Having lurked around STA-21 Facebook groups and forums, I'm genuinely curious about a perceived lack of involvement with online resources this year. Trying not to convince myself it's a good sign and maybe there is just less interest in the program overall this year.
Anyway, I was also curious to see how everyone else's packages are coming along. Being my first year applying, its absolutely been a roller coaster so far. There have been so many different emotions and things that I've learned about myself so far. Just had my internal board this past week and it was my very first experience with any sort of board/interview in the Navy. I was nervous and really had no idea what was going to be asked or what I would have to answer. I think I purposely left myself a little bit unprepared to see how I would react. Not the smartest move but I was curious about that. I've got doubts about myself and I know I didn't show enough confidence in myself during my board. It's something I'm going to focus on going into my external board in the next couple of weeks. So yeah, I definitely felt like I bombed it.
But since that board, my package has gotten quite a bit stronger. I took the SAT at the beginning of April and missed a qualifying math score by 20 points. So I took the ACT mid-May. I was really cutting it close and I was an alternate on the list as well so I didn't even know if I was going to be able to take the test. If I hadn't, my package would be sitting on the shelf waiting for next year's submission. But luckily the scores came back within 10 days and I've got better scores than the first time I took the ACT back in high school. (Yes, I did my internal board while waiting for ACT scores, but with our upcoming schedule, that's the way it had to happen.)
The second part of all this that will boost my package are my college grades. Took 1 year of University 7 years ago and came out of that with a 1.1 GPA and 11 credits. I took three classes this past semester online through Coastline Community College. After my grades are entered (hopefully sometime in the next month), my GPA will skyrocket to a 2.8. I also submitted my previous grades and JST transcript to Coastline and they've decided to award me around 20 credits for that.
So I'm now going into this package with 39 credits and 7 more getting completed this summer. 2.8 and 39 >>>> 1.1 and 11.
That's really about it. I'd collected everything else and really just need external board and CO's inputs and I'm ready to send it off next month. If there's anyone lurking out there that are on the fence about applying for the program next year or following up on a half completed package this year, JUST DO IT. You will learn valuable things about yourself, trust me. I try to remind myself that my package can only get stronger from here no matter if I get picked up this year (probably unlikely) or 5 years down the line applying under a different officer area. I want to be a Naval officer, not just an NFO.
