West Point Bound

Since Tim and I began dating I knew he wanted to be an instructor at West Point. I was proud of his ambitions, but not too keen on the idea since it would keep us away from our family in Tucson. It also lends to the possibility of him spending time away from our family with more deployments and crazy work schedule in the states after his stint at West Point concludes. We've debated this course in his career for the last five years and then about a year ago it was time for him to put in his application. Even though I wasn't totally on board we decided he should still apply in order to have the option. The application process is rather lengthy and requires academic records, GRE scores, letters of recommendations, and a personal essay, among other things. Tim didn't feel confident at all that he'd be chosen, but I didn't doubt his selection for a second, as he's achieved everything else in his life that he's desired. We always talked about this decision, but he'd end the conversation because he didn't think he'd be chosen anyway. 

A week before he deployed he saw on facebook that some of his friends had been contacted by the academy and notified of their acceptance to teach. Tim hadn't heard anything so he checked his application online and it said "accepted/selected" next to the Civil and Mechanical Engineering department. (He'd also applied to the Math and Physics departments.) But because he didn't get a phone call like his peers he wasn't 100 percent confident in the accuracy of the online profile. I finally convinced him to call the C & ME department and ask about his possible selection, since he was deploying in a couple days and therefore wouldn't have a phone number to receive the news. The woman he spoke to said that they were still working on the selection due to recent budget cuts and apologized for getting his hopes up because no candidates had been chosen--it was a glitch in the computer that said he was accepted. Tim was completely downtrodden after speaking with the department representative. I still knew he would be accepted, though.

Sure enough, a couple days after he deployed he received an email announcing his acceptance to teach at West Point. The icing on the cake was that he was offered an aviator faculty position that enables him to maintain his flight status and take cadets flying around NY. Of course, they gave us ONE DAY to decide whether or not to accept the position. Tim was over the moon thrilled and I felt the same excitement for him. My heart swelled with pride, but I was hesitant to make this life-changing decision. If he decided to accept then we'd also be deciding to stay in the Army for the next 15 years--quite a commitment! But, Tim wanted this so bad and when it came down to it I couldn't say no. This is his dream and he's allowed me my dream of being a stay-at-home-mom with Adeline. 

Tim will start grad school in the fall of 2014. We don't have information yet on how that works but we believe that he'll apply to the top ten grad schools in his field. He'll attend grad school for two years and then start his new position at West Point in the summer of 2016, where he'll teach for three years. After that he'd like to transition to the acquisition brach which should enable to be home more often with our family, opposed to the operational side of the Army which he is in now. 

Congratulations, hubby! I'm so very proud of you!!!