Posted by Lieutenant Tija Aizala (Chief Medical Officer) in Pre-SIM - CMO’s Office - Cadet Mika Reports for Duty

Posted by Cadet Tandra Mika (Doctor) in Pre-SIM - CMO’s Office - Cadet Mika Reports for Duty

Posted by Lieutenant Tija Aizala (Chief Medical Officer) in Pre-SIM - CMO’s Office - Cadet Mika Reports for Duty
Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻
“All right,” Tandra said to herself. “You’re here. Reporting for duty. So let’s go.” She’d dreamt of being on a starship for a very long time. Since forever, pretty much. And, Tandra was not exactly the nervous type. She couldn’t help but knock the feeling that this wasn’t what she was supposed to be doing, somehow. But it was. It was clear - Report to duty at the CMO’s office. So, she took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

OOC: Welcome aboard! I like your post nad am looking forward to RPing with you! :)

IC:
Almost immediately after Tandra had knocked on the door, a voice from the other side of the door called, “Enter!”

As the doors swished open before her, Tandra would be able to see a smallish office. Most of the wall opposite the door was taken up by windows. Against the left hand wall stood a comfortable looking couch with a oval-shaped glass coffee table in front of it and two matching overstuffed armchairs on each side. Slightly to the right of the stood a desk at angle, facing mostly towards the door. Behind the desk was small bookshelf filled with books and a few ornaments. In front of the desk stood two identical chairs, facing the desk. Behind the desk sat a petite Bajoran woman. Her copper hair was tied back into a neat bun at the nape of her neck. Her face was covered in a number of pale brown, almost golden looking freckles and a gentle smile played across her lips and around her jade coloured eyes.

Rising to her feet, Tija Aizala gestured towards the chairs and said, “Welcome aboard, Cadet. I assume you are Tandra Mika. Please have a seat.” Walking the three steps towards the replicator she continued, “Would you like something to eat or to drink?”

~Lt. Tija, Asst. CMO

“Oh no, I’m okay, thank you,” Tandra said, stepping in and taking a seat. “Yes, that’s me,” She answered, glancing around the office. It struck her as neat, if a bit… impersonal. Tandra seemed a tad nervous, perhaps, but she did well at covering it. Finally, she glanced over to the other woman, giving a tentative smile. “It’s exciting, isn’t it? The first time on a starship, that is.”

“It is indeed,” replied Tija as she walked back to her desk and settled down in her chair.

This was Tandra’s first step. The first in her journey into space, on a real starship. It was all she could think about. She couldn’t decide how much of her nerves were, well, nerves, and how much was just excitement. Either way, she found it difficult to sit still.
- Tandra Mika, Cadet

“I still remember my very first assignment. It’s something you’ll never forget,” Tija mused, her head tilted slightly to the side. After a short pause, she asked, “Why did you join Starfleet and what made you choose medicine as your career?” She was still getting used to her new role as CMO and wasn’t entirely sure yet, how to best conduct these first conversations with cadets. This uncertainty made her feel uncomfortable and in fact a bit insecure, which in turn led to her being more distant than she wanted to be. Then again she’d never been good at letting people get to her anyway, but that was a whole different story. Pushing all those thoughts and feelings to the back of her mind as best as she could, she tried to focus solely on the woman in front of her.

~Lt. Tija, Asst. CMO

“It was always something I wanted. I couldn’t imagine a future in which I wasn’t in Starfleet,” Tandra said, immediately relaxing as she opened up, “And medicine? Well, originally, I wanted to be a scientist. But I wasn’t really into it at all. So I thought for a while about what I would be into, and well, I’d always liked more the… people side of things, so I went with medicine. And honestly? I don’t think I could enjoy anything more.”

Tija nodded here and there as she listened to Tandra. A lot of what the cadet had said she could relate to.

She felt a tad embarrassed to have gone on so long, but it did help to relax her a bit. She picked up on the fact that Tija wasn’t particularly comfortable, either, and it gave Tandra the impression that Tija didn’t like meeting the new Cadets. She hoped she was wrong.
- Tandra Mika, Cadet

“That is always a good starting point and I hope you’ll be able to keep that passion,” the Bajoran woman replied sincerely. “Which field of medicine are you most interested in?” she asked, hoping that this type of question would be the right approach and that staying with topics she knew about could quench her own discomfort at the very least. Though part of her also wandered if she shouldn’t have started with asking the cadet how she was doing. But, well, what was done was done and there was no use in worrying over spilled milk.

~Lt. Tija, Asst. CMO

“Emergency medicine is most interesting to me. I can stand some gruesome sights, and I love the idea of helping people when something’s happened.” Tandra’s answer came easily, quickly. “And if not that for some reason… Probably internal medicine, or infectious disease, that like, I think.” It was a question she’d thought long and hard about many times, and rehearsed how she’d answer if she was asked. She appeared completely confident in her answers, now, and a new, excited light came to her eyes. “It’s all so interesting, to be perfectly honest.”

• Tandra Mika, Cadet

Tija’s head perked up at that and she leaned subconsciously forward. “I’m mostly a general practitioner, but while I was at the Academy I took as many classes as I could in trauma surgery and emergency medicine. And those two areas are still the one’s I enjoy most and I would say for the same reasons as you,” she replied, a bit surprised by her own openness. “And while we mostly deal with minor injuries and infections, especially on an Academy ship like the Challenger, being good at emergency medicine and being able to remain calm and focused and in a crisis is very important in our line of work.” She was sure that Mika was aware of that, but it never hurt to point it out nevertheless. Not because she wanted to scare her off, but because she found that it was important to be mentally prepared for such situations; or at least as prepared as possible. “However, before I ask you a few more questions, is there anything you would like to know?” she asked.

~Lt. Tija, Asst. CMO

Tandra grinned. “Well, I’m certain that I can do,” She said confidently, “I know we mostly do minor injuries and routine checks, and that’s okay too. Especially since every emergency means one of my shipmates is hurt.” She certainly was excited at the prospect of some kind of crazy crisis, but she tried not to be, because she also believed in what she said, that each emergency, each interesting crisis was also a hurting shipmate that might not make it.

“That is very true,” the CMO replied and in her mind she added, and family and friends who suffer with them in one way or another.

“Hm… Well, what would you expect us to be doing daily? What sort of tasks do we do when we’re not… well, doing anything?” She asked. She hoped the question was clear enough, she really wasn’t sure how else to phrase it. Then again, she supposed Tija would clarify if she needed to. Tandra couldn’t stand how when she was nervous, she tended to doubt everything. And, she said to herself, This does seem to be going fairly well so far. So what’s there to be worried about, anyway?
- Tandra Mika, Cadet

Tija leaned back in her chair and brushed her left hand over her left ear as if to put a strand of hair behind it despite the fact that her hair was neatly tied back in a bun. “I know, of course, that you underwent extensive training at the Academy, but since a Starship is different form a classroom or even the medical facilities at the Academy, I’d suggest that in the first couple of weeks you’ll mostly assist me or other members of staff a few times. Just to get a feel for how things vary here to what you are used to. I also want you to get familiar with the equipment and everything we have and what is most important to learn where everything is. And for me the best way to learn that has always been helping with the organisation of the storage cabinets.” Smiling slightly at Mika, she added, “And if you have any questions or something on your mind: speak to me. I’m not a Betazoid after all and thus can’t read people’s mind.”

~Lt. Tija, Asst. CMO

She found herself chuckling at Tija’s comment about mind reading. “Makes sense. And I’m, well,” She chuckled once more, “Very organized. The storage cabinets will be spotless once I’ve had a go or two at them.” It was true, pretty much everything of Tandra’s was perfectly categorized and organized.

“Of course I’ll ask if anything comes up. If I might say, I’m very glad to be here,” Tandra told her.
- Tandra Mika, Cadet