To Join or Not to Join??

I have not been in the military but I did completely change my career from Stock Broker to Sign Language Interpreter when I was 34 yrs old. I was very good at being a Financial Advisor & made a lot of money. But I hated being stuck in an office & stressed out all the time. I love sign language and decided to go for it. I threw away 20+ years experience & several licenses but I have never been happier! I love my job. Life is too short to do something you dont enjoy. So I say if you find something you think you will enjoy, GO FOR IT!

Go to a career counselor at your local university. They can help you assess your skills, interests and education. They may be able to suggest career paths of interest to you and help you decide what you need to do to get on the path to the career you want. I know that the university where I live has free career counseling for adults who live around the community. They do not need to be attending the university. Maybe you have something like this where you live?

I know I'm a guy, but maybe I could help. If you are looking for a career or just an opportunity to explore other options the military is a wonderful option. My sister-in-law had the navy pay for her to go back and become a dentist. She's in Japan now. I think the most exciting part is they will send you to school, pay you to be a student and then give you the experience to come out and be employed in the private sector. The army is in huge need for nursing right now and that might be a great opportunity for you.

I would worry how this would work if you have children, though.

I think they raised the age limit to 41. You'd have to be in pretty good physical shape. Keep in mind joining now will have you in with 18 and 20 yr old s (so I'm not sure you'd get away from a high school mentality). You might want to take a look at the Reserves. Besides Army, there's Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard (and Marines). A recruiter can get you a lot of information.

I would agree with some of things said here. Better to go in with a college degree and become an officer from the start. Second, my ex Army veteran husband always tell people go the airforce if given a choice. Everything about the airforce is just nicer and better than any of the other branches in his opinion anyway. Good luck with whatever you do.

If you are going to join the military I would strongly encourage you to complete your degree prior to joining. That way you can enter as a commissioned officer which means a higher pay and rank. The following website should give you some basic info:

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/u/joini...

This is a tough situation to answer a simple yes or no. The millitary is a lifestyle that doesn't suit every person. The good thing is that you have no kids, husband or attachments as the Military will always be #1. This is part of the lifestyle that is accepted when a person joins the military. I believe you are still age-eligible, but a bad thing is that you will probably be one of the older recruits and still be surrounded by high-school immaturity for awhile anyway. I am an Air Force brat, so my perspective is better than a civilian, but not as good as somebody who actually serves. It's probably worth your time to just have an informal visit with a Recruiter. It would be good if you could talk with an actual servicemen.

Do it - it will be great for you.

I don't know if the Army at your age is a good choice, but I don't know what you want or what they accept.....

With that being said, I think you need to sit down and decide what you would like to do..........really think about it........what is the dream career for you? Is it nursing? Paralegal? Travel? What do you think would be fun, and you would like to do..............then look into schooling and go for it........no matter what anyone else says...........

You deserve to do what you think is right for you.....it sounds like to me that you have given plenty to your siblings and now it's your turn to do something for you.........SO DO IT! You are still young and you can do whatever you want...........so many careers out there for you to choose from.......I wish I had the choices you do..........I wanted to go back to school too, but I ended up with my hubbies kids too and 4 kids, a house and a job was too much to do.........but you can do it!

Good Luck and hang in there...........talk to a college counselor and see what they think for you..........but either way, the time is now!

Take care.

I would do your homework. Talk to people, get on the internet, etc. Get all the information that you can BEFORE seeing a recruiter; some are honest and some are not. Find out about the jobs - the good, the bad and the ugly. Decide whether or not you want to be on ships or subs, etc. My personal choice would be Navy or Air Force, but each person must decide that for themselves, after doing the research. I was in the Navy for almost 9 years. I do not regret it. As most have said, it will NOT get you away from the immaturity. I was 23 when I went in, and I was one of the older ones. However, that was 15 years ago. I would have retired if I had not married and had children. I wanted to make them my priority.

I went into the reserves first, then when I decided that I liked it I changed to active duty. That gave me a chance to see what it was like, and whether or not it was for me. Note: I went during a time of "peace" not a war. That will make a difference. The military is not for everybody.

They have programs that can help you with school. They will help you finish, then you serve as an officer for a certain number of years. Again, do your homework. I would not depend solely on the recruiters for information.

A.,
I have not been in the military. My husband was USMC and he always says "if I had stayed in I would have been out with a pension my by now" so that's O. thing--by the time you'd be 52 you'd have a full pension from the Army. (I believe it's 20 and out.)
However, with the current war, I would not join the army in 2010.
But it's a personal decision.
I do think that, because you have surrendered much of your life to the care of your siblings, it IS time to do something for YOU!
I would definitely finish your degree. It gets harder to stay focused as you get older but you have a better idea of what you want when you're done!
Best of luck!

I was in the Army and regret getting out but because I was put out on medical the wavers I would have to get to join again would not be easy.
If I was single with no kids I would go for it but since I got out I've had two kids.
I met my husband in the Army so you never know.

Here's a site to get information on joining
http://www.armydomain.com/info/usa/eligibility

I Loved being in the Army is gave me a real since of purpose. I felt like I was actually doing something that mattered.

I am 37 and have a 4 yr old step daughter. I have been going to college part time to obtain a master's in Occupational Therapy. I was also trying to work and found all the juggling to be stressful and felt guilty about missing time with Emma. I am now working as a hairstylist from home and decided to go to school full time so I can get finished sooner. Money is much tighter but everyone is so much happier. School is VERY hard but so rewarding. It helps if you study what you are interested in. I did a lot of research on line when choosing a path for my future. Whatever I did I wanted to make certain that financially it would provide for my entire life. Talk to people who are now out of the military to see how they are doing. Will the sacrifice be rewarding for YOU? I researched all of the career choices I was interested in on government web sites. I looked at starting and ending pay in my city and availability of future positions, and chose this one due to the fact that I will love the work and the pay is great. There are no lack of positions available and it will weather the economy. I won't have to worry about layoffs, unemployment, health benefits and retirement. Rather than looking at the now I had to think about the future and my families future. Life is tough no matter what you choose. If it isn't challenging then it's probably not rewarding!

It depends on why you want to join. Write down all the pros and cons and do what works best for you. Consider if you want to be married later and have children, how will that affect your choice now. 10yrs from now, you will be 42, would you want to be in the army at that defining moment and would you feel accomplished. If you're going for education benefits, consider whether a regular school/college would pay off better in the long term? Good luck on your decision and don't just say you want to join, research, research and plan...All the best