Catullus
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2019
- Messages
- 6
TLDR; Advice for future applicants on time management in regards to emotional and personal health.
Hey everyone! This post is mostly intended towards the teens and students that are intending to apply to any Service Academy. I post this in the USNA threat since it is the most highly applied to school out of all the Service Academies, but should apply not only to all other SA's but also to a surprising amount of stressful situations. It will be broken up into sections but focus mainly on the parts we don't tend to like talking about - The emotional cost of applying.
Often times, applicants may find themselves isolated from other specifically as a result of their application. It's a long process, requires a lot of humility and dealings with complex bureaucracies to complete, and many simply feel drained from calling X office and asking Y a question over email. While the tried-and-tested method of "suck it up" very much applies, and while I am not suggesting applicants skirt on their responsibilities, I think it is very critical parents realize it can be a daunting task for a child to go through and a little sympathy and compassion can go a long way in helping them succeed with their ambitions. Life is a lot easier when you have friends you can trust, and being a positive, yet stern, force in your DS's or DD's life can go much further than being a roadblock to overcome. Remember, it's their dream, parents, not yours. Don't do the work for them, but be open to help. I'm sure many parents know where I'm going with this, so I'll switch back to talking to their teens.
When your parents tell you "get those darn essays done," I suggest you do. We all know why these things are important, and enough people before me have said in much better words why being early is so important. More importantly, I think every teen applying knows this as well - It's just a matter of doing it.
What I want to focus about here instead is finding time for yourself. Now, many applicant's parents may claim their children have all but too much time to themselves, and many DS's and DD's might even agree, but for those certain few who do find themselves struggling to find individuality, here is some advice.
For one, focus on staying in contact with friends and family on a regular basis. It can be really easy to slip into a pattern of working without staying in contact with others, or some days can feel long where every discussion over dinner ends up being a long talk about your application. You will need a break, and that's what your friends are for. Schedule days for yourself to hang out with them, maybe go for a run with a friend and get breakfast after, or go to a park and catch up with a school friend about their summer. Visit a cousin, or do something that gets you out of the house and with someone else. One of the worst places to be when you feel trapped is inside of your head, and as such, you should consider getting a breather now and then with someone who is less likely to make you feel stressed. Don't go crazy, of course, but if you feel like you need to escape the house, try and find a friend who will be willing to listen to you vent.
Likewise, take up hobbies! Not like playing video games and Netflix, but more like painting, drawing, or anything that has you creating something from nothing. Much like your application, creative hobbies have you take something originally blank and filling it with details of who you are. If you spent maybe four hours writing an essay you just can't get right, maybe get a canvas and just chuck some paint at it. You'll end up happier in the long run knowing at least you got one thing accomplished. I'm sure many kids have heard the "Make your bed" speech by Admiral McRaven. It's the same idea, have a small personal objective you can complete every day alongside your application. Even if your 30th draft resume is horrible, at least you wrote one more poem in your journal, or made one more sheet of brownies to feed you while you write another 30 drafts.
Finally, start early and space your objectives out. You will not be able to write a great essay in just one day. It needs to rest a while and you should read it out loud about 12 times before you can truly be satisfied. When it feels monotonous, don't fret. Just realize this is a long process for a reason, and that in the end, simply accomplishing it is all the proof you should need to know you are going places. Focus on the day by day plays, and set weekly objectives rather than daily ones. This isn't an excuse to wait until Friday, but an encouragement to start on Monday and be pleasantly surprised when you get the perfect XYZ on Wednesday, two days before anticipated. Maybe you can give yourself rewards for finishing earlier than anticipated? Just a thought.
Finally, when everything's submitted and the stress starts to settle in of if you got in or not, try not to worry about it. Great advice, I'm sure you've never heard it before. Jokes aside, it means a lot to simply let the steam of a pot of rice soak out itself rather than to check in on it and releasing that gas. Realistically, you simply won't know when or if you got in. You may hear in October, you may hear in May. Regardless, just try to focus on what you accomplished rather than what you could have done. Don't try to let fear soak in. Focus on your senior year, and eventually you will hear back. Regardless of what happens, you are going somewhere in life. I think that's worth being appreciative of.
Hey everyone! This post is mostly intended towards the teens and students that are intending to apply to any Service Academy. I post this in the USNA threat since it is the most highly applied to school out of all the Service Academies, but should apply not only to all other SA's but also to a surprising amount of stressful situations. It will be broken up into sections but focus mainly on the parts we don't tend to like talking about - The emotional cost of applying.
Often times, applicants may find themselves isolated from other specifically as a result of their application. It's a long process, requires a lot of humility and dealings with complex bureaucracies to complete, and many simply feel drained from calling X office and asking Y a question over email. While the tried-and-tested method of "suck it up" very much applies, and while I am not suggesting applicants skirt on their responsibilities, I think it is very critical parents realize it can be a daunting task for a child to go through and a little sympathy and compassion can go a long way in helping them succeed with their ambitions. Life is a lot easier when you have friends you can trust, and being a positive, yet stern, force in your DS's or DD's life can go much further than being a roadblock to overcome. Remember, it's their dream, parents, not yours. Don't do the work for them, but be open to help. I'm sure many parents know where I'm going with this, so I'll switch back to talking to their teens.
When your parents tell you "get those darn essays done," I suggest you do. We all know why these things are important, and enough people before me have said in much better words why being early is so important. More importantly, I think every teen applying knows this as well - It's just a matter of doing it.
What I want to focus about here instead is finding time for yourself. Now, many applicant's parents may claim their children have all but too much time to themselves, and many DS's and DD's might even agree, but for those certain few who do find themselves struggling to find individuality, here is some advice.
For one, focus on staying in contact with friends and family on a regular basis. It can be really easy to slip into a pattern of working without staying in contact with others, or some days can feel long where every discussion over dinner ends up being a long talk about your application. You will need a break, and that's what your friends are for. Schedule days for yourself to hang out with them, maybe go for a run with a friend and get breakfast after, or go to a park and catch up with a school friend about their summer. Visit a cousin, or do something that gets you out of the house and with someone else. One of the worst places to be when you feel trapped is inside of your head, and as such, you should consider getting a breather now and then with someone who is less likely to make you feel stressed. Don't go crazy, of course, but if you feel like you need to escape the house, try and find a friend who will be willing to listen to you vent.
Likewise, take up hobbies! Not like playing video games and Netflix, but more like painting, drawing, or anything that has you creating something from nothing. Much like your application, creative hobbies have you take something originally blank and filling it with details of who you are. If you spent maybe four hours writing an essay you just can't get right, maybe get a canvas and just chuck some paint at it. You'll end up happier in the long run knowing at least you got one thing accomplished. I'm sure many kids have heard the "Make your bed" speech by Admiral McRaven. It's the same idea, have a small personal objective you can complete every day alongside your application. Even if your 30th draft resume is horrible, at least you wrote one more poem in your journal, or made one more sheet of brownies to feed you while you write another 30 drafts.
Finally, start early and space your objectives out. You will not be able to write a great essay in just one day. It needs to rest a while and you should read it out loud about 12 times before you can truly be satisfied. When it feels monotonous, don't fret. Just realize this is a long process for a reason, and that in the end, simply accomplishing it is all the proof you should need to know you are going places. Focus on the day by day plays, and set weekly objectives rather than daily ones. This isn't an excuse to wait until Friday, but an encouragement to start on Monday and be pleasantly surprised when you get the perfect XYZ on Wednesday, two days before anticipated. Maybe you can give yourself rewards for finishing earlier than anticipated? Just a thought.
Finally, when everything's submitted and the stress starts to settle in of if you got in or not, try not to worry about it. Great advice, I'm sure you've never heard it before. Jokes aside, it means a lot to simply let the steam of a pot of rice soak out itself rather than to check in on it and releasing that gas. Realistically, you simply won't know when or if you got in. You may hear in October, you may hear in May. Regardless, just try to focus on what you accomplished rather than what you could have done. Don't try to let fear soak in. Focus on your senior year, and eventually you will hear back. Regardless of what happens, you are going somewhere in life. I think that's worth being appreciative of.