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I'll probably get downvoted for this, but my advice: If you're graduating from high school and don't know what you want to do for a living, join the military -

by jcadam 9y ago

I'll probably get downvoted for this, but my advice: If you're graduating from high school and don't know what you want to do for a living, join the military - it'll grow you up fast and will provide you with great options for financing your education once you do figure it out.

maccard 9y ago
I'm not going to downvote you for it, but this is terrible advice. If you're graduating form high school and don't know what you want to do for a living, don't make a multi-year commitment to a job that has a very significant chance of ruining your life. You can get out of waiting tables after 12 months if you want to, but you can't just drop out of the army, and waiting tables has a significantly smaller chance of removing one or more of your limbs.
- no_one_ever 9y ago
  Your cautionary advice could also be directed to students who are unsure what they want to study and willing to go into serious debt to aimlessly explore. Sure you sign a year-long contract, but the military pays for it.
- solatic 9y ago
  Depending on where you get your figures from, somewhere between 80-85% of the jobs in the US military are non-combat, where there is as little risk of losing a limb as there is going about your day-to-day civilian life and losing a limb in a car crash. If you didn't find something in your breadth-but-not-depth high school studies that grabbed your interest to the point where you decide that it's worth pursuing a four-year college commitment to study it in further depth, I struggle to understand how twelve months in a minimum wage job (a repetitive daily routine that affords you little if any spending money) would help clarify a direction.
- AnimalMuppet 9y ago
  And while waiting tables, you might consider community college. It's a lot cheaper way to try some things and figure out what you want.
ejp456 9y ago
I did this and I have no regrets. The G.I. bill is great.
CalChris 9y ago
Agreed. The military can be a fine gap couple of years. My brother did that after a year of college and he was already doing quite well. The mistake he made was a 4 year enlistment which is a long time when you are young. And then there's inactive reserve. And then there's the backdoor draft that Bush+Cheney used in the GWOT. So while it can be a fine choice, be careful. https://www.thebalance.com/what-the-recruiter-never-told-you-3332715 https://www.thebalance.com/what-the-recruiter-never-told-you...

by jcadam 9y ago

maccard 9y ago

I'm not going to downvote you for it, but this is terrible advice. If you're graduating form high school and don't know what you want to do for a living, don't make a multi-year commitment to a job that has a very significant chance of ruining your life. You can get out of waiting tables after 12 months if you want to, but you can't just drop out of the army, and waiting tables has a significantly smaller chance of removing one or more of your limbs.

no_one_ever 9y ago
Your cautionary advice could also be directed to students who are unsure what they want to study and willing to go into serious debt to aimlessly explore. Sure you sign a year-long contract, but the military pays for it.
solatic 9y ago
Depending on where you get your figures from, somewhere between 80-85% of the jobs in the US military are non-combat, where there is as little risk of losing a limb as there is going about your day-to-day civilian life and losing a limb in a car crash. If you didn't find something in your breadth-but-not-depth high school studies that grabbed your interest to the point where you decide that it's worth pursuing a four-year college commitment to study it in further depth, I struggle to understand how twelve months in a minimum wage job (a repetitive daily routine that affords you little if any spending money) would help clarify a direction.
AnimalMuppet 9y ago
And while waiting tables, you might consider community college. It's a lot cheaper way to try some things and figure out what you want.

ejp456 9y ago

I did this and I have no regrets. The G.I. bill is great.

CalChris 9y ago

Agreed. The military can be a fine gap couple of years. My brother did that after a year of college and he was already doing quite well. The mistake he made was a 4 year enlistment which is a long time when you are young. And then there's inactive reserve. And then there's the backdoor draft that Bush+Cheney used in the GWOT. So while it can be a fine choice, be careful. https://www.thebalance.com/what-the-recruiter-never-told-you-3332715 https://www.thebalance.com/what-the-recruiter-never-told-you...