<p>i come from a family with financial difficulties. within my family, my father and several other family members have served the military. whenever finances start to become a significant obstacle, my parents often suggest the possibility of dropping out of school and joining the military. i have considered it, and i do not see myself happy being in the army. the only way i see myself happy is staying in an academic environment so that i can grow intellectually and interact with my intellectual peers. so i press on despite the hardships. but it's still hard not to ponder the possibility of giving up of school and joining the military because it would be easier for the family in terms of finances.</p>
<p>You don’t have to choose one or the other. You could join the army and then go back to school. However, you also shouldn’t join the army just for money. It’s a lifestyle choice, and not just a 9-5 job as you probably already know. You might only be in for a few years (unless you decide to make a career of it), but what happens in those few years may change you greatly. What kind of a school do you go to now? Do you have other cheaper state school options? Are you a freshman, sophomore?</p>
<p>I joined the national guard junior year of high school. I was deployed and now I go to a top 15 school of which the DVA and Army pays all my tuition for. I get compensated monthly so basically room and board and books are paid for with me having to work no more than one weekend a month. I get an extra bonus for doing rotc also. I originally joined the Army to pay for college and got a fat bonus for doing so. But it’s changed me and I’ve become more committed to everything I do. I hold office for several clubs and in my Fraternity. </p>
<p>If it weren’t for the Army I wouldn’t be able to go to the school I go to now. If you are serious talk to a recruiter. I hear Air Force is the easiest but just so you know eligibility requirements are a lot more stringent now compared to a couple years ago. There’s a surplus of members now so they will disqualify you for anything you can think of.</p>
<p>I’ve been recently been made aware of Ivy league schools trying to bump up veteran recruitment in their classrooms so if you want to serve overseas and go to a prestigious school afterward, you get the best of both worlds. I’m thinking about transferring myself.</p>
<p>Also you don’t have to be active in the service. You can be reserves like me and just do the one weekend a month thing and two weeks in the summer. I believe this is the best choice for myself because it brings an extra dynamic to a person. I can be attending classes one day and then the next day I’m going over a CONOPS for a group of soldiers for a mission. I can get a regular job like anyone else after I’m done with school.</p>
<p>the military is a wonderful option for many students, and not a wonderful option for others. Definitely worth looking into, and look into ROTC at your school as well.</p>
<p>Yes, before I had gotten my life together. </p>
<p>You might consider ROTC or the Reserves/National Guard by the way. With the latter, talk to the recruiter about a spilt-op enlistment so you can split your training over two summers (since the shortest training, infantry, takes like 5 months including boot camp). They offer it for high schoolers but I think college students can do it too.</p>
<p>Are you a perfect human specimen with regard to your health? I know people disqualified from serving any military force due to past surgery, asthma as a child after age 13, problem with bones in the toes, etc. It seems like almost any little thing can be a reason. If you are not absolutely perfectly healthy, just know it’s not a sure bet. Oh, and if you take anti-depressants, that’s another one. Certain meds also raise flags. School may not help your family financially now, but think of the opportunities your degree will help you be able to pursue later. Could you maybe work and go to school part time for a while, instead. The degree will definitely be worth it down the road.</p>
<p>“The degree will definitely be worth it down the road.”</p>
<p>That depends on the degree. And how much was borrowed to pay for it. </p>
<p>Just keep your mind open and realize that the experience your older family members had will not be the same as it is now. So do your own research and questioning. If you don’t see yourself being happy, then you will need to consider more affordable schooling options.</p>
<p>Nope. I’ve never thought of joining the military either. It’s a really, really big decision, and not something to go into after just a moments thought. Both my parents were in the army (it’s actually how they met) and from their stories and my experience growing up as an “army brat,” I know it’s a choice I could never make.</p>
<p>I never really thought about trying to join the army since (I am quite the pacifist). And I always saw college as a goal for me, no matter what I wanted to do. I do have a lot of respect for those who choose to go the military route, although I have friends who seem like they did it on a whim, which I think is bananas. It’s a big commitment and they chose to try it out because college didn’t really work out for them the first time around. My dad was in the military for awhile, but he was drafted.
I have thought about the Peace Corp but they usually don’e take people without a degree I guess. So maybe after college, but I go back and forth on that. At least I have more thinking time.</p>
<p>I think the minimum time you have to put in for active duty is 4 years. It’s only then that you get the benefits of the GI Bill. Besides, with all the troops’ support in downsizing the military, I wouldn’t count on the benefits to remain as generous as they are now.</p>
<p>The fact is, joining the military could pay for college. It will take longer and there are some obvious risks, such as death in battle, that you need to do some hard thinking on. What you have to do is consider some other choices that you may not have realized are there.</p>
<p>You can put yourself through school. There are a huge number of people out there that work part time and go to school part time. That doesn’t always work for every university, but it is a very valid option. People with regular day jobs and those with families will spend the majority of their days at their job and do classes at night. It is not as fun as going to school all day and then only worrying about study and social time the rest of the hours.</p>
<p>There are also student loans and financial aid grants available that will get you through college. As long as it is not a private school that is too costly, those funds will get you through the college years in record time.</p>
<p>No one ever said is was going to be easy to go to get a higher education. It takes sacrifice and a huge amount of dedication. Maybe it is time to take on more of the responsibility so that your family is not suffering under the financial burden. You can ease some of that burden through student loans, not that you have to fund the entire amount this way and go into a busload of debt, but some things can be paid for that way.</p>
<p>It is true that being in a learning environment is very nice. Surrounded by academia and being intellectually fulfilled can be very invigorating. Maybe you might want to end up as a teacher at a nice college to stay within this realm. It is important to understand though that you will probably have to work harder than you can imagine to get there because of financial issues. Of course that does make getting through it that much sweeter.</p>
<p>I’ve thought of dropping out of school sometimes, but never to join the military. Then I start thinking that the job opportunities would be almost non-existent for me, other than like being a waitress. So yeah, I think about dropping out, but I don’t plan to. If worst comes to wear, it’ll be community college.</p>
<p>“Veterans who have served at least 90 days of active duty service after September 10, 2001 and received an honorable discharge will qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill. To qualify for the full benefit a veteran must have served at least 3 years of active duty after September 10, 2001. Those who qualify for the Active Duty GI Bill, the Reserve GI Bill or REAP will have the option to choose which benefit best suits their need.”</p>
<p>it says 3 years to get full benefit of the GI Bill, but the minimum amount of time of active duty is 4 years. At least that’s true for the USMC. You can choose to do three years, and then opt to do the extra year later in life.</p>
<p>Also, most of the jobs in the military are non-infantry. You don’t have to worry about getting shot</p>
<p>I’ve definitely considered transferring, but I know that finishing is the best option. The only reason why I want to drop is if I’m taking really tedious gen eds, which make me question why i’m spending thousands a year to get educated. Some gen eds are good, but MOST of them I rarely learn anything from them.</p>