Graduation Present?

A

amcollier

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Nov 29, 2019
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Random Question:
My wife and I are trying to think of an appropriate graduation present for our DS.

At the moment, he's been accepted to USMA, waitlisted for USNA, waitlisted for USCGA, and we haven't heard from USAFA (he got nominated for all 4 academies but didn't apply to USMMA).

The normal graduation present ideas don't work for someone headed to an academy. A car or computer or video games or whatnot just doesn't work.

Thoughts? What are the rest of you doing?
 
There have actually been several threads on this over the years here on SAF. You might have better luck with a straight google search than with the SAF search tool, using “Service Academy Forums” in the Search string.

No doubt you’ll get several good suggestions.

A thought for down the road at his SA graduation - getting a flag flown over the Capitol by one of his elected representatives on the day he takes his induction oath, putting it in a triangular display case with a brass plaque, to mark the start of his service.
 
amcollier said:
Random Question:
My wife and I are trying to think of an appropriate graduation present for our DS.

At the moment, he's been accepted to USMA, waitlisted for USNA, waitlisted for USCGA, and we haven't heard from USAFA (he got nominated for all 4 academies but didn't apply to USMMA).

The normal graduation present ideas don't work for someone headed to an academy. A car or computer or video games or whatnot just doesn't work.

Thoughts? What are the rest of you doing?
Click to expand...
Instead of having a graduation party, we celebrated just with family after our DS’s HS grad in May and had a big party the weekend before he left for IDay at USAFA. From family he got a GShock watch, black backpack, and money towards his car savings (allowed junior year). At his big send off party, we had small cards people could write notes on that we collected & sent him during basic training. Most gifts were cash since he was leaving in a few days.
 
amcollier said:
Random Question:
My wife and I are trying to think of an appropriate graduation present for our DS.

At the moment, he's been accepted to USMA, waitlisted for USNA, waitlisted for USCGA, and we haven't heard from USAFA (he got nominated for all 4 academies but didn't apply to USMMA).

The normal graduation present ideas don't work for someone headed to an academy. A car or computer or video games or whatnot just doesn't work.

Thoughts? What are the rest of you doing?
Click to expand...

Depending on what your dollar value is - as you mentioned a ‘car’ as a potential present (NICE)... maybe you consider ‘matching his salary‘ for the first year or give him a gift equaling the value of a years tuition (or some variation of that)... to help him with starting his ‘life’ somewhat ahead of the ‘game’ when he commissions into the military.

Congrats to your DS... what he has already accomplished is very inspiring and HUGE...
 
Capt MJ said:
There have actually been several threads on this over the years here on SAF. You might have better luck with a straight google search than with the SAF search tool, using “Service Academy Forums” in the Search string.

No doubt you’ll get several good suggestions.

A thought for down the road at his SA graduation - getting a flag flown over the Capitol by one of his elected representatives on the day he takes his induction oath, putting it in a triangular display case with a brass plaque, to mark the start of his service.
Click to expand...

How do you do that? That is an amazing idea...
 
DD got a new truck but only because her decade-old car broke down, stranded her in remote west Texas for a week, cost $1500 to supposedly repair (after $2500 in repairs the two prior months), but still needed a new engine. Dad didn't want to go through that again and have a pit in his stomach every time she had to drive a long distance.

How I know she really wanted to go to the USCGA: she didn't bat an eye when she learned she couldn't have her beloved truck at New London for three years (even freshmen were allowed cars at TAMU).
 
We bought my son a new Apple Watch, upgraded his cell phone & booked a Caribbean vacation. He also received a Lifetime Hunting & Fishing License (kinda beneficial in getting him to return home lol). His graduation party was important & we did it up right, since it was a big farewell. We also put the money from the sale of his truck into an investment certificate. His grandparents gave him a beautiful necklace with a cross on it because his faith is important to him & they are one of the few allowed items on I-Day at USNA.
 
Just a note on necklaces in uniform - ensure the chain is long enough so the piece is not visible in uniform. The summer white and khaki uniforms have an open vee at the neck. I always bought 20” chains or longer.

The crew neck t-shirt covers things up, but you’re left with a tell-tale bump.
 
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Our son got a big hug and, “Congrats on all your college choices!” Because he chose a service academy and his 529 funds returned to us without penalty, we shared it with him after he graduated from USMA, but we also paid a bit north of $250K for boarding school, so we felt that was present enough for high school graduation. Also, we considered graduating from high school the lowest bar on his education path, an expectation, not an achievement that deserved a gift beyond the satisfaction of a job well done.
 
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We felt the same as @VelveteenR - high school grad was an expectation. Frankly, it was a requirement, so no high school present. College was pretty much the same. Since our kids all launched after college, we focused our resources on helping them launch and paying for a wedding. College/grad school celebration was pretty low key. We'd planned something a bit bigger for the WP grad but now that is on hold, so who know what we will do for him - aside from helping him get set up in his first duty station. He's our first one not to get married right after college.
 
We got my DS a real nice G Shock watch that he wore to NROTC NSI and will take on to USMMA. He said he will wear it while on duty and it reminds him of his graduation day when he puts it on.
 
A nice engraved wooden box to store personal items (uniform accessories, ranks, ribbons, watch,...)
 
A friend of ours who is currently at CGA said the Uber gift cards are the best, since he has to use Uber, Lyft and some other driver service to get anywhere. He did say that many cadets do indeed have cars that they park off campus, but they also need a driving service to get to them.
 
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