<p>Ok - fair question. I do not think my son is taking the easy road by far. His road to Annapolis has not been, nor will it be, since he’s not there yet, an easy one by any stretch - and I know it is not easy for anyone. He has been working hard for 4 or 5 years and has had to overcome many obstacles to get this far. We discussed this at length and his thoughts were that - really when it came down to it, he only ever really wanted to go to USNA. His math and science are not as high as they could be - some is due to his choices and a lot is due to the fact that he goes to a small private Catholic school where they must take theology every semester. This takes up a slot in the schedule where kids in public schools can take another academic course. They have limited resources as to the higher science courses and math courses he could take also. Now, since hind sight is 20/20, could he have rearranged his schedules earlier in his high school career to have time his senior year to get to the ones that were offered? Yes, probably. But we don’t always know what we know until we know it. He’s a good student, he works hard for the grades he gets and he has taken the SAT’s 3 times. Went up once, went down the next. Who knows why. Before the NAPS letter came, he had gotten a plan together - mostly on his own, with a little guidance from me, and was fully prepared to study for the math section on the SAT’s for 2 hours a day – the time he was previously in football. He did not hesitate. He was ready to do that. Then the NAPS letter comes along and he calls - talks to an admission officer - who by the way went to NAPS himself – and the guy says – You are done man!! Relax! Enjoy the rest of your senior year! Really – would YOU put yourself thru hours of study to take a test now - when the admissions officer at USNA told you it wouldn’t make a difference anyway?? I guess some would. But I don’t think his decision to let it go at this point means he wants to take the easy road or that he is not a person who follows thru. He knows he has a little ground to make up - or they would not have offered him NAPS. </p>
<p>That said - the graduation thing is important to HIM. I didn’t really even realize that anyone comes to graduation even if you get straight into the academy. He’s proud, he has worked hard and so, if we can make that happen for him, I don’t think that’s really too much to ask. I just wondered how it worked at other graduations.</p>
<p>thanks for your thoughts - I hope I did not sound too defensive, I tried not to take it personally!! ;-)</p>