Military vs College

Which should you choose: Military or a Four Year College plan? In this article, I will talk about the differences between taking a four-year college course and going into the military. I would like to address five main topics in these articles. First is your future career. Second, being family. The third will be money. Then as fourth, we will have commitment. Last but definitely not least we will have to experience life. I believe that these are the five most important aspects of choosing the course you wanna go into.

I am starting with your future career because I believe that it should be the most important aspect you think about. In the military, you learn one course to continue with throughout your time there. They will train you in the area of expertise you want. What helps determine what you get trained in is the section you choose to go into. There are seven different areas you can go into. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard, and National Guard are your seven different options. Choosing your Career in college is a lot different. You have full say about what you want to get your degree in, but your first decision is not final. You can also start your first year by taking a bunch of different classes to find what you are interested in. Another thing is that you have so many more options at college compared to the military. So the future careers for these two paths are totally different.

Family is a huge part of life, like HUGE. When in the military staying connected with family is really hard, because you are deployed all the time. You only get to see your family when you aren’t deployed. You can call them. Military.com says that you can send videos of you to family members or you can make them dog tags. With college, it is a lot easier to contact the people you miss. You are home for your breaks and if you go to a close college you could keep living at home while still getting your degree. You have the ability to call whenever you want and face time. Also, you can take classes online. Family is big, but maybe you think both are great remember these are just facts, the choice is all you.

Money sadly is one of the biggest things in our world. With the military, you are earning money right away. Depending on where you are ranked in your job, the higher or lower your payments will be. With college, you lose money. Depending on your scholarships and what school you are going to you the money you have to pay varies. Sometimes you can get jobs on campus or around campus. If you can’t afford it right away you can take out student loans and pay them back once you have a degree and job. Although you lose money, in the long run, there is a good chance you will make better money then if you had been in the military. So it depends on how you look at it. If you have people to support you would probably wait for college but if not college would be a great course.

Commitment has a part in life everywhere. As I mentioned previously in Career when you chose your career at college you aren’t stuck, my sister changed from an Accounting degree to one as a Math Teacher. You also can stop in the middle of college if money is tight and continue later. With the military, you make a contract that can range from 10 years to 1 year. You also will have a hard time getting onto another course afterward. The difference in the commitment of going into the military and going to college is drastic.

The last main topic I wanted to discuss is to experience life. Now, most people would think this is a weird one, but I felt it needed to be in here. With college, you have more of a chance to travel. You will have great chances to meet new people, but also you just get to experience life as a twenty-year-old without the burden of a full-time job. With the Military sure you will meet new people, but you probably won’t get to travel as much though unless you count moving around for your job and never settling down. Also at age twenty, you will be off doing your job without a chance to experience life that much. So it really depends on your dreams with this aspect.

If you are trying to decide between college and the military, I hope you take the aspects of your future career, family, money, commitment, and just life overall into consideration. Those were all the topics I discussed in this article if you felt there is another one I need, please comment.