My life?

[occustudent]

So I wanna see what you guys think about my plan for life. After I graduate High School Im planning on enlisting in the Army, saving every bit of money that comes my way, using their college system to get a degree in teaching, get certified as a teacher and start an alternative school in the Boston area and do the best I can to bring down the current system and replace it with one that works to actually help the student learn freely. If I do a 8 year stint in the Army I can save around $80k up and get around $50k from the Army for college. plus there are health care and tax benefits I can take advantadge of. My only problem with this is my family- My dads an officer in the Navy- enlisted straight out of HS, out of neccesity, not choice- and my moms a teacher. They will probably disown me if I do this and I do love them and don't want that. Any advice?

P.S.I figure this belongs in the part about Alt. Learning and Income but if it doesn't- oops, noob mistake

[Stadium]

Army? Fucking seriously?

[fish20]

Good luck!

[occustudent]

Hey, I hate war as much as the next anti-war activist. What better way to help end it by joining it? Most anti-war activists Ive met are vets. yes there are the students and others but the ones that really count to the media and the politcians are the vets. they have the biggest impact there. and besides, i bet ill learn a ton of things i can use on the streets with the pigs.

[gore goroth]

Quote:Hey, I hate war as much as the next anti-war activist. What better way to help end it by joining it?

That old cleshay of changing the system within the system is bullshit. Imagine how many people have gone to Iraq thinking that and ending up leaving disappointed at how little they can really do. When you are serving as just grunt (because you didn't go to college to be an officer) your job is to shut up and follow orders. It does not matter whether they are right or wrong. For all you know you will go and be told to kill civilians. Not likeley, but it still could happen. And if you refuse to do that or pull a Bradley Manning you will be labeled a traitor to your country and no one will listen to you.

Now if you have no other choice then to join the army because you dropped out or can't get a job otherwise then go for it. It should be a last resort. Just keep the above in mind.

And about the school... Good luck. You will need it because you will have to fight tooth and nail against the government in order to make your own schooling agenda.

[OCDemSchool]

I would seriously question getting training as a teacher if you want to start an alternative school. You will only be taught how to perpetuate the system we have. I don't think you'd learn anything useful, especially if you want to start something like a free school or a Sudbury school. Being a trained teacher can actually work against you because you have to completely forget everything you learned. Maybe think about pursuing psychology or communication studies, or even philosophy. You'll want to learn more about how people think and really learn, rather than what the education professor thinks about how to "teach." Hey, maybe even neuroscience, if you can find that as a BA.

[SoulRiser]

8 years in the army? Good luck, 8 years is a damn long time if you aren't enjoying yourself. Also, I would agree that teacher training is probably useless at best. Especially for an alternative school.

[Efs]

Don't listen to these people man, a career in the military can be fun and exciting!

[ContinuityMistake]

(04-18-2012 06:46 PM)Efs Wrote:  Don't listen to these people man, a career in the military can be fun and exciting!

But OP already stated s/he is an anti-war activist. I doubt they would enjoy the army if that is the case.

[Heil_Kaiba8921]

(04-18-2012 06:46 PM)Efs Wrote:  Don't listen to these people man, a career in the military can be fun and exciting!

This.

Plus, for everybody automatically assuming the only job in the military is to just grab a gun and go shoot people in foreign lands, what if he gets a job as a mechanic? Or a welder? Or even, heaven forbid, the guy that goes to each person's barracks and makes sure the wi-fi is working properly?

I honeslty don't like it when people associate ARMY with front lines, who do you think protects the gunners on the way over? Couldn't be the higher ups in the delivery helicopters could it? No, that'd be too easy, it's probably some super secret government force field that nobody can see, touch, or hear.

To the point now:

If you're going into the ARMY and don't want to see war, then i suggest you be a mechanic or the IT guy...or even a chef, because the only way they are chosen to fight is if we are at war and everybody else dies, plus those are probably the more "fun" jobs in the military.

I think you should talk to a recruiter about the various lengths of time, but I know that by just getting someone else to join, you can be jumped up to another paygrade and be making more money for whatever you choose to do.


sort of off-topic: I haven't decided if i'm going to stay in for life yet or not, because if i stay in for life then i get to retire at 34 and after that, if i get a government job and work to retirement again, i'll be getting 2 retirement checks and really be raking in some big money...then i'll be able to go down to Florida and see how many young girls like old guys (it's for science ok)

[Potato]

we don't need more desks and classrooms and teachers talking in the front of the room in this digital age, they shouldn't even exist to this point, don't add to the problem.

[Ahab]

Just know what you're getting yourself into. The army has screwed a lot of my friends over on what they promised them.

[SomeRandomHuman]

Dont go to the army. How about dropping out, working in a factory and then once you have a few thousand travel the world in an rv and park in wal marts. And get jobs in them too.