Posted by Lieutenant Commander Janusz Korczak (Outgoing Counselor) in CNS’ Office - Boarding Psych Evaluation for Cadet Oxton

Posted by Cadet Mara Oxton (Engineer) in CNS’ Office - Boarding Psych Evaluation for Cadet Oxton

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Janusz Korczak (Counselor) in CNS’ Office - Boarding Psych Evaluation for Cadet Oxton
Posted by… suppressed (20) by the Post Ghost! 👻
The red haired cadet strode to the CNS’ office, gazing around with forest green eyes. She smiled a bit to herself, of course she was happy… She had finally been posted to a ship, it was a goal of hers from the beginning; now to graduate the academy as an engineer!
She knocked on the office door, letting a small moment pass before she spoke “I’m here for my psychological evaluation”

~ Cadet Mara Oxton {Engineer}

The doors slid open silently. The office on the other side of the door was unlike any area in the rest of the ship. It was lit in a more subdued manner than the rest of the ship, with the light coming from wall lamps rather than the typical overhead lighting. Multiple bookcases with glass enclosed shelves lined one wall, filled with copies and originals of many texts on many different subjects, and a quick glance would show multiple languages as well. The desk was set at an angle against the opposite wall to the door in the corner, allowing for a large open space in the middle. Here there was a couch and a few chairs, one of which sat in front of and facing away from the desk. Pictures hung on the walls, some were even old photographs. Each depicted either places, individuals, or groups of people, and many were in black and white.

The Counselor was wholly plain looking; in fact so nondescript that he almost blended in with the office. His voice, on the other hand, was distinctive. “Hello. I am Lieutenant Commander Korczak. Please come in, Cadet.” The man had a most unusual accent, as if two wholly unrelated accents were vying for control. Even with that, his speech was clear and articulate; with crisp pronunciation and diction. The only other noticeable fact of the man were the glasses perched on his nose… actual glasses.

Korczak, CNS

Mara walked into the office, looking around the room she was especially drawn to the books, she had always loved to read and learn new things. The young cadet nervously walked towards Korczak, her eyes still scouring the room, noticing every detail. The vast number of books, the photos hanging on the walls… And then of course Korczak himself, she had noticed how he looked so mundane compared to everyone else on the ship, she couldn’t help but admire that.
“Cadet Mara Oxton, Engineering” she wasn’t too sure how she was supposed to introduce herself, so she said the first words she could think of. Mara then sat down on one of the chairs that were pointing towards Korczak, though unsure that’s what she was supposed to do she looked, nervous, on edge.

~ Cadet Mara Oxton {Engineer}

Bump

Korczak smiled and said “It is a pleasure to meet you Cadet. And please, make yourself comfortable in the seating area.” and he stood up. “I find having a desk between me and others encourages them not to talk… and that’s kind of the opposite of what we do in here.” and he chuckled. “I was about to make some tea. Would you care for some?”

Korczak, CNS

She smiled and sat in a rather comfortable looking area, chuckling slightly at his comment. Mara was never that fond of talking in general, let alone about her feelings and what was going on inside her head, she quite preferred to keep everything inside.

“Well that would be counterproductive!” She giggled before thinking, did she want tea? It was the polite thing to accept it, so she nodded slowly
“Yes, please!”

Mara feeling a little nervous, couldn’t help but fiddle with her hands, hiding them with her sleeve as if they would stop Korczak from noticing her nerves.

~ Cadet Mara Oxton {Engineer}

Korczak had the replicator generate a tea pot with hot water. As it came into existence, he opened a small wooden box and took out a metal ball perforated with small holes. Into this, he dumped some kind of black vegetable matter. He dropped the ball in the tea pot, and brought it and two cups over to the table, setting them between them. “I hope you don’t mind. I find replicated tea… off. So my family sends me some from home. Black currant and lemon. It will need to steep for a moment.” and he leaned back. “How was your trip to the ship?”

Korczak, CNS

Mara had watched him make the tea and smiled a little, she found it nice that someone would prefer to make their own tea rather than just replicate it.

“It was pleasant, the views were quite nice”

Fidgeting a little she looked around, she was never good at conversations… Found them rather complicated to say the least, how do you ever know what the right thing to say is? Rushing to find something to say that wouldn’t make her seem nervous, she thought about her home.

“I find the change of scenery refreshing, I got bored of London”

~ Cadet Mara Oxton {Engineer}

He smiled and said “I quite enjoyed my time in London. I spent almost every weekend there while attending University. But the scenery here is something else, that is certain. So what do you look forward to the most about being here, Cadet?”

Korczak, CNS

She thought for a moment, that question never really crossed her mind. She hadn’t actually thought about what she looked forward to.

“I think I’m looking forward to the challenges I’ll face, and to finally making friends”

She looked at him for a second and smiled, a warm and gentle smile. Mara had only technically just arrived on the Challenger, but it had been the best time of her life so far. She was definitely looking forward to more time here.

~ Cadet Mara Oxton {Engineer}

“I think you will have opportunities for both, Cadet. Now for a slightly harder question… what are you most scared of?”

Korczak, CNS

Mara looked at him for a second, almost slightly scared… Which seemed quite ironic to her. It was as if everything she had ever been scared of had flown back into her head. Her father, leaving her younger sister to fend off their father alone, the unlimited-ness of space, failing, bees, falling. The list to her fears was endless, but one stood out amongst the others. Taking a deep breath, she answered the question.

“Well, at first I was going to tell you I’m mostly scared of my father… But that’s really not true. Sir, I think I’m most scared of not reaching my potential aboard this ship. You see, I didn’t come here as a spur the moment decision… This was a choice that was set in stone in my mind ever since I was a little girl. So my biggest fear would be to let myself down that way”

~ Cadet Mara Oxton {Engineer}

Korczak nodded slightly and said “And what will you do if you leave here feeling that you didn’t reach that goal, Cadet? How will you deal with that?”

Korczak, CNS

“To be honest with you, I’m not too sure… I don’t think I’d ever forgive myself if I didn’t reach any goals. I understand that sometimes life is full of chances and possibilities, but sometimes you also get those times where you only get the offer once. I think Starfleet is one of those single offers, I fail at this and there’s no trying again”

~ Cadet Mara Oxton {Engineer}

“So do you think you ha e been given all the tools and knowledge you need to take advantage of this offer?”

Korczak, CNS

She looked rather unsure, but nodded anyway.

“I feel that I need to study more, and become more knowledgeable in my field… But I guess don’t we all? There’s always room to improve, always new things to learn. I’m not the kind of person to give up easily Sir”

~ Cadet Mara Oxton {Engineer}

He nodded and the said “But do you feel you have been give the foundation in order to be successful in your life as a Cadet?”

Korczak, CNS

“Yes, Starfleet has given me that chance. And The Challenger is a very good academy ship, I have no doubt that I’ve been given the opportunity and the resources I need to succeed in my time here… I just hope I’m able to use everything wisely”

~ Cadet Mara Oxton {Engineer}

Korczak nodded and said “You will. If you didnt have that potential, you would not have passed selection for this post, correct?” and he smiled encouragingly at her.

Korczak, CNS

She smiled at him, almost as if he had picked up her mood quite a bit. Mara had always been terribly unsure of herself, an overachiever who regularly let her hard working nature drag her down into a low mood. Growing up she never really made any friends, preferring to spend her days with her head in multiple books about foreign languages and cultures.
Nodding, she couldn’t help but tear up slightly.

“Thank you, Sir… You have no idea how much that means to me”

~ Cadet Mara Oxton {Engineer}

He waved off the gratitude with a smile and said “Do not thank me… Thank yourself, Cadet. It is your hard work… your tenacity that has led you here. You have no one to thank but you.”

Korczak, CNS

“That may be so, but it doesn’t invalidate your words… What you said will still matter to me even if it is my hard work”

She smiled warmly , and thought for a moment. Maybe he was right, maybe she had no one to thank but her… Though Mara didn’t feel that was the case, in fact she had to thank Starfleet for this opportunity, she had to thank her mother for helping her get onto the Academy despite her father’s objections. She had to thank her sister, Kiera for being brave. Lastly, she had to thank Korczak for being there for her, for picking up her mood when she wasn’t quite sure what to feel.

~ Cadet Mara Oxton {Engineer}

“Well, I certainly appreciate your kind words. Now, before we conclude, is there anything else? If not, you free to resume your duties.” he said with a smile.

Koczak, CNS

Mara shook her head, there was probably a million things she wanted to say. But none of them she was prepared to say. So she instead took to her normal answer to those sorts of questions.

“No sir, nothing at all”

With a small smile, she stood up and straightened her uniform. Taking a bit of time to put her hair up, she then nodded towards Korczak and walked away.

~ Cadet Mara Oxton {Engineer}