I need some life advice, please
04-21-2012, 11:52 PM
Mhaes,
If you are smart enough to become a successful engineer and you have genuine interest in military related subjects, then Army ROTC is the best answer. Best benefit, along with all the obvious financial perks, is that you will make great, life-long lasting friends who will be with you through thick and thin. And that's just while you`re in school. Once you go to your BOLC and to your unit, soldiers you serve with, whether they`re other officers or enlisted, will become your family and although you won't be loved or love everybody, you will be looked out after and will look out after your soldiers and anyone who wears the uniform. ROTC equals no bills, no loans, physical fitness, an external motivational push most college kids lack, chance to make close friends (better than any fraternity, because unlike "paid" friends, uniform will bind you to higher level), Girls (cuteness depending on your skills, and in VA, a uniform will get you far with the ladies), once you`re in BOLC, blowing shit up (more fun than it sounds, there is nothing like sitting top of a hill, waiting for a charge to go off, feeling the ground shake, followed with a nice smoke cloud), and you have a chance to write your own ticket: if you apply yourself, and be in the top 10: active duty slots will be open to you, from MI to Aviation to Engineering and after you get out, anyone who has worn the uniform is an automatic network friend, you`ll get unwritten benefits from jobs to drinks at the bar. Reading what I`m writing reminds me why I chose to go into ROTC and go enlisted in the Guard (SMP) in the same state you plan on going to school. This is what makes life fun: ability to choose, my friend. You know yourself, more than any of us, and I try to paint a picture for you for both the cons and the pros, consider it and make a decision for your best interest. Good Luck in your future.
Also reading the other posts, I simply want to state that there isn't a generalized reason for any soldier to serve. Some are patriots, some are benefit-seekers, some are adventure-seekers, and some have no other choice. As Drill Sergeants would ask before a smoke-session "Did anyone put a gun to your head when you were signing the contract" holds true to everyone. It's exercising freedom of choice and to assume soldiers are brain-washed into anything is downright illogical. Soldiers know the risks of signing a contract, the sacrifice required, and the physical dangers, and trying to decide if the decision to serve is worth it or not, well that's a personal decision that should be made by someone who put the ink on the paper, not by an observer, since we all sign on for different reasons with different valuations of worth. However, I`m yet to find a soldier whether scrubbing toilets, or going through rehab or lived on by family members, to regret that signature, at least I know I don't regret it.
*Like courage, life changing decisions are personal: some observe to criticize safely, some live dangerously through to experience. But the only decision is to choose which some you want to be.
life is a waking dream.