What did Wesley learn at SF Academy?

[Joshua Howard]

What did he learn at Starfleet Academy which he could not have learned aboard the Enterprise?

I got to thinking about this recently; only a knowledgable, competant, and well versed individual could have performed the tasks which Wesley, upon entry into Starfleet Academy, was already doing.

After arrival there as a student, it wasn't long before he was getting himself into trouble; trouble which he would not have gotten into if he would have remained under the tutelage and influence of Picard, his mother, and other crew companions.

To qualify for higher ranks later on, he would have needed Academy credentials; but under the circumstances, wouldn't a Captain's vouchment and flight time aboard the Federation Flagship count for more than a diploma?

It is naturally assumed that the Academy was the place where Wesley needed to go; but upon further review, is that really true?

 

[Yeoman Randi]

I'd think there wouldl be alot of book stuff, rules, regulations, interstellar law, and other assorted things everyone in Starfleet would have to learn.

Gawd. Do i kill the english language much?

 

[JarodRussell]

Never took a test to apply to university, eh?

And the difference between what you learn before university, what you learn in university, and what you learn after that, and the process of how to acquire a certification should be clear, I guess or hope.

 

[Cuhl]

What did he learn at Starfleet Academy which he could not have learned aboard the Enterprise?

Latin! I remember Picard asking him how his Latin class was going in "The Game."

 

[Nerys Myk]

I'd think there wouldl be alot of book stuff, rules, regulations, interstellar law, and other assorted things everyone in Starfleet would have to learn.

Gawd. Do i kill the english language much?

I think he might have missed a few of those classes.

 

[iguana_tonante]

What did he learn at Starfleet Academy which he could not have learned aboard the Enterprise?

Latin! I remember Picard asking him how his Latin class was going in "The Game."

Spatium, Extrema Finis. Hic itineres sideralis navis Res Gestae sunt. Mandatum suum: novos, estranos mundos peragrare, vitae novas formas ac novas civitates quaerendo. Audace ad eundum quo nemo unquan ante iit.

A couple of words can be mistaken, since I went from memory.

 

[Cyke101]

I get the feeling that Wesley took a lot of liberal arts classes at the Academy, judging from the dialogue in The First Duty (or was it The Game?). Sure, they could have been electives just as well, but I had the impression that he was studying more fine arts and cultural classes than the classes you would expect at Starfleet Academy, namely the physics, mechanics, astronomy, tactics, mathematics, etc. etc. Even if he studied those in bulk, the fact that he was talking about his non-science classes with such enthusiasm sort of shows where his true desires lie, which is kind of uncharacteristic for the science prodigy.

You can tell that a liberal arts major wrote Wesley's classes. I'm a liberal arts major and even I thought that was too much

 

[Nerys Myk]

He's the wonder boy, he could probably teach those other classes!!!!

 

[Cyke101]

He's the wonder boy, he could probably teach those other classes!!!!

Hm, good point.

 

[childofdarkness]

Probably one of the primary things he got out of the Academy was that he got to interact with a lot of kids his own age and learn the appropriate social skills, etc.

 

[RyuRoots]

Field experience is good, but there's a lot of formalized training that's required of a Starfleet officer. His time on the Ent-D probably went as a note on his record, but I can't imagine Starfleet fully approving a transition to officer with NO time spent at the academy. I could see the ex-Maquis who served under Janeway being folded into Starfleet proper on Voyager's return home, but that's about it as far as people who might not have had formal training to be officers.

 

[Bones2]

Art classes and Latin? What are we supposed to believe Starfleet Academy is for? Or did he actually get into Starfleet Polytechnic and was too embarrassed to tell anyone?

 

[Yeoman Randi]

Hopefully he learned how to speak and write English better than i can.......

 

[JarodRussell]

Geez, guys, never been to a (military) academy?

Wesley might have been intelligent, but he didn't know everything what it takes. There's a huge difference between intelligence and knowledge.

 

[Cyke101]

Geez, guys, never been to a (military) academy?

Wesley might have been intelligent, but he didn't know everything what it takes. There's a huge difference between intelligence and knowledge.

Just curious, but who are you countering? Judging from the other posts in this thread, it seems that most posters here (RyuRoots, ChildofDarkness, USS Bones, myself included) agree with you to some degree on this sentiment.

 

[sbk1234]

Hopefully he would have learned a little humility. Being the "boy wonder" on the Enterprise, he probably thought his own shit didn't even stink. He should have gotten a much more well-rounded education which would have given him a more realistic idea of how he would have fit into the universe.
(Not counting all that Traveler nonsense.)

 

[Cyke101]

Hopefully he would have learned a little humility. Being the "boy wonder" on the Enterprise, he probably thought his own shit didn't even stink. He should have gotten a much more well-rounded education which would have given him a more realistic idea of how he would have fit into the universe.
(Not counting all that Traveler nonsense.)

Frankly, I think "First Duty" was one big crash course (scuze the pun) in the field of humility. That whole painful but wonderfully executed speech by Picard drilled into Wesley just how fallible he was, and just how much bigger Starfleet and its ideals are than Boy Wonder Wesley Crusher.

 

[sbk1234]

^^^Yes! Thank you.

 

[Hober Mallow]

Frankly, I think "First Duty" was one big crash course (scuze the pun) in the field of humility. That whole painful but wonderfully executed speech by Picard drilled into Wesley just how fallible he was, and just how much bigger Starfleet and its ideals are than Boy Wonder Wesley Crusher.

"First Duty" single-handedly redeemed the Wesley character, IMO. This is how he should have been written from the start. Fantastic episode. And to think, they wrote this episode because they needed a money-saving show on the fly.

 

[sbk1234]

^^^I agree 100%!