I am learning that there are other benefits of ROTC that I did not anticipate. My son told us that as one of a rare scholarship holders in the battalion full of freshmen cadets joining the program without a scholarship, he needs to make sure that he doesn't slack off. He wants to make sure that he deserved the scholarship and he will try to earn it again and again everyday by becoming the very best he can be. He prepared well all throughout the summer to pass the APFT with flying colors.
He plans to join the ranger challenge team. Most of his freshmen friends are partying and all that, but he says he simply won't have the time for it and will stay away from that. Funny, he is the kind of a kid who could easily be the partying type. Here is a kid who made it into an art form to do minimum school work in HS almost like "let's see if I can still get an A without lifting a finger" (of course, he fell flat on his face with this approach in a few classes) Now, he says he is preparing for a few hours before each class, because among other things, GPA is so important for his branch choice.
There is NO WAY I could have pontificated enough to make him do all these. It's a beautiful thing to watch a young man doing his best for the goal he set. I was very ambivalent about his career choice (being in harms way, that is), but I realize that he has always been right on this.
I thank all the posters on this board that shared their insight and experience so that I could help him navigate through this whole process.
He plans to join the ranger challenge team. Most of his freshmen friends are partying and all that, but he says he simply won't have the time for it and will stay away from that. Funny, he is the kind of a kid who could easily be the partying type. Here is a kid who made it into an art form to do minimum school work in HS almost like "let's see if I can still get an A without lifting a finger" (of course, he fell flat on his face with this approach in a few classes) Now, he says he is preparing for a few hours before each class, because among other things, GPA is so important for his branch choice.
There is NO WAY I could have pontificated enough to make him do all these. It's a beautiful thing to watch a young man doing his best for the goal he set. I was very ambivalent about his career choice (being in harms way, that is), but I realize that he has always been right on this.
I thank all the posters on this board that shared their insight and experience so that I could help him navigate through this whole process.