First off - yes. It was worth it for me - which is an important part of this.
There are two ways to look at "giving up" all of that time. Due to situations like ours being pretty irregular out here, the question of "why did you do it?" comes up a lot. Personally, I knew that I wanted to come to the Academy from a very young age - and what I was looking to get out of the academy was nowhere near what I was trying to put into my service. I never really viewed coming here as a sacrifice of my time, but rather an
opportunity to undergo some of the most refined military training in the country alongside my ROTC time. My time in AFROTC only better prepared me to face the challenges I would go on to face when it came time for BCT and the four degree year.
As far as the time in
college, it was very good to have that time in the "real world" before coming here. Many four degrees come in and have never lived without structure or had needed to survive away from home on their own. The time spent away from home in college was a great lesson in living life and surviving away from guidance.
Going to the
Enrollment Allocation, I gave up my packet as soon as I found out about my appointment so that I wouldn't take an EA away from someone who could actually use it in that very competitive year.
Starting over at the Academy has actually been more rewarding for me than I could have ever imagined. There is a lot of very beneficial training that you will undergo here if selected that you cannot find anywhere else, and that will lead into some awesome opportunities during the year. I have had the chance to experience things and develop myself in ways that I never could have if I had given up on my plans of attending.
Lastly, my detachment was
very supportive of me coming here. On that same token, it is very important that you make
them the priority as long as you are still a member of their detachment. It is sort of like "remembering your roots", because they are the ones who have supported us until this point, and given us the opportunity to continue to pursue the dream.
I hope that I was able to help a little, and please don't hesitate to ask any other questions that you may have (that goes for anyone reading this
)