Emily McLaren is back from an amazing week-long experience on Lake Ontario.
The 16-year-old St. Joseph-Scollard Hall student was one of eight sea cadets nationally to take part in the Great Lakes deployment on the Royal Canadian Navy sail training ship the HMCS Oriole.
McLaren, who is a coxswain (senior cadet) with the North Bay Sea Cadet Corps, was overwhelmed by the experience.
“It was a huge honour. There were only eight cadets chosen, so it was kind of cool that I was one of them,” said McLaren.
Lorie Hall is a training officer with the local sea cadets. She says McLaren had to send in a national application and a total of 110 cadets from around the country will also take part in similar training throughout the summer on the training vessel.
“Emily has been acknowledged and recognized for her leadership skills within the corps and at camps and other events she has attended,” said Hall.
“So when we submitted the application they would see what she has accomplished at cadet training facilities and also at our corps. It is also a recommended process.”
But the work on the 102-foot-long ship was not easy. She said bringing up the anchor was a challenge.
“Bringing up the anchor was special but it was not fun,” said McLaren.
“There is no winch and you have to be very strong to bring it up with the crank. With a team, it takes 20 minutes to get it up.”
But there were some fun times, too, as the eight cadets were permitted to sleep on deck on the first and last nights of their deployment.
“It was neat, and cold. However, it was a great place for us to bond and have a night for the cadets instead of being surrounded by officers,” she said.
McLaren is hoping to pursue a career in the military and this experience may have helped steer her in the right direction.
“After cadets and graduating high school of course, I would like to go to Royal Military College and this deployment would really help me with my application there, so the military is a career consideration for me,” she said.
Hall believes McLaren is a great role model for younger North Bay Sea Cadets.
“(It is important) for the younger cadets to see one of their seniors have these opportunities and especially important for our girls to see the sky is the limit,” said Hall.
Or maybe perhaps the ocean will be her limit.
