Be All That You Can Be

It's an inaugural kind of week, isn't it? It's the first edition of Ask Bloggy, the online advice column for all your personal quandaries. Oh, and I heard we're swearing in a new president this week. So, let's get to it.

I am in a predicament. I'm 18 and about 6 months away from graduation. My problem is that i have no idea what i wanna do with my life as far as my career goes. I mean i have ideas what i wanna do but it seems to change every month. I have wanted to be everything from a brain surgeon one week to a construction manager the next. Lately i have really been looking into doing either the border patrol or the coast guard. I have a big desire to serve my country. I love the outdoors and action and i don't want an office job. That's why i figured these jobs would be great. I love America more than anything and want to keep it safe. Whenever I see the recruitment commercials for the border patrol or coast guard i get goosebumps. That's how i sorta know i really wanna do this. Anyways, i would just like some feedback of what i should do.

Thanks,

Daniel

You sorta know what you really want to do. If there's any phrase that sums up being 18, that's the one. But don't despair, Daniel. There's no such thing as an 18-year-old who knows what he or she wants to do. Even the ones that think they know what they want, don't.

The fact is, our society asks a lot of 18-year-old kids. And I don't mean it to sound like an insult when I say "kids". Everyone who lived through age 18 looks back and says, "Yeah, I was just a kid." Our culture asks people to go from the very controlled, insulated world of high school into a long series of life-changing decisions, and it's just as hard as it sounds.

The good news is, you seem to have some passion and some drive, Daniel. But before you go jumping into a uniform, there are some things to consider:

For nearly a decade now, joining the American military isn't what it used to be. Even domestic forces are getting funneled into overseas conflicts. Regardless of your politics, there's some serious soul searching you should do before signing an agreement to go fight in the desert. If soldiering is really what gets your blood flowing, the best thing you can do is to talk to some people who have really done it. Be careful not to bias yourself in one direction or the other. Some people have a great experience in the service, some wish they'd never walked into the recruiter's office. Do your best to poke around online and in real life to find some honest-to-goodness service-people. Don't, don't, don't make a major life decision based on a commercial. Those things are designed by expensive marketing companies with the express purpose of giving you goosebumps. Hell, they give me goosebumps and I wouldn't join the military for all the scotch in Speyside.

Of course, this isn't really a binary decision, Daniel. There are some middle-of-the-road options available to you. If you want a taste of the boots-and-rifles lifestyle but want to make room for your future as a brain surgeon, why not go to college and join the ROTC? It'll lighten the financial load of a university education, you'll meet a lot of great people with interests similar to yours, and you'll have a chance to do what all college students do: Explore.

Another action-packed option is to look into what it takes to be a law enforcement official of some sort. America always needs good cops who believe in the principles of Protecting and Serving. And heck, if you get tired of badges and cuffs, your experience in the field of criminal justice would be a nice segue into pursuing a life of lawyering.

So, to Daniel and to all those 18-year-olds with loads of ambition and a derth of certainty, remember to weigh those middle-of-the-road options. There's more than one way to live the life you want. Chances are, you'll have to pursue at least a few of them before you hit your stride.