Congratulations to all.
Watching my sons over the last 6 years, the best way I can sum it up is with a corny sports analogy. These kids have just made the playoffs, lots of excitement and expectations. Now the really hard work starts, when these kids look back this will be seen as the easy part of the process.
As these kids start College and ROTC they will soon realize what a competition this all is, lots of teamwork but still a competition. Balancing both college and ROTC can be stressful unless they start out right away with good time management. For those kids that are attending a civilian college, they will have a bit more personal responsibility, there will be nobody to make sure they are up in the morning, they will have to manage their own schedule, no lights out time. Depending on where they live, Dorm or Fraternity/Sorority, they will be surrounded by kids that don't have to wake up at 5:00am. There can be a lot of distractions that they will have to deal with.
Unlike other students where "C's get Degrees" these new cadets will have to work harder, they will become very aware of the Battalion OML and how important that will be, and the OML starts the first week they are in the program. The first APFT will set a tone for the first month, the better they do, the better they start.
There are going to be a lot of different personalities in ROTC, they won't be good friends with everyone in the program. In my opinion it's important for these kids to make good relationships with both cadets and fellow students.
I mentioned the Greek System earlier, both my sons were/are in the same Fraternity, they both loved it and it allowed them to make life long friends outside of ROTC. Granted the Greek system is not equal at all colleges, if the school has a good system these new cadets should not be afraid of checking them out.
Have the needed but always uncomfortable talk about alcohol, this is college after all and anyone that thinks alcohol is not an issue at civilian colleges is Naive at best. Just make sure they understand just how much it will cost them if the get a MIP or MIC, being careful is an understatement. I breathed a little easier when my sons turned 21.
I remember when both my sons received their scholarships, it was a great celebration as it should be. Once school started that was all washed aside as they began the real work.
The best advice I can give is for these kids to enjoy the rest of high school and the summer. There is only one thing they can really work on from this point and that's the APFT. Train hard and get a good score on the first APFT, for those 4 year scholarship winners just remember that you can't contract until you pass, tuition, book money and stipend are not paid until you pass the APFT, complete the paperwork, and sign the contract. Tuition and Book Money will be paid once they contract, the stipend doesn't start until they contract and it is not paid retroactive.
Again, Congratulations, have fun and celebrate, just be ready when the Fall comes to hit the ground running.
