Spencer is going to The Citadel for college.
This isn't a secret. We have told people. But it dawned on me the other day that we never really "announced" the decision about his future plans. I'm not really sure why... maybe because all of this came to a head around the same time as wrestling season heated up. It's certainly not because we aren't proud of him.
We. Are. So. Proud!
Spencer didn't even have The Citadel - aka The Military College of South Carolina - on his radar when we started applying to schools. We took a trip for a campus visit last October and he fell in love with the school. Honestly, so did I.
The Citadel is located in Charleston, SC. It's about a 5.5 hour drive from our house. It's absolutely beautiful and has easy access to many cool and fun things. There are so many things I love about the FIT between Spencer, his interests and this school. (NOTE - I don't think this is the right experience for everyone... not even everyone who lives in this house, but for Spencer, it's perfect.)
The Citadel is one of 6 senior military colleges in the country. This is important to Spencer because he wants to serve the country. He's a little torn about which branch - so that's TBD. He leans Army, but I think it will come down to where he feels most comfortable when he gets there. Everyone at The Citadel participates in ROTC courses for 2 years. If you want to commission as an officer, which is Spencer's current plan as of today, then you continue to take ROTC courses and upon graduation, become an officer in your chosen branch. This commits you to serve for a set number of years after which you decide if you want to continue on (active or reserve) or leave for civilian service. About 1/3 of their graduates leave as commissioned officers.
One of the special things about The Citadel, which is very much tied to the military nature of the school, is that the entire 4 year experience is very, very structured. (Not sure Spencer knows he needs this, but I know he does...) There is a 4-year plan to develop leaders which all students complete. I love that. There are mandatory study times. Love that. There are rules and consequences. Planned physical training sessions. There are very few (if any) frills. It's SO Spencer.
Spence is going to study engineering. Similar to when I was a senior in high school, he's been a little unsure about what variety of engineering he wants to tackle. He leaned mechanical for a long time, but recently has been really interested in Civil engineering with an eye on a future career involving some kind of construction. I think Civil engineering will likely be his chosen major when he matriculates this summer. Really, he can't go wrong as The Citadel has a great reputation across all their engineering programs and is consistently ranked in the top 25 nationally for engineering schools. They have an incredibly impressive graduation and placement rate too - which makes me happy.
Will he wrestle? This is a question that we get asked from time to time. Short answer is - maybe. Spencer is a little unsure if he wants to try to take on college courses, adjusting to life at a military school, ROTC requirements and wrestling at a Division 1 school. To be clear, he's not being recruited, but that doesn't mean he couldn't walk onto the team. He happens to be large in stature for the general population of Citadel Cadets. In fact, he falls outside the height/weight guidelines for admission and had to get measured to prove his body fat is within their acceptable range for entrance to the program. (For clarity, he has like 12% body fat... clearly he's not out of shape.) This does put him in an interesting position for the wrestling team - which has to have big guys for their upper weights. Maybe he will wrestle. Maybe he won't. I think it would be really fun if he does, but that's not a sport you can do "part way". If he goes for it, it will be because he loves it and we will become instant Citadel Bulldog fans!
I admit that it's really nice that he's made a decision. It's doubly nice that it's a decision that I am so comfortable with because I think it checks every box I could think of for a good fit school for him. I really can't wait to watch the next 4 years (and beyond) unfold for Spencer. It's an exciting time for sure!
So yeah, Spencer is going to The Citadel for college. And we couldn't be happier!
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