Freewriting #4

I have pretty much planned my entire life out these past couple years. I know where I want to be and what I want to be doing and for exactly how long. The only problem is, that I am not setting myself up for my goals, unfortunately this is out of my control. The only reason that I am an engineering major is because my dad kind of pushed me into it. I am already in my 3rd year though, and changing it now would mean not graduating in four years and not having a chance to accomplish my goals in the army. The thing is, its not that I just don’t like what I’m studying, it’s that the job you get in the army is based off of your GPA ; and me being an engineering major puts me at a serious disadvantage because my GPA is naturally going to be lower than my fellow cadets. But I don’t know, let’s just say that somehow miraculously I graduate in four years and become an officer. In 5 years, I want to have travelled overseas a couple times with a whole bunch of leadership experience and stories to tell. I want to have done something that I am proud of, and to be in a position that matters and be able to influence people. In 10 years, I will be hopefully a Major in the Army which will probably put me either in the DC area, or another area that I have a say in. This is around the time that I want to start having kids, because before then having a wife and kids would be a burden and they would definitely tie me down. As a major, my chances of being deployed are reduced and once you become a little higher in the ranks, your job becomes more like a 9-5 which is why I want to have kids around this time. I want to be able to grow up with them, be there for their birth and first steps. Also, I want my kids to have a great relationship with their grandparents, my parents. Growing up, I never really got to see my grandparents at all so I definitely want my kids to experience this. I will definitely request to be assigned to an area that my parents are living in. Right now, they live in the DC area but they have talked about moving to California which also has many opportunities for an army officer. In 15 years I will have my master’s degree and possibly a PhD in a field of study TBD. At this point, I want to go to a university that offers Army ROTC and become their Professor of Military Science (PMS). I’m really not too picky about which school this is at because this will once again be determined based off the living situation of my parents because I definitely want to stay close with them forever and let my kids have the opportunity to experience something that I never had.