Generating the interest among the kids

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scoutingdad

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Dear Forum Members,

We are immigrants to the country. I came to the country as a grad student 20 years ago. This country has provided us with the support and an avenue to chase our dreams . I believe that the constitution authored by the founding fathers is the pride of this nation. I sincerely appreciate the freedom and the rights this country has provided. I have imbibed the importance of these privileges in my kids. ( Though born in US , They studied four years in a different country during their formative years ,so they very well understand the importance of a US education, and the critical thinking and freedom of expression it brings) .

My son is a freshman, a star scout in BSA. He is involved in High school Athletics ( Throws). A straight A student , and has been recommended for taking all Honor courses in his sophomore year. He is a kind kid and responds well with structure and discipline. I can see a sense of pride when he is in his scout uniform and when he recently got his start scout. On the other side, he is not a big fan of contact sports, competitive scenarios. He does things at his own pace, but will complete before the deadline , takes responsibility for his actions , and is empathetic.

Having explained about our family’s background, i would like to expose my kids ( daughter is a 7th grade and is a 1st Class Scout) to the service academy opportunities . I don’t want to force it on them , but give them an opportunity to explore the career path. My son is interested in a career in Law and has been looking at doing Political Science majors in preparation for his JD. My daughter is more on the STEM side . So to generate that interest/ exposure I was thinking about the following options,

1) Do a tour of service academies . Will it be too much , will it scare them away ?
2) Put them in touch with admission Counselors. ( How do I find them in OH, where we live)
3) Finding a good mentor for them . ( Who can be a good mentor,)
4) Advise them on academics, sports, physical fitness. Etc ( How do we got about imbibing the competitive spirit)
5) How do we go about creating a time line for his/ her application process ?

As a father I want to see my children happy, but at the same time be disciplined , duty bound, have a sense of service to the humanity/ country and leave a legacy for their future generations. So it’s a balance. I am in the exploratory phase as a parent and any advice on the above is much appreciated.

Thanks,

Best,
 
Taking part in a tour when nearby on a vacation/trip (ie DC trip for USNA, Denver for USAFA, etc) is a great idea....but PLEASE don't push them towards an academy. It's a massive undertaking and in my opinion needs to be truly their choice. Expose them to it via tour, discussion, etc of course....but only as one of other options. If they latch on then by all means support them the best you can.

Good luck!
 
Scouting should expose them to the themes of Patriotism and service. Perhaps the unit can collect toys for the Toys for Tots campaign and deliver to a local USMC unit? Members might support bugles across America and play at veteran funerals? Collect magazines and books for a VA hospital? Participate in local patriotic parades? Many chances to rub elbows with active duty and veterans.

Look beyond the academies to ROTC options. Look into other ways to serve our country and others.

The Political process is full of learning opportunities. Volunteer or get involved in local government, school board, etc.

Competition comes in many forms. Sports do also. Physical fitness used to be part of the Scouting ethos. Challenge them to pursue something that they find interesting.

Good luck!
 
Do you have any of these opportunities available?—
Junior ROTC
Civil Air Patrol
Sea Cadets

These organizations give a good introduction to the military and provide kids a chance to test if they would be interested in pursuing a military career. Plus they offer service opportunities and leadership development which is just generally good to have.
 
Hey, as a fellow immigrant I'll leave my two cents:

What really pushed me to look into the Academies was just having it as an option. Be supportive of what your kids want. Be there to give options to them, and never try to force it upon them. When I was in my Junior year and first starting my list, West Point and the Naval Academy barely scarped by my "shortlist" of colleges I was applying to. They wouldn't have if it wasn't for my parents leaving it as an option on the table.

Hope this helps!
 
blinkus said:
Hey, as a fellow immigrant I'll leave my two cents:

What really pushed me to look into the Academies was just having it as an option. Be supportive of what your kids want. Be there to give options to them, and never try to force it upon them. When I was in my Junior year and first starting my list, West Point and the Naval Academy barely scarped by my "shortlist" of colleges I was applying to. They wouldn't have if it wasn't for my parents leaving it as an option on the table.

Hope this helps!
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Same, at first my parents (also immigrants) were very against me even applying because if I went it would mean i would have to join the military but they started being more accepting and now are fully in board! Service academies are just not something that is well known amongst the immigrant communities, our family friends just know the usual top 20s and Ivys and whatnot. To OP, I applaud you for being open minded and your value of national pride is truly admirable.
 
Really like the posts by Smokey and blinkus. I’m from a similar background with one parent being a refugee to the US. At first they said they didnt want me to pursue a military career because they had fled from war to get here but they have eventually become more supportive. To me it was about giving back to a country that didn’t have to help my family but did. To OP I feel like you have a similar feeling but in the end it’s up to your kid (who sounds very impressive) and what he wants to do with his talents.
 
Hopping on the "immigrant train" here (lol), my parents were very appalled when I first brought up that I was considering military service and wanted to go to West Point. They spent years trying to talk me out of it until they started to take time to learn more about West Point and the Army and have been supporting me ever since.

West Point is a great way of commissioning into the military while also giving you a top-notch education that will help you during and after your military career. However, as previously mentioned, it is not for everyone as the application can often be very stressful, and the school itself as well. It is also important to note that the applicant has to be committed to the rigorous application process as it's not something you can do half-heartedly. And as @smokey% said, please do not force your son to do the application process, or else he will dread his time at USMA.

Good Luck!!! :)
 
Definitely attend the next local admissions meetings for any one of the Service Academies. Often, your local Congressperson will host all service academies at one meeting. Connect them with anyone local that is either in a SA or has attended one. Have then talk to either a current or former military service member. Connect them with Veterans Organizations. They need to learn more about serving their country before they consider a SA; it really should not be the other way around. Good luck!
 
Check out the Scout Jamboree held at West Point annually. It’s lottery style for troops to get a spot to attend (unless they have a connection to a cadet at USMA along certain requirements), but if your son and his troop are interested and able, it’s an awesome week long exposure to USMA and cadets
 
smokey% said:
I agree with everything said above, and definitely look into ROTC. But please don’t force them or else they will hate it.
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The MOST important aspect is allowing your children to find their own way into it. The only way that they will succeed is if they are personally driven, motivation from others will wear off eventually for all things in life.
 
I think it is a good idea to create awareness in your children of the many choices relating to college and associated career opportunities. Visiting any college you are seriously considering is always a good idea. Reading college websites isn't the same things as experiencing it in person. I agree with the comments from others that deciding to attend any SA needs to be the applicant's dream and not a path their parents have chosen for them. Any highly selective school will have far more applying then get accepted. Always a good idea to also look at plan B schools when applying to highly selective ones. Students starting out in high school should do things to contribute to the success of their school and help them grow as a person. Everyone won't be successful in the same things. Doing things to simply check a box on a college admissions application is also not a good idea. In the 4 years of high school, interests can change and what looked appealing at a freshman many longer be your goal by the time you are a senior.

It is generally a bad idea if your main reason to attend an SA is to build your resume for whatever career you plan to pursue AFTER you leave the military. ALL of the SA's are very demanding programs, even those who think they are 110% convinced an SA is for them, will have challenges along the way. My advice would be the same regardless of whether or not you have always lived in the USA or perhaps came from another country.
 
I am in Ohio and our local MOC hosts a service academy and ROTC fair in September of every year. It is open to all students and each academy and rotc program have representatives present to talk to students. My youngest son is a senior and applied to two academies and for two ROTC scholarships and it’s very big process. I agree with many of these posts that you cannot force them into this but should be presented as an option to consider. We discussed it with our son for the first time his sophomore year and let him make the decision to apply.
 
Our older DS is USNA '22, younger DS has an appointment to USAFA and waiting to hear on USNA so I can speak best to those SAs. We live in Northern VA. Older DS was a strong student, Eagle Scout, varsity athlete. We have some Navy and Merchant Marine family, but military was not an obvious or predestined path. An early boy scout trip he attended was a weekend on the Battleship USS New Jersey (in Camden, NJ) led by an ASM that was UVA NROTC. That trip was probably his first real deep exposure to naval/military history and piqued his interest a bit, but not to any extreme. We are also an aviation family so many trips over the years to the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy museum full of military aviation history.

When it came time to think about college he had two goals, run D1 XC/Track and stray not too far from home (USNA is about an hour). His focus was anchored on the top Virginia schools, we pushed him to look at a couple of Ivy's, and in the spring of his junior year we all decided to take a trip to Annapolis to visit Navy as it was 'nearby'. We watched the intro video (very powerful), did an admissions briefing and tour, and learned about summer seminar. As summer seminar was coming up fast and was a competitive application, that piqued his interest enough to apply. When he was accepted to SS, he felt compelled and thought it would be fun to check it out. He really enjoyed it, and that was when he started to give USNA serious consideration. It also fanned the flame of an innate desire to serve into a more direct calling to serve. We didn't push him in any direction on any of his schools, just helped expose him to options and provided a sounding board. USNA was an amazing journey for him, and in hindsight I can't image a better path.

Beyond a general visit, USNA offers lots of summer opportunities, sports camps, scouting jamboree, and for rising 9th-11th graders a Summer STEM program. These are all great ways to provide exposure to USNA:

www.usna.edu

Summer Programs

Summer Programs page for Admissions at USNA.edu. Updated Fri Apr 05 05:09:24 EDT 2024.
www.usna.edu
navysports.com

Navy Sports Camps

Navy Sports Camps
navysports.com navysports.com
www.usna.edu

Events

Events page for National Eagle Scout Association at USNA.edu. Updated Mon May 15 10:26:37 EDT 2023.
www.usna.edu

Due to older DS path at USNA, younger DS had high interest in USNA for many years. Younger DS also attended many USNA sports camps over the years. He also had exposure to USAFA initially via a stop-off visit on the way to BSA Philmont high adventure that was planned as part of the travel program, along with a visit to the National Museum of World War II Aviation also in Colorado Springs. That USAFA visit his sophomore summer led to him adding USAFA to his list and applying to SS, which he attended and really enjoyed.
 
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