Posted by Cadet Katherine (Katie) Hobbes (Engineer) in Counselor’s Office - Cadet Katherine Hobbes Checkin

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Asher Miller (Counselor) in Counselor’s Office - Cadet Katherine Hobbes Checkin

Posted by Cadet Katherine (Katie) Hobbes (Engineer) in Counselor’s Office - Cadet Katherine Hobbes Checkin
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻
OOC:

I hope it isn’t inappropriate to try to do this check-in before I finish with my department head.

IC:

Katie stood in front of the Counselor’s office door for a full count of ten without moving. She took a deep breath and covered her face with her hands. Why did she dread this more than any of the other check-ins? She knew her stuff as well as any newb engineer so the check-in with her department head had gone about as well as she expected. She had just had a physical two months ago so she knew the check-in with the medical staff would be easy enough. How much noise could they make about a few fingers whose function was sub-optimal? But the counselor? What would he… she… it? (why hadn’t she done her research on who or what the counselor was?) be like?

Asher had barely touched the ground when he was informed that his new posting to the Academy wouldn’t be at the Academy but in fact aboard the USS Challenger. This was something that excited him because he recalled his own Cadet flight and loved every second of it and the idea of being able to facilitate the future officers was something he found most endearing.

The few extra moments wouldn’t gain her anything so Katie pressed the call-button.
He’d commenced his hand over with the outgoing Chief Counsellor a few days prior and most of the room was what Vanessa had left, all her personal additions to the room had been taken leaving Asher with some work to do. He had plans of course however they would have to wait as the chime to his door echoed.

“Cadet Katherine Hobbes to see you for a new cadet check-in”

Tugging at the bottom hem of his tunic her stood relaxed behind his desk, which only sported the LCARs pop-up display screen, control panel and a glass of orange juice. “Come in” He returned ready to welcome Cadet Hobbes, who most certainly had an interesting history one Asher hoped she’d be willing to talk about especially when she came with the lovely dog ear of monitoring any unknown communications.

• Lt Cmdr Asher Miller, CNS

Katie took a deep breath as the door slid open and, forcing herself to smile, she stepped into the Counselor’s office. She was uncertain just what she had expected but a male Lt. Commander within such a sparse office wasn’t it. She stopped immediately opposite him. “Cadet Katherine Hobbes here for a new cadet check-in,” she said and hesitated just a moment before adding “Sir.” Sir is never wrong. Perhaps a touch overly formal with a Counselor but safer to err on the side of caution. Another longish hesitation before she remembered and held out her PADD to him. “My orders. Sir.”

Cadet Katherine Hobbes, Engineer

He took the PADD and smiled. “When we’re in here you can just call me Asher” He held up his hands to stop any thought process. “Don’t worry everyone gets the same privilege, however if you feel uncomfortable Dr Miller or Counsellor work just as fine.” Asher quickly looked through the assignment and there wasn’t anything he hadn’t already seen or would be surprised to see. Most of his work came from the moment and getting to know the person. “Please take a seat, would you like any refreshments?” He moved over to the replicator ordering himself a mocha and a plateful of biscuits.

• Lt Cmdr Asher Miller. CNS

Katie started to answer by calling him “Commander” but then thought better of it. “Thank you, Counselor. I don’t need anything… though a glass of cold water would be nice,” she said. The one thing she noticed the rather sparsely furnished office had in abundance was places to sit and the thought popped into her head that this might be some kind of psychological test. Clearly the chair behind the desk was out of the question but what would the choice of the chair on the opposite side of the desk say compared to the chair beside the desk say about her? Our one of the chairs at the small table against the wall? And she didn’t even want to consider what sitting on the couch might mean. She started to ask Asher about it but knew immediately that he would say something like “It doesn’t matter” which, of course, would mean that it did matter.

Asher replied with a visual acknowledgement which came in the form of a single nod before placing the commands into the replicators control panel. With her glass of water, his mocha and the small plate of biscuits which sported a variety of sugary delights he set them down on his desk and slid her glass of water across its surface. He’d noticed shed opted for the chair which was to the side of the desk instead of opposite which was his preferred choice. When communicating especially in an environment such as his it was important to create an environment where everyone was equal, sitting across from someone often had the effect that there was a block or wall between people, it was also important how you sat. Crossing arms and closing your body off sent negative signals where as sitting with your opens open, perhaps a slight lean forward to show you was engaged in the conversation showed you was open to conversation.

She took a deep breath. This was getting her nowhere at very high speed and that alone was saying something about her. She gave up and decided to sit in the chair next to the desk. A moment later she accepted the glass of water from the Counselor and noted that it was a near perfect 4 degrees.

Cadet Katie Hobbes, Engineer

“You can relax here, Cadet, there is nothing you can do that’s going to make me ship you back of the Earth. Is there a nickname or something else you like to be called?” He noted establishing early in their meeting, it was always good to build a report with the other person or persons in the conversation.”There is often a stigma around counselling sessions but really they’re meant to be an opportunity to open up and discuss you as an individual. How are you finding the transition from being at the Academy to now being aboard the Challenger?” Often this question had a mixed response from nervous all the way to frightened and often it was a mix of in between.

• Lt Cmdr Asher Miller, CNS

“My friends call me Katie,” she said. She took a sip of the water and then replaced the glass on the desk. She crossed her legs at the ankle and clasped her hands on her lap. Perhaps this wasn’t some sort of elaborate test. Perhaps the best tact was to simply relax and go with the flow of the meeting. “The transition isn’t anything spectacular. Down time is going to be different since there won’t be any going into the city on weekends and I haven’t had the opportunity to try out the ship’s recreational facilities.”

Asher listened, it was usual for cadets and even seasoned Officers to miss the luxuries of Earth or being stationed somewhere like a starbase with the space to house more established and elloborate recreational facilities.

She paused for just a heartbeat.

“I will say that one thing that worries me just a bit is the opportunities to really mess things up badly,” Katie said. She glanced down at her hands and then up at the counselor. “I mean, if you screw up in a academy holodeck simulation, the worst that happens is you get a bad grade and an extra lecture. Here… on a real ship… in a real engineering environment… well… the downside can be spectacularly worse.”

=/\= Cadet Katherine Hobbes, Engineer

He nodded, “This is a perfectly reasonable thing to think about and everyone has had them either as a cadet or even being posted to ships. The advice I can give you is dont let that worry stop you from doing things you believe will help, and also reach out to the people around you because more heads are better than one and there really isn’t much you can do to put the ship in jeopardy without having consulted with the Chief Engineer.” Asher noted a few observations down and then went onto his next question.

“One of the most difficult things cadets often find is being away from family, while at the Academy you may not be around them the knowledge that in a few hours you could be stops those thoughts becoming damaging but ofcourse on a starship those relationships are strained, do you have someone that you’ll be contacting regularly?”

• Lt Cmdr Asher Miller, CNS