Shellback Ceremony

Dr. Marks and I began our shellback ceremony at 1800 with an announcement from Davy Jones himself! He heard about all of us slimy pollywogs, 47 in all, on board and was demanding we show up for physical fitness the following morning. The one and only King Neptunus Rex himself would be present with his court of trusty shellbacks for our physical test. The shellback ceremony is also known as the crossing the line ceremony. It is done to commemorate a sailor's first time crossing the equator and is administered by those who have been initiated.

Our first night we had to do a talent show in front of all of the trusty shellbacks. Possessing no inherent talents, I decided to "borrow" someone else's. Dr. Marks and I decided to copy Dr. Stolte's and Dr. Clements Thursday Night Live spoof from Phollies. We were imitating Craig (Will Ferrell) and Arianna (Cheri Oteri), the Spartan cheerleaders, from Saturday Night Live. We planned three cheers, my personal favorite being "Who's that pharmacist in my pharmacy" with Dr. Marks popping out and saying "It's me It's me." We also laced it with several jokes and references to what we have seen so far on this mission.

We were psyched, ready to get it over, and suddenly it was our turn to get on. We ran onto the flight deck with pom poms flying and executing perfect scissor kicks. All of our practice and hard work paid off. We got three lines into our skit and everyone stood up, and booed us off stage. Whew, that part was over.

We woke up at 0600 the following morning. I'm not sure if I am allowed to reveal the next part in its entirety, but here are some choice words. Water. Duck walk. Peanut Butter. Jelly. Calisthenics. New hairdo. Green eggs, bacon, oatmeal, and ham. Calisthenics. Oranges. Tuna fish and rice slip and slide. Calisthenics. Swab the deck. Leap frogs. Fire hoses. Bowline dragon. Row row row your boat. Make the baby laugh. Dunk tank. 2 hours later and I am now a trusty shellback.

Dr. Marks and I can now both say this with pride for having made it through. It's a great honor to be a part of this naval tradition as I imagine not many civilian pharmacists will be able to display their shellback certificates in their offices. This was another unique experience that this rotation has granted me with.