pull down to refresh
"tough sell for your parents" you got the main problem and that is an understatement.
college is non-negotiable. they only agreed to this gap year with terms. so i am trying to decide fast what to do.
even thinking some kind of military just to be able to move out and they teach you stuff. hate that this is on the list. still on it.
It's insane you're seriously treating the military like a trade school with free housing. It isn't there to teach you "stuff," it's a meatgrinder refined over centuries to turn young men into cogs. Each of them thought they'd stay themselves, each one of them either come out a soldier or it takes a piece of you -- moral, physical, or both. If you think you'll find a clever way through, you won't. I had a short mandatory stretch, no contract, young and stupid, figured I'd play with real guns and maybe learn the machines. I spent more time being punished than not. Health problems after.
Don't be a fucking idiot! Tell your friend to get the fuck out of that contract too. If your big problem right now is your annoying mom: you can walk out of your house. There, leaving is a criminal offense. You'll dream about the days when arguing at home was the worst thing in your life.
Read this. Say you read it. At least think. Reading the contract won't save you -- they had lawyers and years to write it. Even if you spot a clause, you are not the one who gets to change it. Get that plan out of your head.
To the actual question: right now I'm working on a pilot license, plus biology and chemistry. Telling you that only to show we all have our own reasons to learn things. Learn what feels like yours.
damn I’d much prefer my kid go to the trades over the military. a lot of military ppl end up going to the trades after. the military does have its benefits but with so many wars going on it’s scary. you can go to college for le trades but it’s not a requirement so that may help.
I agree with @xmr_plug my kids would not go into the military over a technical school for a skilled trade.
I'm not sure how military and skilled trades work in your country. I'm unfortunately Canadian hoping soon just an Albertan though.
If there is a path through Military that allows you to pursue one of the easier paths that is more technical and out of the war aspects that is legit.
Your job should be in this gap year then to gather all the information and present your cases to your parents.
They only hold their future in their hands if you don't fight for it or give them a reason not to.
If my kid came to me with a well thought out plan if respect that and the man he is becoming.
If there is a path through Military that allows you to pursue one of the easier paths that is more technical and out of the war aspects that is legit.
+1 on that ^^ line.
if there is a legit technical path through the military: signals, comms, mechanics, med, tech, logistics, cyber, whatever the local names are. A trade school with a uniform. But read the contract like it is hostile: they teach you a trade but they will own you...
Before you consider the military, consider the UCMJ. Has lots of fun stuff in it like article 134 the general article. Basically a catch all law that means they can prosecute you for nearly everything whether it's explicitly against the rules or not. You'll also have at least 4 years of no control over where you live, where you work, who you work with, who your boss is. Your first two years will most likely be as a glorified janitor for at least a third of the time. The military incentivizes most good and talented people to leave it so that means the people above you will likely be dumb, of low character, or have a lack of planning ability. Also, the US hasn't fought a single war since its founding on behalf of the betterment of its citizens. Maybe you could argue the First Barbary War, American Indian Wars, and the War of 1812. All the others are pretty objectively not in the interest of the US and are in the interest of the high echelons of the American empire. The US has never fought a defensive war pertaining to a threat on actual US soil and citizens in the 20th century. In Afghanistan the US allied with warlord pedophiles against religious fundamentalists. Those warlords engaged in a practice called bacha bazi which is the rape of young boys. The US military instructed service members to turn a blind eye to this and threatened to punish them if they spoke out or attempted to intervene. Furthermore, the recent wars have been revealed (even within popular discourse) to be based on bullshit. Ask any sand wars veteran if it was worth watching his friends get killed for the end result produced.
I recommend getting a job like construction or something (relatively high pay low barrier to entry), getting a small place on your own, and working towards a trade or your own business.
Also, plenty of people switch careers or switch what they do within a career. A career choice doesn't have to be a life sentence. You're not at the end of your life as an adult, you're at the beginning.
Consider checking this out. I still have to, but it seems up your alley:
https://www.amazon.com/Preparation-Become-Competent-Confident-Dangerous/dp/B0FLRKZCKL
yeah. thank you @OldNorseAnarchist and @samourai . looking at it again the military thought was a panic door. idk why it looked like an option for a second. i see the consensus here is it is worse shit, and my friend who was going that way is not sure anymore either. i am actually looking at living with roommates. checking out your video now.
do you mean farming? or like actual trades. do you think it will last long enough?