Hello everybody, let me start off by saying that I have the utmost respect for all of you and I appreciate your time reading this. I apologize if this is a little long, so bear with me please.
Well to begin I am currently a Sophomore in High School and 16 years old, just very recently got my license. I just started back into a training program after being out due to a hear defect (which, to let all of you know, is fixed by the way). Back in October of 2015 I was diagnosed with a Congenital Heart Defect involving the Right Coronary Artery. What shocked me the most was that I was a perfectly healthy kid, and I did not even realize I was born with this affect, neither did the doctors. Before I knew it my world was turned upside down. Things I enjoyed doing, such as running Track, Skiing, Basketball, and Especially Football, were taken away. I "realized" that I wanted to become a SEAL back in the 6th grade. I say realize because back then I feel as if I didn't even understand why I wanted to be one, I just read "I am a SEAL Team Six Warrior" by Howard E. Wasdin and I was hooked. But thoughts in my head led me to wonder WHY I wanted to become a SEAL, because at the time the thought of being called one and the glory that came with it was all I cared about. Boy, how times have changed. The surgery changed all of that. It was summertime of 2015, and I was trying to get into as great of shape as possible. Images of why I wanted to be a SEAL shifted, and turned into more of a purpose. I became engulfed in reading. I picked up and bought every SEAL book I could, through Birthdays, Christmas, lawn mowing money, (I had my own "business" with a friend, we use a wagon as transportation haha.) etc. And just over the summer, as I was waking up at 6 am every day to make the 4 mile trek up to the high school for football practice on my bike and going to two-a-days, it just so happened that on my usual Saturday when I would go for my run, I experienced bad chest pains. I thought nothing of it and let it go for weeks. But then came the time to get a physical, and I contemplated whether or not to tell the doctor about it, seeing as it was probably nothing. Well, lets just say I ended up telling her and before I knew it I was in the Hospital at around 5 am a few months later getting ready for surgery. I honesty wasn't scared, I didn't think there was any reason to be, since there was only a 1% chance that the surgery could go wrong. The surgery went smoothly, but before I knew it, I was out of the Hospital within three days, and depressed. I thought the world was done, never again to play football, and having to miss skiing and track that year, but most importantly seeing that the end of my dream of becoming a SEAL may have become a reality. All I wanted to do was to heal and get back to exercising. But months later, even when I could, I was in a slump. I questioned my purpose and what I was even doing. I was lazy, and I hated it. I couldn't get back into anything, because I felt like jumping out of a window when it hurt to do 1 Pushup, when I could previously deck out 60! I questioned reality, and what I was destined for. My cardio shape was horrible, I could barely even run a mile, I could barely hit 30 situps, and couldn't hit a pullup. I don't see this as being physical problems, but mental. My struggle against inner demons plaguing my soul. The fight of good vs evil, my destiny vs meager unsatisfactory wants. Me becoming a SEAL now means so much more than being "glorified", in fact, that means nothing. It's a need, my sole purpose of life, I believe. Without it, I am nothing. It has been a journey, and will always continue to be one. I am trying to learn as a human, and grow mentally and spiritually. I try to read every SEAL book I can, and am right now trying to slowly build back up my strength. I see myself as needing to have a destiny, fighting my inner evils, overcoming selfishness and being more selfless, showing humility, not necessarily being unafraid in the faces of adversary, but having the courage to stand up to it anyway. And last, but certainly not least, having respect for other people, even if I don't share their beliefs. Why did I right this? I hope I didn't come off as selfish (a fault of me that I am battling to fix). But I feel I fit in here. I don't have social media accounts anymore like all the kids in my school, I used to be pretty popular actually, but now I just consider myself average, I don't like all of the fads, the drama, whatever you want to call it. I prefer books, finding my purpose. This is a sensitive topic towards me that I don't tell people often. I don't like to tell people that I had heart surgery or that I want to become a SEAL, I want to strive to be humble. I feel like I can share anything to people like you guys. Becoming a SEAL isn't just a want for me, it is such an overwhelming force out of my control that I can't even describe. Something that I don't go a day without thinking, and can't. (last thought) When I got out of surgery I got a card from all 60 members of my football team. It was one of the most touching things I ever received. And I realized how much I would miss the Brotherhood. Something I hope to obtain again someday, but in a different way.
On to the question, which I know I have to face at some point, and which I do know you may not know. And I think you know what I will ask (obviously). Will I be accepted into the BUD/S pipeline with me having a heart surgery? And again, as a reminder, the only thing that is permanent is the scar. The defect is fixed. Over the summer I asked a recruiter at an Air show his thoughts, but he didn't give me much, Saying I wasn't old enough to talk to him. I see the above as being a journey, finding my meaning in life and becoming the best person I can possibly be. I have so much work to do, and I find faults in everything I do, but I need to constantly work at it. Once again, thank you all so much for reading this, I hope I didn't come off as selfish in any way. I have the utmost respect for all of you and I understand if you can't answer the question, but thank you anyway. It means a lot. More than you could imaging.
Well to begin I am currently a Sophomore in High School and 16 years old, just very recently got my license. I just started back into a training program after being out due to a hear defect (which, to let all of you know, is fixed by the way). Back in October of 2015 I was diagnosed with a Congenital Heart Defect involving the Right Coronary Artery. What shocked me the most was that I was a perfectly healthy kid, and I did not even realize I was born with this affect, neither did the doctors. Before I knew it my world was turned upside down. Things I enjoyed doing, such as running Track, Skiing, Basketball, and Especially Football, were taken away. I "realized" that I wanted to become a SEAL back in the 6th grade. I say realize because back then I feel as if I didn't even understand why I wanted to be one, I just read "I am a SEAL Team Six Warrior" by Howard E. Wasdin and I was hooked. But thoughts in my head led me to wonder WHY I wanted to become a SEAL, because at the time the thought of being called one and the glory that came with it was all I cared about. Boy, how times have changed. The surgery changed all of that. It was summertime of 2015, and I was trying to get into as great of shape as possible. Images of why I wanted to be a SEAL shifted, and turned into more of a purpose. I became engulfed in reading. I picked up and bought every SEAL book I could, through Birthdays, Christmas, lawn mowing money, (I had my own "business" with a friend, we use a wagon as transportation haha.) etc. And just over the summer, as I was waking up at 6 am every day to make the 4 mile trek up to the high school for football practice on my bike and going to two-a-days, it just so happened that on my usual Saturday when I would go for my run, I experienced bad chest pains. I thought nothing of it and let it go for weeks. But then came the time to get a physical, and I contemplated whether or not to tell the doctor about it, seeing as it was probably nothing. Well, lets just say I ended up telling her and before I knew it I was in the Hospital at around 5 am a few months later getting ready for surgery. I honesty wasn't scared, I didn't think there was any reason to be, since there was only a 1% chance that the surgery could go wrong. The surgery went smoothly, but before I knew it, I was out of the Hospital within three days, and depressed. I thought the world was done, never again to play football, and having to miss skiing and track that year, but most importantly seeing that the end of my dream of becoming a SEAL may have become a reality. All I wanted to do was to heal and get back to exercising. But months later, even when I could, I was in a slump. I questioned my purpose and what I was even doing. I was lazy, and I hated it. I couldn't get back into anything, because I felt like jumping out of a window when it hurt to do 1 Pushup, when I could previously deck out 60! I questioned reality, and what I was destined for. My cardio shape was horrible, I could barely even run a mile, I could barely hit 30 situps, and couldn't hit a pullup. I don't see this as being physical problems, but mental. My struggle against inner demons plaguing my soul. The fight of good vs evil, my destiny vs meager unsatisfactory wants. Me becoming a SEAL now means so much more than being "glorified", in fact, that means nothing. It's a need, my sole purpose of life, I believe. Without it, I am nothing. It has been a journey, and will always continue to be one. I am trying to learn as a human, and grow mentally and spiritually. I try to read every SEAL book I can, and am right now trying to slowly build back up my strength. I see myself as needing to have a destiny, fighting my inner evils, overcoming selfishness and being more selfless, showing humility, not necessarily being unafraid in the faces of adversary, but having the courage to stand up to it anyway. And last, but certainly not least, having respect for other people, even if I don't share their beliefs. Why did I right this? I hope I didn't come off as selfish (a fault of me that I am battling to fix). But I feel I fit in here. I don't have social media accounts anymore like all the kids in my school, I used to be pretty popular actually, but now I just consider myself average, I don't like all of the fads, the drama, whatever you want to call it. I prefer books, finding my purpose. This is a sensitive topic towards me that I don't tell people often. I don't like to tell people that I had heart surgery or that I want to become a SEAL, I want to strive to be humble. I feel like I can share anything to people like you guys. Becoming a SEAL isn't just a want for me, it is such an overwhelming force out of my control that I can't even describe. Something that I don't go a day without thinking, and can't. (last thought) When I got out of surgery I got a card from all 60 members of my football team. It was one of the most touching things I ever received. And I realized how much I would miss the Brotherhood. Something I hope to obtain again someday, but in a different way.
On to the question, which I know I have to face at some point, and which I do know you may not know. And I think you know what I will ask (obviously). Will I be accepted into the BUD/S pipeline with me having a heart surgery? And again, as a reminder, the only thing that is permanent is the scar. The defect is fixed. Over the summer I asked a recruiter at an Air show his thoughts, but he didn't give me much, Saying I wasn't old enough to talk to him. I see the above as being a journey, finding my meaning in life and becoming the best person I can possibly be. I have so much work to do, and I find faults in everything I do, but I need to constantly work at it. Once again, thank you all so much for reading this, I hope I didn't come off as selfish in any way. I have the utmost respect for all of you and I understand if you can't answer the question, but thank you anyway. It means a lot. More than you could imaging.
