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[MetalSlimeHunt]

Fair warning, speaking as one of these hip young collegiate people you clearly aspire to become, there is definitely a level of social bias against former military students. Now, don't get me wrong, it isn't a post-Vietnam "baby killers go home" type thing (usually, I'd avoid the Humanities department in general and the Gender Studies majors in particular if I was you, or if I was me, or anybody), but more of a perception that former military are vaguely disconnected and sometimes act way outside the bounds of acceptability.

I myself have seen both sides of the coin in my time as a student, with the good of one of my current roommates who's a very helpful guy and the bad of a former acquaintance/former army interrogator who loved to violate people's personal space and be sexually aggressive (emphasis on the aggressive) towards any and all women around him.

Anyway, just so you know, there might be people who think you're an asshole-to-literal-psychopath right off the bat if you're conspicuous about being in the army.

[Strife26]

I'm somewhat concerned about that. Being a civilian again is certainly going to be a jump for me; my current 100% veteran employment is either going to keep me military longer than I should or be a nice halfway stepping stone. Hopefully, my general mindset of letting people do their own thing will serve me well, but hey, if someone needs to get cussed out, I've got a damn good bit of experience points in it.

All things considered, it probably won't be too difficult to pick me out as a vet.

As a general rule, I keep three out of seven for this list and there's little chance that I abandon my military style stuff, just because it's all hard wearing and functional (although I do need to buy a new pair of contractor cargo pants one of these days)




Beyond that, I'm still working and working on these applications. My piece seems to be pretty much complete, at least for the primary concern schools. Unfortunately, recommendations are really biting me in the ass right now. I need at least two, possibly up to four teacher recommendations for these applications, and it's been some time since I last talked to my teachers. Tonight or tomorrow, I'll probably reach out and try to make contact with all of them again, just because there doesn't seem to be any substitute for this part of the Common Application (that and the damn ACT section doesn't let me go far enough back in time to list the first time I took it).

I need to bug some of my old leadership about it too, but they're much easier to talk to, both because they're in the same state and generally in the small category of people I'm comfortable talking to.

[nenjin]

What you may find the most striking about working with civilians again is how they approach getting shit done. Coming off being task-oriented for so long, the dithering and procrastibation you see in others might make you want to curse someone out.

I remember having a veteran of Afghanistan in one of my classes, probably 8 years ago. The guy definitely seemed like he felt out of place, he still had the cut of the military on him and he was real quiet but, I dunno, composed? It was a creative writing class and so when he wrote about (and read) one of his experiences from combat, you could have heard a pin drop in the classroom after he'd finished. Because exactly no one in the room could really grok that level of reality. I dunno what it's like on college campuses now. But I'd imagine some of the reverence has worn off and how you present yourself as a vet can have a pretty big impact on it.

[Strife26]

Life has still failed to tag me with anything and I remain gainfully(ish) employed!

I'm currently struggling with college applications still. I turned in the actual application, but turning in all of my various standardized test scores is its own process as well as the individual things the colleges require. In related news, the guys who run the ACT are a bunch of cheating bastards. They demand separate orders (and payments, of course) to send the scores for the individual tests I did, as well as 22 bucks per college per school additional for old schools. Total cost for sending two scores to six colleges (scores for tests that were not cheap when either I or the Federal Government paid for), comes out to 280 dollars for standard shipping. In related news, fuck those bastards. Unless a school asks for them specifically, they can be happy with my much more reasonably costing SAT score (67 and change).

Also in related news, I'm going to begin drinking *before* I start working on these applications again, not after the sticker shock hits.

[Strife26]

Hiya everyone, for a semi-special travel edition post!

I've got a fun weekend planned, flying Colorado to Texas, driving nonstop 1600 miles to Fargo, then fly back to Colorado. Hopefully the trip will go smoothly, although I'm wondering when the next time I'll be able to sleep in a bed will be.

Colorado Springs has a surprisingly nice airport, and the flights were reasonably priced. On the negative side, they don't serve booze until seven, plus I'm going to stay stone sober for my flights so I can get on the road right after landing.

[Helgoland]

driving nonstop 1600 miles to Fargo

Avoid woodchippers.

[Strife26]

Alright, the road trip portion is complete. 26.5 is far too long to be driving, I think. I'm going to enjoy the remainder of my 24 hours at home once I get some sleep.

[Parsely]

How did college apps go? I remember working with you on that. I got one other editing job after that and that was it. Now I'm making video games. The freelance lifestyle continues and luckily I haven't starved yet.

[Strife26]

Alrighty, it's time for college application results season! Actually, it's kinda the early notice period from one college who feels like doing it two weeks before anyone else.

And it is a REJECTION. Fortunately, it wasn't a school that I was especially keen to go to at this point, so that's nice.

Current status!
Main tier schools: 2/6 reporting

Rejected: 1
Application declined: 1
     (sure nice of them not to mention the SAT subject test being a requirement ahead of time. Bastards)
Application informally declined but pending: 1
     (sure nice of them not to mention that they are very much not big fans of people who aren't just out of high school until after I've given them money. Also bastards.)
Pending: 3
     (April 1st give or take a day)


Second tier schools!
Applied, acceptance imminent: 1
     (They didn't even want my grades. Or test scores. I'd need a generous aid package to shuffle up, I think)
Applications whenever I get time: 1-3
     (My laziness for purely personal responsibilities knows no bounds)
 

[Strife26]

And rejection #2 is in. I should probably have realized that my time in the Service would have cost me at least a bit more. C'est la vie.



Current status
Main tier schools: 3/6 reporting

Rejected: 2
Application declined: 1
     (sure nice of them not to mention the SAT subject test being a requirement ahead of time. Bastards)
Application informally declined but pending: 1
     (sure nice of them not to mention that they are very much not big fans of people who aren't just out of high school until after I've given them money. Also bastards.)
Pending: 3
     (April 1st give or take a day)


Second tier schools!
Applied, acceptance imminent: 1
     (They didn't even want my grades. Or test scores. I'd need a generous aid package to shuffle up, I think)
Applications whenever I get time: 1-3
     (My laziness for purely personal responsibilities knows no bounds)

[Strife26]

Alrighty, I'm going to replace this post of nonspecific drunkenness with surprisingly good news. Assuming that it's neither a sophisticated phishing attempt nor a mistake, I've actually been accepted in my number one choice school. I'll refrain from massive partying, both from concern it'll all go south, and because drunk Strife continues to not be someone who is especially decent or useful.


Woohoo college.

[Strife26]

Well, I'm in a reasonably iffy situation, as normally happens when my car breaks down. Probably the electronics this time which probably means that I'm going to buy something new instead of continuing to pour money down the pit.

At the moment, my place of residence is a Killeen roach motel that, while iffy, is surprisingly nice. I only get one channel, but the place is cheap. My plans to find an actual place to rent are on hold until I get some transportation again.

Fun times, all things considered.

[Helgoland]

When are you starting college?

[Strife26]

It'll be in September, from my understanding, although I haven't actually seen the information packet, because it takes awhile for mail to catch up to me.

My plan at the moment is stopping work at the beginning of July, spending a week hanging around Texas, then a month driving around the country before I head West with enough time to get settled in before classes start. The driving part is, unfortunately, somewhat in flux at the moment.

[Helgoland]

What part of 'going full-on hobo' needs big planning?


(Or weren't you planning on living out of your car? It seems like the thing to do when you're young.)