These two cadets have apparently had Massachusetts Maritime Academy imprinted on their DNA. One day soon the pair will be able and licensed to operate a ship, one on deck, the other below in the engine room.
1/C Sean Baggett, 2009 graduate of Braintree High School, Braintree, MA. is majoring in Marine Transportation and hopes to eventually become a harbor pilot. “My father graduated in ’88 and some of my earliest memories take place on a tugboat,” he noted. Baggett is this year’s Cadet Chief Mate, responsible for all of the marine transportation operations. During orientation he will help familiarize all cadet candidates with shipboard and safety procedures on the training ship. Baggett’s advise to incoming freshmen - “Pay attention to the smallest details. They may not seem to mean a lot. But they could, in fact, mean everything”, he concluded! This cadet can already back up his advise with some hand-on experience. He recently completed a two-month sail on an LNG vessel and hope to do it again as third mate … after graduation.
1/C Robert Lowell graduated from Cape Cod Tech, Harwich, MA, in 2009. He decided to attend the Academy in seventh grade. In 2008, he won a national tech school competition, called SkillsUSA, paving the way to Academy acceptance. Lowell’s decision was heavily influenced by family friend and ’96 MMA graduate, Justin Codner. “He, along with my parents, gave me the vision of exactly who I wanted to be – a respected, competent human being. I looked up to him because he has made a fantastic career working in a shoreside submarine facility, a VERY successful one,” he stated.
Lowell is the Academy’s Cadet Chief Engineer for 2012-13, studying to be a Marine Engineer, and will serve as the cadet in charge of ship operations and maintenance of all engine machinery and ensuing safety issues. “I would advise all youngies to try their best and give everything 110% effort. That will certainly help you through orientation and get you through most of the hardest challenges in life,” he finished.
