Congratulations, you’ve arrived at CFOT and are on the path that you believe is God’s call for your life. I hope that you are excited to begin this journey. There are a few things you will need to do in order to have a good experience. Sure, you can just coast through 22 months and get by but that wouldn’t really be the best way to spend 730 precious days that God is giving you to live. The truth about CFOT is that you will get out what you put in, as is true in most experiences. As a training officer who was a Cadet only 6 years ago, I have a unique perspective to offer this advice. Here’s the down low about how you can make sure to thrive during your 22 months of training rather than just survive.
- Expect to learn as much as possible about “following.” Let’s be honest, during cadetship you will talk a lot about leadership but with so many leaders all living on one city block, it’s not really feasible for everyone to feel satisfied with their leadership opportunities. Cadetship is a lot about learning to be a good follower. First and foremost it’s about following Jesus Christ. But it’s also about following the leaders God has put in our lives. That can be hard to do but humility, submission, and obedience are important Christian disciplines that we 21st century American’s like to overlook. If you’re anxious to practice your leadership, don’t worry, officership will give you years of practice at it. So take these 22 months to learn about following. Being a good follower will greatly contribute to your ability to lead followers later on.
- Practice leadership when possible. There are a few “offices” from which to practice your leadership. Use these when possible. For those who aren’t elected or chosen for such offices, use unofficial opportunities to be a leader. Be a leader in having a positive attitude and being an encourager. Organize fun activities for sessionmates during unscheduled times. Plan a prayer meeting when a member of the campus family is sick or hurting. Schedule a group study time for a particularly difficult exam coming up. Leadership is defined by having followers and there are plenty of ways you can be a leader on campus whether that includes a “title” or not.
- Take charge of your spiritual life. New cadets often think that CFOT will be like a 22 month long youth councils, a constant spiritual high. How could it not be with so many believers crammed together for so long? It makes sense. However, 22 months is long enough for life to get messy. It will likely not be a 22 month spiritual high for you though it might be a time of intense spiritual growth which can sometimes be painful. Nothing can separate you from the love of God so take charge of your spiritual life. If you feel you need more time in corporate worship, don’t complain that there isn’t enough time during morning prayers, call some friends together and have worship time that you plan and organize. If you want to focus your prayer on a specific topic that isn’t on the radar of the campus calendar, plan a prayer meeting yourself. Generally, others are happy to participate in such ventures. If your passionate about something then do it, don’t wait for CFOT to add it somewhere in the schedule, chances are it won’t.
- Do your homework. Seriously, do all of it. Perhaps you found out in high school or even college that you didn’t really need to read the textbooks to get a good grade in the class. That may still be true for you here, however, here, it’s not about the grade. Being a cadet is about learning and growing as much as possible and the authors of the books in your classes are experts in their fields and have a lot they can offer you if you take the time to read their material. Don’t do what you need to do to just get by, try to learn and grow as much as possible. You might be tempted to think you’ll read that book later, when you have all kinds of time when you’re a corps officer. Don’t do that, you won’t have time and by then you’ll have SACEP books to read.
- Invest in the community. Arguably the most lasting take-away from CFOT is the community that is formed within sessions and between sessions that will encourage and support you through many years of officership. These relationships are not for just 22 months, they will last a lifetime. Invest in each other, getting to know each other deeply. Take time to encourage each other. Officership can be difficult and it can often be lonely. You will need these close friends who are just a phone call away even if they live on the other side of the territory.
- Take feedback seriously. Throughout your time at CFOT you will have several “feedback” sessions in which every aspect of your life is rated and graded. This can be extremely nerve-wracking. We hate to think that every aspect of our lives is being watched. Truth is, every aspect of your life is always being watched whether or not people say it outloud or give you any feedback about what they observe. At CFOT, your life will get watched and you’ll actually get some honest feedback about how you’re growing and developing. Oftentimes you will be affirmed in your gifts and abilities. If you feel that your feedback is wrong and not reflective of who you really are, than take that as an opportunity to question why people are misinterpreting you. How can you authentically show who you are and where your heart is? Perhaps, who you think you are on the inside and how you come across on the outside aren’t always in line. Take this honest feedback as an opportunity to figure out how live out your authentic self.
- Ask for help. Don’t be too macho to ask for help. If you don’t understand a concept in Doctrine, call the instructor. If you’re struggling to be organized and keep track of all the assignments and responsibilities, ask someone for help. This will be good practice for officership. Officership requires a knowledge and experience of 1000 different things but CFOT only prepares you for 189 of these things. You will still have a lot to learn your first years of officership and you’ll need to know when and who to ask for help to get the answers and guidance that you need. Start practicing now.
I hope this gives you some ideas for how to thrive during your 22 months of training. These days should be good practice for living out the Kingdom of God here on earth. Afterall, we are a community of believers, we have a unified, resolute goal of Kingdom building through God’s vehicle of The Salvation Army. We have so much in common yet we are all still so different. Let’s spend the next 22 months growing in grace and knowledge of Him who saved us.
cadet sleeves
exhertations 