Army vs University vs Drugs?

Question

To all who read,
Thank you for taking the time to consider my dilemma. Is the T.A. right for me?

My background:
I am a 20 year old male student studying at one of the top universities in the country. I left home at age 16 and started university last year at age 19. I have been totally disappointed with university life; having grown up on the ‘rough’ side I have enjoyed the company people that the majority looks down their noses at e.g. Chavs and migrants. I have grown up with the ‘street’ life. I have not been able to enjoy the company of the genre of people at my university; this has left me depressed and lonely on a daily basis during term time. During the Holidays I return home and get to enjoy the life again, primarily based around smoking a lot of cannabis with friends.

Lifestyle:
As pathetic as it may sound smoking pot with my friends is my life. Since the age of 13 I have been a stoner, I have had the occasional break, but without cannabis my life is incomplete; I am bored constantly, I can’t tolerate company, and the only activities I feel the drive to do is study and play chess – you may think this is a positive, but it is depressing. I do not smoke cannabis during the term time anymore as It has become unbearable mundane to get high on my own.

I am all most certain that if I lost the release of being able to come to my home town and get high with my friends during holiday times I would not be able to cope with the depressing life I have to endure during term time. I believe I have a drug problem (cannabis addiction) even though I can go months without it (being highly bored).

I don’t have much time to pursue activities other than study during term, with the T.A. being the only exception. I study a difficult course, which I was very lucky to get on; I am aiming for a first.

Motivation:
From a young age, like most other boys, I wished to join the army, with goals of becoming an officer. For a period I was like the others who say they will apply but do not until my girlfriend left me; this drove me to actually attend training sessions and apply with the Territorial Army.

Emotions:
Training with the guys was amazing, it was the only thing that saved me from the depressed feeling I had. I had felt a great sense of pride and excitement; I felt that soldiers were more the type of people I was comfortable around, not the middle class nerds and geeks at my uni. Sometimes I have felt a little out of place with the a couple people, but over all I wished I would quit uni and join the regular army… this feeling is now weaning.

Reasons:
I applied to the T.A. because I was unhappy and I stayed because it made me feel happy. I feel I applied for the wrong reasons. I feel ashamed to consider removing my application, and fear that I will not have a second chance in either T.A. or regulars if I decide to quit.

To stay
– It had made my first year of uni life bearable
– I want a job that is physically demanding
– It is impressive to my friends, most of which come from families where their father’s served in the military
– Pride/Impressive CV
– Get to shoot guns and jump from planes
– Free drivers licence
– Pay
– Ashamed to leave, fear that I will not get a second chance if my lifestyle changes.

To leave
– No longer get to hang out with friends/ will not be able to tolerate their company
– Constantly bored
– Can’t do what I enjoy the most (Getting high with my friends)
– No reason to look forward to my holidays
–I feel apprehensive between myself and another in my unit
– Time; the first year was a struggle for me, I spend 99% of my time studying ,whilst others would brag about going to the club and all other student life stuff, I felt that I still would not pass which caused me a lot of grief. I passed with a first, barely.

My biggest reason for quitting, as pathetic as it might seem, is cannabis; I can quit it for periods of time (i.e. during term), but I will certainly fail the drugs test at this moment in time (I am in my holiday, and I have been smoking heavily after my hiatus).

I also realise my second year at university may be significantly better than my first; new people who I might enjoy, stoners who might tempt me back to that. A lot could change.

I really just want to be able to enjoy my holidays, by doing the things I love.


Thank- you for your time and Answers.

Answer 1

Get off the dope and stay off it. When you know it's out of your system so it won't show up on any test then apply to the Army.

Answer 2

OK ding dong. I have nothing against pot smoking. I wish more people did as a general rule. People would be a little bit more mellow. But when you are trying to accomplish something you need to lay off the pot.



On the whole, pot smokers aren't exactly a productive bunch. If you want to spend the time money and effort to achieve something then using drugs that impede that process is just not too intelligent.



If you are doing things correctly, you should never be bored. Set up a list of things to do...you will never run out of things to add to the list, and then go do them.

Answer 3

Normally I like to belittle the pot heads on this site. You seem different. I'd hate to see you throw away the opportunity you have with school right now. Think ahead, if you quit are you going to regret it later? The Army will still be there in 3 more years. You need a hobby in the mean time. I know that's a cliche but it's true. Pick up a guitar, a bike, something that gets you excited. Try to tough it out bro.

Good luck.

Answer 4

My advice to people who want to join is the same. What are your goals in life? How do you think joining can achieve that? Are you willing to die for people you've never met before?



If you are planning to become an officer, stay in school or join their junior officer program. Here in the US, you can join something called ROTC which trains you to become an officer and you get commissioned. If you are planning to join, make it a career. There's no point in joining for a couple of years and getting out. Get in, and stay in. There is no better career than the military.



You need to draw a line on what's acceptable in your life and what isn't. Is smoking pot really going to help you in life or is it going to bring you down? Find out what your purpose in life is and decide from there. Let no one and nothing stand in the way of your dreams.

Answer 5

You are at two roads here, and you should not ask anyone what to do, i suggest you meditate or take meditation classes and then think about these choices.