A grand student with grand dreams~

BlackSnowMarine

The catch? Catch-22.
5-Year Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2014
Messages
28
Hello everyone. I'm a relatively new member of this forum, and I have to say -- I absolutely love it here. My questions that have been bothering me for a long time are getting answered thoroughly, though I have many more questions ready to spawn to life in my head. I'm hoping I won't annoy any of you due to it.

I am currently a Junior in high school. My interests consists of the Three A's -- Art, Astronomy, and Aviation. I am also a huge History buff, and anything related to History will automatically attract my attention. My dreams of being enrolled in the USAFA seem so far out of reach, though at the same time I can clearly see myself as a successful aeronautical engineer. An intriguing paradox it is.

I worry for my future daily; when I see these perfect USAFA graduates who were practically born perfect, my hopes and dreams plummet because I have none of their traits and qualities -- no self-esteem, no assertiveness, no skills, the list goes on. A diligent worker myself, I keep telling myself that I will make it to the Academy, but when compared with these perfect people I am nothing. When I look at my favorite generals such as MacArthur, Marshall, and Patton, my heart sinks because I will never be as great as these people. I have very high ambitions to the point where I want to be written down in the History textbooks, but like that will ever happen.

I think this may be the only site where I can rely on for help with my future, and I hope I won't get kicked out for being irritating everyone with my questions and concerns.

Hoping to meet every one of you, feel free to message me or add me as a friend; I don't bite. I also plan on creating a group for high school'ers on this site, provided if I have permission to create groups. Thank you for your time, and I hope I get to meet you guys soon. :thumb:
 
Hello everyone. I'm a relatively new member of this forum, and I have to say -- I absolutely love it here. My questions that have been bothering me for a long time are getting answered thoroughly, though I have many more questions ready to spawn to life in my head. I'm hoping I won't annoy any of you due to it.

I am currently a Junior in high school. My interests consists of the Three A's -- Art, Astronomy, and Aviation. I am also a huge History buff, and anything related to History will automatically attract my attention. My dreams of being enrolled in the USAFA seem so far out of reach, though at the same time I can clearly see myself as a successful aeronautical engineer. An intriguing paradox it is.

I worry for my future daily; when I see these perfect USAFA graduates who were practically born perfect, my hopes and dreams plummet because I have none of their traits and qualities -- no self-esteem, no assertiveness, no skills, the list goes on. A diligent worker myself, I keep telling myself that I will make it to the Academy, but when compared with these perfect people I am nothing. When I look at my favorite generals such as MacArthur, Marshall, and Patton, my heart sinks because I will never be as great as these people. I have very high ambitions to the point where I want to be written down in the History textbooks, but like that will ever happen.

I think this may be the only site where I can rely on for help with my future, and I hope I won't get kicked out for being irritating everyone with my questions and concerns.

Hoping to meet every one of you, feel free to message me or add me as a friend; I don't bite. I also plan on creating a group for high school'ers on this site, provided if I have permission to create groups. Thank you for your time, and I hope I get to meet you guys soon. :thumb:

Boy you really like to talk yourself down don't you? Nobody is perfect, and the guys at the academies all have many strengths and weaknesses. Look to harness what you have and try to improve on what you think you don't have and you will be successful. Good luck and I hope you fulfill your dreams.
 
Everyone has to start somewhere. MacArthur, Patton, and Marshall used to be like you and the rest of us, they weren't always Generals.

Good luck man, we all know how you feel; the great thing is, there's more than one way to become an officer. :thumb:
 
Everyone has to start somewhere. MacArthur, Patton, and Marshall used to be like you and the rest of us, they weren't always Generals.


That's correct. Looking back at history, you can see that Patton was weak in academics when he first arrived at USMA but he worked hard to improve himself, so he wasn't "born a General".


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Wow. I honestly never knew that about Patton. You see, when I study about these great historical figures and the great accomplishments they have bestowed to the world, I automatically assumed these people had to be born perfect.

Acknowledging their courage, strength, and intelligence to bravely persist through war, it was reasonable to conclude to the allegation that they were practically perfect, when any other person would have fled from war (like myself).

I could picture myself as a Colonel in the Air Force very clearly, much like my uncle. Yet based on my current skills and abilities it seems so out of reach for me. Guess I have a lot of growing and maturing to do.
 
Wow. I honestly never knew that about Patton. You see, when I study about these great historical figures and the great accomplishments they have bestowed to the world, I automatically assumed these people had to be born perfect.



Acknowledging their courage, strength, and intelligence to bravely persist through war, it was reasonable to conclude to the allegation that they were practically perfect, when any other person would have fled from war (like myself).



I could picture myself as a Colonel in the Air Force very clearly, much like my uncle. Yet based on my current skills and abilities it seems so out of reach for me. Guess I have a lot of growing and maturing to do.

It's great to have goals of being a senior Air Force officer, but you have to take everything one step at a time so that you won't look down on yourself/performance. Your first goal should be getting to USAFA, so you should put all of your thoughts and efforts to that. Then at USAFA, you should try to learn everything they teach you as much as possible, so that you can come out as a good leader and an open minded second lieutenant. If you excel at your occupation you'll eventually make O-6 (colonel). Making rank is great but you should focus more on your task at being an officer, then your performance will eventually increase your merit and will get you promoted. From what I know, nearly everyone that's fully qualified makes it up to O-3 (captain), then after that it gets more and more competitive. Here's a link to commissioned officers promotion for the U.S military in general.
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/promotions/l/blofficerprom.htm

You can even see that since Patton soaked everything he learned at USMA, when he was a second lieutenant at 15th cavalry, he applied his knowledge and leadership to gain the respect that he received from others as a junior officer.

When you looked down on your current abilities on becoming a colonel, it's like saying "since I'm only on a high school basketball team, I could never play for the NBA". That's not the right way to look at it because everyone starts at the bottom, even pro basketball players start on a freshman team, work their way up to varsity, college teams then Professional teams, so don't be discouraged, you're only starting this long journey.


Btw, I don't consider myself experienced or credible in terms of the military because I'm only a soon to be plebe at USNA on July 1,2014.









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+1 to SpikeGamer. There is a reason they call it "climbing the ladder". Take one rung at a time. No one leaps from the ground to the top of the ladder.
 
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