I'm thinking of bailing

I cannot imagine the stress the OP is undergoing, although I'm seeing some of it being exhibited by my daughter who is in OP's class. I learned a long time ago to take large challenges in small chunks.

Tell yourself, "I'm going to report to I-Day tomorrow and if I don't like it after 15 minutes I'm leaving." And then tackle the next 15 minutes, the next hour and the next day. You received an appointment! You earned it. Very experienced professionals evaluated you and thought you could be an officer. Why not see if they were right?
 
Plebe2be said:
First off I want to say I've been on the forums for along time learning about noms and appointments. I was lucky enough to receive an appointment to the class of 2027 and I am now here in Annapolis for I-day on Thursday but honestly, like the title says, I'm thinking of bailing and going back home. I'm really worried that it's not what I expect, that I'm too young to choose something like this right now when I barely know anything about life! I don't understand what makes me special enough to ever lead people in warfighting. I'm scared I'm going to fail someone. I'm just really scared. I'm here alone because my parents don't really support my decision. I've been on here long enough to know some of you guys must have been scared before you started. What did you do about it? How did you get over it? How did you get over your doubts about your ability to handle the challenges and be good enough to lead people?

Thanks. I just don't know where else to ask for help.
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Hey, I am also a plebe to be (in Annapolis too, currently) and I don't have all of the experience or the incredible advice to give you that others have offered already. I don't have any perfect answers. But what I can do is let you know that you are not alone. I am terrified about this too. Completely and utterly terrified. I am lucky to have a supportive family through all of it and I'm still scared. I can't imagine how tough that must be for you. What I know for sure is that you can't give up now. Don't quit on yourself before you've even let yourself try it out for real yet. I have used this quote on here before but it rings true here too:

"Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable." - Sydney J. Harris

Please feel free to message me. We will get through this together.
 
This is a respectful post. So to align to the first sentence, I'm asking a rhetorical question to be answered by me only: Is this a selfish and inconsiderate act when hundreds of applicants were crying and praying?
 
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Hey bro, I'm an incoming plebe and will be in Annapolis soon tomorrow. I understand how you feel. If it's okay with you, I'd like to meet up with you so you won't feel alone. I'd pm you but that's not yet possible (you need to have 5 messages to enable the pm function). Once it is, I'll send you a pm and we can set up a meeting if you're down.

You're not alone in this, I want you to know that. Don't quit. You will get through this.
 
You will have 30 company mates.
Dragomir said:
Hey bro, I'm an incoming plebe and will be in Annapolis soon tomorrow. I understand how you feel. If it's okay with you, I'd like to meet up with you so you won't feel alone. I'd pm you but that's not yet possible (you need to have 5 messages to enable the pm function). Once it is, I'll send you a pm and we can set up a meeting if you're down.

You're not alone in this, I want you to know that. Don't quit. You will get through this.
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This is how great friendships start.

Company mates, major classmates, sports teammates, and other people you connect with.

My son has been around the country visiting great friends the past three years.
 
Plebe2be said:
I want to thank everyone (well almost everyone) who jumped in to help a lowly nobody plebe to be, I really appreciate it, I feel supported in a way I don't think I have so far, so thank you very much everyone! I guess I am trying to do too much and think about too much right now and I don't have to, at least not yet. I am going to do what Captain MJ suggested tomorrow and go for a run, that clears my head really well, thank you ma'am or sir. Can I go on the yard tomorrow? I know I need to have my ID. I just don't know if we're "banned" until Thursday, haha!

Also, when all the other new kids are hanging out with their family after we take the oath of office, what do I do? Thanks again everybody, I am going to turn in for tonight, thank you very much for your support.
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Yes, most definitely go to the Yard. You just need your drivers license to walk through Gate 1. There are plebes and parents everywhere you go and everyone wants to strike up a conversation. Ask where they’re from or what company they are in and the rest will flow. There are lots of them in the Mid Store, in the Visitors Center, and in front of Bancroft. All the employees in the Mid Store love to meet new kids. Stop by the Naval Museum and visit Ziggy the pup and his mom. Get coffee at 1845 by Gate 3. Take a tour if you’ve never been on one. You are not alone!! The point if plebe summer is teamwork and there are 1200 plebes on your team, all their families and friends, the Annapolis locals, the USNA staff, the chaplains, the sponsors, and thousands of alums. What company are you in?
 
Dragomir said:
Hey bro, I'm an incoming plebe and will be in Annapolis soon tomorrow. I understand how you feel. If it's okay with you, I'd like to meet up with you so you won't feel alone. I'd pm you but that's not yet possible (you need to have 5 messages to enable the pm function). Once it is, I'll send you a pm and we can set up a meeting if you're down.

You're not alone in this, I want you to know that. Don't quit. You will get through this.
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I was thinking the same thing. If @Plebe2be is up for it, I'd like to meet up too. Dragomir is right...you are not alone. Not one little bit.

Also, I don't think the pm will work even after 5 messages though because I think you also need to have had the account for at least a week on top of that requirement. Please correct me if I'm wrong on that though.
 
@Plebe2be , the MD parent club will be hanging out with food, cell phones, cold water and love at the Mexican Monument. There will be members from your Link in the Chain class that will be there to support you for all of your academy years.

Your humility and honesty are an inspiration. That is what leadership is. And this is how great leaders are mentored, fostered, and grown.

Your doubts aren’t rare. They are common but most don’t have the cajones to admit them. Props to you for recognizing and vocalizing things you are not sure of. This is the hallmark of great leadership.

If I could fly out to I Day and support you in person, I would. Our son’s class, 2024 didn’t have that option. But they recovered and excelled nonetheless.

Acknowledge your doubts and trepidations. Then embrace your success and the window of opportunity ahead of you, which is only cracked open at this point. Each semester and each step of this journey will show you portals to opportunities and adventures you cannot yet imagine.
 
@Dragomir and other plebes to be, you are in my thoughts and in my heart tonight. Tomorrow you will take a step that while momentous and possibly daunting is the step to the next best thing in your lives.

I wish each of you personal strength, patience, perseverance, empathy, and a love for your shipmates that you don’t yet know will impact your lives forever.

Getting a little allergies thinking about you all.
 
blhenrywalpole said:
What a disgraceful post. When you leave, on Thursday there will be an empty chair because you took a spot from someone who actually wanted to be there.
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No. Hard no. No one took a spot from anyone.

That isn’t how this process works. This crazy merry go round is the appointees ride. It is theirs to ride or choose to dismount prior to their two for seven with no penalty.

This process is mandated by Congress.

Telling an appointee that their doubts are disgraceful is disgraceful.

It’s easy from the bleachers to say that every 17-22.9 year old should know what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Or know if they’re ready to lead other lives into life and death situations.

Your repeated dismissal of the seriousness of this process is concerning.
 
Back in the day I reported alone the day before and spent the night in Bancroft Hall. Walked from Bancroft to Alumni to begin in-processing on I-Day. It's daunting. You feel alone.

This feeling is fleeting. You'll be with your classmates soon. They are just as unsure as you are, and you'll make it together. You'll have a clearly defined path and purpose laid out for your every morning for a very long time from here on out. That should help with the uncertainty.

If you were ready to be an officer and lead aboard our ships today, you would not be at USNA. You will learn and it will be a four year process to get there. You were selected for that potential to learn. Every MIDN was selected for their potential to learn, and every MIDN, including the NAPSters and priors, has much to learn. The learning never stops, not as a 4/C, not as a 1/C, not as an ENS, and not as a LT. Maybe the learning stops after that, but I doubt it. I'll find out and report back.

Your uncertainty is normal. The guy that walks up on I-Day thinking he's going to be the next Fleet Admiral probably needs some humility (and will quickly find some).

You don't know if you'll like the Academy. You don't know if you'll hate it. You don't know if the Academy will be the best experience of your life as a young adult.

You don't know. So you owe it to yourself and the hard work that you have done so far to at least find out. Stick it out 'til Christmas, then see what you want to do. Think about it carefully, and don't make a decision until you have enough information.

As for what I did on I-Day as a lone plebe without a family, a detailer lent me his cell phone so I could call family and friends, and a classmate wrapped me into his family and I had some cookies in the grass. I suspect you'll experience the same.
 
Plebe2be, I was you 30 years ago. I started USNA in '93 full of excitement and anxiety on I-day. I let that anxiety take control of me during the first few weeks of plebe summer and I quit after only 2 weeks. I have regretted that decision to this day. Don't make the same mistake that I made. Plebe summer is only 6 weeks long. Put up with the yelling and being tired for a short period. When classes start in August it will be more like college and less like boot camp. You can do it!
 
18-y/o is a young age to make a life-changing decision of starting at USNA. At 18 I did not know s**t. Good news is that you can try and see if you like it. In two years you'll be 20, and those two years will be light-years in terms of your development. You can make your call then. My guess is that if you stay now you will stay then. Talk to yourself and tell yourself that nobody is forcing you to do this, that all you are doing is simply giving your dream your best shot. That is more than many people can say.
 
Plebe2be said:
...I'm too young to choose something like this right now when I barely know anything about life!...
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This line stood out to me the most.

You are young. This is why four years seems like a long time, but is not. The five years after commissioning seems like a long time as well, but it is not. The next year of your life will be a challenge, but the next ten years of your life will go by in a flash. Ten years from now, you will have a degree which will be absolutely revered by most employers. They will hire you on the spot and cancel the rest of their interviews. If that isn't enough, you will have more real-world, hands-on experience than 80% of the people your age. Your future will be set by what you do this Thursday. Choose to become a Plebe. You will be glad you did, by the time you're a 3/C. ;)

Seriously, don't pass up this opportunity. Whatever you do in The Navy or Marine Corps in the future may not define you, but not taking the oath on I-Day just might.
 
@Plebe2be, you won't be in the "leadership" mode on I-Day. That piece comes much, much later. You'll be in the bottom rung "followership" mode (told what and when to do it) just like all those that raised their right hand back when. You and your classmates will make it through Canoe U one minute, one hour, one day, one week, one semester at a time. Commit to doing your absolute best, and if you fall short, don't beat yourself up. Resolve to do better and try not to take things personnally. Now prepare to cast off the bow line. The sea will test your mettle. Good luck.
 
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