All of my life I have been a squeaky clean person and so when I graduated high school I decided to be stupid and experiment a little and joined a sorority. I ended up in the ER with a BAC of .346 in the fall and regretted it so much I didn't drink again until my sorority sisters pressured me for months and three months later I ended up in the ER with a BAC of .209. Since then, I am no longer in that sorority house house and have distanced myself from that crowd and joined the ROTC this year, my sophomore year. Do I have any chance of being an officer and in ROTC or will my mistakes from freshmen year come back and disqualify me later on? I have no significant medical history, the grades, and extracurriculars and I want to be a leader with the moral values and responsibilities I was all my life again but better since I have learned so much about myself from my mistakes this past year. I regret it all but am also grateful for the adverse experience as I think it humbled me and helped me be a better leader and person.
Freshman year mistakes
- Thread starter yeahbasic
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k2rider
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Sure you have a shot. If I was in your shoes, I’d abstain from alcohol 100%, work my tail off in class, work out to get the highest PFT score possible and obviously be a model cadet. I’d be the 1st one to PT line-up, last one to leave and volunteer for as many ROTC events as I could w/o it effecting my grades.
Yeah I have completely abstained from alcohol and have been living my life a lot differently by trying to exceed my expectations and not what trying to meet "society's" expectations of alcohol and underage drinking and fitting in to unhealthy peer groups.
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@yeahbasic with either of those episodes with BAC that high, did you walk into the ER or roll in?
Just curious.
Just curious.
k2rider
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That's a good start in general, whether you're talking ROTC or not. I read a study last year where they interviewed people in hospice and the #1 regret of women is that "they didn't live the life THEY wanted to live and instead worried too much about what was expected of them by others, society, their parents, etc..."
I've always wanted to be in the military but was afraid of the stigma's that came with it and thought being in a sorority and doing stupid things while I'm young was and it took me a year to realizethat's not who I want to be and reached out to the ROTC adviser
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With a BAC of .34 the word "demise" isn't just a manner of speaking. Take the second chance at life, learn the lessons you can and chart a path that reflects your goals.
ProudDad17
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If you are asked about your drinking by an ROTC staff member, I would leave out the part about your sorority sisters pressuring you, so you drank again. No doubt there was pressure, but the bottom line is you made the decision to do it again. The way you put it above sounds like you are not accepting your own responsibility for this decision. I would just leave it at saying "I stupidly made the same mistake again", then explain what you have learned from your experience and the steps you have taken to ensure it will never happen again. Best of luck to you.