How to avoid the big mistakes

Newsflash: the road to getting an ROTC scholarship. congressional nomination, or service academy appointment, is full of potholes (big and small).

There are many ways to get derailed.

You might have a medical condition that knocks you out of contention, you may be in a super-competitive congressional district, you may be running against a demographically-advantaged peer, or you may sustain an injury right before your Candidate Fitness Assessment.

The list of potential problems is long.

There are so many hurdles to overcome that it almost seems like a small miracle when someone makes it through the process.

CONTROLLABLES

Today, I want to make sure that your behavior is not the thing that derails you from your mission. 

The truth is, there are plenty of things that are out of your control (as I just noted), and there’s nothing you can do about them. You can try to appeal, or request a waiver, or an exemption, but sometimes it’s just not meant to be.

There are other things, however, that are in your control. These are the things that I want you to focus on. These are the things that you have a say in. You control these behaviors. You can decide whether or not you want to risk doing these things.

If your mission is derailed because of one of these “controllables”, then there’s no one to blame but yourself.

There’s a tried-and-true way to ensure that these controllables don’t ruin your life. Simply don’t do them. Pretty simple, right? Maybe simple, but not easy. I’m not naive enough to think that this is an easy path to take.

In theory, you just have to avoid these behaviors and not make any of these big mistakes.

In practice, however, it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Teenagers can be in a tough spot when it comes to peer pressure, acceptance, and conformity.

I get it.

But, as an aspiring military leader with potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars, servicemembers’ lives, and a career on the line, this should be a challenge that you can overcome — and that you must overcome. 

ALCOHOL

My advice on this is pretty clear cut. Don’t do it. Don’t drink alcohol - in any form. Period.

End of story.

If you think this is unrealistic or too restrictive, then ignore me and take your chances. My opinion: it’s not worth it.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t socialize with friends who might drink alcohol. If you do, you have to be careful.

If you want to justify why a little drinking is not such a big deal — go for it; but, just don’t come crying to me when a DUI prevents you from a $500K scholarship, a world-class education, and potential career path.

That will be on you.

UNWANTED PREGNANCIES

Same theory applies here. Don’t do it. I know there is pressure out there, hormones are firing, and you may hear stories from other people. Good for them. If they want to take their chances, that’s on them.

Male or female, you cannot accept an ROTC scholarship or an appointment to a service academy if you have a child.

DRUGS

Same strategy. Don’t do it. You may think there are different levels of recreational drug use that are more acceptable than others. Think again.

I’ve been a firefighter/EMT for 20 years. I see teenagers, on a weekly basis, go unconscious, go into comas, and die from even the most “innocent” drug use. 

These days, many drugs are laced with substances (like phetanyl) that can kill you on the spot, or addict you within days.

If you think participating in these behaviors is worth it: (1) you don’t belong in the military, particularly as a military leader and (2) it’s on you when things go bad.

SOCIAL MEDIA

We’ve all seen and heard the stories. I hate to be so black and white about these things, but there’s a lot on the line.

I won’t go so far as to say that you should not engage in any social media at all (although I’m very tempted to). However, I will suggest that you rarely, if ever, post anything that could be construed in any type of negative light.

You should also avoid “liking” or “sharing” other people’s content that may be on the edge of appropriateness. Merely “liking” something could get you caught in a net that you don’t want to be in.

If you want to check-in with social media, do so sparingly and with caution — and be extremely discerning in what you post, like, or share.

Ask yourself, is it worth it?

INTEGRITY ISSUES (e.g. lying, cheating, plagiarism).

This is a big one for the military.

If the selection and admissions boards get a whiff of any type of lying, cheating, or plagiarism, they often have no choice but to cut you loose. They can’t take any chances. These institutions have had too many cheating scandals at their own schools and it’s a massive problem and a PR nightmare.

They will do everything in their power to filter out anyone who shows any tendency to blur the lines between right and wrong before they get to their academies or colleges.

DISCIPLINE / LEGAL

You want to avoid, at nearly all costs, any type of legal or discipline problems on your record (police record or school record).

Remember, you are competing for full and partial scholarships to some of the best educational institutions in the world, and there are plenty of very qualified and worthy candidates to choose from.

If there was a choice between two similar candidates, and one had a record blemished by some legal or other police-related issue, they would take the other candidate.

It’s not worth the risk.

There are thousands more high-qualified candidates than there are spots.

Keep your nose clean.