Trip #3 to MEPS

The next day ~ Monday, June 22 ~ Chris found her wallet, got everything squared away, and headed back to Denver to take the DLAB.

I'm sure by now her recruiters scratched their heads a bit with this kid.  Sweet as can be, punctual and responsible, but in her own little world at times.  Although I have to say I can't blame her for the first MEPS mishap ~ if they'd communicated better, that issue would have been resolved before she'd left.  Anyway, she headed back to the recruiter's office / back to Denver that Monday afternoon with a smile on her face.  I think she was a bit nervous, but also excited to be doing something.

Unlike the ASVAB, there is apparently little you can do to prepare for the DLAB.  It tests you on your aptitude to learn a foreign language well.  From the little information we could get from the recruiter and the internet, there are parts of made-up languages that you have to listen to and reason together with your intuitive knowledge of patterns and what you know from English (and foreign language) grammar.  We gathered a couple of tips here and there on the internet ~ mostly brush up on grammar, listen well (there's an audio portion), and get a lot of rest ~ but there are really no prep materials or practice tests out there.  (Christianne even had to sign a confidentiality agreement to not tell anyone ~ not even family ~ what is on that test.)

Again, the day rolled on as we hurried up and waited.  It was several hours before we heard from Chris.  The test itself was a couple of hours long, but she, too, had to hurry up and wait ~ wait to be called, wait for a computer, wait for this, wait for that.  It was a long time before she was able to get to her phone and call us.

Here's where her story gets really exciting to me.

In order for Christianne to be accepted into the language program in the United States Navy (the technical term for the field is cryptology), she would need to score 100 points on this test.  In order for her to get into one of the advanced language programs, she would need a 105, which is considered exceptional.

Chris scored a 125.

A 125.  Unbelievable.

No, I guess it isn't really unbelievable.  But it certainly is validating for this kid who has questioned her intelligence and worth for the past six years or so, for this kid who has been in the gifted and talented program since early elementary school but struggled to graduate from high school. 

I cried.  I really did.  It is just so ... validating.  I told her that even if this Navy path happened to end here, for whatever reason, this was a validation that she IS most certainly a talented, intelligent, amazing young lady with a gift for languages.

Chris said she got in the car with her recruiter after the test and he asked her what she scored.  She said, "125," and looked at him.  He raised his eyebrows and said, "I've never seen anyone score that high before."

She told us that someone at MEPS had told her that they'd only seen one score higher in that center, ever, and it was 140.

That's my kid.  That's MY kid!

Big sigh and release of a lot of tension:  She scored well on the ASVAB, and even better on the DLAB.  She was on her way.  They checked her into the hotel ~ this time she would actually stay ~ and got her some dinner.  She was scheduled for the medical part of processing at o-dark-thirty the next morning.

Her physical was uneventful.  Again, lots of waiting.  But she made it through fine, and got to sit down and process her paperwork.

A former Navy friend of ours had commented after he heard what she did on the DLAB, "She will be able to write her own ticket," in regards to her rating, or rate (job choice).  Well, lo and behold, the processing officer saw her scores and signed her right up for her first choice of rate ~ CTI (more on that later) ~ and informed her that they would love to have her sooner, if she didn't want to wait the six months that is typical in the Delayed Entry Program.  In fact, Smart One, sign right here, start right now, and oh yeah ~ we have a signing bonus for you!

So she did.  Well, not exactly right now, but soon.  Her ship date is September 1.  That part has been a little bit challenging on this mama's heart.  No last family Thanksgiving and Christmas together... two months to prepare instead of six... so many things to do, to prepare her, to prepare me... and just not enough time.

They swore her in and gave her lots of Navy swag.  Just in the few days following she seemed different to me:  more mature, happy, confident.  She has a plan, a direction, a contract, and a job.  A good job, an important job, and a job that will hopefully make her little polyglot heart happy.