Hi, please give me your opinion here...

[thelonewanderer]

Hey everyone, I'm Zach and this is my first post here. I also have to ask for some help and advice, seeing how I'm in a bit of a dilemma here.

I'm 24 years old, have my degree in Communications, and feel like a complete fresia up. I've failed 3 start up companies and I have never worked a "real job" since I've always been self sufficient in that regard. This sucks though because I cannot find a "real job" to rebound from my business failures. Make sense? I can't live on 200/week working retail because I have "no work history". I've made enough to scrape by on, but none of my companies have taken off.

I feel like a failure, and now I write this on the eve of my physical for the Army. I feel like I've messed up so badly that the only place where I can begin again is in an infantry unit. Since I have a degree I'll be an E-4 making about 600/week, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not feeling apprehensive about going forward with enlisting. Not sure if it's cowardice, or legitimate concern. Apart from not being able to find work, my other rationale for enlisting is that I'm in debt and I'll be debt free when I get out of the Army after 4 years.

What do you people think? Am I taking the right action in mending my life together? Or am I making things worse and digging a deeper whole for myself?

 

[SofiasMami]

Hi,
Anyone who has the balls to attempt 3 start ups isn't a failure in my opinion. You say failure, I say entrepreneur.
As for joining the army, I'm biased because my brother is career military, he's a Major & in the 1st infantry division. He went through basic training in '91, you were probably in diapers then! lol
I remember he was nervous the night before leaving for basic training, I think that's normal.
Our family is proud of my bro and you should be proud too. Good luck!

-Teresa

 

[Sci-Fi]

You do what you need to do and what you feel is right for you.

You're not a fresia up or failure for failing 3 business start ups, that isn't an easy thing to do and most start-up businesses do fail. There are a lot of people who take that course hoping to be self sufficient. I've known a number of people who tried their own business after being laid off or out of a job, some tried really hard to make a go at it but found out that it was a lot harder than they thought. Very few are still in business. The fact that you had the balls to keep trying after the first one and second one shows how determined you were to succeed, maybe one day you will.

 

[Minus]

Hi Zack

I can't say if you are making the right decision or not but you sure don't sound like a "fresia up" to me. You sound really motivated to me. Starting a new business is difficult and a lot of them do fail.

Aside from paying off debts the military could give you some experience to help fill out your resume. I would imagine that feeling apprehensive before going in is pretty common.

 

[Drama]

Hi, good luck

 

[Rainee]

I don't mean to sound negative and discourage you but I just want to say that joining the military these days comes with a big possibility of being deployed in a war zone. I think you should think about how something like that would affect you. I have a friend who was deployed in a war zone and even after few years of being back here he was not able to adjust to the "normal" life. It seems like he is suffering a lot and not enjoying his life at all. I am sure that there are others who do just fine but as I said you should give it some thought on how it may affect you.

 

[MTrip]

Anyone who is willing to start his own biz & attempt that three times in a row has too much courage to be a fuckup. You were following your dream, & what else is life for when you're young & have the energy? Having said that, where you are making a mistake now is going into the infantry. Don't take that MOS! I haven't been in the Army but I have known several vets, including members of my family. Of all the specializations you can go into in the military, Infantry is the worst of all except perhaps for EOD. They will train you to be a bullet-stopper, & that's it. If you still have a chance, try to get into something more useful, maybe electronics or communications, something you can use when (if) you make it back to civilian life. If you serve as infantry & survive it & decide you don't want to work for Uncle Sam anymore, what can you do with that other than law enforcement or "security contractor"? Think ahead, man.