Hey was wondering if i could get some advice from anybody who has gotten out of the infantry and gone to college. This is the deal, i got accepted to a university before i deployed but now that i am over here i really don't know if college will give me the same adventure the Marine Corps has given me. Ya i know the Marine Corps can be a real pain in the *** and i have said a thousand times "f%ck this **** i'm getting out." So if anyone has made the transition i would like to here what you think. Thanks Semper fi
Futhering your education is always a good bet as it broadens your horizons in a lot of different areas and you may find yourself interested in things you've never even thought of before.
School was tough at first because I found myself resenting my fellow students who were mostly straight out of high school with little to no real world life experience. I couldn't even stand hearing them speak as their questions and conversations in class seemed so juvenile and theoritical in nature.
But then I found myself fascinated by so many different subjects filled with so much data that I couldn't hardly wait to learn. Thats when everything started clicking and the thrill of simply learning new things kicked in.
I strongly encourage you to continue your education Brother. Learn everything you can because believe it or not, you'll actually use a lot of it in the workplace be it military or private sector. It's always better to know more than you have to if you ever truly want to meet life's challenges and succeed.
You've earned the experience, now learn simply to know and understand. Best of luck Devil Dawg. May you always find that which you seek.
Brother I'm right there with you. I'm in the BOOST program and about to be a college freshman in two months. I'm 24, a freaking infrantry grunt for a reason and haven't had a math class in 8 years before this 3 month BOOST course, that's basically just a fast refresher in basics and study habits.
Originally posted by samsiraq: Hey was wondering if i could get some advice from anybody who has gotten out of the infantry and gone to college. This is the deal, i got accepted to a university before i deployed but now that i am over here i really don't know if college will give me the same adventure the Marine Corps has given me. Ya i know the Marine Corps can be a real pain in the *** and i have said a thousand times "f%ck this **** i'm getting out." So if anyone has made the transition i would like to here what you think. Thanks Semper fi
Whaddya wanna know? I'm a senior in college now....
All I know is that college is a F-ing blast....in between classes. The GI Bill is an awesome source of income, BTW. Hope you put in for it AND the "kicker". Its definitely worth it.
Whaddya wanna know? I'm a senior in college now....
All I know is that college is a F-ing blast....in between classes. The GI Bill is an awesome source of income, BTW. Hope you put in for it AND the "kicker". Its definitely worth it.
+1
You'll see more good looking women in 30 seconds at college than you saw in a whole Marine Corps tour and you'll have a much easier time hooking up with them than some kid right out of high school.
I got out of the infantry a long time ago, went to college. At first I was kinda of worried, I thought everyone would be so smart. Then I found out most Marines are much smarter than the average college kid. It took time to adjust from a Grunt Battalion to college, but it does happen. Keep up the education. Eric
If you have a chance to go to college, take it! Or, you can get correspondence courses from the college to start your odessey while you are still in the USMC. In either case, the more education the better it is for you and for all that you are involved with.
If the Marines are what you really want, there are ROTC courses. Life is much better in the Corps as an officer, or as one of those guys that are in the planning sections and the technical fields. Being a Grunt gets old and sooner or later it is time to leave it to the younger men to do when those pains don't go away as fast as they used to do!
Furthering your education in nothing more than a win, win! Just my humble opinion!
Originally posted by Joe_Carey: correspondence courses from the college to start
My Advice, for WIW: If you do them, get the degree plan for the major you want and take the courses from the "core courses" (ie--the ones that EVERYONE has to take) at the freshman/sophomore level. Take the basic courses, get your math courses (Calculus I or II for example) outta the way. Yes math. It sucks big donkey balls and you probably wont remember alot of it. But when you get out, there will be kids coming right out of high school where it is fresh on thier minds and you are going to be left in the dust.
If the Marines are what you really want, there are ROTC courses.
Piss on that trash. Seriously, I tried that route and I was in for a year before I quit. ROTC is retarded at all levels. If you ARE planning on being an officer, just get your degree the old fashioned way and go to OCS afterwards. That is what I am doing. ROTC is nothing but a waste of time and college credits. Have fun while in college, don't waste it on stupid half-azz ROTC sh*t. Seriously, I know.
Furthering your education is nothing more than a win, win!
I went to a J.C. after I did my four. Find one that has an agreement between a four year university and the J.C. Be sure to ask the four year since they are the ones that will be accepting the incoming credits. A J.C. is cheaper so you can get your lower course work out of the way for less money. This route is also an easier transition than going straight from the Fleet to a four year university. I started off at San Diego City College, then finished my lower division work at College of the Redwoods. Now I'm a senior at Humboldt State. and I still have some G.I. Bill left.
It sounds like you want to do both, college and the military. So do both. Go to college and then go back in as an officer. Apollo is right about ROTC how the classes are super easy and retarded.
The classes arent really retarded its just that they're geared for students coming out of high school. SO you'd just be learning stuff you already know. That being said you will learn some good stuff. Maybe not the first two years but in the second couple of years you should at least learn some things. In anycase it's an easy A and a GPA booster. If you get a ROTC scholarship then it pays for all your books and tuition and pays you an additional stipend between 350-500 bucks a month (amount depends on if your a FR,SO,JR,SR) This makes all of your GI BILL free money. Between my GI BILL and my stipend I get 1,700 a month. So its like I have a job only I don't do anything.
As far as an ROTC scholarship it's super easy to get. Instructors have a hard on for prior-service guys and you could get it pretty easily.
Apollo is right in that if ROTC isn't your thing there's OCS, PLC etc. Overall college is awsome. There's more pretty girls here than you could imagine and they really like older guys. You'll have aleg up on your fellow Freshman guys in that aspect. There's so many degrees that everyone can find one that they're interested in. I go to a pretty patriotic type of school were there arnt any war protests or hippy marches so I havn't had any runins like that. Like someone else said at first people will piss you off because their 18 and don't have any real world experiences but for the most part college kids arnt that bad. I'm really glad I'm here. Im a Junior and it doesn't seem like its been just over three years since I got out.
Try to at least go half time in school. If you only take a 3 hour class for a regular semester the GI Bill will only pay tuition and fees. If you are half time or more the VA will pay you all the money you have coming including a "kicker" if you have that in your contract with USMC. If you are still on active duty you want to do the "$600 buy up" before you get out. That is one of the best things going...you pay an extra $600 into the MGIB and Uncle Sam will pay you up to $6000 extra for college. Tax free.
Actually one time I did run into some hippies well sort of. Last spring General Mattis came and spoke on our campus because he's an alumni at my school. And some of the hippie proffessors were pissed that our schools president would allow someone like him to speak on our campus and influence students like that. So they planned on having a hippy protest at the building where he was going to speak. Luckily we have a very pro-military president and basically said if those profs wanted a job the next day they wouldn't protest anything.
Still after his speech; which by the way he is one of the best public speakers I've ever heard; anyways when he was done there was some Q and A time. Some of those hippy fcks asked some pretty jacked up questions. General Mattis kept a pretty cool head. I would have told them to go fck themself but he stayed cool and respectfully answered their questions. Guess that's why he's a Gen. and I'm not.
Afterwards he had some beers with some of the vets at a local pub and it was pretty cool. Guess he got arrested there for being drunk in public back in 1971. Really awsome guy. Hope he's the next commandant.
on the negative side... alot of vets.. who have been in the ****.. tend to really end up missing it, and re-enlisting like me.. I wanna go back into the ****.. Its what im good at
Originally posted by cwubullrider: It sounds like you want to do both, college and the military. So do both. Go to college and then go back in as an officer. Apollo is right about ROTC how the classes are super easy and retarded.
The classes arent really retarded its just that they're geared for students coming out of high school. SO you'd just be learning stuff you already know. That being said you will learn some good stuff. Maybe not the first two years but in the second couple of years you should at least learn some things. In anycase it's an easy A and a GPA booster. If you get a ROTC scholarship then it pays for all your books and tuition and pays you an additional stipend between 350-500 bucks a month (amount depends on if your a FR,SO,JR,SR) This makes all of your GI BILL free money. Between my GI BILL and my stipend I get 1,700 a month. So its like I have a job only I don't do anything.
As far as an ROTC scholarship it's super easy to get. Instructors have a hard on for prior-service guys and you could get it pretty easily.
Apollo is right in that if ROTC isn't your thing there's OCS, PLC etc. Overall college is awsome. There's more pretty girls here than you could imagine and they really like older guys. You'll have aleg up on your fellow Freshman guys in that aspect. There's so many degrees that everyone can find one that they're interested in. I go to a pretty patriotic type of school were there arnt any war protests or hippy marches so I havn't had any runins like that. Like someone else said at first people will piss you off because their 18 and don't have any real world experiences but for the most part college kids arnt that bad. I'm really glad I'm here. Im a Junior and it doesn't seem like its been just over three years since I got out.
I PRAY FOR GENERAL MATTIS TO BE COMMANDANT!
I also pray that Sgt Major Justin Lehew is our next Sgt Major of the Marine Corps... He is like a modern day chesty puller
Wow his left peck must be way bigger than his right peck. Hey Trigg what part of WA are you from. Know what you mean about missing it. Not so much the **** part but I definately miss the comraderia part. I know that sounds phag-tastic but it's true. Feels like your actually accomplishing **** instead of just looking up girls skirts and getting drunk. Oh also I'm a fck-tard with computers. How the hell did you post a picture?
