[joeythibault]

Cary should have saved his time and just said "join the navy". I'm not advocating military service. But if this student doesn't want to stay where he is, doesn't know what he wants to do and doesn't have the means to relocate, it's probably the most stable situation to let him think about his/her own future.

Just saying...

3 years on a boat or sub and he'll know EXACTLY what he wants to do (and will have a lot more means to act upon it).

[shpxnvz]

he'll know EXACTLY what he wants to do

I think it is more likely that after three years he'll know exactly what he doesn't want to do.

[joeythibault]

hahaha. touche.

[sokoloff]

The disaster of that plan is you may very well figure it out 3 months in, and then have a multi-year effectively prison sentence to serve out.

I have deep respect for those who do serve. I just don't think that recommending it as some kind of default "until you figure it out" is remotely a good idea.

[raintrees]

But when it really comes down to it, isn't almost anything a good thing to do "until you figure it out?"

The lessons we learn are to be found everywhere. Hindsight makes me laugh at how so many of my "lessons" were around me at all times, in even the most mundane things!

I keep forgetting that for me, it's all about the journey, not the destination.

[nostrademons]

I'd say it's much better to do things you can get out of "until you figure it out", because figuring it out often requires going down many blind alleys, and it's nice to be able to turn around and go back if you don't like one.

If I had to give advice to struggling young college grads who don't yet know what they want to do with their life, it'd be take a job. Any job, though you should preference ones that will expose you to new ideas and talented people. Go as far as you can with it, then if it's not working out, take another job. Repeat until you have a fair picture of what the working world is like, then start a company. It'll fail (first startups always do), but by then you should have a good idea of what you really want to do, so you can take the job that will most help you achieve that, and start another company a few years down the road.

Unfortunately, most directionless people either go to grad school or join the military, which are about the two worst things you can do. Because both are fairly hard to get out of, and if you find out 3 months in that it's not what you really want, the time spent in them is basically a big sunk cost.

[raintrees]

What about the lesson learned from commitment? That promises that have strings attached are important enough to require longer than normal consideration?

Although it could very well be considered a school of hard knocks, learning about x Year commitments at a younger age may help tremendously for same or larger commitments later in life (starting companies, buying a house, committing to a relationship, etc.).

If I choose something I know I can get out of fairly easily, I may not give it enough time to see it work, because I have an easy out.

(Insert reference to military leaders who have cut off their own forces' abilities to retreat here).

[nostrademons]

I think the lesson learned from commitment is very important, but I'm not sure that many 22-year-olds are in a position to learn that lesson.

The most valuable lesson I learned in college was in sticking it out and getting my degree even after it became apparent that I'd royally screwed things up and the administration was not going to let me graduate. However, had that lesson come a semester earlier, I would've said "To hell with it" and dropped out, 3.5 years and $100K sunk cost be damned. In fact, I did have a chance to learn that lesson 2 years prior, the first time I failed a physics course and considered dropping the major (and dropping out), and obviously didn't then.

For every person who emerges with their military service or Ph.D saying "It made me a stronger person," there're a bunch more that say "The government fucked me over" or "My liberal arts education made me utterly unemployable" or "I guess I'm just not cut out to be a researcher." You just don't hear about them, or when you do, you say "It's their own damn fault for not following through."

The same goes for military leaders who cut off their own forces' ability to retreat. You hear about the ones where glorious victories were achieved against all odds. You don't hear about the ones where the forces were slaughtered down to a man for nothing. (Or occasionally you do, and point and laugh at their arrogance, eg. Custer's Last Stand.)

[aplusbi]

>But when it really comes down to it, isn't almost anything a good thing to do "until you figure it out?"

In this case, no. Almost anything that doesn't have a predetermined length of service is a good thing t do "until you figure it out."

[HistoryInAction]

Strongly disagree. Most of the services, especially if you're a "catch" for them will go a long way to let you explore your interests on behalf of the country, whether that's a PhD program in an area with national defense implications (most of them) or testing new equipment. A "prison sentence" gives a great disservice to those who are adrift and choose to serve.

(Needless to say, the financial/educational benefits due to the updated GI bill are also quite attractive)