Thanks for all the thoughts and prayer. As a long time lurker and very infrequent poster, I hesitated to even post out dilemma. But there are two points that hope future applicants (and DS) can take away.
1) No matter how great you think things are, the world can change in the blink of an eye. Yesterday, DS went to a track meet with two great options, an appointment to the NA and NROTC scholarship to USC. Today we wonder to what extent each option exists. (We also understand there is now additional effort involved to move forward.) The term “bubble wrap” is often taken as an extreme reaction to life. DS was doing nothing he hasn’t done 1000’s of times, no screwing around – it was just a freak accident. Bottom line, keep those alternate plans viable. Don’t let success in one arena stop your pursuit in others.
2) Sometimes you’re dealt a bad hand; how do you intend to play it? We’ve all had the bad boss, the bad teacher, the unforeseen accident. Stop making excuses, figure out what you want, and start making plans to get there. No one is going to walk up to you and hand you your dream. If you accept mediocrity, you get mediocrity.