Funny SA Misconceptions

I love it when my son tells me about somebody at his school just doesn't get it about the SA's. How can you give up nine years of your life, like he's going to prison or something. He just sits back and tells them first off I will have no college debt to worry about, a guaranteed job for five years and this is the part that always gets me, I'm giving something back to my country. Man seemed like yesterday he was just a punk kid. :shake:
 
I thank my history teacher for teaching my class mates about West Point. :cool:

I'm only a sophmore and so far I've gotten:
"Awwww" - From my fellow CAP cadets, over half of them want to go AFA
"You are going there to be an Air Force Ninja"
"I'd go there but I don't wanna die the first year after graduating/to war"
"Oh. Really?" - I'm definitely not the type of person you see applying to a service academy.
"No, go to Navy"

I can't wait to apply to West Point next school year. I can tell it's going to be a unique experience.
 
This one time some kid told me in all seriousness that if I went into the Army I would end up beating my kids or dying, whichever comes first.
 
haha ya the kid who told me to go to a real colege like ASU:yllol: said i was gonna end up beating my wife. hahaha i couldnt even hit him because i couldnt stop laughing =. he was completly seroius.:shake:
 
Civic duty

Son received a summons for jury duty in the mail a few weeks ago. I immediately called the clerk to explain why he would not be able to fulfill this obligation. The conversation went like this:

me: Hi, we received the jury summons for our son and will have to request an excuse not to serve, he is at a service academy and out of state.
clerk: A service academy?
me: Yes, it's like a military college. He's at the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut.
clerk: The Coast Guard? We have military members at Ft Detrick (our local military post) who are still able to perform jury duty.
me: I understand, but he's away now, and does not even live here.
clerk: Will he be home this summer?
me: For a short while, but he has military duty obligations most of the summer.
clerk: Hmmm, hold on.
(indeterminate amount of time)
clerk: Ok, so you say he's serving in the Coast Guard in Connecticut...
me: Ma'am, he's at the service academy in New London, Connecticut...
clerk: But it's like the military...
me: It's college. He's at a college with a military service commitment...
clerk: College? Ok, just sign the back of the form for him and mail it back in. He should be ok.
me: Thank you.
clerk: I thought the Coast Guard was in Cape May, NJ. My neighbor's daughter had to go thru Cape May....(voice fades)
me: Thanks again. You've been most helpful.
clerk: Have a good day. Goodbye.

:biggrin:
 
Wow, there is some really funny stuff people think about SA's. Even in Colorado Springs right by the AFA, when I said I will be going there, people knew next to nothing. "You mean there is a school up by the chapel?" "Do you live on campus or get a place somewhere else?" This is one of the great things about this site. We all realize how much of an honor it is to receive an appointment to a SA. No one except those who have done it will realize how much work we put into getting into an Academy and why we want to go so bad.

Later,

Brian
 
The VERY most irritating thing we hear...(and it is ALWAYS brought up)..."well you will not have to pay for college...your parents get off easy!" UGHHH!!! My son would go to college regardless of the Academy's decision on his appointment, (he has an academic full ride to a civilian school secured)!! They cannot understand that HE really DOES want to serve his Country as a commissioned officer...it is so much more than an (college)education...he has already decided that if he is Appointed, he would like to retire from the Navy service....mind made up...
 
To add my two cents . .

(1) The last time I told someone that my daughter is a Midshipm at the Naval Academy, I was asked "Oh, did she have to go there, you know, always in trouble?"

(2) In the spring semester of my daughter's senior yr in h.s., after hearing all of the above comments from teachers, friends and other students, she just about had it. For her history final, the teacher said they could make a presentation on any significant historical event, monument or location. My daughter made her presentation (with power point) on the Naval Academy and why she chose to attend. She included the scholarship amount, the Naval job opportunities, post service job opportunities and the salary potential in service and out. She felt proud and vindicated plus she got an A on her final.

GoNavyMom
 
GoNavyMom- interesting on the speech. My son is currently in Academic Decathlon, and one big component at the regional and state level competition is a speech, on any topic of their choosing. They are graded on delivery, composure, focus, etc., along with keeping to the exact length (they have about a 30 second window), but the content can be anything appropriate.

My son chose to do his on West Point, which would have made a lot more sense if he didn't have appointments to Navy and Air Force (didn't apply to WP). :confused: After the first competition, my husband and I are still having people ask us "Why did he do it on WP?" Sometimes I can't figure out my own kids!! I'd even suggested AF to him and given him a copy of a book we had called "The history of the US Air Force" (or something similar).

Congrats to your daughter - I can see how it would have made an impressive and informative presentation!
 
Girl at school upon hearing that our son had been appointed to AFA: "That's nice, although I wish we didn't need the military. Everyone should just live in peace."

Me upon hearing said comment: "Yeah, like that's ever worked in the whole history of mankind.":bang:
 
One of my favorites.

I was at an after school activity talking to a friend about college plans. I was telling him how the military was my end goal, and that USNA is my top choice. I was explaining how hard admissions was when all the sudden a girl who was not part of the conversation screams "My dad was in the navy and he said that anyone with 2 arms can get in!"

I tried to convince her that the Navy had a 4 year college, but I just gave up after 5 minutes.
 
I know it shouldn't, but stuff like that really makes me mad. When I hear people say that anyone could get into the military and I try to explain what a SA is, they just don't get it. It really hurt when right after I got the appointment, that I had been working to earn for over a year, when people said things like that.

Later,

Brian
 
Brian - on the plus side, think of how much more competition there would be if everyone truly understood what a SA was and all the benefits associated with it. I'm also active on a Disney message board, and a couple years ago someone asked in the "off topic" area about West Point - had a family member considering it, dad was for it, mom was against it. I was just completely amazed that the responses were about 90 percent "I would NEVER let my child go to WP!" Now ignoring the whole "letting" :rolleyes: part and conceding these were moms of mostly younger children, I was just astounded by the misconceptions so many of them had. But honestly, I responded something like "You guys are making me feel much better about my son's chances of getting in a few years from now!" :biggrin:
 
Isn't it true though that around 75% of the country's youth is unfit for military service?
 
You will meet ignorant people wherever you go and I think the best thing to do is to simply understand/pity them.... TBH before I applied to West Point, I was only remotely aware of the school and had no idea about the selections process or what the benefits were. Important to note that a very tiny percentage of Americans ever serve in their lifetimes - I think I recall reading that it was less than 1% of the entire population. Im sure that, unless it was your dream school since you were a little kid, that you would have known next to nothing about an SA before you considered it. Ive been through the application process and its sure as heck that theres more things I dont know than things I do know.

Anyway, any negativity can be avoided by simply NOT telling anyone! When I first told a friend and my taekwondo head instructor, all they expressed was jealousy and nothing more. Not good at all. With those two rare exceptions, I've kept the cat in the bag for almost everyone else. Very few of my friends know and so far, its them, some of my teachers, and my immediate family who know. Other than that, I've only told people who explicitly asked me (another mistake! I shouldnt have told people I was applying to USMA:unhappy:). I think its important to tell people who know you and care about you, rather than telling people who are insignificant specks in your life.

Im trying my best to keep the lid on it until at least I graduate :frown:

How did everyone here find out about an SA anyway? I'd like to know. I first found out about West Point in history class in middle school (I think?) when I learned about the famous generals of the Civil War who graduated from USMA
 
A "friend" of mine is a Marine, he went the enlisted route. We were talking about USNA and how Andrew would be a Marine when he graduated. My friend could not understand how he could be a Marine and not go through Paris Island. He told me I must be lying lol.

Now trying to plan a wedding I get to hear lots of people just not understanding. Photographer we interviewed didn't get why Andrew wasn't with me at the appointment, or why we couldn't do an engagement picture shoot in April on a Wednesday night. "Can't he just skip class"
 
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