Hey there everyone! My name is Brigit, I am 19 years old and have lived in Cape Canaveral, Florida my whole life. I'm about 5 minutes from the Kennedy Space center here, and a block from the beach.
I grew up a competitive swimmer, and competed a lot through out high school in clubs and the varsity team. I placed in the state for the 100 yd butterfly and 50 yd freestyle. I also competed in open water ocean swims of one to three miles many times placing first in multiple events. I am a fish in the water, and decided I wanted a job that I could put my skills to use many years ago. I started looking into the U.S. Coast Guard back in 9th grade and had it as my plan for a long while. After high school I went to college to get my Associates and realized that none of the job paths I was looking into was as fulfilling as I desired and eventually my heart came back to the Coast Guard.
I started my process in August. I have already been to MEPS twice, first for my ASVAB which I got an 88 in AFQT, and then I did my physical on August 27th and had no problems. I got my shipping date of January 7th, 2014. I officially DEP in on October 10th.
I was so amazed by how quickly everything moved for me and I am so excited. I chose the latest ship date so I could spend one last holiday season near my family who still live in the home I grew up in near the beach only 10 minutes from my condo. I have been training hard since I made my decision by running daily and going to the gym for long sessions of cardio and aerobics with some strength and flexibility. And of course I have been hitting my local lap swimming pool as much as possible. I am feeling very prepared but still very nervous about my basic training experience. I have never lived in the cold, let alone run laps or anything. If anyone has any intel on what basic in winter is like I would love to know some details!
I am looking forward to getting to know some great people, and even some new people like myself. Thank you to all the people out there who have been serving bravely, as well.
-Brigit Kramer, 09/26/2013