Second thoughts

[Cpl Keller]

Nobody else can decide if this is right for you or not. I knew at 17 i wanted to be a Marine, and shipped to boot camp 2 months after graduating high school. Yes, there was nervousness due to being away from home and "on my own" for the first time, but once we stepped off the bus at PI, there was no more time to worry about anything except following orders.

Best of luck whatever you decide.

[crazymjb]

Long time no post, but I'll pop in from time to time, especially when procrastinating on finals.

First of all, if you think you will regret it for the rest of your life, do it. If you hate your career, definitely go active duty, because the reserves won't be all that satisfying unless you are able to get a deployment in, which isn't the sure thing it once was. Finally, given your age and background, it's a tougher road but go officer. I used to be all about telling people to enlist first... and I think if you were 18 and were contemplating 4 years of college and OCS or enlisting, I'd say enlist, at least in the reserves, and then do OCS if you still want to down the road. At your age, with the degree, make OCS happen.

My background was a little over 6 years in the reserves and 1 pump to Afghanistan (you can probably still dig up my poolee posts from 2006ish around here) while I completed my degree in Biology. I got out before starting law school, and I'm now half way to becoming a lawyer. I'm planning on going back in at this point, but probably not USMC.

If you don't go officer and go the enlisted route, which I think will be a crappier path given your experience as an adult, I would say make sure you get the MOS you want. There is an attitude by some on this forum that you should just be happy to serve... that's true to an extent, but you can have it your way as well, and it's your life. As an officer your MOS selection would be based on merit... Plenty of my "selfish" friends and I selected the combat arms MOS's we wanted and did in my case one, in some of their cases 5-6-7 combat deployments.

best of luck, and feel free to PM me with any questions as I just stop by time to time. I'll try to check back between studying.

ETA: No idea how to change my Avatar, but I picked up Sergeant a few years back. Any mods who can fix that, would be much appreciated.

Mike

[LordViper]

When I joined the Marines, I was practically jumping on the recruiters desk, "make me a Marine!". "I want guarantee infantry!". "Do it Now!" I then joined the poolee club and was training every day. I would visit the recruiters office everyday after school just to look at his uniform, watch the videos and become immersed. I had zero hesitation! I fact I was so determined I could not hardly sleep for the nine months that I had to wait for boot camp. And when it came time to ship out, I was on the surf of a dream. There is only one reason for joining the Marines, you join because you cannot stay away. If you do not have those feeling, then I suggest trying something else.