Cam Hawthorne

Born in what was known as San Jose, CA back in the days of states and countries. Cam was the only daughter of (back then) LT Jerry Hawthrone and his wife Thu. She is half European (from her father’s side) and Vietnamese (from her mother’s side) descent. Growing up in what was known as the Bay Area long ago. For the first four years of her life, Cam spent her time with her mother while her father was always away out in deep space doing his security and Tactical duties at the time. I was not until she was five years old that her father brought back an infant orphan by the name of Jeela Lurae. The Hawthrones adopted Jeela and Cam was now, the older sister of someone from another planet. This seemed to bring Cam more to the background as the two sisters were very different in their personalities. Most people would say that it would be the older sibling that could teach the younger one but it was quite the reverse. With Jeela being the more assertive sister, she was able to help Cam to try to speak her mind after many years growing up.

When Cam was about to the age of graduating from High School, it was Jeela that finally convinced her to live out her dreams. For the longest time, Cam was usually attached to her mother and almost wanted to stay at home… but Jeela noticed that Cam really liked to learn how things work. With the young Jeela’s help and her mother’s guidance, Cam finally decided to go out into her father’s footsteps somewhat.

Entering the Academy as a very young Operations cadet, she wasn’t the most well known of students. Her soft voice could be seen as a weakness as she was trying to make sure that she could make sure that she could pass all of the tests that were thrown to her but eventually, she found a friend in the Academy that could help her to try to be more assertive. It all led back to what Jeela was trying to teach her in her teenage years. “You have to speak up!” was the motto that Jeela tried her best to teach Cam. It took many years for those words to take effect but during her Sophomore year in the Academy, it was time to show that motto. When there was a fight between an Andorian and a Bajoran about nutritional values of food being served in the Cafeteria, something seemed to snap inside of Cam. She knew that the argument was petty for their time so at the top of her lungs, she shouted, “Enough!” Both cadets and everyone inside of the Mess Hall looked very surprised to see the young human finally getting out of her shell. It was just when Cam made her shout that one of her own instructors in the Academy heard her first shout. It was a sign of many more to come as she went through a small counseling session. to see where she was most capable at. It took a few sessions but they decided that Cam loved the inner workings of duties and to be able to have a ship that ran as efficiently as possible.

With her major in Operations now fully secured, she was finally motivated to be set on a path to success. There were many times during her simulations where she was holding back in her voice so she needed to go to an inspirational counselor to remind her that it is all right to shout once in a while. Once she figured that out, her Cadet Cruise was one of the most boring experiences that she had ever encountered. Everything seemed to be pre-planned so she was able to deal with almost every emergency that came her way. No shouting this time around there.

She did graduate but unlike the best and the brightest, Cam was more in the middle of the pack in her class. As such, she was assigned to a middle of the pack class starship in the USS Saratoga. By this time, her father was almost close to retirement but the only thing that he ever did in influencing Cam’s role in Starfleet was to help assign her to a ship that could use her abilities the best when she came out of the Academy. That ship was the Saratoga since he had a very friendly relationship with the XO there at the time. From there on, all of the accolades that Cam did were on her own. Spending two years on the Saratoga, she was able to slowly get up in the ranks with a few shouts along the way when she got very frustrated when things were not going right. Leaving the Saratoga, she eventually transferred up on the USS Driscoll with a promotion to LtJG. Though she held the same position as an Ops Officer on the Driscoll, she was able to get some advice on leadership skills. There, it was emphasized that she needed to speak up and let her voice be heard in order for people to take orders from her. For the next two years, she worked on that very much before the Captain decided that it was time for her to take on a new role… that being a leader of entire Operations staff. After a two and a half year tour on the Driscoll, it was decided that she was not quite promotable yet but it was time for another transfer to be able to emphasize that she needed to speak up more. Winding up on the USS Shelby, it was the most grueling two years spent out on the borders of Federation Space. She hated her Captain with a passion as he was a strict Military man. He tolerated no adjustments and she learned that she had to follow her Captain’s orders to the letter without any objections. This set her back in being able to shout and speak out her concerns so now, she hopes that a new assignment could help her regain the confidence that she was about to lose… and one came not too soon!

Cam was not sure if this new assignment would lead to a promotion to full LT… but if it didn’t, she would still remind herself that she can get there if only she has to speak up and shout once in a while while trying to get her confidence back from the former captain that seemed to deprive her of that. For now, she is looking forward to her new assignment and the new adventures that will surely come in the future…. but she still needs some motivation to speak out once in a while.