Your Son/Daughter is Going Where?? Round 2

Texark147 said:
My DS is homeschooled, but takes dual credit courses at a community college. He is trying to talk them into providing a Calculus III and a physics course next semester. He explained that he is applying to West Point, USAFA, and USNA. She was totally confused and asked him why he needs any more calculus and physics if he is just going into the military.
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I find regular guidance counselors really don't have a clue.
 
WoolSocksinSummer said:
I find regular guidance counselors really don't have a clue.
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Time to break out the U.S. News ranking below for top engineering schools that don’t have a grad school, and top liberals arts college,

And then select pages from usna.edu showing the typical course load for plebes - plenty of info there.

And then finish up the USNA 101 course with a class profile page like this:
www.usna.edu

Class Portrait

Class Portrait page for Admissions at USNA.edu. Updated Sun Apr 21 04:34:10 EDT 2024.
www.usna.edu

Extra credit, mention Rhodes Scholars, or astronauts such as:
www.nasa.gov

Kayla Barron - NASA

Kayla Barron was selected by NASA to join the 2017 Astronaut Candidate Class. She reported for duty in August 2017. The Washington native graduated from the
www.nasa.gov www.nasa.gov
 
Being from NY, we don't get the reaction of "What's West Point?" but more frequently the acknowledgement that the other person has some tie-in to the academy, from "My buddy/my friend's buddy is a [insert athletic sport] coach there", or "I have a friend/relative/etc. that has a son/daughter that goes/went there", or even a simple "Oh, cool have you been to a football game there? So much fun". Those responses are way more common than even a "Congratulations on their appointment!".
 
Capt MJ said:
Freshening this thread, anticipating new additions for Class of 2028!

Be sure to go to Post #1 and check out the original thread too.
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Well my DDs Chinese language teacher ask why she would want to join the military and get killed. I was really at a loss for words which is a miracle of itself.
 
Thrivalgardener said:
Well my DDs Chinese language teacher ask why she would want to join the military and get killed. I was really at a loss for words which is a miracle of itself.
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Responses like that make me wonder what the passive-aggressive motive is - to make you feel bad as a parent or worry you or deride the choice AND attach some bad outcome to it?

I bet you thought of a dozen ripping comebacks in the next day or so.

Perhaps… “I suppose she will have to adopt General Mattis’ approach. ‘Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.’”

Or what I call the bamboozle technique, where you respond to the inane or inappropriate comment by smiling brilliantly, looking them straight in the eye and answering the question/comment with the response that goes with what they SHOULD have said. “Why, yes, thank you, we are immensely proud of her choice to serve the nation, and the fact she was chosen from thousands of applicants to receive an offer of appointment to the X Academy from the Secretary of X has made us realize she is one of the few willing to step forward and defend the freedoms we take for granted.”
 
WoolSocksinSummer said:
I find regular guidance counselors really don't have a clue.
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My guidance counselor was super awesome and even forwarded me our local BGO's email when I told him I wanted to apply to the Naval Academy. This was before my BGO's email even showed up in my portal.
 
WoolSocksinSummer said:
Being from NY, we don't get the reaction of "What's West Point?" but more frequently the acknowledgement that the other person has some tie-in to the academy, from "My buddy/my friend's buddy is a [insert athletic sport] coach there", or "I have a friend/relative/etc. that has a son/daughter that goes/went there", or even a simple "Oh, cool have you been to a football game there? So much fun". Those responses are way more common than even a "Congratulations on their appointment!".
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So true lol, my English teacher is from NY and when I mentioned I got into WP she talked about how beautiful the campus is and how she went there once to visit her friend's brother who was a Cadet.
 
I told my cousin that my DS was a Falcon Scholar and would be attending prep school. I mentioned how grueling and drawn out the application process has been. He said "I helped a student a few years ago with her application. Then I videoed her CFA and sent it in. She is at the academy now, it didn't seem tough at all.
 
Capt MJ said:
Responses like that make me wonder what the passive-aggressive motive is - to make you feel bad as a parent or worry you or deride the choice AND attach some bad outcome to it?

I bet you thought of a dozen ripping comebacks in the next day or so.

Perhaps… “I suppose she will have to adopt General Mattis’ approach. ‘Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.’”

Or what I call the bamboozle technique, where you respond to the inane or inappropriate comment by smiling brilliantly, looking them straight in the eye and answering the question/comment with the response that goes with what they SHOULD have said. “Why, yes, thank you, we are immensely proud of her choice to serve the nation, and the fact she was chosen from thousands of applicants to receive an offer of appointment to the X Academy from the Secretary of X has made us realize she is one of the few willing to step forward and defend the freedoms we take for granted.”
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So, I’m not proud of it (🤔 maybe a little), but I MEANT to say something like this at a party last summer when a stranger asked me if I was ok with DS being a baby killer. But I didn’t do it right and it came out completely different. But I didn’t have to talk to her anymore 😂
 
Capt MJ said:
Responses like that make me wonder what the passive-aggressive motive is - to make you feel bad as a parent or worry you or deride the choice AND attach some bad outcome to it?

I bet you thought of a dozen ripping comebacks in the next day or so.

Perhaps… “I suppose she will have to adopt General Mattis’ approach. ‘Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.’”

Or what I call the bamboozle technique, where you respond to the inane or inappropriate comment by smiling brilliantly, looking them straight in the eye and answering the question/comment with the response that goes with what they SHOULD have said. “Why, yes, thank you, we are immensely proud of her choice to serve the nation, and the fact she was chosen from thousands of applicants to receive an offer of appointment to the X Academy from the Secretary of X has made us realize she is one of the few willing to step forward and defend the freedoms we take for granted.”
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I love that General Mattis quote and have said it to my daughters for years. Once a few years ago I asked my daughter how she handled it if any of the guys at school gave her a hard time or tried to intimidate her in any way. She said well I just laugh because I know I can take them. She was a second degree black belt at the time.

But your second response would be the one I would most likely use, had it come to me in my state of shock.
 
Note that the "uninformed" or even slightly insulting comments/questions can come from folks who HAVE had military
in the family for decades.
Back when the Earth was still cooling and Noah was a Midshipman, young OldRetSWO received his acceptance from USNA. At a
Family gathering with (by then) 33 year Navy/Navy Reserve Chief Dad's sisters. one of them loudly asked young OldRetSWO
"What if the US goes to war with __________ (Ancestral homeland). . . what will you do?"
Never mind that ______ (Ancestral Homeland) was an ally, her husband had served, one of her sons had served and her
brother had already served 33 yrs.
Chief Dad shut down the conversation with "He's an American and he'll do what America tells him to do" and pulled
young OldRetSWO to the safety of other family members.
 
Zaphod Beeblebrox said:
Big brother went USAFA. True story: his future wife of 40+ years thought USAFA was a punishment school for delinquents and didn't want anything to do with him.
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Apparently it worked? 🤣

“Being sent to military school” was certainly something that happened to Bad Boys when I was growing up. I did have the good fortune of having a close HS friend whose dad was a retired Navy captain, USNA grad, plus the long -disestablished NAS Glynco on the mainland whose officers often rented homes in our neighborhood. I had counterbalancing info and came to understand service academies were something different.
 
Capt MJ said:
Apparently it worked? 🤣

“Being sent to military school” was certainly something that happened to Bad Boys when I was growing up. I did have the good fortune of having a close HS friend whose dad was a retired Navy captain, USNA grad, plus the long -disestablished NAS Glynco on the mainland whose officers often rented homes in our neighborhood. I had counterbalancing info and came to understand service academies were something different.
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It happens now...

SHORT version...thread hijack...but it could apply anywhere.

I had a good cadet...freshman and sophomore years. However, I was convinced he did weed. His mom said she'd "find out." So one day, she came home early to find him and friends in the backyard...yep, they were getting high. So...strike one. Then...months later, after he swore to Heaven, and ALL that is Holy that he'd NEVER touch that again...she went in and grabbed his hairbrush (his hair, though in military regs, was styled like a pro) and did a drug test on the hair: POSITIVE FOR THC. Strike Two. More warnings, threats, promises, etc.

And then came the day he and a friend snuck into the school restroom and did their THC vapes. And they were heavy-duty THC levels because they were almost unconscious. Needless to say, security got them, the school SRO arrested them, and they were expelled. So what to do, this is strike Three. So Mom, a clever woman, decides...well, I was going on vacation with my girlfriends but since you're expelled, you might as well go. Pack for three weeks; we're off to Santa Fe!

Boy was he a happy camper, for about a week. Then one day they took a drive...and ended up at the New Mexico Military Institute. They were met by admissions personnel. She handed over his luggage, signed some papers, turned, and said: "I told you I would do this if you touched drugs again. I'll see you at Christmas...maybe."

And she drove home to Arizona.

I'll end it here; he reached out to me OFTEN...not a happy youngster.

Now? He's an army E-6, Ranger, Airborne, and a fine military member!

It just took a little "motivation."
 
flieger83 said:
It happens now...

SHORT version...thread hijack...but it could apply anywhere.

I had a good cadet...freshman and sophomore years. However, I was convinced he did weed. His mom said she'd "find out." So one day, she came home early to find him and friends in the backyard...yep, they were getting high. So...strike one. Then...months later, after he swore to Heaven, and ALL that is Holy that he'd NEVER touch that again...she went in and grabbed his hairbrush (his hair, though in military regs, was styled like a pro) and did a drug test on the hair: POSITIVE FOR THC. Strike Two. More warnings, threats, promises, etc.

And then came the day he and a friend snuck into the school restroom and did their THC vapes. And they were heavy-duty THC levels because they were almost unconscious. Needless to say, security got them, the school SRO arrested them, and they were expelled. So what to do, this is strike Three. So Mom, a clever woman, decides...well, I was going on vacation with my girlfriends but since you're expelled, you might as well go. Pack for three weeks; we're off to Santa Fe!

Boy was he a happy camper, for about a week. Then one day they took a drive...and ended up at the New Mexico Military Institute. They were met by admissions personnel. She handed over his luggage, signed some papers, turned, and said: "I told you I would do this if you touched drugs again. I'll see you at Christmas...maybe."

And she drove home to Arizona.

I'll end it here; he reached out to me OFTEN...not a happy youngster.

Now? He's an army E-6, Ranger, Airborne, and a fine military member!

It just took a little "motivation."
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Recalibration at its finest. Great story.
 
Thrivalgardener said:
Well my DDs Chinese language teacher ask why she would want to join the military and get killed. I was really at a loss for words which is a miracle of itself.
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These responses boggle my mind. Our cadets are safer than nearly all the college campuses combined. I fear more for the safety of my DD going to a 4-year university than I do my DS going to WP and the Army.
 
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