ensign T'Nile Xera

Computer, Classical Music. Wait, who programmed your library? Something less pedestrian. I need something expansive. Ah, there we go. Jupiter, Holst.

When someone is born, they have no ego or values, no morals or prejudices. You would also hope they do not have a mortgage, but they might be dressed in a fluffy onesie. As a person grows up, the influence of their parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, their siblings, their village, even. From skinning a knee while climbing a tree, to making friends and losing them, to trying everything once except broccoli and folk dancing, a foundation and a person forms. Through education, the mind broadens and expands.

Starfleet Academy, is of course, one of the most prestigious and difficult higher educational centres in the known universe. They take the most qualified young people and teach them everything, from Starship Pilotage, to Cartography, to Basket Weaving, to Warp theory and more. What graduates is not just someone who has a technical and branch specialty, but someone who is generally prepared as a future leader, to take a bold leap out into the universe.

Does, however, turning to the age of majority or becoming commissioned an Ensign signify wisdom and maturity? It takes all kinds, as they say. There are many Lieutenants who are junior to Commanders or Captains half their age and even some who never seem to understand the real concepts of being a Command officer and retire after 20 years, bitter they never got promoted further.

How then, to behave? Oh, by observing others, you learn the code of conduct. It is also possible through observations of the crew, by following their example. But that is their destiny, not yours, their career, not yours. As some random Klingon once wrote, to thine own self be true.

The Mark One Supercomputer. Your mind. To take a whole lot of input, crunch it through and to spit out an answer. To do that, not just data, but accurate data. Incomplete or corrupted data results in inadequate results.

Is it wrong to disagree with your Commanding Officer and Department Head? Yes. However, there are times moral courage is just as, if not more important than physical courage. Much as your thoughts, feelings and computations are defined by the input, you are yourself providing information into their personal supercomputer. With any complex organic feelings, egos and feelings will always be bruised, but when all is said and done, there is further understanding, now that boundaries and expectations are set.

One can only hope that as professionals, we can try and together find a way to be a more effective crew, indeed. End log.