The Naval Sea Cadet Corps (NSCC) is an organization for high school students in the Bay Area interested in the US Navy and Coastguard’s activities. Among the 1200 students across the country, Sameer Ramakrishna (‘23) has been in the program for years, gaining experience to further his career goals and earning one of the most prestigious leadership positions in the program.

“NSCC is a youth program that’s used to teach seafaring skills to students in elementary, middle, and high school, and it prepares them for a military career if you want to go to the military or want to be an officer,” said Ramakrishna.

Leading a team

After years of hard training and dedication to the NSCC, Ramakrishna holds the rank of a Chief Petty Officer, an honor given to a select few members. 

“I have the rank of Chief Petty Officer. It took me 8 years to reach the rank, basically, I work as a leading petty officer. It’s called a LPO, and I basically just run it with a bunch of other chiefs,” said Ramakrishna.

While the program is known for preparing students for a career in the military, it also provides enriching experiences to all its members. Ramakrishna used this experience to further his medical training.

“The program also gives you a lot of practical tools for later in life. I earned my EMT certification there because I went to a lot of EMT trainings and tactical medical trainings. It’s really diverse what you can do there – there’s engineer training, even flight training. It depends what you want to do and you can fit it to make it what you want,” said Ramakrishna.

Future plans

As a youth program, the NSCC specializes in providing first-hand experiences for students. While Ramakrishna has participated in multiple programs, one of his most memorable experiences comes from a coast guard training program. 

“I stayed with the coastguard in Golden Gate station which is the busiest coast guard station in the country. I stayed with them for a week and got to ride on their boats and experience what it’s like to be in the coastguard,” said Ramakrishna.

Although Ramakrishna has dedicated his years of experience to the NSCC, he does not plan to stay in the organization after college. Instead, Ramakrishna hopes to use the soft skills he learned for the field of study he choses in the future.