Summer College Training Cruise

My name is Allen Washington, I am a cadet and Mechanical Engineering major in my second semester at the California Maritime Academy. This academy is located in Vallejo, California and is part of the California State University system. Every summer there is a training cruise where all of the Freshmen engineers and marine transportation majors have two full months of sailing the ship to different ports throughout the world.

This year it will be going to Long Beach, CA (fuel only); Charlotte Amalie, USVI; Gibraltar, Spain (fuel only); Barcelona, Spain; Naples, Italy; Marseilles, France and Boston, MA for the change out. The objective of this cruise is to give an exact hands on training for what we would be doing on a ship when we finish college and to give cadets, like me, the opportunity to experience new countries and lifestyles.

This is an experience that I would like to participate in but I need help paying for it. Due to my personal circumstances I'm having to rely solely on financial aid to help pay for college and unfortunately this does not cover extra opportunities such as this. The entire cruise costs $5221 and I have been able to successfully save $3687 on my own. With your support, my goal is to raise the remaining $1534 and the other $466 for spending money by April. I would really appreciate any and all donations and if you have any friends that maybe could also help that would be greatly appreciated. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that would greatly enhance my exposure to the world and give me the hands on experience that I'll need to be successful in my major.

Thank you again for your time and consideration.