Two Months Post First-Time Visit to the Yard

NJROTC-CC

NJROTC-CC

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My DS is a 15 yr old high school sophomore. He had never visited a college campus before, so I thought that it might be nice to make a family visit to the USNA and take the public tour. (I had never been to any service academy campus myself.) So, we went to Annapolis in July. Being a typical American male, DS did not share very much of his thoughts or emotions about the tour or the USNA campus at the time. I decided not to try to forcibly extract any feedback that he was not ready to give on his own but, rather, to let the visit simmer on the back burner of his subconscious.

Fast-forward to now. DS is very active in NJROTC and is planning on naval service of some form down the road. He also went out for the cross-country team over the summer. We were driving back from a cross-country meet last night, and we were stuck in traffic, so we had some good one-on-one time. He asked me "so, what are the chances that I can actually get into the USNA." I could tell by the context and the way that he asked the question, that he is really interested in achieving that goal. I told him that while it is difficult for anyone to get an appointment, he has a very realistic chance - - at least as good a chance as anyone - - if he keeps doing all the things that he is doing and working hard.

My point in sharing this story is that many 13, 14 and 15 year old knuckleheads - - like my DS - - don't know what a real college campus is like or have any idea how impressive are the facilities at the service academies. Therefore, they don't have any idea of the prize at the end of the journey. Many of them don't even think about applying to a service academy until it is too late to build the resume of achievement required to even be a candidate. Knowing what lies at the end of their high school journey can be a great inspiration to them to continue to work hard. So, I think it is great to expose your highschoolers or middle schoolers to what lies ahead. Don't wait until junior or senior year to visit a college campus or a service academy.
 
We never spoke of or took our son to any of the service academies, but he still ended up at one. Sigh. Kids. Can't control 'em. ;)

(Too bad those many, many trips to Ann Arbor did not have the intended effect.)
 
Great post, @NJROTC-CC .

My DS had decided on USNA by the time he was in 8th grade. I think that since he knew it that soon - he didn't mess around in 9th grade at all - knowing up front that he would be academically judged on those first six (6) semesters of high school, alone. That part is huge, and makes a lot of difference, I think.

If they can come around to the Service Academy way of thinking before they start High School, it is certainly a plus. Nothing wrong with being a chucklehead, though. Just make sure they're chuckleheads with good grades and AP classes.

For what it's worth, we visited USNA when DS was in 8th grade. Before that, we had visited the USAFA and he briefly thought about being a zoomie. ;)
 
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Our DS visited USAFA when he was in 7th grade. He has had his eye on USNA since he spoke with my Dad about his time at Annapolis and it was confirmed to be his first choice when he attended summer stem. He entered high school driven and focused. I have seen so many kids flail their freshmen year, and it can affect their GPA to a point that is not recoverable. Knowing you have a goal and working towards it early allows kids so many opportunities. I believe that if a kiddo knows they want to attend a SA that they should make a pre freshmen year appointment with their HS Guidance counselor and get on track. I worked at the school and it is a small and close group of staff, but the efforts his counselor made to build his 4 year schedule were awesome. He has built relationships with staff and when he needed LOR's this summer they were all on board. He only had PE his freshmen year but that hasn't stopped the PE teacher from showing up many Saturdays to practice the CFA. It may well be true that the early bird gets the worm!
 
NJROTC-CC said:
My point in sharing this story is that many 13, 14 and 15 year old knuckleheads - - like my DS - - don't know what a real college campus is like or have any idea how impressive are the facilities at the service academies
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Great post, but if USNA is the only school he has been to, he still doesn't know what a real college campus is like ! I just got back from a trip dropping my youngest daughter off at Grad School, and everytime I walk through a college campus I cringe at what I see.

I brought my daughters to visit the Yard during a Spring Break trip to DC , years ago (I think Middle School ..they are 26 & 30 now), with the thought that if I could just plant that seed of excitement, the trip would pay for itself many times over ! It didn't work -- Mom (whom I met at NAPS and dated for 4 years at USNA) had a lot more influence on them, and her constant reference to USNA as "the Jail School" didn't help ! However, oldest daughter admitted she was suitably impressed by the Midshipmen and the Yard when we stopped in Annapolis while she was looking at colleges (she wasn't really looking at USNA, but it was a convenient mid point between DC and Baltimore Schools and I wanted to go to Cantlers !).
 
Old Navy BGO said:
her constant reference to USNA as "the Jail School" didn't help !
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Ha! Too funny. My DS seems to thrive on PT and being "one of the guys" going through a common ordeal in sports and NJROTC summer training camps. He doesn't complain about uniform day either. But still, I have wondered whether NASS or a CVW might scare him off. I guess if it does, then it's not for him. But I am not really worried. My concern for my DS is that because he is so social and outgoing, that he needs a lot of discipline until he is fully-mature (which is a long way off.) Myself, I went to a prestigious private university where the current average SAT scores are over 1500 and I had WAY too much freedom at too young an age. I want to help DS avoid some of the mistakes I made in college. So, a service academy or ROTC is what I think my DS needs to keep him focused. I am steering him that way but, ultimately, the choice will be his, of course.
 
Old Navy BGO said:
...Mom (whom I met at NAPS and dated for 4 years at USNA)...
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Wait just a doggone minute here. Plebes aren't supposed to date. Hmmmmm.........:biggrin:
 
If they met at NAPS, and were together 4 years at USNA, methinks they are classmates and could therefore date as plebes.

I’m impressed.
 
VelveteenR said:
We never spoke of or took our son to any of the service academies, but he still ended up at one. Sigh. Kids. Can't control 'em. ;)

(Too bad those many, many trips to Ann Arbor did not have the intended effect.)
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As a U-M grad, that makes me cry! DS applied to U-M, but was Waitlisted. He's doing great so far at USNA so life has a way of working out. :)
 
Nope...my wife is not a Classmate. (She would laugh at even the idea of attending USNA!). We met while I was at NAPS, the time together during Plebe Year was mostly writing letters and weekly phone calls--my recollection is that we only got together for Parents Weekend, maybe one weekend during the year when they had a mandatory mixer (do they still do that ?), holidays , Spring Breaks and June Week. Visits became more frequent over the course of 4 years, particularly First Class year when I had the freedom to drive (to the Newport area) any weekend I wasn't on duty. She did experience many of the ups and downs of Academy life with me (including spending time wandering around Annapolis when already short visits were consumed with remedial drill when our Battalion didn't do so well on the weekly Prade :mad:)
 
The percent of relationships going into USNA that come out the other end intact. I have one so far!

The demands on one’s time make a relationship extremely challenging. For both parties. Altho I think technology helps tremendously....especially FaceTime. It will be interesting to see if relationships stay at 2pct, or with current tech, will that increase?

Maybe it’s just a coined term, and not a scientific study.
 
Capt MJ said:
There is a long-held saying that only 2% of pre-USNA romantic relationships survives to and through graduation, the “Two Percent Club.”
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That's interesting.

BarryD said:
If you visit USNA first, all of the other colleges are going to look "meh" by comparison.
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Can confirm. I had the honor of being invited to the August CVW and I was blown away!
 
DD and DSIL met at TBS although they graduated in the same class they never knew each other until TBS. What is that percentage? DSIL just deployed and I will have my DD and grandson for six months. Can't wait for his first snow fall and sleigh ride.
 
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