tedkennedy

for a couple of days i have been researching joining the navy and im not sure if i should take it seriously or just give up and look somewhere else for a job.

pros:

-money with all living expenses paid, free education, free travel during off time.

-i will likely score well on the entry examination and get to choose any job i want that they will pay me while i train. i think it would be cool to be a navy diver but my vision is too bad. there are many trade skill jobs that are desirable skills in and out of the military (for example construction, welding, electrician, nuclear technician, mechanic) also, i think i can get at least a couple thousand dollars signing bonus because i have 4 years of college credits (but who knows)

- the montgomery GI bill will pay for a couple tens of thousands of dollars towards any education i choose after or during the military, i can go back to school for free and find something i really enjoy, i can finish my biology degree and/or go for something completely different.

-discipline, grow as a person. get to move up in rank by working hard. getting to say i have done and seen some cool shit. get to experience something new and challenging, get to see new places and hopefully travel.

-help me find a career. i am a semester away from graduating college but i have no experience or job references pertaining to my field. finding a job i want right now is more or less impossible because i lack experience and references. i am not a very outgoing person and its hard for me to go "job hunting", i just feel like a bitch and i hate the whole experience of having to suck up to employers for a pay check. the military is dieing for jobs and all i have to do is show up and work hard and i feel like i will be taken care of. i am good at following orders and being respectful.

cons:
-feeling like i have lowered myself to joining the military because i have no better options, telling my friends and family that i will be gone for a couple years

-a repressed military life.

-signing a 3-6 year contract, being trapped in a situation that i might very well dislike. only getting a month leave per year. its hard to imagine that i wont be a "free man" again until im in my later twenties.

-possibility of seeing combat

-being trapped with a bunch of psychopathic meat head conservatives, being the victim of verbal abuse. i feel like boot camp will be like all the worst parts of high school except 100 times worse. alot of people there will likely be just out of high school dumb asses

- (relatively speaking) low pay

-being forced to wear military issue prescription glasses which might make me the victim of verbal abuse at bootcamp.

anyway, if you guys can offer me any advice or experience go ahead. im just considering it at this point.

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matthew munari