Maybe you guys can help me out. A while ago, back in August of 2004, I was already done with my junior year in high school and i was pressured into thinking that time was-a-tickin and now i had to think about my future. I had already taken the SATs but decided to take them again because i was so nervous about doing good enough to get into a college. Then the question arose: How the hell am i gonna pay for this college? My family is your regular ole middle class family but the college that i wanted, and was eventually accepted to, was going to cost 20 Gs a year!!! And then i got an idea....

I had heard from magazine articles and my older friends that the military wa a good place to earn money for college. So, i thought the military was my only hope, which come to find out i was completely oblivious that there were scholarships and loans i could have taken. So in October of 04 i had received a call from a recruiter from the Marine Corps. We had a little talk about a test I had taken earlier that year which had been a test for the military because i had threw around that idea a while ago. So he invited me to his office for a meeting.

Well we talked and i had thought about how not only will i get help for college but i'll keep my family's tradition of all the males in my family joining the military. ( My father was in the air force in his country, 2 of my uncles were in the Marines, another uncle was in the Navy, and another 2 of my uncles were in the army in tier country.) So i had mde my decision and joined the Marines.

Back to present day..Its almost time for the big day: My shippin off to bootcamp. I leave at the end of June, soon after i graduate. I had applied for student aid and recieved a scholarship from the university itself for a half tuition reward, which means it is only 10 Gs a year. Not only that but the Marines are giving me a 20,000 dollar signing bonus. So now that my financial situation is taken care of, i have no regrets. Evryone i tell my stoy to thinks I'm crazy for joining, but they don't understand that it's my decision, not theirs. This is what i truly want to do.

After completing bootcamp I hope to finish college and eventually become a state cop. And after that my ultimate goal is to work for a government agency like the FBI or CIA, something along those lines. So thats my story. I wanna know what you guys think, even if you do think i'm nuts I'd like to know what your thoughts are.