During my senior year of high school, I began thinking about my education after I graduated from high school. I do not know the rationale, but all students in my high school class were required to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test. I scored really well on this test. As a result, I started receiving calls from each branch of the military with recruiters trying to convince me to join their ranks.
I was particularly intrigued one day by an Air Force Recruiter who came to the high school. He asked the school counselor to arrange a meeting with me and a few other students in my class. He encouraged us to apply for a Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship. He shared details that an ROTC scholarship would provide full tuition and fees, books, and a monthly stipend ($100).
When I was younger, Kelly shared with me his fascination with airplanes. As a result, I was always somewhat interested in airplanes and flying. I decided to apply for a scholarship.
The Air Force Recruiter talked with us about what we wanted to study in college. At the time, I was quite interested in Mechanical Engineering. He told us that most Air Force ROTC scholarships were awarded to applicants who planned to major in Electrical Engineering. While I had a vague idea of what a mechanical engineer did (I took a Mechanical Drawing course in high school), I had no concept to associate with the term electrical engineer.
However, the recruiter also told us that if we received an ROTC scholarship, it was relatively easy to change majors after the fact. When I filled out my application, I marked that I planned to be an electrical engineering major. Later, when I applied to BYU, I also specified I wanted to be an electrical engineering major.
Several weeks later, I received a letter telling me I was awarded an ROTC scholarship. I also received an admissions letter to attend BYU. I accepted both. I was excited to become an Air Force pilot. I envisioned myself flying F16 fighter jets in dog fights across the sky.
In my first semester at BYU (Fall 1986), I enrolled in courses that were recommended for first-semester Electrical Engineering majors. This included the entry-level Physics and Calculus courses and a Civil Engineering course that taught vector algebra. In addition, I had two ROTC classes, PE, Health, and Book of Mormon.
One ROTC class was an introduction to the Air Force military science class. In this class, the professor was a retired Air Force Colonel. We learned about different aircraft used by the Air Force. But mostly we heard stories about the Colonel's service during the Vietnam conflict. The other ROTC class was a drill class. All the Air Force ROTC Cadets were in this class (about 100 or so). Our classroom was the parking lot at the Marriott Center. We learned how to march, stand in formation, salute, etc.
After the first two weeks of the semester, I quickly learned that the vector algebra class was beyond my ability. While I was not a very good student that semester (I did not always attend my class sessions), I was smart enough to withdraw from the Civil Engineering class. As a result, I did not end up failing that class. Because it was after the official add/drop deadline, my transcript shows a "W" or withdrawal grade for the course.
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| me and Mike Newswander in our ROTC uniforms (Mike did not have an ROTC scholarship but decided to do ROTC with me) |
I think I attended every class session of my ROTC classes. I really enjoyed the classes. I earned an "A" in one and an "A-" in the other. I attended enough class sessions for my PE (Fitness for Living) class to earn a "B."
My cousin, Mike Newswander, was my roommate in the Helaman Halls dorm. He was studying Mechanical Engineering. Another cousin, Bruce Bergeson, was also a student at BYU. He had already gone on a mission and was studying Computer Science. We learned that all three of us were planning to take the entry-level Physics course. Bruce suggested that we all register for the same section. This ended up being another wise action on my part. Because my cousins were both in the class with me, I attended most class sessions. However, I was not always diligent in completing my labs. As a result, I earned a "B-" grade in the course.
I did not fare so well in my other courses. I stopped going to the Calculus class (MATH 112) after the first exam and the Health class. I earned a "UW" or "unofficial withdrawal" grade for both courses. Unofficial withdrawal grades are counted as "F" in calculating GPA. I did not attend the Book of Mormon class for most of the semester. However, I showed up to take the final exam. The exam was extremely difficult. Even though the questions were multiple choice and short answer type, I did not know much of the material. As a result, I earned an "E" grade. (BYU uses the "E" letter grade instead of the "F" letter grade.)
In 1986, the BYU policy was to mail freshman student grades to the parents. After I returned home from my first semester, I watched the mailbox carefully. When the letter came to my parents with my first-semester report card, I removed the letter from the mail and kept the report card hidden between pages in my journal. I did not tell my parents about my specific grades. I only mentioned that I had not done as well as I hoped I would.
I learned my exact grades from the report card. I also learned that my first semester GPA was 1.28. (For some odd reason, even though I did not have any other credit at BYU, my overall BYU GPA was 1.29.) I did not tell anybody about my grades or my GPA.
I did not go back to BYU for the Winter 1987 semester. Instead, I left to serve a two-year mission in Germany. One day in the MTC (early February 1987), I was asked to go to the MTC administrative offices for a phone call. When I answered the phone, it was the Master Sergeant from the Air Force ROTC office. He was the individual who had processed all my paperwork when I joined the Air Force at the beginning of the semester. My joining was contingent upon me completing the ROTC program, officer training school, and receiving a commission in the Air Force after graduation. However, because I accepted the ROTC scholarship, I needed to complete all the enlistment paperwork.
The Master Sergeant told me he had some good news and some bad news for me. His good news was that the Air Force ROTC marching competition team had finished in third place in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) marching competition. Before he gave me the bad news, he asked me if I had any extenuating circumstances surrounding my poor performance in school during the fall semester. I informed him that I did not have any extenuating circumstances. Then he told me the bad news was that my ROTC scholarship was revoked due to my poor academic performance.
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| Honorable Discharge from the Air Force |
After I finished my mission, I contacted BYU and asked about readmission for returned missionaries. I was readmitted on Academic Probation. I had to meet with a university academic advisor and sign a contract that I would earn a specific grade for each of my Fall 1989 courses to have the Academic Probation lifted.
Fortunately, I had learned to be a better student while serving my mission. I met the conditions of the Academic Probation and was able to continue my studies at BYU.
Today, I retrieved my first-semester report card from the pages of my journal. I had to dig through the boxes in the attic to find it. I am including a scanned copy with this post. Prior to me publishing this blog post, I am the only person who has ever seen the report card. (I may have shown it to Annette but I do not remember for sure.)
Notice the message across the top: "ATTENTION - YOU ARE NOT IN GOOD ACADEMIC STANDING. PLEASE CONTACT THE ACADEMIC SUPPORT OFFICE."
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| Fall 1986 Report Card |
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