<p>I don’t know if anyone reading this has experience with this type of situation, but I’m still desperate for advice!!!
Alright, so I had my medical exam scheduled for the 26th, and then that morning 45 minutes before my appointment the doctor’s office called and canceled that appointment. When I scheduled that first appointment, the person I talked to told me that I could come alone (without a parent). The lady I talked to on the day of the appointment said that that was wrong, the guy I was talking to must have assumed I was over 18, and I did need a parent to come with me.
So, I rescheduled my appointment for yesterday, the 6th. I begged my parents to take me to this appointment and they put off giving me an answer until the 5th, the day before the appointment. Finally, my mom said no, she couldn’t take me-both because she had a busy work schedule and because “while she knew she couldn’t stop me from applying to West Point, she didn’t want to do anything to facilitate the process”. So, the morning of the appointment, she called to Doctor’s office to cancel (without me even KNOWING she called!)
This causes problems because now
-I have no appointment scheduled for the foreseeable future
-I don’t even know if I’m allowed to schedule another one since mine got canceled after the 48-hour deadline for doing that kind of thing
And I’m really worried! I have the eye appointment done already, it is just the medical appointment that I have to do…It has been almost a month since I got back from SLS and scheduled these and I am still not done and now I don’t even know what to do. I really don’t want to think about the fact that this might mean that I won’t be able to continue applying…
Please help!! Any suggestions for what to do now would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I don’t understand why they are telling you a parent must be with you when you go to your medical appointment. I went with my son to his but only because we had to drive to a large city that was unfamiliar to him. I was just the driver for the day. When we got to the clinic for his appointment they did not ask me for anything and he was under 18 at the time.</p>
<p>I do want to tell you that I am sorry your mother is not supportive of your decision. Maybe she needs some education about West Point. Many people do not have a clue about what the service academies are/do. Just know that you will find many people here that are supportive of you and will try to help you through the process to the best of our abilities. You don’t say how your father feels about this; would he be willing to go to your appointment with you if necessary?</p>
<p>You might try going to this forum:
<a href=“http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/index.php[/url]”>http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/index.php</a>
and post your message under “General Discussion-DODMERB”. On that forum there is a moderator who recently retired from the Navy and was a medical reviewer for DODMERB. He may be able to answer some of your questions.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>My son went to his appointment alone. I do not think they ever asked him his age. </p>
<p>As to the issue with your Mom, I can truly sympathize with both you and your Mom. To be honest, a military career is not the career path I would have chosen for my son. I grew up at the end of the Vietnam War and military service wasn’t exactly in vogue at that time. I didn’t march in any protests, but I was clearly anti-war. For whatever reason my son always wanted to be in the military, something I thought he would grow out of. As time went on I realized he wasn’t going to grow out of it and that it was what he really wanted to do so I decided to spend some time finding about what the military and West Point were all about. Over the last year I spent time reading the book Absolutely American, the College Confidential web site set out in WAMOM’s response and reading a current cadet’s journal which you can find at <a href=“http://www.westpointcadet.com%5B/url%5D”>www.westpointcadet.com</a>. I will tell you that while a military career still wouldn’t be my first choice for my son, I have grown to respect those that have chosen the military as a career path and the utmost respect for the West Point Cadets that have given up a traditional college experience for a different expereince. I also tell myself that my son has to follow his own dreams and live his own life. </p>
<p>As fate would have it, my son didn’t clear DoDMERB until late in the process and was put on the National Waiting List for West Point. Because of the high number of acceptances, he did not get an offer to join the class of 2010. Instead, he received an AOG Scholarship to go to a military junior college for a year. Over the last month I tried to talk him into going to a large state school where he had received a full academic scholarship. He politely told me that he was going to the military junior college and on to West Point in 2011. As I sit here today I respect my son’s decision and feel comfortable that he has the resolve to do whatever he wants to do and that the military will be a great career for him.</p>
<p>FWDAD,</p>
<p>You speak for many of us who came of age in the 60’s. The best thing any parent can do is to learn more about the service academies. Knee-jerk reactions because of the way we felt 30-40 years ago prevent informed decisions. Best of luck to you, dancer. We’re here to help in appropriate ways.</p>
<p>dancerms 88:
When my son went through the DodMERB process last year at 17, I was required to accompany him and sign a form. If you will still not be 18 by the time you accept an appointmement (if offered) your parents will need to sign a form allowing you to accept the appointment.
I would not have chosen a military career for my son either, but like many others I respect his decision and have nothing but admiration (and a profound sense of gratitude) for anyone who choses the service academy path. Would your mom be willing to post on this board? She would find that so many of us have had the same concerns that she has, and have managed to overcome them.</p>