John Paul

 Blog # Fifteen years later, I am an experienced mariner, settled and assured of my abilities. The sea will always have a powerful pull, but my attention will probably be on commanding junior mariners or running a small but thriving maritime enterprise. The sea will still be about me, but my existence will be the richer for the counterbalance of natural solidity. My kids will come first, my older kids on their own path.  My wife and I will have had a good and loving marriage, weathered life's storms together.  Home will be a place of peace and security, a refuge from the stress of work and the world.  Family will be the cornerstone of my contentment. My businesses, I hope successful, will offer not only financial security but also pride.  It will most likely be related to my time at sea, offering products or services related to maritime ventures.  Success will be measured in terms of benefit to my family and community, not profit.  It will be a culmina...

Blog # What did I learn? Well, teamwork is so much more significant than I realized. I learned to seek help, which was huge. And I discovered I'm actually very adaptable – I can do a lot more than I realized. And, I finally understood how crucial it is to get plenty of sleep and take care of myself. Seriously, that made a huge difference. The largest issue was certainly time management. I procrastinated, crammed, and was left drained and stressed out. It was a cycle of abuse. So, what did I do? I created a schedule (and actually stuck to it!), divided large assignments into smaller tasks, and requested assistance when necessary. I also attempted to be kinder to myself – rewarding the small victories and not beating myself up over errors. And sleep? It was my new best friend. In the future, I'm going to continue to work on my time management. I'm also going to continue to try and be a better team player and take care of myself. This term was tough, but truly, I fe...