I was a member of the USMMA class of 2020, right around 1 st tri midterms of this (plebe) year, I got injured, had surgery on my knee and got set back. I’m at home now, healing and will be taking classes at a local college to get some ancillary credits finished (calc, chemistry, English, econ, etc.). When I heard about my setback I was pretty distraught, but at the end of the day I realized it was the right thing to do. Being injured, especially as a plebe really isolated me from my class and made me feel very alone, with few friends. Regimental life is something that I enjoy and believe to be incredibly valuable, and paired with math and science is one of the few things up here that I enjoyed and was good at (unlike the sailing, mechanical engineering, sea navigation stuff, and pretty much anything having to do with the water or the industry that we did in class). However, I began to struggle in my class and the regimental life after the surgery. Being away from Kings Point has made me seriously question why I came in the first place, for a commission to serve. Growing up I always had an affinity for technology and computers, but never cared too much for the water or the maritime industry, (like I said, it was solely based on that commission). When I got the letter in the mail, I accepted my appointment without a second thought, focusing only on a tuition-free education to spare my parents the cost of college. Being home makes me miss Kings Point, but also makes me realize that maybe it wasn’t the best fit for me. I feel as though the best two options are as follows: Go back to KP, and just suck it up, study something I don’t enjoy and graduate with my commission and an amazing sense of pride, belonging, and purpose OR go to a local college, walk on to ROTC (which the local college does offer, and apply for a DoDMERB waiver, which I don’t think will be a problem, it wasn’t for a friend of mine who had the same operation done), study something I have more of an affinity for, and get my commission and degree. If you have any ideas, as parents, alumni, current midshipmen, or anything in between please help me out and let me know your thoughts.
P.S. I know there is probably going to be some flak for my decision to come to KP in the first place if I didn’t really know what I was signing up for, I have accepted that it may have been the wrong decision.
P.S. I know there is probably going to be some flak for my decision to come to KP in the first place if I didn’t really know what I was signing up for, I have accepted that it may have been the wrong decision.