Politics and academy life

Here's the difference..... Thanos wanted to see a sunrise.... Darkseid stepped on his uncle's decapitated head. Enough said.
 
I will say this about Marvel.... Into the Spiderverse was excellent. And I like Tom Holland as Spiderman. A classmate of mine has a very sick son who is a fan of Spiderman. Tom sent him a "feel better we're thinking of you" message from the set of Spiderman 3. And for that, I will forever be a fan of Tom Holland. The guy is class.
 
This is the difference between Marvel and DC.
In the DC world, the good guys can never kill the bad guys. Even if that means the bad guys get to get away and kill more people. The Superman movie where he kills Zod got a lot of flack for doing so although the was the logical move. Same thing with Batman and the Joker In the Dark Night movie Batman doesn't allow the Joker to die when he falls off the building. In the Marvel universe, people die. Yes the heroes pull their punches and don't go around killing people but something it happens and sometimes it needs to happen because there is no alternative. In the Guardians of the the Galaxy, Starlord not only kills the bad guy, but he kills his father. That is why I could never take the DC universe seriously. The good guys were willing to let the bad guys live and escape rather than have to put them down. So when the bad guys kill more people, realistically it should be on the head of the superhero that let the bad guy go. Instead, that is never mentioned. This isn't a movie thing, I was buying coming books from the late 70s to the late 90s and I can tell you that has always been the case in the comic books themselves. That is why when the Dark Knight comics came out in the late 80s, it was violent and didn't follow the DC rules anymore
 
And if you think bad guys don't die in DC.... you need to read Lobo. the main man.
 
Capt MJ said:
“Stories” is a key word in your post. They are hearsay. Unless you have observed something yourself, first-hand, in context, you don’t have all the facts in hand.

You are going to meet a wide variety of people with a wide variety of beliefs in this world. You cannot avoid them. Be who you are, live by your core values and press on. Most of your classmates and company mates will care that you are a “decent mid,” who holds up his or her end in team situations, helps others, and doesn’t succumb to hubris. You will meet plenty of mids who don’t spend a minute thinking about politics or religion, and they too are decent people who will help you without a minute’s hesitation, because their core values power their actions. You’ll meet plenty of like-minded people. There are faith-based ECAs, community service groups, etc.

Show who you are by your actions. Be open to others’ thoughts and beliefs, and listen to understand first.
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Upon reflection of the MOC interviews, I cannot help but think I my interview was political. I have been recently waitlisted for USNA c/o25 and I have not mentioned this before because of my respect for the process and faith in my military family. I am sorry I cannot say I have that same faith in my congressional district to have been unbiased during this interview period. I worry this polarized time and the date I had my interview on was in play. (November 7th) My interview was very short. I was asked about my views on the removal of Confederate Statues. I was surprised by the question, but I know I answered in a respectful manner. I could tell immediately it was not the answer the panel was looking for. As I stated, I am waitlisted and I was only able to attain a Presidential nomination. I can’t help but wonder, if I had a congressional nomination if I would have been offered an appointment. And it is hard for me not to question the congressional interview itself. At the same time, it could just also just be that I was only able to attend my Freshman year in my congressional district and everyone appointed were local seniors. I don’t currently reside in the state I had to request my nomination from. I have had to attend 4 different high schools because of my fathers active duty service and in different States and overseas. Thoughts? Really trying not to overthink things, but my only “kink” in this process has been from the MOC interactions.
 
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maggiesm70 said:
Sir, upon reflection of the MOC interviews, I cannot help but think I my interview was political. I have been recently waitlisted for USNA c/o25 and I have not mentioned this before because of my respect for the process and faith in my military family. I am sorry I cannot say I have that same faith in my congressional district to have been unbiased during this interview period. I worry this polarized time and the date I had my interview on was in play. (November 7th) My interview was very short. I was asked about my views on the removal of Confederate Statues. I was surprised by the question, but I know I answered in a respectful manner. I could tell immediately it was not the answer the panel was looking for. As I stated, I am waitlisted and I was only able to attain a Presidential nomination. I can’t help but wonder, if I had a congressional nomination if I would have been offered an appointment. And it is hard for me not to question the congressional interview itself. At the same time, it could just also just be that I was only able to attend my Freshman year in my congressional district and everyone appointed were local seniors. I don’t currently reside in the state I had to request my nomination from. I have had to attend 4 different high schools because of my fathers active duty service and in different States and overseas. Thoughts? Really trying not to overthink things, but my only “kink” in this process has been from the MOC interactions.
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First, it’s ma’am.

You only need one nomination. Getting another doesn’t help your WCS at USNA.

You weren’t waitlisted for political reasons.

Do you know what your competition was on your MOC slate? Is it possible politics didn’t play a part?
 
maggiesm70 said:
Sir, upon reflection of the MOC interviews, I cannot help but think I my interview was political. I have been recently waitlisted for USNA c/o25 and I have not mentioned this before because of my respect for the process and faith in my military family. I am sorry I cannot say I have that same faith in my congressional district to have been unbiased during this interview period. I worry this polarized time and the date I had my interview on was in play. (November 7th) My interview was very short. I was asked about my views on the removal of Confederate Statues. I was surprised by the question, but I know I answered in a respectful manner. I could tell immediately it was not the answer the panel was looking for. As I stated, I am waitlisted and I was only able to attain a Presidential nomination. I can’t help but wonder, if I had a congressional nomination if I would have been offered an appointment. And it is hard for me not to question the congressional interview itself. At the same time, it could just also just be that I was only able to attend my Freshman year in my congressional district and everyone appointed were local seniors. I don’t currently reside in the state I had to request my nomination from. I have had to attend 4 different high schools because of my fathers active duty service and in different States and overseas. Thoughts? Really trying not to overthink things, but my only “kink” in this process has been from the MOC interactions.
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You have no way of knowing the truth of your situation. You cannot assume anything, unless the panel members looked directly at you and openly verbalized “you are not getting a nomination from us because we did not like one specific answer.”

The length of the interview could have been multiple candidates to get through. The lack of a nom may have simply been they evaluated all candidates on a wide range of criteria, and some aspect of your application was not as competitive.

This process is essentially a job interview for a role where there are always more qualified candidates than there is room in the class. I have applied for many jobs in my life and have often been told “no,” though in my own mind I was perfect for the job. Honestly, some still sting. I would find myself going back over the interview, speculating on whether ageism or sexism was involved (your own bias showed here, in a small way, when you assumed I was a “sir” - don’t sweat it, I appreciate your well-meant courtesy). I realized that was not fair to the interviewers, and stopped myself, coaching myself to focus on facts and not speculation rooted in my own imperfect views.

I recognize this looooooong wait has made you re-think everything. Do try to stop that, as it is fruitless. Here’s what we do know:

- You have put together a strong enough application that you are still in the game. You have made it through a tough obstacle course.
- You have a Presidential nom. That final slate of 100 appointments may not be fully resolved.
- The Supe has discretionary noms he controls. One might be bestowed on you, and an appointment charged to it.
- There could be a late NAPS or Foundation prep scholarship offer, if the issue is they like you, want you, but have a concern about your readiness to proceed direct to USNA.
- If you have gotten this far, clearly you have a strong application with good “stats” that will open other doors. That means you likely have excellent and viable alternatives lined up, which you are ready to execute, perhaps pursuing your officer’s commission via another route, while considering re-application.
- What’s done is done.
 
Capt MJ said:
You have no way of knowing the truth of your situation. You cannot assume anything, unless the panel members looked directly at you and openly verbalized “you are not getting a nomination from us because we did not like one specific answer.”

The length of the interview could have been multiple candidates to get through. The lack of a nom may have simply been they evaluated all candidates on a wide range of criteria, and some aspect of your application was not as competitive.

This process is essentially a job interview for a role where there are always more qualified candidates than there is room in the class. I have applied for many jobs in my life and have often been told “no,” though in my own mind I was perfect for the job. Honestly, some still sting. I would find myself going back over the interview, speculating on whether ageism or sexism was involved (your own bias showed here, in a small way, when you assumed I was a “sir” - don’t sweat it, I appreciate your well-meant courtesy). I realized that was not fair to the interviewers, and stopped myself, coaching myself to focus on facts and not speculation rooted in my own imperfect views.

I recognize this looooooong wait has made you re-think everything. Do try to stop that, as it is fruitless. Here’s what we do know:

- You have put together a strong enough application that you are still in the game. You have made it through a tough obstacle course.
- You have a Presidential nom. That final slate of 100 appointments may not be fully resolved.
- The Supe has discretionary noms he controls. One might be bestowed on you, and an appointment charged to it.
- There could be a late NAPS or Foundation prep scholarship offer, if the issue is they like you, want you, but have a concern about your readiness to proceed direct to USNA.
- If you have gotten this far, clearly you have a strong application with good “stats” that will open other doors. That means you likely have excellent and viable alternatives lined up, which you are ready to execute, perhaps pursuing your officer’s commission via another route, while considering re-application.
- What’s done is done.
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Ma’am,
Thank you. And reminding me of my own bias (my mother was called sir a lot during her career as well, thank you for not taking offense and knowing I was very intently applying courtesy). You stated almost exactly the points both of my Naval parents said to me. Sometimes I need to just hear it from someone not biased towards me.
I needed that. Again, thank you. And yes... preparing plan B and trying to relax through what I have heard from my parents over and over “hurry up and wait” it is part of it, but so are taking an Eagles eye and stepping back. Again, I’m learning and always open for coaching. Thank you, ma’am.
 
A1Janitor said:
There is no question in my mind that they made a mistake not selecting you.
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😂😂🤣 There is one in particular I recall, where the organization was headed for a merger, and I knew my deep experience in change management and getting the people part handled would be helpful to them. It got down to me and a much younger male candidate. I wasn’t chosen. I allowed myself the usual five-minute pity party, with some very human assuming going on, shook it off and moved on. Two years later, as I was just leaving the corporate world to be an independent contractor doing something I loved, I received an urgent call from one of the board members from that organization. They were in chaos, the merger had not gone well, the person had been asked to resign, and they wanted me back for another interview. I allowed myself a five-minute smile of glee party, wrote a civil and appreciative declination, and recommended some other potential candidates as a farewell parting gift. All happens as it should, but sometimes that can’t be seen until some years down the road.
 
A1Janitor said:
First, it’s ma’am.
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I laughed at this since it reminded me of when I first cut my hair extremely short, I was referred to as "sir" almost anywhere I went. The fact that I was a tomboy and dressed in only baggy clothes didn't help my case.

You can only imagine someone asking me "What can I get for you, Sir?" at a restaurant... and the awkward pause when I had to say "It's ma'am..."
 
maggiesm70 said:
Ma’am,
Thank you. And reminding me of my own bias (my mother was called sir a lot during her career as well, thank you for not taking offense and knowing I was very intently applying courtesy). You stated almost exactly the points both of my Naval parents said to me. Sometimes I need to just hear it from someone not biased towards me.
I needed that. Again, thank you. And yes... preparing plan B and trying to relax through what I have heard from my parents over and over “hurry up and wait” it is part of it, but so are taking an Eagles eye and stepping back. Again, I’m learning and always open for coaching. Thank you, ma’am.
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My pleasure. Ask your mom if she got “SiruhhhhMA’AM.” 😁

Being “open for coaching.” A life-long trait to nurture, as it will improve your leadership toolkit.
 
Capt MJ said:
My pleasure. Ask your mom if she got “SiruhhhhMA’AM.” 😁

Being “open for coaching.” A life-long trait to nurture, as it will improve your leadership toolkit.
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She said ALL. THE. TIME. But again, didn’t bother her.
 
A1Janitor said:
First, it’s ma’am.

You only need one nomination. Getting another doesn’t help your WCS at USNA.

You weren’t waitlisted for political reasons.

Do you know what your competition was on your MOC slate? Is it possible politics didn’t play a part?
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You are right. No I don’t and it would be small-minded and self-centered to think that there could not be more qualified candidates. It’s just the person who was asking the questions started to get heated and the next one was “Well, what about the statues of George Washington? He had slaves, too.”
I honestly was not expecting politically charged questions. I thought it could have been as test if I could handled stress and still answer with respect and tact. I continued to answer honestly. I wished they would have asked how I feel about leading people with opposing views, but he didn’t.
 
maggiesm70 said:
You are right. No I don’t and it would be small-minded and self-centered to think that there could not be more qualified candidates. It’s just the person who was asking the questions started to get heated and the next one was “Well, what about the statues of George Washington? He had slaves, too.”
I honestly was not expecting politically charged questions. I thought it could have been as test if I could handled stress and still answer with respect and tact. I continued to answer honestly. I wished they would have asked how I feel about leading people with opposing views, but he didn’t.
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May I ask how you responded to the questions you thought were political?

If I were in your position, I would have just deflected like a politician. You can always just say, "Sir/Ma'am, I understand your question, but in all due respect, this is not in my lane" or "Sir/Ma'am, this is a divisive topic and I would respectfully not prejudge the situation without knowing all the facts."
 
Aviator25 said:
May I ask how you responded to the questions you thought were political?

If I were in your position, I would have just deflected like a politician. You can always just say, "Sir/Ma'am, I understand your question, but in all due respect, this is not in my lane" or "Sir/Ma'am, this is a divisive topic and I would respectfully not prejudge the situation without knowing all the facts."
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Oh trust me. Hind sight twenty-twenty. My parents said the same thing. I’m only 17. I’m learning. They said personal political opinions must be tabled when considering the welfare of your sailors equally. We serve the Constitution.
I didn’t mind telling them, so I guess I shouldn’t mind telling you... or wait... “Sir, Ma’am, this is a decisive topic and I would respectfully not prejudge the situation without knowing all the facts.”
See. I can learn. 🤣
 
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