If you had talked to me on Monday morning, I was feeling pretty good. I felt like I had most things that were stressing me out figured out, I could manage to go grocery shopping and cook for myself. One of my professors told me I was on the right track for the career path I wanted to pursue, and I was going to talk to an Air Force recruiter when I got done with class to see if I really was going to be able to become an officer after college.
I was in the recruiters office for about 20 minutes total. Everything looked great, I didn't have any injuries or any other issues that would keep me out of the military, and then he asked me what I was studying. Political Science with a minor in Russian Studies. I had told him I wanted to work in military intelligence, and with everything that I had been researching, it seemed like I was doing pretty much exactly what I needed to do to make that happen. And then he said this:
"Right now the Air Force is only taking Officers with STEM degrees, and out of that it's mostly Engineering."
Oh.
He told me it was just with all of the budget cuts, and that if I came back a year from now, when I was closer to graduating things might be different, but if I only wanted to be an officer then at this point in time, it was the end of the road.
Great. Then, to top off that disappointing news, I hadn't even put my car in drive before it broke down in the parking lot. In North Charleston. 45 minutes away from downtown, on a rainy afternoon, right before rush hour. Needless to say I was not a happy camper. Thankfully between USAA and some awesome friends and my amazing family, that all got taken care of. And then Tuesday came. Time to hit the books and get ready for all of the midterm assignments that will have me locked in my room until next weekend. Until of course, I managed to mess up cooking bacon and set off the fire alarm in my building, causing CofC fire and EMS as well as the Charleston Fire Department to have to come, and getting called to go talk to them in front of everyone who had had to evacuate the building five minutes earlier. Oh joy. At least it was at one in the afternoon and not when everyone was trying to go to sleep.
After these little hiccups in the last couple of days, you can definitely say I don't feel like I have things figured out the way I thought. I mean, I can't even cook bacon? Seriously? I've been cooking since I was 10. Not cool. I did realize something though, just like everyone else has been telling me, I still have options. It's not the end of the world and the best part: I don't have to have it all figured out yet. That's part of what college is for and I'm only halfway through. Now that's an actual relief.
