The Lives we Denied

The college experience could be considered one of the greatest times a person may ever spend. That’s why over eighteen-thousand different people are currently attending St. John’s University today. But what other choices, for post-high school life exists, beyond St. John's University? After speaking with several of my peers, most of whom gave me wise-cracking replies, I have compiled a short list of things that St. John’s students could possibly be doing if they weren’t here, based upon a short survey that was given to a test group of about fourty people. On this list are, mostly, names of other universities, the military, the labor force, and jail. I have chosen to omit attending other four-year universities to discuss alternatives; I have also chosen to omit jail because the American penitentiary system is an extensive topic and the people surveyed who had given this answer were, just joking around… hopefully.

The United States military consists of five branches: the Army, the Marines, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Coast Guard. Each of which has their own standards for qualification; the Marines require the highest physical standards and the Air Force require the highest academic standards. But in the presence of other, less life-threatening choices why would anyone choose to go to the military? For some the answer to this question may be, to earn money for college or to see the world. From my own personal experience, I just wanted to get away some of the people in my family. No matter what the reason, getting in isn’t as easy as signing and initialing that first piece of paper.

When you first go speak to a recruiter you will be given the chance to ask questions or present concerns about joining the military. Most times the recruiter will have no problem with answering these questions and concerns, which most likely have all stemmed from those military horror stories you hear once in awhile from disgruntled soldiers. While the recruiter answers your question he/she will most likely be assessing your physique and mental capacity. If you’re convinced, then you’ll be asked to take a test called the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery). Depending on your score, you will be given either a list of jobs that you qualify for or a chance to retake the test. Then, after a varying waiting period, you will go to MEPS (military entrance processing station) and you will receive a physical like you’ve never received before. If after all of this, you still qualify to join the military, you will be given a card that allows you to enter military bases and, in some cases, shop at the stores on these bases. Even with all the signatures and tests, it is only on the day that you step off the bus for your first day of training that you are obligated to stay with this decision. I know this for a fact because I went through the entire process.

If you don’t qualify, or don’t want to risk life then the next option would be to enter the labor force. There are literally thousands of jobs in the world today. Jobs can be found anywhere. You could be doing anything from manual labor, to clerical work, to owning your own business. However, since this is a post-high school scenario, you probably won’t qualify for all of these. But when compare to the military, the search is harder but the application process is a lot easier.

Finding an employer that will hire you can be compared to finding a needle in a haystack if you are not qualified. With a high school diploma you may not have the skills that would be considered as marketable as the skills of others with higher degrees. Even if you do, some employers won’t even take more than a glance at your application. Luckily these applications usually aren’t more than four pages long and, in some cases, can be substituted by a pre-made resume. If you “look good on paper” then the employer will invite you to an interview. Even though people may think that, seeing as it is difficult to even get an interview, they may already have the job, this isn’t the case. During this interview you have to do whatever it takes to convince the interviewer that you are the best qualified for this position. If you lie, however, you may get the job initially but if your lie is uncovered then you risk termination of employment… then you have to start all over again but this time it’ll be harder to get an interview because employers pass this information to other employers.

Your own needs and goals placed you in St. John's; not in the military, not in the full-time work force, not in technical school, and, more importantly, not in jail. We’re here and we already went through our own application process. The difference is our application actually took longer then the two other applications combined. That's because it all started on our first day of high school.