Hi all,
I am not sure if you remember my post later this year but I posted in regards to having second guesses about my career in ROTC. If you have not seen my post you can go back into my history and read it. If not, I can give a brief summary of what I'm dealing with currently.
Background: I am a freshman NROTC student at a large southern university. I did a year of PSEO credit at a small local Christian college my senior year and am currently majoring in computer science. I am also working in my county as a CSO with the sheriff's office there, which is partially contributing to my issue that I am having this year. I have been preparing for ROTC since as far back as 8th grade, and I am not sure if this is the best option for what I want to do anymore.
Before I get started, I would like to clarify that I have identified that my issue resides in what I want to do in the Navy and what the ROTC program has to offer. My initial unhappiness with the school went away after I became involved more on campus, but the nagging feeling that something wasn't right was still there. I came to this conclusion after talking to family, my classmates, a counselor, and career counselor. I do not want to give anyone the impression that the reason for me wanting to leave is not because "the military life isn't for me" which is what I have heard a lot from my classmates who have dropped this year so far. I do think the military is for me, and I am going to serve regardless of however this shakes out, enlisted or commissioned.
Anyways, here is the update:
After giving this problem enough time to know that my decision won't be a knee jerk reaction, I don't think continuing in NROTC will be the best option for me at this point. I feel like my heart is set on being a JAG and ROTC does not commission JAGs. I understand that many of you may say, "well you should have known this before joining," which is a valid point if I had gone into NROTC wanting to be a JAG, but that simply is not the case. I went to NSI thinking that I wanted to be a pilot, but this was long before I became involved in law enforcement. Working directly with the police has shown me how much there is a need for people want to go into that field and how much influence the courts have on the outcome of people's lives; good and bad. Freshman year of college is about finding out who you are and what you want to do, and I feel like this is part of the process. Over the last few months, I have been able to witness the good and absolute worst parts of working with the police which can be overwhelming while being a freshman in college and in ROTC. This does not mean I want to be a cop instead of the military, but rather I want to be in a position where I am in the best of both worlds, and that position is a JAG.
This has been one of the hardest decisions I have ever encountered in my life thus far, and by no means am I taking the implications of this lightly. In October, I made it a goal that I would exhaust every option I could as a college student to help me make this decision and I believe that I have. I have seen many of my classmates, contract and non contract, quit for reasons varying from mental health and simply not wanting to work as hard as ROTC demands. I do not believe I fit into either of those categories.
I know people can be quick to judge someone's decision in a situation like this and I absolutely want to get it across that my decision does not come from the difficulty or demanding nature of ROTC. I was ranked 3rd in my (decently large) class on my FITREP, maintained a 3.6+ GPA, stayed involved in 2 clubs, was a member on two drill teams, did color guard numerous times, and managed to volunteer well over 150 hours in my first semester with little to no issues keeping this schedule up. To put it this way, I think the people who don't know I have been second guessing ROTC would be extremely surprised by that.
Despite being involved and having a genuinely good time with my shipmates in ROTC, I still cannot justify wasting more of the Navy's money on me when my heart isn't in commissioning as an unrestricted line officer. At this point, I am really only waiting to notify cadre about where I am at but I do not want them to get the impression that I am going to be working less hard because I don't see myself continuing in ROTC. I am going to work just as hard through the end as I did at the beginning of the semester.
With this, my last question is how this decision will affect my future chances of commissioning as a JAG. I know that it is generally frowned upon to leave ROTC but I know with how I have performed this year that I would be leaving my unit on good terms with the cadre and upperclassmen.
Feel free to ask any questions, this post was kind of thrown together.
I am not sure if you remember my post later this year but I posted in regards to having second guesses about my career in ROTC. If you have not seen my post you can go back into my history and read it. If not, I can give a brief summary of what I'm dealing with currently.
Background: I am a freshman NROTC student at a large southern university. I did a year of PSEO credit at a small local Christian college my senior year and am currently majoring in computer science. I am also working in my county as a CSO with the sheriff's office there, which is partially contributing to my issue that I am having this year. I have been preparing for ROTC since as far back as 8th grade, and I am not sure if this is the best option for what I want to do anymore.
Before I get started, I would like to clarify that I have identified that my issue resides in what I want to do in the Navy and what the ROTC program has to offer. My initial unhappiness with the school went away after I became involved more on campus, but the nagging feeling that something wasn't right was still there. I came to this conclusion after talking to family, my classmates, a counselor, and career counselor. I do not want to give anyone the impression that the reason for me wanting to leave is not because "the military life isn't for me" which is what I have heard a lot from my classmates who have dropped this year so far. I do think the military is for me, and I am going to serve regardless of however this shakes out, enlisted or commissioned.
Anyways, here is the update:
After giving this problem enough time to know that my decision won't be a knee jerk reaction, I don't think continuing in NROTC will be the best option for me at this point. I feel like my heart is set on being a JAG and ROTC does not commission JAGs. I understand that many of you may say, "well you should have known this before joining," which is a valid point if I had gone into NROTC wanting to be a JAG, but that simply is not the case. I went to NSI thinking that I wanted to be a pilot, but this was long before I became involved in law enforcement. Working directly with the police has shown me how much there is a need for people want to go into that field and how much influence the courts have on the outcome of people's lives; good and bad. Freshman year of college is about finding out who you are and what you want to do, and I feel like this is part of the process. Over the last few months, I have been able to witness the good and absolute worst parts of working with the police which can be overwhelming while being a freshman in college and in ROTC. This does not mean I want to be a cop instead of the military, but rather I want to be in a position where I am in the best of both worlds, and that position is a JAG.
This has been one of the hardest decisions I have ever encountered in my life thus far, and by no means am I taking the implications of this lightly. In October, I made it a goal that I would exhaust every option I could as a college student to help me make this decision and I believe that I have. I have seen many of my classmates, contract and non contract, quit for reasons varying from mental health and simply not wanting to work as hard as ROTC demands. I do not believe I fit into either of those categories.
I know people can be quick to judge someone's decision in a situation like this and I absolutely want to get it across that my decision does not come from the difficulty or demanding nature of ROTC. I was ranked 3rd in my (decently large) class on my FITREP, maintained a 3.6+ GPA, stayed involved in 2 clubs, was a member on two drill teams, did color guard numerous times, and managed to volunteer well over 150 hours in my first semester with little to no issues keeping this schedule up. To put it this way, I think the people who don't know I have been second guessing ROTC would be extremely surprised by that.
Despite being involved and having a genuinely good time with my shipmates in ROTC, I still cannot justify wasting more of the Navy's money on me when my heart isn't in commissioning as an unrestricted line officer. At this point, I am really only waiting to notify cadre about where I am at but I do not want them to get the impression that I am going to be working less hard because I don't see myself continuing in ROTC. I am going to work just as hard through the end as I did at the beginning of the semester.
With this, my last question is how this decision will affect my future chances of commissioning as a JAG. I know that it is generally frowned upon to leave ROTC but I know with how I have performed this year that I would be leaving my unit on good terms with the cadre and upperclassmen.
Feel free to ask any questions, this post was kind of thrown together.