ratings ratings ratings

Still doing good after finding out my medical waiver was approved. Getting a little anxious about MEPS, but I'm trying to remind myself they still said yes and they just want to confirm that my xrays are my back...but still there's a little nervousness that they'll turn me down. After talking to recruiter man I won't be able to pick a rating after the physical. For some odd reason I have to wait for the begining of Aug. Not exactly sure why, but I think I'll be on a high for two weeks if they Navy lets me through. Now I'm just researching the heck out of ratings. At first I started out aiming for MC (Mass Communications). I've added to that list AG (Aerographer's Mate) and IS (Intelligence Specialist). I think in order I'd go AG, IS, and MC or IS then AG. IS would be exciting, stimulating, and secretive...lots have fun. AG would be easy breezy and fun. MC lots of taking pics and being creative. So I think those are my picks. Recruiter man is still pushing me towards nukes. I'm still thinking about it. Positives are really good money, prestige, really good money, you get promoted quickly, and your the Navy's golden child. Negatives it's extremely stressful, long hours (even for the navy) they never the the sun...or people, and it's brainiacs. I'm smart but I want to do something fun, not som much chemistry heavy like nukes.

So that's where I am right now...counting down the days to MEPS then getting my rating and on my way to RTC and graduation. Here's to being a future sailor!

Hooyah!

Getting ready for MEPS

So getting a little nervous about going to MEPS. I'm uber excited about finally getting my medical waiver. When I was talking to my recruiter about going to MEPs he said that I would be going down for the Physical portion so that the doctors could make sure that my back matches the x-rays and doctor's note. He said that it was to make sure the doctor wasn't lying. That seemed a little odd to me, and I guess that's making me a little nervous. I'm confident that I can pass the physical but I will have trouble touching my toes. I know that in order to join the navy you will have to touch your toes in bootcamp in order to graduate. What's making me anxious is I have scoliosis and that does hinder me a little bit, but the real reason I can't touch right now is my leg muscles are so tight. I'm doing yoga and stretching and hopefully I'll get close. I just don't want the meps doctor to turn me away after I've gone this far and worked so hard in getting this waiver approved. So that's where I am right now. Now I just have to wait for Monday to head down and Tuesday will decide my fate....eeek


Hooyah!

Medical Waiver

Hey Guys

Well after a stressful week I went to the beach for the weekend to get some sun and relax. It was good to see my family and as always good to sea the ocean. I hadn't been to the beach during tourist season in a while and it was still pretty busy despite all those who canceled due to the threat of oil. The oil right now is 30+ miles from Panama City right now. Anyway I got back Monday evening and was planning to see my recruiter on Tuesday since I was supposed to hear from him Friday and I didn't. So went in yesterday to find out that his phone had died and he was using another recruiters phone. He also let me know that MEPS was having difficulty opening my X-rays from the disc I gave them (the doc didn't give me a hard copy). So he told me that he should know something on Thursday.

So I wasn't expecting to hear anything till tomorrow, but I just got a call from PO Klien aka recruiter man. He asked me if I still wanted to join the Navy...yes, and he says that MEPs has not approved my medical waiver. It was his stupid idea of a trick. My medical waiver has passed!!! Finally and thank God for that. Their one condition was that when I go to MEPS I am only going for the physical so they can make sure that the doctor didn't lie or anything like that. So I've made it through one more hurdle. Now on to the next. As of right now I am scheduled to go to MEPS on Tuesday. I'm excited and I hope they will take me. Keeping the fingers crossed! I'll be sure to report back soon.

Hooyah!

Still waiting...

Hey guys, So nothing new to report. I'm still waiting to see if my medical waiver is going through. I'm headed to the beach tomorrow morning to relax a little bit, and hopefully I'll hear from my recruiter when I get back. I've been doing a little research on a few ratings that I would like to go into. I'd like to hear from you guys on what you're interested in.

Hooyah!

Another "by the end of the week"

Well I was supposed to find out if I got my medical waiver today, and guess what? As the title says I'll find out by the end of the week. That seems to be my recruiter's favorite saying. I was originally supposed to know some thing last Thursday, which turned into Friday, which turned into Monday, and now by the end of the week. I've heard this phrase every week for the past 2 months. So I'm aggrivated, but I'm trying to take this time to be positive, learn the sailor's creed and get into shape. Here's to knowing something by the end of the week.

Hooyah!

Waiting...

So I talked to my recruiter which is always an enlightening experience....or not, and I should know if my waiver got approved by upper command of the Navy. I was supposed to find out Friday but they were backed up. So yeah I will hopefully hear something Monday afternoon. My recruiter says he's 99.8% sure that I'll get it. Here's hoping. If that hapens then my next challenge is being able to touch my toes (hamstrings are uber tight)and getting my mile and a half down to 15 minutes. Well will see what the Navy says Monday....nervous

Hooyah!

Catching up to the Present

Alright so I started the process of joining the Navy back at the end of May. I had been working at the Georgia Aquarium for the past 4 years and had come to the end of my rope in that field. So with the ending of that job and some major events in my personal life, it was time for some changes in my life. The military had always been in the back of my head but with some prodding from my family I seriously looked into it. After researching all of the branches I felt that the Navy was exactly what I needed and was looking for. So down I went to the local recruiter, and I was so nervous. I just went in for some information about the Navy and before I knew it I was taking the practice ASVAB and had the real test scheduled for the following week. I was a little overwhelmed but excited. After I got home I immersed myself in whatever I could find about joining the Navy.

When it came time to take the ASVAB I was anxious because I'm not really all that great at electronics, mechanics, and pretty much everything save the reading. I was just hoping to get and 80 something. Afterwards drove my score up to my recruiter and when they opened it, their jaws dropped. I had made a 93 (I didn't know if this was good or bad...though I was leaning towards good). When my recruiter got the score he instantly started puching me towards Nukes. I was just excited that I had done well. So now that I know that pretty much all the rates were open to me I learned about all the ratings to see which I would enjoy. When the time comes I'm hoping for either AG (Aerographer's Mate) or MC (Mass Communications). We will see

Now trying to get to MEPS has been quite a journey. So I have a medically disqualifying condition and if you have any experience trying to get a medical waiver, this is where the groaning starts. So yeah, I have scoliosis, which is a curvature of the spine. It's not bad but man the hoops you have to jump through. First of all my recruiter though nice is flakey. I was supposed to go to MEPS at the begining of June. Then I needed I note from my doctor just to say I'd be ok in the military. So MEPS got bumped back to June 1st. I headed down to the recruiting office the day before ready to go, and my guy wasn't even there. I had to wait an hour before he showed up and when he got there, wouldn't you know I'm not going to MEPS on the 1st because my doctor's note took a day longer than expected. So recruiter man tells me he'll run my paper work down to MEPS personally and call me when he hears something. 8:30 the next morning he calls me and was asking if I'd like to turn my paper work in for a waiver or would I like to just go to MEPS and not tell them I have scoliosis. I really couldn't believe he asked that. Scoliosis isn't really something you can hide and I told him that.

So no here I am waiting to hear back about my waiver. It has been approved by the MEPS doctors and the Navy doctors. Now I'm just waiting for upper command to sign off on it. If I get it then barring something going wrong in the physical then I should be well on my way to becoming a United Stated Saior. So keeping my fingers crossed. I'm about to call recruiter man to see if my waiver has been approved...and hopefully I'll be going to MEPS next week.

So we're all caught up.

Hooyah!