Hey, thanks for taking an interest everyone.
C420, good point. I'm not sure if I'll stay in for the full 20 or what (not hired yet = too early to talk, I think) but just because I'm not thinking about it doesn't mean it won't come into their calculations. Good to be aware of.
tiz84, perhaps my sense of “fluff” vs. “not fluff” needs to be recalibrated. I thought that giving context would be useful and make the accomplishment in question stand out more, but you probably have a better gauge of what Senior Officers will think. I’ll watch out for “non-objective information” in my revisions, but see also my reply to Spekkio below.
NavyOffRec, I’m not interested in commissioning just to make a statement.
CAMike, thanks for the response. Since the selection process uses the whole person concept, I think clearly communicating “who I am” is very important. I’m not positive that that can’t be done better without mentioning my sexuality, which in this context isn’t important in and of itself. Whether I end up including it or not, though, I’ll do my best to be both honest and tactful.
LFCFan, that’s a good point. To be honest, though, I was shocked by those stats last round, and I’d rather not count on high selection rates (even though they might come into play). I want to make my package as good as I can, and then outside factors will do what they will.
Spekkio, I agree that you don’t need to talk about overcoming adversity to get selected, but do you think talking about overcoming adversity hurts an application? I would have thought that talking about overcoming adversity would be a good opportunity to show-not-tell about qualities that are useful to the Navy. To me, the fact that my academic performance is noted elsewhere in the application makes it even more valuable to have this context. For example, I’d thought this section of my motivational statement to be a good example of "commitment" (to the honor code I’d signed). Without the gay/byu/prop 8 context, the same accomplishments don’t seem to have much to do with commitment.
Maybe I’m wrong about that. Either way, in my next revision I’ll pay special attention to the why of my application, and I’ll also be sure to tie everything more closely to how it will add value to the Navy. Thanks for drawing my attention to that.
asheldon, I think you’re right that, not knowing the opinions of the board members, it would be smarter to leave The Gay out if I can do it without leaving out important things as well. And I bet I can figure out how to do that, eventually, even though I don’t quite know how yet. (Possibly because I’m too close to it, which is why you all’s opinions are so helpful.) I hope that if I end up keeping it I’ll be tactful enough that no one feels like I’m pushing it in their face.
Propstop, to be honest, I’m not sure that I consider my orientation a particularly personal thing (overcompensation for time in the closet?), but that’s a different can of worms, and not an important one. Thanks for reminding me that other people do think of it as too personal to be appropriately included in professional situations. I like your political metaphor too, though before reading all these responses I thought of it more like “I worked crazy hard because of gay/byu/Prop 8” : “I did this awesome project because I worked for Senator X.” Hope that makes sense.
scoober78, well said. Shitting greatness.
LET73, that’s a good point--circumstances tend to be brought up for mitigation. Maybe in my unconscious I’ve been thinking that that last crazy semester looks bad--irresponsible or something--without the context. Thanks.
bert, that’s what the reviewers I mentioned in the OP said. You’ve probably got a point.
MasterBates, thanks for being a cynical asshole. Sometimes it's needed. For what it’s worth, I paid enough attention to the DADT changes to know there is no gay quota nor anything like unto it. (But the board doesn't know I know that.)
Everyone, Thanks for weighing in. I’ll take all these thoughts into account at my next revision, and whenever my package actually goes to board I’ll be sure to let you all know how it turns out.
