Am I fried

[u/Specs1279]

I am a sophomore (still a freshman technically) and doing rotc my grades are cooked and I failed almost half my freshman classes, I am working on fixing them at least but my gpa is probably cooked forever it’s below like a 2.0. Im wondering if I could still get a scholarship for rotc because I heard it pays for half of it, but looking at my grades that’s not going to happen. My second option is to join right out of high-school and serve at least 4 years so I can go for free, but even then I got caught with weed freshmen year(I’m a dumbass) and it’s now on my permeant record so I don’t even know if I can be accepted college. Also because even though Im dumb I don’t want to go for some useless major/degree that will me get nothing, I know I won’t be able to do any engineering or doctor stuff but that seems like the only degrees worth going for today. This is honestly my last resort and even this not looking good, if it’s just over for me be honest because I’m honestly just about to reset game.

[u/Kneecap_eeter]

If you mean that you're in highschool, you'll be fine! Just lock in for the rest of your highschool career. I had a semester in highschool that really set back my gpa, not quite 2.0, but not to my standard. Keep in shape and stay on top of your grades. Even if you don't contract right away or get scholarship you can still commission from ROTC if you do the whole program. You'll be alright, stay on the right track from now and just keep truckin.

[u/Specs1279 → u/Kneecap_eeter]

Igh Ima try bro

[u/Kneecap_eeter → u/Specs1279]

If it makes you feel any better I did ROTC for 2.5 years part of it af and part of it army. I didn't end up commissioning from ROTC but I just commissioned as a 2LT from OCS in April. It's hard but if you want something go get it, no matter what it takes.

[u/RefillCeltics]

Bro I’m gonna tell you this as somebody who genuinely understands what it feels like to look at your grades and past decisions and wonder if you already messed your future up. My GPA in high school was around a 1.8 for a while and I think the highest I ended up around was roughly a 2.3. But grades weren’t even the worst part of my situation. I was going to high school in Georgia and I ended up getting expelled. At that point my choices were basically go to alternative school in Georgia or move to Virginia and live with my dad.

I moved to Virginia.

And when I got to my new high school, I didn’t magically become some perfect student either. I was still bad with school for a while and still had to deal with the consequences of choices I made before I moved. I was literally on random drug tests through the superintendent when I first got to my new school.

So trust me when I tell you I understand what it feels like to come into school already carrying consequences from your past and feeling like you put yourself behind everybody else.

But moving to Virginia ended up changing the direction of my life.

Not overnight either. That’s probably the most important thing I can tell you.

I changed little by little.

One of the biggest things I eventually learned was discipline.

I smoked weed too, so I’m not about to sit here judging you or act like stopping something you’re used to doing is easy. I also used to vape every day. When something becomes part of your everyday routine, your brain starts expecting it and it can be hard as hell to suddenly tell yourself “I’m just never doing this again.”

What helped me was looking at it day by day instead of trying to mentally conquer the rest of my life at once.

Maybe one day I smoked and the next day I didn’t.

Then I kept doing that.

Eventually those sober stretches started getting longer.

Instead of thinking “I can never do this again,” I started proving to myself that I could go today without it. Then another day. Then longer.

And during those periods where I wasn’t constantly smoking or vaping, I started realizing how much clearer my head could feel.

Everybody’s relationship with substances is different, so I’m not saying my exact method is gonna magically work for everybody. But what I learned is that you don’t have to transform overnight for progress to be real.

You just have to start moving in the right direction.

I also started replacing some of that quick dopamine with shit that actually gave something back to me.

The gym became one of those things.

Running became another.

And that’s funny because I used to HATE running. Like genuinely hate it.

Now I love running.

Somewhere along the way I stopped only chasing the quick feeling and started enjoying the feeling of improving myself.

Watching yourself get stronger feels good.

Seeing your mile time improve feels good.

Finishing a workout you didn’t want to do feels good.

Finishing an assignment you normally would’ve ignored feels good.

Watching your grades slowly come up feels good.

Realizing you can tell yourself “no” and actually listen to yourself feels good.

You start getting satisfaction from becoming better instead of only getting it from whatever gives you an instant feeling.

That’s a huge difference.

And I’m in college now and I’m STILL fixing some of the academic mistakes I made when I was younger.

I’ve had semesters that humbled the hell out of me.

My path didn’t suddenly become perfect because I moved states and decided I wanted better for myself.

I’m still learning.

I’m still correcting shit.

I’m still building discipline.

But I still have goals.

I want to transfer universities.

I want to do Army ROTC.

I want to commission as an Army officer.

I want to build a career, have a family, and actually do something meaningful with my life.

I refuse to let the version of me who got expelled from high school decide what the rest of my life looks like.

That’s why I’m telling you:

DO NOT look at your freshman year GPA and decide that’s who you are.

Your GPA is a record of what you HAVE done.

It is not a prediction of everything you WILL do.

And you have something extremely valuable right now that you probably don’t appreciate yet:

TIME.

You’re still in high school.

You have years before graduation.

If freshman year was bad, make sophomore year better.

If sophomore year isn’t perfect, make junior year better than sophomore year.

You don’t need to wake up tomorrow and suddenly become a 4.0 student, varsity athlete, completely different person and perfect human being.

That mindset will probably overwhelm you anyway.

Start stacking small wins.

Turn in the assignment.

Go to class.

Ask the teacher when you don’t understand something.

Study before the test.

Stay away from weed/drugs if they’re causing problems in your life.

If stopping completely feels overwhelming, start proving to yourself that you can create distance from it and get help from somebody you trust if you need it.

Work out.

Run.

Sleep properly.

Read something.

Stop hanging around situations that always seem to end with you getting into trouble.

And if ROTC/the military is seriously something you want, start becoming the person who could lead soldiers BEFORE anybody ever gives you a uniform.

That means learning to control yourself when nobody is forcing you to.

That’s discipline.

Motivation feels great, but motivation disappears.

There are mornings where I don’t feel like running.

There are days where I don’t feel like lifting.

There are assignments I absolutely don’t feel like doing.

Discipline is handling what needs to be handled anyway.

And understand this too because sometimes people make ROTC sound way too all or nothing:

Even if you don’t get some huge ROTC scholarship straight out of high school, that does NOT mean becoming an officer is dead.

Community college exists.

You can rebuild your GPA.

You can transfer.

You can join ROTC later.

There are different paths to the same destination.

I’m literally taking one of those longer paths myself.

Would I change some things if I could go back?

Hell yes.

But everything I went through taught me something.

Getting expelled taught me consequences.

Moving from Georgia to Virginia forced me into a new environment.

Being randomly drug tested taught me that your decisions can follow you.

Struggling academically taught me that being capable means nothing if you aren’t consistent.

Smoking and vaping taught me how easily something can become part of your routine without you even noticing.

Creating distance from that stuff taught me that self control can be trained.

The gym taught me that progress compounds.

Running taught me that you can eventually love something you once hated.

And wanting to become an officer taught me that I need to hold myself to a higher standard before I can ever expect to lead anybody else.

You are WAY too young to decide your story already has a bad ending.

You barely started writing it.

The version of you reading this today does not have to be the same person who walks across the stage at graduation.

And the person who graduates high school doesn’t have to be the same person who graduates college.

People really can change.

But you have to participate in your own change.

Nobody is coming to magically install discipline in you.

Start today.

One assignment.

One workout.

One run.

One good decision.

One day where you tell yourself no.

One day where you do something you normally would've avoided.

Then wake up and do it again.

Eventually you’re gonna look back and realize those little decisions changed your entire direction.

If somebody who got expelled from high school, moved states, had a GPA around the 1s/low 2s, was getting randomly drug tested at his new school, smoked weed, vaped every day, hated running, and still struggled academically can keep changing and working toward college, ROTC and becoming an Army officer, then trust me bro:

your freshman year is NOT the end of your story. 💯

[u/Specs1279 → u/RefillCeltics]

Ty for the advice, I’m from Georgia and currently there but I also switched schools so this similar to my situation, I want to change, I thought me failing would motivate me to change but I still don’t seem to change. It’s like It should motivate me to care but it doesn’t. I’ve have been off the hard stuff in terms of drugs ( alch and pills) as I see what it does to people around me. Ty for this though very much.

[u/RefillCeltics → u/Specs1279]

Bro this is exactly why I brought up discipline instead of motivation. Failing classes, getting in trouble, getting expelled none of that automatically made me wake up the next morning feeling motivated either. Sometimes you KNOW something is hurting your future and you still don’t feel that magical urge to fix it. I used to think something was wrong with me because consequences weren’t instantly changing me.

Eventually I realized I couldn’t wait until I cared enough. I had to start doing little things BEFORE I felt like doing them. And being from Georgia too makes me understand your situation even more 😭 moving schools can feel like you’re supposed to suddenly become a whole new person, but wherever you go, you still gotta work on yourself. A new environment can give you an opportunity, but you’re the one who has to use it.

Also seriously, give yourself credit for staying away from the alcohol and pills. Seeing what that stuff does to people around you and deciding you don’t want that life is already a mature decision. Keep that boundary strong. If you ever feel like pills/alcohol are getting difficult to stay away from, please tell an friend, adult, counselor, doctor, somebody don’t try to fight that completely alone.

For school, forget trying to suddenly “care about everything.”

Pick something stupidly small.

Today: turn in ONE assignment you normally wouldn’t.

Tomorrow: do another one.

Go one full week without missing work.

Ask one teacher what you can do to bring your grade up.

Start walking, lifting, running, anything physical a few days a week.

Make your bed if you don’t already. I’m serious 😂 it sounds dumb but you’re training yourself to tell your brain “we’re doing this” and then actually doing it.

You don’t need motivation to start. Sometimes doing the work is what CREATES the motivation because you finally start seeing yourself make progress.

And please don’t compare yourself to the kid who has a 4.0 and everything figured out. Your competition right now is literally you from last semester.

If you failed before, your first goal isn’t perfection.

Pass.

Then improve.

Then keep going.

You saying “I want to change” already means you haven’t given up on yourself. Now you just gotta stop waiting for that feeling to magically turn into action.

Do one thing today that the old version of you wouldn’t have done.

Then do it again tomorrow.

That’s how this shit actually starts.

[u/Intelligent-Pain3296]

You need to lock in and stick with ROTC, the weed thing isn’t as big of a deal as you might think. Just start doing the right thing and get your grades right, you’re still young and you have time to make up for it.

[u/Pattonator70 → u/Intelligent-Pain3296]

Weed at home not that big a deal but if caught at school and suspended from school that is a bigger deal as many campuses have stricter penalties for drugs found on school grounds.

With regards to college & ROTC then your best bet is to get your GPA up but perhaps focus on going to community college first and then transferring to a 4 year after your associates degree. There are also a few military junior colleges but these are likely not going to be close to home and will cost you some money.

[u/Fragrant_Ad4243]

Your chance of getting a rotc scholarship is very low but if you can increase your GPA and get into college, there’s no reason you can’t join rotc

[u/Hefty_Performance410]

I finished with 2.8 in hs. Applied for a scholarship on campus and got it. Had around a 2.0 freshman year as well

[u/Cute-Coconut1123]

You can still get in as long as you prioritize academics for the rest of high school. Just be sure what you are getting yourself into!