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Comment by kgrmom on September 18, 2009 at 5:02am

Maggie-
Your phone story hit home!! My daughter's phone broke during her 1st year as well and though we tried to take care- it had to be her !! So low and behold she found out she was perfectly capable :) :) Had herself a new phone within a week delivered right on campus. It's so nice when things work out. This year mine is cooking more as well and actually said she may go and change her meal plan- didn't even ASK me to look into it for her. I'm almost feeling left out on that one which I guess is a good thing. Who knows, maybe that diary I'm trying to keep will turn into my book one day :)

Comment by kgrmom on September 17, 2009 at 4:09am

I think you are reading your son exactly right Susan- "please come" :)

And MzzouMom- I'm glad you mentioned some of those activities. It made me think of the fact that my daughter's unit has a community service requirement. One thing she did last year since she wasn't sure about the timing of the activities of her unit was just "show up" one Saturday morning for Habitat for Humanity :) They LOVE to have volunteers. When she told me I asked her who she was going with and she said "nobody". She went by herself- they found a spot for her on their Saturday project (almost a hundred people) and they were thrilled, she met a few really nice people, got some hours in, had a good time, etc. etc. etc. Just check the campus activity listing and I bet lots of them have something like this going on. It's taking that first step that's the hardest. Boy was I impressed !
Hurt feelings and all- this is what our goals were and why we are so gosh darn proud. :D Your daughter has it figured out- go ahead and volunteer before you are "volun-told".

Comment by kgrmom on September 16, 2009 at 7:03pm

This is a little off the subject but I'm experimenting with the name and school list. I posted a link to a sheet above (before the discussions and underneath the NROTC logo). Could someone let me know if the link works and if you can actually add your name to the list if it does? Thanks :) Paulette

Comment by kgrmom on September 16, 2009 at 6:21pm

Hi SusanW-

I know your son is the "only one" at Macalaster but could he also be getting some negative feedback from some other kids there? I'm asking because my daughter's cousin (same age) is at a campus where a couple of his floor mates have a really terrible view of Army ROTC and their attitude spreads like wildfire. These couple of kids like to party and they don't like all the rules (I'm NOT SAYING THAT about your son !!!) I'm just wondering if there could be someone in his group where he is spending his time that might be talking it down somewhat.

I know moms are supposed to but out but I might be inclined to pick up the phone on this one and maybe talk to the CO. I have emailed my daughter's a time or two and they have been really good about it :) Daria might disagree with me on that- lol ;) I've got a girl and you guys have boys- sometimes it does make a difference. Are you very far from him? Can you drop by for a visit- giving up that kind of scholarship is probably worth a visit.
It is so tough to get ripped into the first few times. It's even tougher to hear them get ripped into (I know, I witnessed this first hand- gulp). They have to be able to take it and they have to learn to "take it". As a mom I have also had to learn that there are things about NROTC that are not "FAIR" and it ticks me off- and I know my daughter has had to learn this too. I storm around here sometime and grumble about it, my husband and I will toss it around and sometimes disagree. Then he will remind me that there are things everywhere ou there in the world that are not fair and we are at the edge of being able to protect them from those things anymore. This parenting thing just gets harder and harder !! Please keep us posted.

Hey Daria- remember how much Kara called me last year early on? I got sooo much info in the first few month comparitively speaking I could write a book. I also think she ends up getting asked to do more because they like to spread certain jobs equally between the girls and guys. But when there are 13 girls and 60 guys ummm- it doesn't end up so equal.
Didn't you tell me RPI had recommended a book for parents to read for when their kids go off to college? What was the name of it?

Comment by TwoForTheNavy on September 16, 2009 at 6:01pm

Hi Susan,
I hope you can get David to hold on and not give up. I think for many of the kids freshman year is hard, full of miscommunications, feeling like "dirt", homesick, not what they thought it would be. But you know for the majority of our kids it does get better, they actually come to enjoy and are glad they stuck with it. This is a wonderful opportunity for him and I hope you can convince him, it will get better! He will get to know other NROTC kids even on the other campus!

Comment by kgrmom on September 16, 2009 at 2:38pm

I'm finally getting a bit of a chance to catch up some. Like a couple other moms I'm reading some of the Freshman mom comments and remember last year so well and have a few ideas.

My daughter had a comment last year that I thought explained how the freshman midshipman felt early on: She said "We are the dirt- we're not even the grass. We're the dirt!!" LOL. However, that's only for the first month or so. And honestly, the first month hasn't even passed by ;) We are talking about the first 4 weeks. There is no way that in less than 4 weeks that any of these kids has even begun to see what this program has to offer in less than 4 WEEKS!! As a parent- please, I would implore you to do everything you can to make them understand that. These are bright kids!! They can do this.

I started keeping a diary of my conversations with my daughter. How I felt and how she seemed to be feeling. It helped me vent and I can look back at it now see how she progressed and sometime later she will probably get a kick out of reading it. She had a terrible roommate situation- at midyear they really didn't even speak to each other so she was never in her room. Talk about tension. Didn't like a lot of her classes- studied so hard and still struggled.
This year what a HUGE difference. I'm lucky to hear from her once a week. She loves her on campus apt. and all her roomies. She has her car- loves her classes. She's not the "dirt", she's the "grass", next year she'll be walking on the grass !!
Your kids were bright enough to win those scholarships, yes they are overwhelmed and homesick and it sucks. Sometimes calling home too much can backfire. How about setting a goal further out like at the end of the month sending something special? Sheesh- Hope this didn't sound like lecture- I just want them to succeed.

Comment by kgrmom on September 11, 2009 at 11:58am

Remembering September 11th and what so many gave...

""We are lucky to live in the United States of America - and this privilege didn't come cheap. Our Founding Fathers were not cowards. They made immense sacrifices to establish this Great Nation in freedom - not the least of which was going to war with the enemy of that freedom. All of those who have fought in the subsequent wars and conflicts and those who are fighting today have continued to make sacrifices in order to defend those original ideals. ""

Comment by kgrmom on September 10, 2009 at 11:25pm

They do- what a great idea. The other thing they do like receiving is packages but in my daughter's case we found it's best to keep them small. The mail center is a little ways from her dorm room so she has to carry it sometimes pretty far. If the box is small it makes it a lot easier. (Cookies included are always appreciated) !

Comment by kgrmom on September 2, 2009 at 1:27pm

Centhea-
Comments like that are so nice to hear. Especially knowing that the kids are just as likely to hear the opposite and maybe have a professor that is not pro-military. What a great experience for your son. Going to make going to that class a lot more pleasant I bet :)

Comment by kgrmom on September 1, 2009 at 4:06pm

Found it when doing a search for the NROTC scholarship board dates on Google (of all things). Just thought I'd search quickly for someone and this came up. If you add the 2 and 3 year scholarships given out, by the time those 4 year scholarship kids graduate then I would think it would be in line with that 1200 number. (Given that all those 1100 don't stay in the program, and we know they don't).

Let me know if the link doesn't work for you. I know it is long:

http://www1.netc.navy.mil/nstc/nstc_Directives/NSTC_Notices/NSTCNOTE%201533%20-%20NROTC%20Alternative%20Scholarship%20Reservation%20Process%20for%20Academic%20Year%202009-2010.pdf

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