Many new college graduates in the United Stateshave trouble finding a job in the weak economy.But not graduates from the California Maritime Academy.The academy is the only school of its kindon the West Coast.Students attend classes on the university campusin northern California.But they also gain experience by going to seain a floating classroom, the training ship Golden Bear.Two hundred eighty-eight cadets recently sailedon a two-month international training cruise.The ship travels south to the Panama Canal.Along the way, it visits countriesin Central America and the Caribbean.Vasile Tudoran is a mechanical engineering studentat the California Maritime Academy.He spends much of his time working deepin the heart of the ship.VASILE TUDORAN: "I knew I wanted to fix stuffsince I was a little kid."He says he is not worried about finding a job.VASILE TUDORAN: "When we get out of schoolyou are basically guaranteed a job.There are not enough bodies for the positionsthat are needed to be filled."Robert Jackson is one of his teachers.ROBERT JACKSON: "I would say the majority of our studentshave between one to two job offers before they graduate."He says most of those job offers are between sixtyand one hundred twenty thousand dollars a year.In addition to working on ships, he says,engineering graduates from the academy also get jobswith power companies and satellite companies.Instructor Bill Schmid says the situationfor marine transportation students is not as brightas it was before the economic downturn, but it is recovering.BILL SCHMID: "I think probablythe vast majority of our graduates are employedin the industry, if they want to be, now."He says the coursework is demanding because ship's officersare kind of like surgeons or airplane pilots.BILL SCHMID: "You do not want them to be rightonly seventy percent of the time.We pretty much have to be right all the time,so that is a hard thing to teach young people,that there is zero tolerance for mistakes."The California Maritime Academyhas a ninety-four percent job placement rate.Still, only about nine hundred studentsare currently studying there.Cadet Andrew Di Tucci says he understands why.ANDREW DI TUCCI: "The school,it is not like your normal college experience would be.We are a paramilitary school.We have uniforms. We have formations.Just disciplining yourself to show upand keep grooming standards and be where you need to be,sit down, buckle your belt and study."Andrew Di Tucci is majoring in marine transportation.He says when he was growing up,he was always told it takes a special personto want to go to sea for a living.ANDREW DI TUCCI: "My favorite thing about itis waking up every morning and seeing nothingbut the ocean on all sides of you.I get a thrill out of that."And that's the VOA Special English Education Report.To read and listen to more storiesfor people learning English, go to 51voa.com.We have a video about the California Maritime Academy.You can also find our captioned videosat the VOA Learning English Channel on YouTube.