A Few More Questions + an Update

Hey again guys! I've got a few more questions and all of you are by far the most helpful.

I was just informed today that I was selected to attend Texas Boys State, so hopefully that'll really help my application. I'm joining Civil Air Patrol ASAP - they meet the second Saturday of the month.. unfortunately the second Saturday of March and April I have reserved for the SAT and ACT.

The man that interviewed me for Texas Boys State was incredibly rude - He was a retired Colonel and a former liaison for Westpoint Academy. He continually told me that my academic record wasn't good enough for the AFA and that I should just apply for a regular college with an ROTC program, while at the same time telling me that he could tell I wasn't the kind of person that would give up. I don't know if this was some military thing, but oh well.

Anyways next year I've decided I'm going to try to do Cross Country and our team being the state champions run 45 miles a week. The Coach said he'll give me a shot on the team if I can be running 30 by the end of May. I'm currently running about a mile and a half a day.. on a treadmill I was wondering if any of you had any running advice for getting myself to run 5 miles comfortably(I know the Academy wants it too anyways).

Additionally, is getting a paid job helpful for my application or would they look more highly on volunteer work? Right now all I've got over the summer is a week of Boys State, (potentially) Cross Country every day, and dual credit English 4 at the community college two days a week. I'll have Civil Air Patrol once in a while, but that still leaves my schedule pretty open for a job or something. Any suggestions anyone?

I already filled out my Precandidate Questionnaire when I got home.. it wasn't very extensive. I expected it to be a little more.

I'm also wondering if I should be emailing/calling my liaison to ask these questions... you guys respond a lot quicker but I'm wondering if it'd be good to show him how motivated I am by keeping in contact. Should I be updating him on things like getting accepted to Boys State? I'm just not entirely sure of what's expected of me as far as that goes.

As always, thanks guys.

Running Plans

Hi RCave,
I am a runner now...but haven't always been.

First, I would recommend you start running outside if possible. It is a lot different than running on a treadmill. Then, I would recommend going to runnersworld.com (or a similar type of site) and print off one of their 'how to train for a 5K' plans. They give you recommended distances and types of running for specific days which will help you build up your endurance and train efficiently in a very short amount of time. Once you've mastered that distance, you can move up to the 1/2 marathon training schedule. Trust me...they work! I used them and sucessfully trained for and ran a marathon.

You can do it!

I'll limit my remarks to the officer's so called rudeness. You'll see this same behavior in coaches sometimes. I suspect what he was doing was trying to p1$$ off "the guy who won't give up" to motivate said person to go ahead and prove him wrong. So I suspect he was really challenging you. Even if I'm incorrect, wouldn't that be a great way to make use of it? Wouldn't that be a great thing to do?

BTW, you should apply to ROTC too. One should always have backup plans. Make ROTC with a scholarship plan B. Make ROTC without a scholarship at some affordable college plan C. etc. etc.

kinnem said:

I'll limit my remarks to the officer's so called rudeness. You'll see this same behavior in coaches sometimes. I suspect what he was doing was trying to p1$$ off "the guy who won't give up" to motivate said person to go ahead and prove him wrong. So I suspect he was really challenging you. Even if I'm incorrect, wouldn't that be a great way to make use of it? Wouldn't that be a great thing to do?

BTW, you should apply to ROTC too. One should always have backup plans. Make ROTC with a scholarship plan B. Make ROTC without a scholarship at some affordable college plan C. etc. etc.

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Yeah my Dad is a retired Major and told me to expect that kind of treatment as a Cadet or in ROTC so I kind of figured that's what he was doing. Still wasn't very pleasant, but I hope that was his intention. I just smiled and nodded throughout as I didn't really get much of a chance to talk.

As far as running goes, I would recommend using runningahead.com to track your mileage and get a better idea of your performance.

I started seriously running this past fall, and though the start was rough, I am able to comfortably run half marathons. The key to success is persistence and consistency.

I would try and find another CAP squadron...meeting once a month won't help you progress quickly in the program or learn some of the basics.

I agree with BlahuKahuna about the CAP thing... Once a month really isn't that often. As for the job thing... I held a job for all four years of high school as a ski instructor. It was a great job for me especially since it had plenty of leadership opportunities. Some jobs might not give you those opportunities, however. Busing tables or cashiering at Target or something like that can take years to be promoted to a leadership position. Also, I knew from experience that it can be hard to balance a job and schoolwork and as such I worked far less hours my senior year. I would suggest instead getting involved in organizations like Youth Court or school clubs such as Model United Nations where leadership opportunities are more readily accessible. The Academy cares more about leadership than about how much you do. It's the whole "quality over quantity" idea.

Texas Wing CAP has a great program, but it's a matter of finding the right squadron. If you give me your general location, I can try and find a good squadron in that area for you.

My kids CAP squadron met every Monday night, then had all sorts of weekend activities. Find another squadron, or maybe SeaCadets, etc.

All of my children had a daily paper route from the time they were 11 years old (5 - 7 a.m. EVERY day, year round), then got part time jobs when they reached 16. It's difficult, but they all worked 20+ hours per week at the job, fenced every day, were enrolled 10 credits at the local U, + six more at the not-as-local-U. They were sososo busy, but it paid off.

Whether volunteer or paid, the dedication to the job, without the drop in your GPA or sports, just do everything you do with everything you have. Whether you get the Nom and Appointment then, you will know you have done your very very best.

The Civil Air Patrol I'm trying to join meets from 8am to around 4pm the second Saturday of the month.

There is a different squadron in another town but it's about 15-20 miles away and they meet Tuesday nights during rush hour. I'd never get down there in time, plus I'd have to miss Krav Maga every Tuesday.

just make sure not to stretch yourself too thin!

RCave said:

The Civil Air Patrol I'm trying to join meets from 8am to around 4pm the second Saturday of the month.

There is a different squadron in another town but it's about 15-20 miles away and they meet Tuesday nights during rush hour. I'd never get down there in time, plus I'd have to miss Krav Maga every Tuesday.

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Where there's a will, there's a way. When our ds was in ninth grade, he decided he wanted to join CAP - but the nearest squadron to our rural location was 2 hours away, about 120 miles one way. We decided to take him to a meeting so he could see what it was like - he absolutely loved it. This was the first activity he had genuinely shown interest in so far in his young life. He was active in many other things, but none of them seemed to be "his thing". So..... we started driving him to the meetings many Monday nights, not all. We prioritized which meetings would benefit him most and tried to make it to them. We'd leave about 3:45 after school and generally get home about 11:00 pm. We'd trade off driving him and even had help from grandparents some weeks. Not ideal by any means, but he was so appreciative each time we went. Last fall, he completed his Billy Mitchell award and became a 2nd lieutenant in CAP. Quite a feat we think due to the distance involved and all his other activities/jobs/sports,etc. We found that the varsity basketball coach cut him some slack on practices in the winter because he respected our ds and his desire to commit himself to such a respectable organization as CAP.

I just thought I'd give you some perspective - if you really want to do something, you'll make it happen somehow. CAP was a blessing for our son. It gave him direction and encouragement at a critical age and motivation to be the young man he is becoming today.

Best wishes to you!! Sounds like you are motivated and that is the key!

+1. My squadron is over half an hour away, but it's been worth it. I've had the opportunity to travel to another country, meet the CIA director, train with AF PJs, and have some amazing leadership experiences.

30 miles a week would be 6 miles a day for a 5 day school week. I would recommend like others have to run outside if possible, try researching routes you can take for various distances such as 2-6 miles try running a mile outside for a few days then do two for a few days and so on and so forth until you reach the 6 miles a day mark. You should be able to reach the deadline, also if you run as a team at your school I highly reccomend training with someone because distance running is worlds eaiser if you run along side someone.