David's Home Next Year

For the past two days, we have driven back and forth to Charleston, SC, where David stayed overnight at his number one pick for college: The Citadel, a military college with a long tradition, longer than my alma mater (United States Naval Academy). Steve and I figured that one of two things would happen: David would come home (1) fired up to put on the uniform of a cadet or (2) wondering what on earth he had been thinking. He ended up being the former and even shaved his head last night! We snagged these photos from The Citadel Admissions Facebook page.




The pre-knob visit not only held David captive with programs, classes, and experiences for 23 hours but it also provided the parents with presentations on what parents need to know to get students prepared to become cadets. David has his head and heart set on Marine ROTC and, in the next few months, he will continue to drive up the number of pullups and crunches he can do and drive down his three-mile run time. Actually, he can already pass the PFT's minimum standards but he wants to be competitive for the three-and-a-half year Marine ROTC scholarship and must work hard to be one of the few and the proud. He is excited, and we are excited for him. Ultimately, it is his choice. Nobody wants to be stuck in a place like that unless they really want to be there. I know from personal experience of having seen the most miserable human beings on earth: kids attending USNA to please their father and grandfather who were both graduates.


My biggest challenge is not to call cadets David will bring home on weekends "bus drivers" . . . gotta love the military college rivalries!

P. S. The folks at The Citadel told us this was their largest pre-knob visit ever, which makes sense since last summer saw its highest number of applicants ever.