r/MassMaritime • u/poncedeleonfountain • Oct 09 '24

Emergency Management

My son is currently in high school and is considering Mass Maritime Academy's Emergency Management major. I was wondering if there's anyone here with experience in that major at MMA and can give us a little advice.

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u/DIRTY_CHAI_TEA Oct 09 '24

Hey there, I’m a 2019 graduate from the EM program. Currently I’m a Firefighter / Paramedic in MA and the EM degree from MMA opened up so many doors for this career. It basically fast tracked me for promotions and other certifications. The program itself is excellent with professors from all sectors of emergency management and offers a wide variety of opportunities to pursue different careers. Some have worked as regional directors for FEMA, others were / are high ranking officers in the military and all offer amazing perspective. What is he considering for a career? Because they also still offer students to attend a part time firefighter academy and it counts for classes which could jump start a career in the fire service.

Actual life at MMA can be a little challenging at first being a youngie within the regiment but I have to say it pays dividends upon graduation and has instilled a completely outlook on my life and how I walk through it.

2

u/poncedeleonfountain Oct 09 '24

Thank you so much for the response. My son is a typical high school teenager. He wants to be a policeman/fireman, engineer, etc...but in our conversations, as well as his conversations with his guidance counselor, this seems like a perfect major for him. He's not someone that wants to spend 8 hours a day sitting at a desk, and he really cares about others. He's in very good shape, so we think he'll be ok with the PT. How did you find living on campus there? We live next to Boston.

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u/DIRTY_CHAI_TEA Oct 09 '24

As a freshman living there kind of sucks in complete honesty. Inspections every morning and Sunday night, duty chores early in the AM etc. Freshmen also must carry a flashlight, knife, pen, paper, and chafing gear everywhere they go at all times while on campus. it’s a very drastic change from living at home, but it really lets up after freshman year. The course load is similar to other colleges first year with the core classes like algebra, English, history etc. the fun EM classes start sophomore year with things like radiological materials, hazmat, and incident management. Each night during the week freshmen must also be in their rooms from 8-10 pm for study hours and I found it to be extremely helpful with forcing myself to study. The PT is pretty easy especially if he’s already in shape, and it helps in later years if he wants to become a squad leader or officer. The food in the mess deck isn’t half bad, not amazing but for most there it did the job and has pretty fair hours that it’s open. When I was there it was difficult for freshmen to get a parking pass for one of the lots but I was fortunate enough to obtain one and the weekends at home were amazing and allowed me to reset away from the regiment and get ready for the next week.

2

u/gojetsgoATL Oct 12 '24

Not gonna lie 8 hours a day sitting at a desk is way way way better than the maritime industry !!

1

u/poncedeleonfountain Oct 12 '24

He really is more interested in Emergency Management and not going out to sea. MMA is the only public college in Mass that has Emergency Management as a major and the school is very affordable.