Always have your Plan B

[Trailblazer]

@soccmomer thank you so much for sharing your story and for everyone offering info on civilian jobs! I'm starting AFROTC's general military course this semester knowing that there's a good chance I will be medically DQ'ed when applying for the commissioning program, and it gives me comfort knowing that your son is having so much success with finding civ. jobs. It's been a really hard pill to swallow knowing that I probably won't serve, as it has been my dream and my medical condition came on recently, so I love reading threads where the answer isn't just "you're DQ'ed, game over, go home," but is "you're DQ'ed, but here are some other options that you may like."

Godspeed to your son, and thank you for sharing your story

 

[cjs]

Two and a half years ago my son started college with a 4 year AROTC scholarship. I had the usual worries: that he keep his grades up, that he pass his height/weight and physical fitness tests every semester, that he didn't get injured doing something ridiculous, that he stay away from any activity that could potentially disqualify him. He was doing great, until last spring.
He was away on a semester abroad, when we got that phone call every parent dreads: on the way to the hospital. He had had a seizure. To make a long story short, he was put on medication, and when he arrived home this past summer, was ultimately diagnosed with epilepsy. This fall, his ROTC unit sent the papers up for medical review, with all of us pretty much accepting that he would be disenrolled.
Today the papers came in the mail: disenrolled for failing to meet the medical standards. The good news: he does not owe the Army any money.
DS spent the end of last semester talking with financial aid at school, to make sure other scholarships/grants were in place for when this news finally came through. He spent a lot of time looking up other careers and their medical standards. He is currently healthy and taking all of this pretty well, considering the whole thing has been pretty life changing!
The lesson here: we never in a million years thought that a medical condition, other than injury would crop up and change his life course. So for anyone out there either facing a waiver, or not (as we were not), always have your plan B!

I just wanted to tell you how very sorry that I am to hear about your son's seizure and diagnosis of epilepsy. The good news is nothing tragic happened to him during the seizure, the bad news is this will change his way of life. I am so very sorry about ROTC and his future as an officer.

It's not my son who went through ROTC, but my older son who was diagnosed with epilepsy about 2 years into his college career. Your son's college will have a department that deals with students who have "disabilities". Epilepsy will qualify. My son had his seizures always during the stress of finals and studying all day while looking at the computer. Being under the wing of this department afforded him many things. He will allowed to be one of the first to register each semester for classes so he could get a schedule that worked for him as early mornings were tough for him as he adjusted to the medication. He could also have someone take notes for him in case he had a seizure or other issue. He also was allowed to take his finals quietly not with the rest of the class and was given extended time in order to finish them. It was a god send and something that we were very thankful for.

I wish your son the best of luck as he figures out his future with all of the changes he is facing.

 

[soccmomer]

CJS - Thank you for that information. So far the only accomodations he has really needed involve being up all night/not getting enough sleep. Last semester his PMS took excused him from the FTX as they were going to be up all night, and also excused him from PT as they have to get up so early. He is in a Military College, so once or twice a semester, he finds someone to do the all night guard duty that he gets scheduled for. So far he has had no problems with the classes or studying, but the disability office is definitely something I will tell him to keep in mind if he finds he is having trouble. No 8AM classes coming up!