College drop out blues

MossRoad · Jan 28, 2010

Sigarms said:
For your own children, IMO the military is never a bad option, just as long as that's what the person enlisting wants to do.

And that is most likely the problem... the kid does not yet know what he wants to do.

Enlisting in the military because you do not know what you want to do is just as mistaken as going to college because you think you should stay in school but have no idea what you want to do. A young person should not make such huge life altering decisions based on not knowing what they want to do.

mjarrels · Jan 28, 2010

Now days... even the Military is tough to join!

mark

pennwalk · Jan 28, 2010

It's a pretty sad story. I talked to his older brother yesterday. He thinks his brother intends to hang out at home and eat , sleep and party for a while. Apparently he can reapply to school in the fall. His dad died when he was little and we knew it would be hard for these kids but this is looking bad.

Chris

Western · Jan 28, 2010

I wouldn't write the youngsters future yet..He's doing what 9 billion young'ins have done before him and wasting some "youth"..

Sounds like you are involved in his life, but there is so much you can do. He might have to "stubb" his toe a few times..

Now if his "parting" starts to involve marijuana, cocaine or the like, be VERY afraid, this may be a sign he will go into politics! I don't think one can recover from that...

MossRoad · Jan 28, 2010

pennwalk said:
It's a pretty sad story. I talked to his older brother yesterday. He thinks his brother intends to hang out at home and eat , sleep and party for a while. Apparently he can reapply to school in the fall. His dad died when he was little and we knew it would be hard for these kids but this is looking bad.

Chris

Yeah. Mom needs to tell him he can eat, sleep and party on the weekends like the rest of us. He needs to get a job and pay rent to his mom until he goes back to school. Mom can either use it to pay for his food or save it for him and help him pay for his college as he goes.

After my wife graduated from college she got a job and lived with her folks for a few years while waiting for me to finish school so we could get married. Her folks charged her rent. It was minimal, but rent none the less. She had responsibilities and met them. They had a deal to pay off half her student loans and she would pay the other half. They used her rent money to help pay the loans down.

That was very generous of them.

Ridgewalker · Jan 28, 2010

For what it's worth;

My 18 year old son is going to a jr. college full time, works 30 + hours a week, buys his own food, textbooks and gas.

As long as he is in school he understands we will cover auto insurance and help with tuition. If he drops out he will have to pay rent and cover his insurance.

Giving a kid a free ride isn't the best thing for them, things that come too easy don't have as much value as things you worked to get.

MossRoad · Jan 28, 2010

Ridgewalker said:
For what it's worth;

My 18 year old son is going to a jr. college full time, works 30 + hours a week, buys his own food, textbooks and gas.

As long as he is in school he understands we will cover auto insurance and help with tuition. If he drops out he will have to pay rent and cover his insurance.

Giving a kid a free ride isn't the best thing for them, things that come too easy don't have as much value as things you worked to get.

That is a great thing you are doing with him. I say "with" because it is a joint venture. He'll appreciate it so much more later in his life.

2manyrocks · Jan 28, 2010

I remember a guy in college who worked at the local Pepsi bottler to put himself through college. He ended up running the thing, expanded the territory, merged with a bottler in an adjoining territory and did very, very, very well. I know another lady who was a single mom with a baby. She didn't have a baby sitter and took the baby to class, and got a warning from her professor that if the baby made a peep........he didn't. She got her degree and now has a good career. I have the highest respect for the students who are working their way through school.

quackaddict · Jan 29, 2010

Now days... even the Military is tough to join!

Obviously you haven't seen some of the folks in the Army lately. I'm pretty sure you just need a pulse and to over 18. God bless the military, is all I've got to say on that note.

WH401 · Jan 29, 2010

quackaddict said:
Obviously you haven't seen some of the folks in the Army lately. I'm pretty sure you just need a pulse and to over 18. God bless the military, is all I've got to say on that note.

Actually, because of the state of the economy now, the army is able to pick and choose who they feel will be the best soldiers. Just a few years ago they were having to accept people who, for example, didn't have GED's, (they would put them through a quick course first to obtain it), or people who weren't initially physically fit. Now with the economy in the tank, and more people out of work, the military has seen a large increase in the number of enlistee's. So much so that now they're able choose the, "cream of the crop," so they say, as far as soldiers go.

Either way though, we wouldn't be having this discussion right now if it weren't for the military. They're all better men and women than me.