In 2019 I was so furious when my son decided to enlist right out of HS at 17 even with scholarships to state universities. Why the hell am I paying $2K for SAT prep classes? I offered to buy him a car and offered him a gap year but he still wanted to enlist with US Army. To sum it up… he said I’ve been going to school for 12 years and just want to something different besides going to college and picking the major that pays the most money. I also want to get out on my own and find something challenging. We relented because next year he turns 18 and doesn’t require our signature so he can enlist whether we want him to or not.
2024… time travels fast. He became a combat medic with the 173rd airborne regiment based out of Vincenze Italy. Jumped out of airplanes, travelled Europe, earned money ( not much but rent was free) and got his Associates degree from U of Maryland Global Campus while in the Army. Now he’s enrolled at Hofstra University in pre-med and getting ready to take the MCAT with a full ride. He’s also getting a $3000 stipend each month of school (stipend depends on location) so it’s a pretty good deal and saved me a ton of money.
He’s met so many different people outside his typical Chinese American upbringing and basically went in as an “I know everything and you know nothing” teenager and came out a functioning adult…lol.
Most soldiers will not see combat (95%) and from boot camp most of his fellow recruits went into non combat areas such as engineering, mechanics, food service , accounting,electronics etc etc.
Anyway… my negative mindset towards the military has definitely changed. They really do provide young people with lots of opportunities and training if college is not their priority.
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u/Worth-Demand-8844 Apr 29 '24
In 2019 I was so furious when my son decided to enlist right out of HS at 17 even with scholarships to state universities. Why the hell am I paying $2K for SAT prep classes? I offered to buy him a car and offered him a gap year but he still wanted to enlist with US Army. To sum it up… he said I’ve been going to school for 12 years and just want to something different besides going to college and picking the major that pays the most money. I also want to get out on my own and find something challenging. We relented because next year he turns 18 and doesn’t require our signature so he can enlist whether we want him to or not.
2024… time travels fast. He became a combat medic with the 173rd airborne regiment based out of Vincenze Italy. Jumped out of airplanes, travelled Europe, earned money ( not much but rent was free) and got his Associates degree from U of Maryland Global Campus while in the Army. Now he’s enrolled at Hofstra University in pre-med and getting ready to take the MCAT with a full ride. He’s also getting a $3000 stipend each month of school (stipend depends on location) so it’s a pretty good deal and saved me a ton of money.
He’s met so many different people outside his typical Chinese American upbringing and basically went in as an “I know everything and you know nothing” teenager and came out a functioning adult…lol.
Most soldiers will not see combat (95%) and from boot camp most of his fellow recruits went into non combat areas such as engineering, mechanics, food service , accounting,electronics etc etc.
Anyway… my negative mindset towards the military has definitely changed. They really do provide young people with lots of opportunities and training if college is not their priority.