Just a couple of random thoughts, having just read the entire thread this AM upon seeing the, hopefully, temporary banishment of
@DevilDoc:
Sorry,
@JBfortunecookie1, when I saw this thread last week, I didn’t even make through the first paragraph before moving on. I have an Oncologist friend. He has patients with support dogs show up at his office, filled with immunocompromised patients In the waiting area. There is nothing he can do other than refuse to treat the patient, which runs up against his oath and possibly even the law. So, I’m not a sympathetic ear to begin with. My first thought was, just go the pound and get a mutt. Plenty of college kids have dogs.
Then I saw that you live in a dorm. I thought, go volunteer at a rescue shelter, or do anything to get your mind occupied elsewhere and off your stressers. I think
@Capt MJ was making this point, as usual, much more eloquently than I. Remember, you are not the exception. Most college kids, especially Freshman Engineering majors away from home for the first time during a pandemic are stressed. Her post is spot on. The mechanics and ramifications of creating a record are best left the
@MullenLE.
You have obviously reached out for advice, but you must have known that the advice you’d receive would reflect the experience of those you approach. The response you get at SAF will be different than the response you get from the Little Sisters of Lost Puppies. The way you present the dilemma also makes a huge difference. If you had expressed more concern about your ability to serve, instead of concern about a “threat” to your scholarship, you would have been met with a lot more
@Capt MJ and a little less
@DevilDoc, who ironically is probably best equipped to put your stress into a context which you can carry forward.
I chalk it all up to callow youth and I assume you’ll be fine.
Another thing struck me was the responses you received. I thought some were overly harsh. I understand the knee jerk reaction. I am a “shoot first ask, questions later” sort of guy.
@JBfortunecookie1 is an 18-19 year old kid. I have no standing as a veteran or health care professional. My only standing is that of guy who cares for no one more than his wife and 2 sons, one of whom in an Army O3.
8 weeks prior to going to SFAS, DS#1 received the most devastating news a supremely confident twentysomething year old male at the top of his game can receive. He was in an testosterone rich environment of like minded young men, completely stripped of his self-image. For weeks, I spoke to him everyday, sometimes more than once a day. I was concerned about the advice and counsel he would receive in the environment I described. I feared a cycle of blame and recrimination.
He was very fortunate to be considered a valuable member of the unit, from the E’s to the BC. He was also very fortunate to have an excellent mentor, an enlisted soldier several years older, who was in the process of Delta selection/qualification. He stressed that the mental health professionals are there for a reason and they know unforgiving high achievers inside and out. Both his mentor and the pros emphasized cold-blooded introspection. Bottomline, he came out on the other side. He delayed selection for several months. His mentor picked him up at the airport when he arrived and was there to meet him after selection, which he completed successfully. He is a different young man today, better equipped to lead. He prided himself on being the guy who could be trusted and relied upon. He needed to learn the other side.
@DevilDoc ‘s political comments make me bristle a bit, but I like his wealth of experience, his sincerity, his obvious love of his family, and his sense of humor. I have had several excellent PM exchanges with him and hope to have more in the very near future.
Wow that was long!
Enjoy your weekend and stay safe!
but the military doesn't often see things the same way.
