My Life Plan

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Well, Im sitting here in a sort of a mini/pathetic dilema

So, For a while now I've had the following plan:

Finish GCSES
Go to college to do a Btec National Dip in ICT Support
Go to University to do a BSc in Computer Networking

And then join the RAF as an CE (Communications/Electronics) Engineering officer.

So far, sounds like a brilliant plan. Get some qualification, alittle know how, then sign 6 years of my life away to the Forces. Why?

The experiance, Its all fine and dandy I could leave university and get a job at a Assistance technician or something like that, but its alarmingly obvious that most of the IT tech jobs require some experiance some how, some where. the RAF would give me 6 years of solid experiance and of course, all the leadership skills and know how to say be a pretty good Network Admin/Manager

Always loved the military.

Still, Im sitting here right now at 0056 in the morning and thinking "I wish life would bloody hurry up"

Ive got something like 20 weeks left of my GCSE's, and there going to be 20 weeks of solid pain, i tell thee, Its terrible.

I know I've got to get my head down, grit my teeth, grin and bear it. all that stuff, Just cant bring myself round to doing it.

What can I say. Im a lazy 16 year old that likes to sleep all day and stay up all night.

Any suggestions? Heh.

 

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Actually you seem pretty focused for a person your age. My three children are all teens and I'm convinced that they don't have a clue what they really want to do yet. That's actually pretty normal but as a parent, it still makes me nervous.

Keep in mind that whatever plans you make for yourself now are subject to change. Students in uni change their majors on an average of three times before settling in on the one they will graduate with. When I graduated with my first bachelors (Psychology), a number of my mates immediately went into fields that had nothing to do with their degrees. It took them four years (or more) to figure out that what they'd studied for wasn't what they really wanted to do.

Just take your time and go one step at a time. You *might* be one of those people who knows young exactly what they want to do but most of us don't figure it out until a few years down the road. Even then, a few of us wait until we're middle-aged and then completely change our careers.

 

Do RAF officer candidates go to Sandhurst? Or is that just Army officers?

 

Oh Sam you make me smile

Here I am sitting here right now thinking I wish life would bloody slow down a bit and give me a chance to procrastinate more.

Truth is that life speeds up or at least from the perception of the liver it speeds up immeasurably and exponentially once you leave school. Then it is like being on a slippery slope, with melted butter on your pants.

You should take advantage of the situation whilst you can. Your vision of the future is a sound and encouraging one. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life when I was a young kid as I always had a passion for electronics and fixing things.

In one way or the other, I have been involved with the installation, servicing and repair of electro-mechanical devices for the past 35 years. I still love it. Sure, I have gone from TVs, to photocopiers, to faxes, to digital colour copiers, to PCs, to Networks, to server products and I am still looking out for the next challenge.

I like the RAF idea and I am sure you will gain the necessary skills and experience to set you in good stead for your own future.

Just remember that as with all of the armed forces, there is discipline to be learnt. If you have any problems with this then think twice. Far too many people join the armed forces only to find out that they can't hack the discipline requirements. My brother was such a person and he really suffered for it.

Also, joining the RAF means you may find yourself in armed conflict. So, this is a decision you need to make in full possession of all the facts. Like so may other things, IT included, the TV adds glamorise the reality of things in order to drum up more recruits.

 

I'm 32 and I still don't have a clue what I want to do.

 

Sam,

When I was your age I was all set to leave school after GCSE's and head straight in to the RAF. What stopped me was how bloody long it took for the application to go through. By the time it had gone through I was on a Moderna Apprenticeship in IT and really loving it. Haven't looked back since.

Whilst is is always good to have a goal as to where you want to be the world changes, as do you.

Live your life in a manner that makes you feel happy and complete.

 

arisen: RAF Officers train at RAF Cranwell doing at IOT (Initial Officer Training) Course for 24 weeks.

Sandhurst is for the Army Officers

Yea, Ive spent some time with the ACF (Army Cadet Force) Loved that, And was a potentiol NCO (Non Commisioned Officer), Sadly I left that because I was alot older and mature than the average Cadet there. EditWhich got annoying, because it was like being around 15 odd 4 year olds, that couldnt help but faint after a hour or two of drill)

Well, Considering the feild that I would undertake I could jolly well find myself in armed conflict somewhere in the world setting up a base of communications, this in itself as I sit here now wouldnt really bother me. I wouldnt really be frontline either .

 

Your life has a plan?
Excellent, most impressed.

It sounds like a really good plan too.

Word of caution though, when I was your age I had a plan too.
But something outside my control went wrong and stopped it happening. That leaves you somewhat in the lurch.

What if you meet the girl of your dreams and have kids? What if you fall over, hurt your back and fail the RAF medical?

It's always worth having a backup.

And don't do what I did, which was to turn my back on opportunities that came up along the way because they didn't fit in with My Plan.

Good luck to you!

 

Hey Sam, I go with most of the above, esp Jonny's part of have a back plan. I like you, focused my Studies through school with a view to joining the RAF in fast jets. I whizzed through the ATC, up thorugh the ranks, then went to Biggin Hill to sit the tests, which I failed on medical grounds (prob with right eye). Gutted was not the word, and you know, I'm not sure I ever fully settled on a direction after that.

So whatever, I hope your plan works out (and it is well-impressive, btw). BUT , have a plan B.

....and also, DO NOT WISH YOUR TIME AWAY !!! The Guys sum it up, the years speed up immeasurably to the point you will meet up with old mates every so often and start to reminisce, which then gets harder...and harder... and harder ...

Enjoy the now, Sam

 

Aye, I have a few back up plans.

But this, and one slightly similar are going to be the big ones I suppose.

Thanks for all the advice, comes in pretty handy. I Just need to get into gear really, and what ever I seem to end up doing isnt really the right thing it seems.

My new years resolution should be to study more really. But it ended up in doing 10-30min on the punchbag, which so far I've done

But doing that really isnt going to get me into university.