footballer
10-Year Member
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2007
- Messages
- 10
I am not very familiar with the MMA and honestly didn't know what I know about it now until being recruited by an athletic coach.
I have been on a path to the military, specifically the Air Force, my entire 4 years of high school. I had kind of made up my mind that I didn't want to go to a service academy because I didn't want that lifestyle for my college years. I'm currently seeking an AFROTC scholarship, but I am seriously considering the MMA should this pan out.
I haven't been able to get in contact with anyone who is or has attended the Academy. I came upon this forum a few days ago and I have a few questions that would help me in my search to make a decision.
1. What are the Civilian Career options like upon graduating? I keep hearing about the great pay, but i'm not familiar with the stability of the maritime industry.
2. How does life at the Academy compare to to the other service academies? Is it as regimented? Or is it more like a private military school?
3. My intended major is Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering at one of my other schools. How well does the Marine Engineering Systems with a concentration in Aerospace Engineering compare to an Aerospace Engineering degree.
I do understand that if I choose to go it would be a huge commitment and it would be something that I wanted to do; this is why I am searching for some answers. Answers to one or all of these questions would be greatly apprieciated.
Thank you all in advance for you time!
I have been on a path to the military, specifically the Air Force, my entire 4 years of high school. I had kind of made up my mind that I didn't want to go to a service academy because I didn't want that lifestyle for my college years. I'm currently seeking an AFROTC scholarship, but I am seriously considering the MMA should this pan out.
I haven't been able to get in contact with anyone who is or has attended the Academy. I came upon this forum a few days ago and I have a few questions that would help me in my search to make a decision.
1. What are the Civilian Career options like upon graduating? I keep hearing about the great pay, but i'm not familiar with the stability of the maritime industry.
2. How does life at the Academy compare to to the other service academies? Is it as regimented? Or is it more like a private military school?
3. My intended major is Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering at one of my other schools. How well does the Marine Engineering Systems with a concentration in Aerospace Engineering compare to an Aerospace Engineering degree.
I do understand that if I choose to go it would be a huge commitment and it would be something that I wanted to do; this is why I am searching for some answers. Answers to one or all of these questions would be greatly apprieciated.
Thank you all in advance for you time!
Its great that you know people at all of the schools. To get their “take” on things is probably very enlightening. Regimentally, KP is tough but the one thing that I would add is that the academics are tougher . I will share what my son said once about KP vs. The Citadel as he has knowledge of that particular place. “The Citadel has a tougher regimental life since they go through an entire year of Hell but the academics at KP are twice as hard.” That said, I know he meant that going through an entire year as a Knob was not to his liking and that he would have liked some of the easier classes of humanities because he enjoys those type of classes. Being a Plebe at KP is about 8 months long so I don’t get what he was talking about Knob year being much longer. At any academy, the main phrase about being a Plebe is “life sucks”. Most kids live on 4-5 hours of sleep while trying to put in a 100 mile an hour day full of do‘s & don‘ts. Your life will not be your own. You’ll even be told when to brush your teeth & which socks to wear at any given moment. Those are some examples of the stupid stuff you’ll roll your eyes at. I don’t hear about my kid’s day all that often but I did yesterday. A one sided conversation full of venting that I‘ll share to give you an idea of a typical day… He’s into this a year & ½ now (3rd classman) & life continues to “suck” sometimes in his humble opinion. He had to stand two watches. All kids will do watch duty on top of other regimental duties. He had watch from noon to 4pm then again from midnight to 4am. After not going to bed because he stayed up after returning at 4:30am studying for a Cargo Ops test because he had to go inspect his Plebes at 6am anyhow. You’ll end up being responsible for others later on from their uniforms to rooms to their academics to their behavior. After taking his crashed computer to the tech people & stopping by the dentist for an quick exam for the four wisdom teeth they‘d just taken out, to the pharmacy for a new prescription, then off for that occasional drug screening that the bureaucracy should have rescheduled since he was on pain killers for the teeth thing, he trudged off to one class for a wicked hard test, went to lunch then went for 6 more classes lasting until 4:45. Then it was off to do weight training & after that, ordering a pizza to reward his Plebes for not getting the CC’s head up his rear, all before going back to his room for hours of homework that he threw in the towel on at 11pm & finally crashed. I can almost promise that he nodded off in some classes without being able to chew gummy bears to keep him awake. He was thrilled with one thing yesterday. He got a B- on the test that he thought he was going to flunk which would have been a disaster. Life & death, the way he described it. A glimpse into a typical KP day full of fun. Almost every minute of every day, you’ll have something to do. He’s anticipating the second half of Sea Year. Something no other academy has. Graduating with a 3rd mates license and choosing which branch of service he wants to serve in. Again, something no other place offers. That’s what makes this place so attractive. It would be a really good idea to study on the majors offered & the classes required to see if your interests lie there. I’d consider that part more important than the regimental part. I feel sure you’d conquer regimental life. Doing Physics I & Physics II all in the same year is kind of scary. You’ll have 50 some credit hours in an 11 month long school year that runs on trimesters making you alittle busier than other colleges. I’ll end this novel here hoping you’ll see the good over the bad. When you go for your visit, I think that you’ll get a lot out of it. The not knowing part is hard. This is the longest post in the history of post. 
