Why did you apply?

C

candide72

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Dec 17, 2018
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I’m curious what other people’s motivations for applying to USNA are. I don’t think I’ve seen a post a about this, so:
When was the moment you decided this what the place, what was it like, and why did it ‘click’?
 
DS said several things: the cultural of USNA. The support and belonging from the community. The atmosphere (the place oozes history) and patriotism. The general feel of the place.

He knew it felt right. He had visited other programs (USAFA, NROTC, AFROTC) and USNA felt right. The moment it clicked with him was on a recruiting official visit. He knew he belonged.

He chose Navy BC of all the opportunities and different things he could do. The different warfare communities. Navy has the most options for serving (ie: SWO, subs, aviation, marine, etc).

How about you?
 
I learned about the academy from another girl in my school who got accepted my freshman year and there was one specific night I was looking at colleges with good physics/astrophysics programs (I had just decided to change my life plan from a major in music to a tech major haha). USNA was on the list and Summer Stem applications were out so I applied. Once I got accepted to that, I looked at the Naval Academy more seriously. By the time I arrived in Annapolis for the first time I was pretty much in love with the place and NASS and CVW just solidified it.

As backwards as this is, I didn’t think about serving until I became interested in USNA (even coming from a Marine Corps Family). I was always a super patriotic kid, I cried during the national anthem in 3rd grade when we learned it... little weird but.... I never saw myself as the type of person to join the military. I couldn’t run a mile until my sophomore year of school. By my Junior year I had talked to a recruiter for the Marine Corps and realized a lot of the things that drew me to USNA were values of the USMC and so I applied for the NROTC MO scholarship.
 
My son was interested in serving his country ... he was born a few months before 911 - when he was in elementary school one of his teachers signed up for army reserves after 911 and went to Iraq. His hero welcome impacted my son so he always had SA in the back of his mind.

He studied the Ivy’s and top colleges and the SA. He ultimately decided on USNA because he felt it was the best academically for what he wanted.

If he tells me living in upstate New York didn’t dissuade him from WP I know he is lying. Weather must have been a small factor.

Plus ... our next door neighbor was a USNA grad.
 
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DH is a Philly native. One of his dad’s co-workers was a Navy grad, former attack pilot, and usually invited DH and younger brother with their dad to the Army-Navy Game each year. DH decided at age 10 he wanted to be a mid, a Navy Pilot and fly jets like the game flyover. Ditto his brother at age 8, though brother took NROTC route due to a med DQ issue. There were no STEM camps, CVW, NASS. I think they had attended USNA Glee Club concerts in Philly - again the family friend. DH got into Penn, other Ivies, Northwestern. Turned down USMA (his mom insisted he apply there as well) while waitlisted for USNA (causes mom palpitations), a bold move, but he knew what he wanted. He did indeed fly fighters. The only thing he surprised himself with was staying a full career. He had planned to get out and fly for a major airline, “make the big bucks,” but his first aerobatic hop in flight school set the hook.
 
candide72 said:
I learned about the academy from another girl in my school who got accepted my freshman year and there was one specific night I was looking at colleges with good physics/astrophysics programs (I had just decided to change my life plan from a major in music to a tech major haha). USNA was on the list and Summer Stem applications were out so I applied. Once I got accepted to that, I looked at the Naval Academy more seriously. By the time I arrived in Annapolis for the first time I was pretty much in love with the place and NASS and CVW just solidified it.

As backwards as this is, I didn’t think about serving until I became interested in USNA (even coming from a Marine Corps Family). I was always a super patriotic kid, I cried during the national anthem in 3rd grade when we learned it... little weird but.... I never saw myself as the type of person to join the military. I couldn’t run a mile until my sophomore year of school. By my Junior year I had talked to a recruiter for the Marine Corps and realized a lot of the things that drew me to USNA were values of the USMC and so I applied for the NROTC MO scholarship.
Click to expand...

The journeys are all so similar and different at the same time! Always a desire to serve others. We had no clue about SA’s. DS received a recruiting letter sophomore year, and we went to a MOC SA open house that summer. That’s where it began with us. Something unique to DS’s story is that we host exchange students from China. When those kids come for the first time to America, and realize and experience all the freedoms that we have (and take for granted)? There are no words to describe that experience. Of going to Walmart. Or choosing what to watch on tv. Or being able to google. Or play Pokémon Go. DS really realizes first hand about freedom of choice. So those are some of the initial callings he felt. The reason for actually choosing USNA already discussed.

Thank you for your willingness to step up and serve. To A1janitors son too! And thanks to CAPT MJ and DH for their service. And sharing!
 
Not being a military family I was quite surprised when rising Jr DS told me he was interested in ROTC at college. Upon discussion he indicated that he thought every able bodied person that is capable, should serve his or her country. I was shocked at his detailed thinking in the topic. If interested in serving, I said to DS you should consider an academy as I always thought he was their ideal candidate. Smart, good kid, athletic, natural leadership skills... We scheduled a trip to Annapolis and after walking the yard we watched the 10 minute marketing video they present at the visitor’s center. Immediately upon exiting - DS told me he was hooked. He spent the next several weeks pouring over videos of USNA life, majors, Herndon, I Days, CFAs, SWO careers, SEAL training, Sub life, etc.
I wasn’t convinced that he really understood, so that summer we visited over 20 schools up and down the east coast and upper Midwest. After all the travel and time he was still hooked on the academy life and service.
I’m not sure where his motivations originated, but USNA is now the ONLY place he is focused on. Upon his acceptance to SLE USMA is now moving up his list and we are visiting there this weekend.
I am very proud of his mature approach, but I still see the 16 yo kid and think “how is he going to do THAT?”
All that being said, I’ve been in position to interview and hire LOTS of people. Academy grads with the background, experience, discipline and seriousness of purpose are two cuts above the typical candidates I see.
Combine that with a career as a naval officer - mom and dad could not be more excited for him. It’s a long road with many many obstacles. Keeping him focused on a plan B is difficult.
 
My DD has been focused on serving since middle school and did a lot of research in to the different branches and MOS opportunities in each. When she settled on the USMC as the branch she was most interested in, her dad (a former enlisted marine) was thrilled. She was looking at college and NROTC until her grandfather (WWII Army vet) and her started talking about USNA in her sophomore year. Pursuing the Naval Academy was a commitment she made to him the night before he passed. When we toured her junior year she was really interested in USNA and then after a CVW the spring of her junior year she knew without a doubt that this is where she wanted to go to start her military journey. She was awarded the 4 yr NROTC MO scholarship in December but when her appointment came in late January to USNA she didn’t hesitate to accept.
 
I have a long family history in the Navy and the USMC, and one of my family members went to USNA so from a young age I was exposed to the idea of service. I've never been like other girls. I played baseball for a while, and I was always playing war with all the neighborhood boys in elementary school. I am super driven and focused on my academics and sports, and after visiting USNA for the first time with my USNA grad family member, I immediately felt something. I am deeply inspired by two of my SEAL family members, and I've always known that I've wanted to serve my country in whatever capacity possible. I had a blast at STEM, and NASS, and after CVW I felt like I had finally found my people. In terms of careers, I am keeping my options open but right now I am hoping to become an aviator. I'm currently 3Q with a nom, and I would love to be appointed to USNA 2023, but if not I will just keep reapplying!
 
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USNAismyplace said:
I have a long family history in the Navy and the USMC, and one of my family members went to USNA so from a young age I was exposed to the idea of service. I've never been like other girls. I played baseball for a while, and I was always playing war with all the neighborhood boys in elementary school. I am super driven and focused on my academics and sports, and after visiting USNA for the first time with my USNA grad family member, I immediately felt something. I am deeply inspired by two of my SEAL family members, and I've always known that I've wanted to serve my country in whatever capacity possible. I had a blast at STEM, and NASS, and after CVW I felt like I had finally found my people. In terms of careers, I am keeping my options open but right now I am hoping to become an aviator. I'm currently 3Q with a nom, and I would love to be appointed to USNA 2023, but if not I will just keep reapplying!
Click to expand...
Did you apply to NROTC?
 
candide72 said:
USNAismyplace said:
I have a long family history in the Navy and the USMC, and one of my family members went to USNA so from a young age I was exposed to the idea of service. I've never been like other girls. I played baseball for a while, and I was always playing war with all the neighborhood boys in elementary school. I am super driven and focused on my academics and sports, and after visiting USNA for the first time with my USNA grad family member, I immediately felt something. I am deeply inspired by two of my SEAL family members, and I've always known that I've wanted to serve my country in whatever capacity possible. I had a blast at STEM, and NASS, and after CVW I felt like I had finally found my people. In terms of careers, I am keeping my options open but right now I am hoping to become an aviator. I'm currently 3Q with a nom, and I would love to be appointed to USNA 2023, but if not I will just keep reapplying!
Click to expand...
Did you apply to NROTC?
Click to expand...

Yes! Read my automated signature.
 
We recently had a nice discussion with DS about "why" in the context of "be prepared that it might not happen". He watched his two older brothers get engineering degrees from our local (very good) state U. He doesn't want to follow in their footsteps (although he likes engineering) - he wants to be part of something with a larger purpose. He is a very team-oriented guy. He is also dedicated to servant leadership in a big way. DS is a big military/aviation history buff (last year, we had about 40 people following us, listening to DS talk about various aircraft as we toured Udvar-Hazy at Dulles - they thought he was a docent). My wife's father was a naval officer in WWII. We thought he might want to be going to USAFA (my cousin's father-in-law was the first Sup) but it has always been Navy - only SA he applied for. During one MOC interview (2 USNA grads), he was asked why a boy from the midwest wanted only Navy and he said that Navy was always deployed and more than the other branches, was outward looking. They liked that. Mostly, I think mainly he doesn't want to lead an ordinary life.

Personally, I used to think his goal in life was to be the next Jimmy Page (DS is an incredible guitarist and still gigs once in a while with professional musicians in a rock band).
 
Growing up I always knew that I wanted a career of service that involved helping and leading others. I have always been interested in the military and have been watching documentaries as well as reading books about military history from a young age. It wasn’t until I meet a Naval Academy alumni towards the end of my Sophomore year that my ideal career switched from being an FBI agent to a Naval officer. Listening to his stories about how the academy and the Navy shaped him into the leader he is today inspired me to do more research about the Navy. A sense of patriotism has also driven my desire to serve due to the fact that I am the first American in my family and I appreciate the opportunities that have been granted to me. In the end, meeting the Naval Academy alumni and doing research on the service academies made me realize how these schools align with my personal goals and can help develop me morally, mentally, and physically (See what I did there).
 
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