Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

[bred4seals]

Before I begin, I didn’t know exactly where to post this since it is kind of off topic, so please forgive me admins if this is not the right place. So it's been a while since I've posted on here. I just started my Senior year in High School, and in the past couple months, a LOT has happened.

Before this summer, I was just planning on going to a 4 year college and enlisting afterwards with a SEAL contract. However, this summer I went to USNA's summer seminar and had a blast. Both my parents are pushing the officer route. So currently, I am a candidate for USNA. I understand what an honor it is to go the Academy and I would have trouble turning down an appointment. But as many of you are aware of, a SEAL slot at the Academy is incredibly hard to come by. I believe the last class that went through had 11 slots out of the 1500 graduates. My ultimate goal is becoming a SEAL and I really don't want to be stuck doing something other than that. Now, if the Academy falls through, they are still pushing NROTC at colleges around here. But to my knowledge, I haven't heard or spoken to of anyone who has gone through ROTC to become a SEAL. Furthermore, I have received a full tuition scholarship to the college I would attend if I were to enlist after college.

But it gets better. Last week I took my first unofficial PST with my recruiter who was testing other SEAL candidates for their contract. My scores ended up being: Swim-10:37 (I learned the CSS the day before) Push ups-104, Sit ups-96, Pull-Ups- 18, and Run- 9:04. My recruiting officer said even before the run that he could pretty much guarantee me a SEAL contract based on my scores if i were to qualify medically. As we talked, he mentioned many of the programs the Navy has developed such as Star-21, etc. that allow enlisted men to become officers. I honestly have no idea what route to take. I guess it's a little too early to decide seeing as the nominations for the academy haven't been decided yet. But, every time I bring up enlisting and then applying for OCS, my parents shoot it down. I obviously understand that it's ultimately my decision and I could just say "screw you" and enlist now. But they have legitimate points and I feel I might regret declining an appointment to the Academy.

I guess at the end of this post, I don’t really know exactly what I'm asking of you all. But every time I've had what I thought was an unanswerable question, you guys provide awesome advice. So I guess maybe what I looking for is some advice for talking to my parents, maybe some advice to help with my decision after all the applications are done. Everyone talks about how college applications are so tough and it’s killing them, but within the next couple months, I’ll be deciding probably the next 10-15 years of my life so I’m trying to get as much help as possible. I appreciate anybody’s help who is willing to input advice and I hope I don’t sound like a whiney little *****… Just looking for some advice from people who’ve been around it all and could hopefully give me some clarification.

[bigv123]

In my mind, this comes down to a few questions that you need to answer honestly to yourself.

#1 - Do you want to make a career out of your time in the Navy? And by career, I mean 20+ years of service. While accepting an appointment to the naval Academy certainly doesn't bring with it a 20 year commitment, it IS designed to train career officers. That being said, 2 of my very best friends in life went to service academies and didn't complete 20 years (one went to the Naval Academy and the other went to the Air Force academy). If a career in the Navy is what you seek, I would keep the USNA very much on the table. You can probably dig around the internet and find ascension rates for USNA grads vs. non-grads and see the difference.

#2 - Do you really want the life of an officer or do you want to be in the nitty-gritty with the men? Remember that once you hit O-4 (Lt. Commander) it's likely that you'll get moved upward to a position of greater responsibility that also largely takes you out of the "kicking in doors and shooting bad guys" business. Also, the lifestyle of Officers and Enlisted men can be quite different. Some people thrive and excel in the face of additional responsibility...some people find it to be a burden. Do you know which type of person you are? Aspects of leadership can be taught...charisma largely cannot.

#3 - What do you want to be doing in 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? Take a look at the different pathways you have in front of you now and map out what each would potentially look like at those mile markers in life. Which is most appealing now? Which do you think will be most appealing then? Remember that as you grow older, the things you value and treasure can, and often do, change as well. Jumping out of airplanes and taking down bad guys may be everything you dreamed it to be...10 years from now you may want to do something completely different.

#4 - How important is a college education to you? Education, whatever the form, is universally considered to be important. I don't believe anyone is going to say that college, or education in general, is a waste of time. The question is, HOW important is it to YOU? Remember, all educations are most certainly NOT equal. All the service academies are very good, solid institutions of learning. But, they're not research institutions. Their #1 priority is to train officers...not necessarily to train you to be on the cusp of scientific and engineering discovery. But, if you enlist with plans of getting your degree while you're enlisting and then applying to OCS, understand what that entails. If you make it through the training pipeline, your training and deployment schedule is going to be hectic to say the least. It will be difficult to maintain consistent, steady attendance in college. Even modern, non-traditional methods of education will be hampered by a SEAL's activity schedule. That isn't to say it can't be done...far from it. SEALs by their very nature find ways to overcome adversity. Just understand that there's not going to be a red carpet rolled out for you to complete your degree. You're going to have to claw and scratch for it. And, as unfortunate as this may sound you may be forced to study at an institution that's a notch or 2 down from the instruction you would receive from a service academy. So, like I said, all degrees are not created equal. How important is a quality education to you?

I've probably lathered on enough at this point. The bottom line is that only you can really answer these, and the myriad of other questions floating through your mind. Your parents are there to try and help you and guide you. Listen to them. At the end of the day however, parents will usually opt for the "safe" option. And, going to college is certainly a safe bet in the long run. Having a college degree will benefit you in many different ways throughout your life. Forgoing college and enlisting with a SEAL contract is a bigger risk...but, it does potentially get you into the team sooner. How significant a difference is it to you and your long-term life goals to get to the teams when you're 19 or when you're 23? Also, remember that you can always complete your college education and then enlist with a SEAL contract. This, of course, presumes that you don't go to a service academy or follow the NROTC route.

Hopefully, some of these questions have helped you clarify the situation a little. At the end of the day it's always nice to have options. Relish the fact that you have options in front of you. Understand that it truly isn't a burden but rather a privilege.

Best of luck,
V