School Daze

"Cadet Burke!"

John Burke stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face his instructor. "Sir." He said.

Commander Jacobson handed the cadet a padd. "Your latest results on your last conn test." He said allowing John to look over his scores. "I'm not impressed cadet" he continued while folding his arms.

John looked over the report. It was true, his latest Starship Flight Simulation hadn't gone quite by the book. "Sir, if this has to do with the Simulator Room being in shambles.."

Jacobson shook his head. "No no, we've seen much worse. I'm just concerned about your progress. If your scores continue to be like this, you'll be washed out next year."

John nodded as he handed the padd back. "Yes sir, I know sir."

"I want to see you succeed cadet." Jacobson admited "You have greatness within you, I can feel it; and if you want to be a captain someday, you're going to have to get through all of this."

Burke was shocked, he hadn't told anyone of his dreams of being a captain let alone the command division. "Sir? How did you know sir?"

The instructor just smiled. "Oh I can tell. But that's not important. You keep your nose clean you hear?" With that he walked away.

Burke stood there with a slight smirk on his face and thought about what his teacher had just told him. It was true, if he wanted to get through his Starfleet Career in one piece, he would have to get through his core curriculum. He continued walking to his next class.