Sunday, October 25, 2009

         I asked my dad about the whole military academy thing (whether there are a bunch of them, or if it’s just one academy) and he told me that there are actually three military academies, an army academy, a naval academy, and an air force academy.  The army academy is referred to as “The United States Military Academy at West Point” and is the first academy I researched.  (Below is the website address I used to research The United States Military Academy at West Point).

 

http://admissions.usma.edu/prospectus/wpe_military.cfm

 

         Because I had really only heard of “The Unites State Military Academy at West Point” today, I didn’t know what to expect as I researched the academy.  I wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to learn anything from a website, or if it was just expected that everyone knows something about the academy.  As it turned out, I learned quite a bit about the academy, and how things work there.

         The website I used mentioned that “The United States Military Academy at West Point” is a competitive school.  This statement made me a little skeptical, but at the same time interested me.  I am, and have been for as long as I can remember, a very competitive person.  So when I read that this academy is competitive, in a sense, it made me want to apply, just so that I could try and beat out others (I am a fun person to play Monopoly with I assure you!).  After reading this statement too, however, I felt concerned that maybe I wouldn’t get accepted into the academy, and so maybe I shouldn’t even bother applying.  I looked into the matter further, and found that a competitive score on the ACT at “The United States Military at West Point” was a 23.  I scored higher than a 23 on the ACT so I feel as if I might be able to get accepted at the academy at an academic point of view.

         Setting aside the matter of whether or not I’d be able to get in, and looking more into what the academy is all about, I learned some very interesting things from this website.  For one thing, there technically isn’t an admissions fee, but an “initial deposit”. In fact, the government pays students to attend this academy.  Of course this money is then spent on necessities such as books, and uniforms. 

         Another thing I found interesting was that those who attend the academy are considered part of the United States army, and “you are obligated to serve five years on active duty in the U.S. Army, and three years in an inactive reserve status.”  After reading this last statement, I started doubting the likelihood that I am meant to attend a military academy.  I hate being required to do certain things.  I hate being in situations that require me to do certain things.  As of now, I really don’t think that I would be willing to sacrifice five years of my life to active service in the army.  I know I said that I would try to get past my fears, but this is truly terrifying to me.  I feel that if I attend the “United States Military Academy at West Point,” it is very possible that I might decide that life in the military isn’t for me, but as a requirement, I would have to serve five years of active duty.  That really isn’t something I’m willing to consider at this point in my life.

         The reason in the above paragraph being my biggest reason, I don’t think I will end up attending a military academy after high school, so I may or may not decide to look into the other two military academies, but for right now, I think I will stick with looking into colleges and universities that don’t require military service.

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