2016 USNA Mailbox Stalkers Club...

profsparrow

5-Year Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
240
Thought I'd start this thread. All the other SA's have one. It's great for everyone to get to know and support each other through a stressful process. And to ask questions. If this is a duplicate of another USNA thread then it will either dry up and go away, or get deleted. I personally am not by any means an expert on the process but I'm sure moderators, BGOs and current mids will check in from time to time to answer questions. My DS has been offered an appointment and we're excited about it. And YES, the bubblewrap is firmly in place, although DS says it chafes a bit :shake: Being a former AD Air Force enlisted person I know only a little bit about USNA or the Navy, so I'm hoping discussions here will be of help.

Good luck with the stalking!:thumb:
 
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Profsparrow...

I'll be a fellow stalker with you...

Congrats to you and your DS as your stalking days are over!

:smile:
 
Profsparrow...

I'll be a fellow stalker with you...

Congrats to you and your DS as your stalking days are over!

:smile:
Thanks Cristal...I wonder how long it's going to take for me to stop checking the portal, stop stalking the mailbox (after all, I don't want it to get lonely), trailing the mailtruck down the road. I've gotten to know the mailman, he thinks I'm a nut :screwy:. I'm sure he'll miss me if I don't continue...I think it takes repeating something about 40 times before it gets to be a habit, I've definitely got the habit, I wonder if there's a recovery program? :confused1:
 
Count me in for a first class membership, been at it since September haha, and I'm probably setting a world record for gray hairs at 18 over this, but I'm starting to get quite anxious...
 
Left for Target, no mail yet . . .
But when I got home, still no mail? DS came out to help with packages, so I asked him, "Did you already check the mail?" (Yes!) "Was there anything Good?" (He knew exactly what I was asking.) He said YES, and started to smile BIG! Then DS said, "The Home Designer Catalog came for you!" I could've spanked him (but he's bigger than me). Good that he's keeping his sense of humor.
Welcome aboard! Got the above from "Yorkie Mom" on another thread. I thought it was pretty funny, so I'm sharing.... :shake:
 
It's always good to know I'm not the only one chasing the mailman. I had a thousand tiny heart attacks last week when I got the "your VP nomination application is complete" TWE. Still hoping for a bigger envelope over the next month or so!
 
I am an answering machine stalker! A young man from DS' school found out about his appt through a phone call from his MOH. To the 18 year old with grey hair don't feel bad. I'm 48 with a new found case of adult acne!! TMI - sorry!!
 
Hoping the best for y'all. I posted somewhere else on one of the forums that the BFE comes in a large business type manilla envelope with a very nice rigid plastic presentation folder. It won't fit in a regular size mailbox, or in a post office box. So if you get a notice to pick something up at the P.O. it may be your BFE. So unless your mail carrier will bring something like that up to your door, you need to approach your mailbox with caution. :eek:
 
Waiting is the pits, but it's too early to give up! Our DS was home on break last week, and we were talking about how amazing it is that one year ago he hadn't received his appointment yet.

Here's how it played out for us - his file was completed by Labor Day, and sometime during the fall we received the 3Q letter from USNA. He received a Congressional Nom before Christmas, and a Senatorial Nom in January. Also in Jan came an invite to CVW, which he attended in February. Coming right out of high school, not recruited for any athletics.

I really thought we would have heard by mid-January at the latest - not sure why, but that was the timeline I had in my mind. We were really getting anxious by mid-March - the tension in our house was at an all-time high. Initially people called to see if we had heard, then they stopped calling, afraid that we had gotten bad news.

I remember saying to DS, "maybe we should start getting excited about Plan B (NROTC at Villanova) - after all, it's a really great school as well", and he said, "Mom, this is my dream, and I'm not ready to start focusing on Plan B yet". I was very proud of his response, but the mom in me was starting to wonder how I was going to help him through this huge disappointment if we didn't get good news.

I'll remember the day as long as I live - March 28th, and I came home to a message on the machine from the Congressman's office for someone in the family to please give them a call. I had already gotten the OK from DS to talk with anyone who called regarding USNA - while I was on hold (the longest 20 minutes I've ever spent) I tried to think of any other reason that they would have called. The aide I spoke with said this was the highlight of her year, when she got to call the families who were receiving an appt. from a Service Academy!

I didn't mean to ramble, but for everyone who's still waiting, we know what you're going through. I was surprised that we didn't hear until late March, but in the end it it didn't matter - we made DS a "jersey" out of bubble wrap and took a photo that evening! Hang in there!
 
For me, as DS's dad, I just wanted to help...But this is quite literally something that DS had to do for himself, and succeed or fail for himself, based on what he's done by himself (with encouragement), throughout HS. This decision, and the associated hoops to jump through, was something we helped with, but it will likely be the last major stepping-stone that I can help him with...And I want him to succeed. That's where the pressure for me came from...Not to mention not knowing if he would have to go to Plan B, or C.

Being accepted means that the USNA will become his new parents. Not that we won't get the occasional phone call to vent or ask an opinion on something, but he'll be an adult, not a student like those in a regular college. The difference between a SA and regular college is vastly different. This will impact my wife and I as well. Our lives will also become different because DS is going to USNA. That was part of the stress for us as well. Now we know, but the stress of not knowing was..."bothersome."

"Stalking the mailbox" helped, but equally important was maintaining a sense of humor...I mean I never heard the term before getting on the forums, but when I heard it I immediately understood exactly what it was and the underlying humor behind it. So I understand your "pain." You're certainly not alone!

All that being said, to have a qualified candidate for USNA means we have pretty amazing kids. It's quite an accomplishment to get this far, regardless of whether they get a BFE or not. Being such awesome young adults, even if they don't get a BFE it won't stop them. Having come this far you just have to know that this kind of determination will take them far. It won't stop them, it's just a bump in the road...GOOD LUCK TO ALL!
 
Ok - it's March 26th and we are still waiting, got the VP app status TWE (that was a scare), people in town come up to me in restaurants during dinner to ask about it. My neighbors are now calling, texting, yelling over the fence that the mail has arrived - this is insane - on the occasion when I am waiting at the mailbox the mailman tells me as he walks up "Not today" - having this venue to vent and knowing that I am not the only nut "stalking the box" is a small silver lining but this is really tough!!! Good Luck to everyone.
 
Trust me...I am in the excat same boat. I go to to a boarding school and I'm on vacation, and I have teachers texting me asking if I've heard anything. It's so crazy!
 
Trust me...I am in the excat same boat. I go to to a boarding school and I'm on vacation, and I have teachers texting me asking if I've heard anything. It's so crazy!
Pretty "chuckalacious" post. You're in the same "boat" and you're going to "boarding" school. So here's to hoping that y'all get to board a navy boat at USNA in the near future. :beer1:
 
Still waiting on Long Island, NY. On a lighter note, received the order of protection today, Can't come within 100 yards of the mailmain.:shake:
 
Profsparrow, Just gave mom and I a good laugh :smile:...some humor is always nice because we are going crazy! Hopefully I will be in the same "boat" as your DS soon :thumb:
 
1_constantin_great_raft_race_2_.jpg

This is how I knew DS was destined to go to USNA. He led some other scouts to build this sailing raft out of three barrels, a rainfly from a tent, some 2X4s, and a couple of "boat bumpers," and lots of rope (also some duct tape, after all he's a country boy!)... If nothing else he is a charter member of the "Redneck Navy."
 
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