Accepted! (With Caution?)

These were the words that popped up on my email notifications first thing last Monday morning. I rubbed my eyes, sat up, and clicked on the email to read further. A few weeks before I had applied to graduate school and apparently I was accepted…with caution.

A million thoughts ran through my mind, most of them centering around the fact that this was about to get real, real fast. But one question kept nagging me: Why did they put “with caution” in the subject line? What did that mean?

In order to start on time though, I had other things to focus on. I needed to register for classes, order books, figure out my school schedule (we are PCSing in five months by the way, so this should go well), and prepare myself and my family for me to be a student again.

(Side note: my husband is my champion and my #1 supporter. It was his idea for me to pursue something I would never have done on my own at this stage in our military life. He even offered to buy an entire new office suite to include carpeting our 100 year-old Army-issued sun room so that I have a comfortable study space.)

My 14-year-old daughter thinks it’s hilarious that I have to take a math class. My 10-year-old son is quite concerned that I will infringe upon his computer time and that I might forget to make him dinner. To say I have been busy gearing up for this is an understatement.

All the while, however, the phrase “with caution” was still bothering me.

I finally remembered to ask what it meant yesterday during one of my many live chats with an academic advisor. Here, in a nutshell, was our conversation.

Me: “Oh, one last question, what does it mean that I was ‘accepted with caution?'”

Advisor: “Thank you for asking! It simply means that it’s been quite a long time since you’ve been enrolled at an institution of higher learning and we want to make sure you possess all the tools necessary to be a successful student.”

Friends, let me break this down for you.

1. I’m old.

2. My final grade point average (21 years ago, mind you) reflects the fact that I majored in Partying with a minor in Sleeping Past Noon.

Fair enough. But based on my past 18 years as a military spouse I’d like to propose a different acceptance qualifier. Therefore,  I propose “Accepted…Most Qualified” (just like on the OERs and NCOERs, get it?!)

Military spouses are kings and queens at multitasking. Any one of us on any given day can be seen running from school drop-off, to the gym, to the commissary, and putting in a few hours in our home-based business or volunteering, all while answering texts from the spouse at work, planning a dinner for the incoming commander’s spouse, folding loads of laundry, and scheduling dentist appointments. You need something done, we will find time for it and we’ll get it done. And we’ll do it well.

We are flexible. Tell us we’re moving to Florida this summer, but at the last minute change it to Alaska? Bring it on. We’ll quickly ditch the new flip-flops and cute shorts, find winter wardrobes for the family, dispatch a friend already in the area to find us a house to rent, and be there with bells on.

And we’ll do it with a smile on our face (we might need to call our BFF five states away and have a mini-meltdown first, but after that we’re good).

I’d argue we are some of the most independent “dependents” out there. Military life dictates pretty much everything. And by everything, I really do mean everything. Your spouse can be here one day and literally on a plane to a foreign country the next. We have no choice but to transform into single spouses/solo parents overnight.

To do that requires a serious streak of independence. Car breaks down? Kids get sick? Rats having babies in the attic? (Unfortunately, I speak from experience on this one.) We can handle it.

I think you get the idea. My ability to multitask, be flexible enough to take classes while packing up a house for the 10th time (gulp), all with the possibility of having to do it by myself is worth more than an “Accept with Caution.”

Why? Because I and approximately 800,000 spouses just like me do it every day. It’s automatic and something we do with pride. And if that’s not enough, the powers that be should take comfort in the fact that this time I won’t be partying or sleeping past noon.

As they so nicely pointed out, I’m too old for that.