Am I Insane For Reconsidering?

[RunningGirl]

Even if you end up leaving the academy before commitment, you will have gained an experience that will better you in any other career you might pursue. It's an opportunity not many people get to have.

 

[skyfox]

That bit about serving a system rather than the public is 100% correct. Our culture is insular and most active-duty officers rarely interact with the populace they've sworn to protect.

Air Force paramedics are also enlisted, officer medical personnel are nurses, doctors, or physiologists. You must be willing to upgrade if you want to remain in the medical profession.

Any deficiencies in vision could disqualify you from flying as a pilot. That's exactly what happened to me and it tore me up something awful my Sophomore year to be told I was "ineligible to fly" during my flight physical after navigating "doolie hell" the year prior. All I had ever wanted to do from the moment I turned 6 years old was fly. While it's true the overwhelming majority of students pass their physical exams, you don't want to walk into to this school harboring any notion of invincibility or taking anything for granted. The Air Force demands nothing less than genetic perfection from its pilots and if you have a color deficiency, those doctors up there will find it. I'd recommend against pinning any hopes on what your ALO says unless you have some medical exemption in writing.

It's also true that this school does present its attendees with challenges and opportunities for growth, but it's a LONG and ARDUOUS process spanning four years - an eternity for young person. You won't have time to date your freshmen year, you wear a uniform EVERYWHERE (including on the plane when you fly back home for Christmas), you can't have a car until you're a junior....yes, you will sacrifice quite a bit more than your civilian contemporaries attending normal colleges.

Sorry to come off like a buzz-kill, but when I see candidates struggling to justify accepting appointments to this school, I feel a dose of truth is warranted. Ask your ALO about the above, do ask other graduates, and do ask the cadets if you know anyone currently attending the school. If you still desire a challenge after all that you hear, then this school is for you. If you harbor any serious doubts and still want to be an Air Force officer, than ROTC is a far better choice, my friend.

 

[mountainmama]

Please be mindful of the honor of receiving an appointment in the first place. There are plenty of us on here whose kids got the TWE and are just simply holding hope they get a last minute appointment. The fact that you can come to this forum and ask about reconsidering is coming from such a place of privilege that many of us wish our kids had right now. If you are unsure at all, don’t accept the appointment and let someone who has dreamed of this opportunity for years get your spot.

 

[Capt MJ]

So much for my last .02.

@fromupnorth this appointment is yours until the deadline for your decision.

It took some courage to come here and lay out what’s going through your mind. All appointees should take the time they need to arrive at a decision they feel they can move forward with. And, it is okay to be uncertain and have your own unique set of pros and cons. You cannot know - for certain - without actually having lived as a cadet, whether USAFA is the right place for you. You can feel strongly it is the right place, but you cannot know beyond a shadow of a doubt - this is life in a nutshell, making life-altering decisions in real time that require choosing one path over another as the person you are at that precise moment in time, with imperfect knowledge.

Anyone who has taken the time, 2.5 years, of their young life and devoted it to serving the community as an EMT on the path to paramedic, has probably seen a few things and done a few things that have quickly matured them. You are indeed fortunate to have a choice like this, and you earned every bit of being in this position. You have likely seen people at very low points in their lives, in horrific situations, and yet you chose to wade into it and serve them. Clearly USAFA saw something in you they want in the class they are building. I am glad they extended the privilege of choosing to accept or decline an appointment to you. They are accustomed to people taking the time they need to think through their decisions, and have also built attrition into their planning as they figure out how many more offers they can extend at this point in the cycle. They want appointees to think about the final acceof/decline decision with a 360-degree thinking approach.

There are those who have dreamed of an appointment for years, are 100% certain of their decision and will shock their families when they decide to voluntarily separate during the summer or first year or two. You simply don’t know what you don’t know, and that can work two ways. You can feel certain USAFA is your place, and gradually or suddenly realize it is not. Or you can go with some uncertainty in your heart, and realize this is your place, your people, your path, despite the suck.

The fact is, every year fully qualified candidates with noms are turned down. There simply isn’t room in the class. Those who have been turned down, this year, are on their own journeys. You are on yours. Take the time you need to figure it out, but remember it is okay, and very human, to hold some residual uncertainty in your heart, no matter your choice.

Let us know what you decide to do. This thread has generated much thoughtful discussion.

 

[Stealth_81]

Please be mindful of the honor of receiving an appointment in the first place. There are plenty of us on here whose kids got the TWE and are just simply holding hope they get a last minute appointment. The fact that you can come to this forum and ask about reconsidering is coming from such a place of privilege that many of us wish our kids had right now. If you are unsure at all, don’t accept the appointment and let someone who has dreamed of this opportunity for years get your spot.

That is a load of nonsense. Anyone who has gotten an appointment is going to continue to weigh such a decision. I would worry about an appointee who never had second thoughts at all.
Many who have “dreamed of this opportunity for years” get to USAFA and realize that they hate it because they didn’t think it through.

 

[Tac-p21]

Go
To
The
Air
Force
Academy
Hope that helps! Good Luck!

 

[A1Janitor]

I would be careful throwing around the word privilege. The appointees wrestling with the decision earned their offer.

It’s also a fallacy that if OP declined their offer, another candidate would be selected. We don’t know this.

Finally, SAF “is is a place to ask questions and give answers to general questions for prospective service academy members.”

 

[fromupnorth]

Thank you all for your insight.

I understand the fortunate position I am in. It is seeming more and more likely that I will commit to USAFA for the first year or two, and then reevaluate. EMS will always be here; USAFA is a one time opportunity.

 

[Ivy22]

I would be careful throwing around the word privilege. The appointees wrestling with the decision earned their offer.

It’s also a fallacy that if OP declined their offer, another candidate would be selected. We don’t know this.

Finally, SAF “is is a place to ask questions and give answers to general questions for prospective service academy members.”

This is an excellent point. It's not necessarily a 1-for-1 trade of offer declined = another offer extended to someone else. Many colleges over admit students knowing that their yield rate isn't 100%. I would guess USAFA does the same.

 

[Saranoya]

Given a choice between going to college and not going to college, statistics still say you will always come out ahead, financially, by saying yes. That's especially true if you can get a college degree debt-free. Like you said, being an EMT is "somewhat of a dead-end career", and you'd be stuck in your hometown, potentially for a very long time.

There are, of course, those who pay for a service academy education with their lives. Literally. And that is something you should probably consider. However, given the choice as you presented it, I think this is a no-brainer.