Posted by Lieutenant Commander Hilo (Counselor) in Counselor’s office - Cadet Blakely’s evaluation

Posted by Cadet William A. Blakely (Scientist) in Counselor’s office - Cadet Blakely’s evaluation

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Hilo (Counselor) in Counselor’s office - Cadet Blakely’s evaluation
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Start of duty evaluation is some of the older Starfleet Academy students’ horror theme of choice. William had no idea what to expect - he instinctively knew that stories must be grossly exaggerated, but what if there’s a shred of truth in them? What if his eagerness is mistaken for cockiness? His desire for knowledge for a vainglorious pursuit for recognition? How would that impact his career?

This is very unbecoming, William. Have some faith, he murmured to himself, Counselors are some of the Starfleet’s brightest minds. They’re so essential to every ship for a very good reason. You should trust him.

As he waited for the evaluation, he tried to calm his mind with quiet meditation, focusing on his breath, trying to control his thoughts and compose himself.

The door to the counselor’s office slid open automatically, obviously expecting Blakely’s arrival for his appointment. The room inside was of decent size by dimension, but was filled with an assortment of furniture, art, and lots and lots of plants. In the primary space, a high-backed armchair sat facing a loveseat couch, both adorned with a warm brown cloth fabric and designed for comfort when sitting for extended periods. The loveseat was flanked by two intricate end tables made of dark wood, each of which had an arrangement of little statues, candles, and a tissue box. A hemp rug bridged the space between the two seating options.

There was a desk pushed up against the far wall, but it was almost obscured by an indoor jungle’s worth of potted plants on that side of the room that hung from the ceiling, stood in large vases, or sat on shelves with dozens of other specimens. The plants, in combination with the earth tones of the furniture and the slightly yellowed lighting in the office gave the space a tropical atmosphere. Indeed, the plant life might even make the air feel be a bit more fresh, to those with keen senses.

Among the plants, a tall man with tanned skin and pushed-back brown hair turned to peer through the foliage as the door to his office opened. A small circular symbol sat on his forehead, indicating that he was from Risa. He grinned as he maneuvered through the organic maze. “Cadet Blakely! Welcome! I’m counselor Hilo. Please, come in! In fact, come over here,” Hilo said as he motioned toward the jungle, leaving the seating area ignored for now. “I need your help with something.”

Hilo was hunched over with his hands on his knees, examining one of the plants that sat in a large clay pot. The fern had many arching leaves, but they were obviously in disrepair… the plant was wilting. Its blue color had faded to a dull purple. “I picked up this guy on the last planet we visited,” he said while motioning at the plant, “but I think the soil it’s native to has a different chemical composition than I expected.” The counselor pointed at the computer panel on the side of the pot, which showed the chemical composition of the soil in the pot, as well as information about the plant it housed and its genetic makeup. “Would you mind seeing if you can find what I need to change to help it flourish?”

(Lt. Cmdr. Hilo, Counselor)

OOC: Hello Emil! So great to have you aboard! I’m looking forward to getting to know you and your character! I love you bio, by the way, it gives a lot of great information.

Most of the technical information about how STF works will be provided to you by your IC and OOC mentor, your DH (department head) in your other check-in thread. This thread is more for character development, which is seems like you’re great at! But I did want to tell you about our signatures. At the end of each IC post, you’ll want to sign-off with a signature that signifies what character was talking and where they stopped. This helps as threads get longer so we can see where one post stops and another begins. Signatures should have the character’s rank, name, and department. So for you, your signature might look like (Cadet Blakely, Science). Of course feel free to ask any and all questions as we go along!

Ben

Blakely entered the room with an expression of clear astonishment. He looked around the spacious room, and all its amazing objects. Every single item seemed to have a clear place for itself - each told its own story and somehow none seemed out of place. It brought back memories of Earth and his own home, full of treasures of the past, passionately collected by his parents.

Surprised by Hilo’s directness, William uttered a short “Nice to meet you,” before approaching the friendly counsellor. He looked at the plant, then at the computer panel.

“It’s gorgeous,” William touched one of the fern’s megaphylls, “I, too, am a proud plant parent. I’m also quite familiar with this kind. They typically require a very specific combination of magnesium and phosphorus in the soil. The latter is especially tricky, as it’s not easily soluble in the soil and requires some monitoring. Let’s see…”

William checked some additional data on the soil computer.

“You need to increase the amount of phosphorus in the soil by 11.34 per cent, and lower the amount of magnesium by 7.15 per cent. Give him a day or two and he will be as happy here as he was on his home planet.”

Cadet William Blakely - Science

OOC: Hi! Thank you very much for such a warm welcome and a great post to develop my character. I look forward to getting to know you and your character as well!

Thank you for reminding me about signatures, I’ll keep that in mind.

Hilo narrowed his eyes at the readings and nodded along, as if pretending to understand how Blakely came to his conclusion. “Well.... I have no idea how you figured all that out, but I’ll make the changes and get back to you once he’s feeling better!” As Hilo rose back to standing, he clapped Blakely on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. “Thanks for your help! Look at that, barely stepped foot aboard and you’ve already used your science-filled brain for good.” He grinned and headed for the high-backed chair, motioning over his shoulder for Blakely to follow.

The counselor settled into his chair and held a hand out to welcome Blakely to sit in the loveseat across from him. “But I know you didn’t come here for my benefit. This is your evaluation, but don’t worry too much about that. I consider myself more of a guidance counselor than a psychologist counselor. I’m here to help in any way you may need with making the transition from academy student to real Starfleet officer. I assume that unless you had a psychotic break in transit, making it this far is a stamp of approval for your sanity.” He gave a playful questioning look as if daring Blakely to object. “So, lets hop into it then! The Challenger is a ship with a lot of moving parts, and most of those moving parts are people. We have members of dozens of Federation species aboard. Where you grew up, did you have a lot of exposure to different cultures during your childhood?”

(Lt. Cmdr. Hilo, Counselor)

“It was my pleasure to help. It’s my job, as a scientist, to use my knowledge for good.”

Blakely smiled and moved to the loveseat.

“Terra is home to individuals of many different cultures, especially so around Starfleet institutions and their affiliates. The University of London, where my parents work, teaches many future colonists how to survive and thrive on the final frontier. While most of the students, almost all of them in fact, are quite local, we have a rather diverse team of professors. Many of them are my parents’ friends. One man in particular, a Saurian named Annek, was a frequent guest at our house. He loves Terran literature, and my parents always loved to hear more about his time as an architect. He is a known expert on structural integrity on high pressure planets. He also appreciated my mother’s medical assistance, Saurian nasal canals are very prone to frequent infections on Terra, and my mother was always more than happy to help.”

-Cadet William Blakely - Science