So, how/where/when/why did your child...

forumjunkie said:

There you go! Love it! So where is he now? Age, status?

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He is plebe year at USNA and loves it. He said he feels right at "home" being there, that it "feels right". I also insisted he put together a Plan B, which he halfheartedly did and he kept saying"I 'm not going to need Plan B, so why do I have to put it together?" He is the first in the family to attend any type of service academy. I agree with the previous posters that the academies look for evidence of "drive" in applicants. That drive looks different in every applicant.

As a BGO, I give more credit in my interview to those who have plan B and C. Attending USNA is all about being a leader and serving in the Navy not just going to a prestigious school. I am looking for leaders who consider all options. In addition I have seen a lot of very driven applicants who are strong candidates who only have a plan A that don't receive appointments because of the shear numbers. One applicant that comes to mind was 3Q, for USNA, when he did not receive an appointment he became depressed and ultimately never attended college.

I received my black belt at age 16 from a dojo in the South Bronx(NYC) after 10 years of study. Run track (All American last summer in N.C.). On a Christian Step Team and I dance.

Good stuff...all. While I'm a veteran myself, I never talked about it and not sure I ever wanted that for my son. He came by it purely by accident.
We we doing the college tour thing in NY state in the spring of his junior year and he asked if we could visit WP since we were so close. WP? Sure, I always wanted to visit for the history. We made the appt. for the one day tour and he spent the day with a cadet while I did the tour (Thayer hotel was wonderful). Gets into the car for the next leg and says " that's it... no more visits, I'm going here". Thus the journey started. I encouraged him to apply to all the SA's if he was going this route as well as the other schools. He went to all the summer service camps, did his due indulgence, shored up everything in his resume he thought was missing and wouldn't let it go. I played the role of reluctant coach reminding him of things needed to be done and when it needed to be completed. He did all the rest and I thought he would let it go. He didn't and got his appointments. Then came the tough part of choosing which one.

It was journey I watched by a driven young man that I didn't see coming. A Youngster now who's thriving in his environment, excelling really and making the most of his opportunities.

I'm reminded of a line in the movie Mr. Holmes where Sherlock Holmes says " Exceptional children are often the product of unremarkable parents". Amen to that Mr. Holmes.

[QUOTE="Exceptional children are often the product of unremarkable parents". [/QUOTE]

Very true. My wife and I have often asked ourselves about DD, "Where did THAT come from?"

I am enjoying this thread. Just as we see a wide variety of USNA sponsor mids passing through the house, we meet parents from diverse backgrounds.

This reminded me of one Mid we had who grew up in a double-wide trailer in a remote part of a Western state. His dad was a HS grad, supervisor of the county road crew. His mom worked at the county library. No cable where they lived, but they all loved to read. His HS offered little in the way of advanced courses or enrichment, and minimal sports. Many kids had chores at their families' ranches after school. His family had no money to send him to special summer programs; he worked a full-time job in the summer. Yep, county road crew. His grades and test scores were stellar. He was President of the Science Club; he played baseball.

He graduated 9th at USNA, aero major, went to grad school immediately, and is doing very well.

His parents were justifiably proud but slightly mystified at the chick that hatched in their nest. They think he went through a phase of being in love with astronaut as a career, and read biographies, learning about those who went to Service Academies. His mom said he set up a wall chart in his room to track his tasks and deadlines for his USNA and USAFA applications, and did everything himself.

This thread is showing me exactly why my DD has chosen this path- she has little tolerance for peers that are shallow, she wants to be surrounded by dynamic, focused kids like all of yours! I am in a parent chat group for our oldest son's college (tradition 4 year) and the main topic of discussion is how awful the food is so this is very refreshing.

Forgive me in advance for the length, I am new (first night here) and want to share my son's story. Reading these, I have to fess up that I am that very average, ordinary mom. I got pregnant with my son when I was 17. It took me 4 years to get an associate's degree. I have three kids and I still only make $10 an hour. So how did my son get here? All his childhood, my son wanted to play football and living in a small town, that seemed to be the only way to go. But he was my first son and he was so very smart. I would never let him play because I wanted him to protect his brain and use it for better things. He was in GT from 1st grade, then honors. He was always mature, well mannered and reserved; no one else in our home or on either side of his family is.

He told me in 6th grade that he wanted to go to college. I told him he better studying hard because without a full scholarship, we'd never afford that. He told me in 7th grade he wanted to go to West Point and not to worry, it was free for those accepted. It sounded like a pipe dream to me, but I let him dream, figuring he'd change his mind. He told me in 8th grade he wanted to live with his grandma in the city for high school so he could attend a school that had JROTC.

It was hard to let him go, but he kept assuring me that he wasn't leaving me, he was just chasing his dream and he'd make me proud. He joined National Honor Society, cool. He taught at summer camps, very cool. He kept bringing home A's. He was gone every afternoon and Saturday for practice, but always made time for me and his younger siblings. He even led the art group at their summer camp 3 years in a row. And you know what, I sure was proud of him at every drill competition over the year, but to this day, it's his integrity and character that pleases me the most.

I never pushed him. He pushed himself, all the way through. I was honored when he asked me to take him to Service Academy Day to meet the West Point recruiter he'd been talking to his junior year. And when he won commander of the year and when his school won nationals and when he was voted most likely to succeed. When the instructor told me he was the first to hold a dual command at his 3,000+ kid high school since 1987. Wow. Still tear up.

One day this fall, he gave me an envelope to mail for him. It was to West Point. I spilled coffee on it. As I put it in a new envelope, I read it. It was a JROTC nomination for WP. He had earned a nomination!! Then last month, he had me take him to a panel interview and at Christmas told me he got a 2nd nomination from our congressman and a nomination to USNA.

I asked him if he applied there too and he said no mom, just West Point. I asked him what's his plan B if he doesn't get a spot at WP. He said enlist in the army and reapply for WP next year. But the more I read in the forum here, the more I believe he has a great shot for an appointment.

It's starting to feel real to me. I think he may just pull this West Point dream off. I am filled with humility and honored to be a part of his story, so very blessed to be his mom.

Well I havn't seen this sport on here yet. A little background, we live in the Midwest and raise livestock. Neighbor is a legitimate cowboy, works cattle from horseback. Oldest son admired him.
He walked out of basketball practice one day in 6th grade and saw a picture of a younger kid on the school bulletin board riding a calf (yes as in rodeo bull riding). He looked at me and said "I want to do that"......A couple of weeks later I asked if he was serious and he said yes so I took him to a bull riding school, he won top student for his age group, and got his first scar

He competed from 6th grade thru high school in local rodeos and in state associations, along the way he learned to rope and even trained his own horse at calf roping and team roping. He made it to the national junior high finals in goat tying his 8th grade year. We traveled all over the state on weekends as a family usually. It was good family time. Built an arena for him to practice in. Spent a lot of evenings down there with him, his little brother would push the steers and calves for him.
He fractured his left elbow steer riding one time and was back out a week later practicing roping. He spent a week in the hospital after being stepped on by a bull (bruised liver, broken ribs, punctured lung) had to sit out the rest of the season. Came back the first rodeo of the next year and won the bull riding competition.

He liked rodeo because as he put it "If I lose it's my own fault".
He gave up bull riding his senior year in high school to eliminate the possibility of injury and losing his scholarship.

He played basketball and ran cross country but found baseball to be to boring, go figure.

Every year my neighbor holds a big roping to work his cattle and my son tries to be back home to go out and rope with him.

QA1517,

Brought back a lot of memories, spent a lot of my youth on my Uncle's Ranch. A lot of respect for your son, it takes a lot of hard work and an equal amount of guts to earn those Buckles.

QA1517 said:

Well I havn't seen this sport on here yet. A little background, we live in the Midwest and raise livestock. Neighbor is a legitimate cowboy, works cattle from horseback. Oldest son admired him.
He walked out of basketball practice one day in 6th grade and saw a picture of a younger kid on the school bulletin board riding a calf (yes as in rodeo bull riding). He looked at me and said "I want to do that"......A couple of weeks later I asked if he was serious and he said yes so I took him to a bull riding school, he won top student for his age group, and got his first scar

He competed from 6th grade thru high school in local rodeos and in state associations, along the way he learned to rope and even trained his own horse at calf roping and team roping. He made it to the national junior high finals in goat tying his 8th grade year. We traveled all over the state on weekends as a family usually. It was good family time. Built an arena for him to practice in. Spent a lot of evenings down there with him, his little brother would push the steers and calves for him.
He fractured his left elbow steer riding one time and was back out a week later practicing roping. He spent a week in the hospital after being stepped on by a bull (bruised liver, broken ribs, punctured lung) had to sit out the rest of the season. Came back the first rodeo of the next year and won the bull riding competition.

He liked rodeo because as he put it "If I lose it's my own fault".
He gave up bull riding his senior year in high school to eliminate the possibility of injury and losing his scholarship.

He played basketball and ran cross country but found baseball to be to boring, go figure.

Every year my neighbor holds a big roping to work his cattle and my son tries to be back home to go out and rope with him.

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QA1517,
Sounds like a hook to me! Ye Ha! Hey do you know Bill Brodie? Superior Livestock auctions? Founding member Founder of "All American Beef Battalion"?

QA1517 said:

Well I havn't seen this sport on here yet. A little background, we live in the Midwest and raise livestock. Neighbor is a legitimate cowboy, works cattle from horseback. Oldest son admired him.
He walked out of basketball practice one day in 6th grade and saw a picture of a younger kid on the school bulletin board riding a calf (yes as in rodeo bull riding). He looked at me and said "I want to do that"......A couple of weeks later I asked if he was serious and he said yes so I took him to a bull riding school, he won top student for his age group, and got his first scar

He competed from 6th grade thru high school in local rodeos and in state associations, along the way he learned to rope and even trained his own horse at calf roping and team roping. He made it to the national junior high finals in goat tying his 8th grade year. We traveled all over the state on weekends as a family usually. It was good family time. Built an arena for him to practice in. Spent a lot of evenings down there with him, his little brother would push the steers and calves for him.
He fractured his left elbow steer riding one time and was back out a week later practicing roping. He spent a week in the hospital after being stepped on by a bull (bruised liver, broken ribs, punctured lung) had to sit out the rest of the season. Came back the first rodeo of the next year and won the bull riding competition.

He liked rodeo because as he put it "If I lose it's my own fault".
He gave up bull riding his senior year in high school to eliminate the possibility of injury and losing his scholarship.

He played basketball and ran cross country but found baseball to be to boring, go figure.

Every year my neighbor holds a big roping to work his cattle and my son tries to be back home to go out and rope with him.

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Good luck with DodMERB

Idlewild said:

Good luck with DodMERB

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Ah yes DodMERB, that was an experience, track down all the paperwork from the 3 previous years and doctors notes saying that he was ok. We did all that ahead of time and had it ready for them. Oddly enough, the only thing he had a remedial on from his physical was wax build up in one ear.....not kidding.

My son started wrestling, baseball, and football at age 6. By age 8 he had enough. When he was going into 6th grade, I asked if he would like to play football again. He told me no. I said just go to 1 practice, if you don't like it, you don't have to go back. We went to practice that night, I asked him if he wanted to go back. He said yes. In 6th and 7th grade he played for a team that only had about 14 kids on it. I remember 1 game he said to me that he was tired, he had played every play. His 6th and 7th grade coach said my son was a special player.

My son went to a scholl that shared the bldg with another school. My son's school was an art school. The other school was a Charter school. The Art school did not have athletics, but the Charter School did. Since both schools were in the same bldg, they were allowed to share EC's. In 8th grade my son went out for the HS Football team. One day after a summer practice, one of his coaches pulled me aside and said my son might make the varsity. I asked him if he knew that he was in 8th grade. He said he did not know, and he asked me if the head coach knew. I told him he did. He said it does not matter, they want their best players on the field. He did not make the Varsity out of camp, but after having a monstrous 4th game on the JV, and one of the Varsity players getting Mono, they moved him up and started him the following week. He played nose tackle, at 5'6" and about 150 pounds soaking wet. He was Defensive Player of the week his 1st game. Made something like 11 tackles, had a sack and wreaked havoc in the other teams backfield. After the Football season the wrestling coach asked him to come out, he did and ended up the Varsity 171 pounder. They had a senior at 160 and they wanted to let that young man finish his HS career at that weight.That 1st year wrestling he got beat a lot. I remember 1 match when he was pinned in 28 seconds. From 9th grade on he made all-conference in Lax and football, and states in wrestling. His senior year he made 1st team All-State at Middle Linebacker in football, and 1st team All-State in Lax. He made states in wrestling from 9th grade thru 12th, was favored to win the State Championship in 11th and 12th grade but got injured one year and lost a close match early in the state tournament senior year. He told me a few years later that he did not want to wrestle his senior year but did it for his teammates. He was Capt of the football team, wrestling team 10th grade on, and lax 11th grade and 12th. He holds the school record for career tackles. I knew he was a leader when in 8th grade, at the end of practice the team would do sprints and crab crawls, he would finish his and then run back to the bigger guys to encourage them and do the exercise with them.

After Wrestling season, one of his Football buddies talked him into trying Lax. He ended up making Varsity at D-pole. Loved lax, was very good at it. One game his senior year, there were 3 kids going to SA's to play lax. One to Navy, 1 to WP, and my son to USAFA. I was talking to one of the dads from the other team, and we got on the SA topic. I asked him if he knew there were 3 kids out there going to SA's. He did. Then Iasked which was his son? He told me it was the one getting raped by number 47. He asked me which was my son, I told him, the one doing the raping. He laughed and asked if my son had considered USNA, I told him they never even contacted him. He could not believe what I said. His son went on to play well at USNA, my son got cut at USAFA his 1st year. My son wanted to play football at Navy. They said he was a step to slow at that level. I don't get it becuse U of Colorado recruited him, and that is a higher level. In any case he went to USAFA and has never looked back. He was 1st Shirt, Squadron Commander, made lots of great friends, and now flies airplanes, and teaches others how to fly them.