Chris Dyercareer exploration part ICSB
What I want to do when I grow-up
One I was little I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, and for years I never had the same answer, I still don’t have a definitive answer to that. Before it was just indecision that held me back from choosing a single career path, but now my issue comes from the turmoil affecting the world economy right now. The unclear future of major industries has drove down many of them, and that means many layoffs and an extremely competitive job market with no certainty of getting a position in a company, despite any education, training, or previous experience. People with thirty years of experience are being cut in favor newer, younger kids who are new to the field, and have no claim to benefits or upgraded pay. This means that those veterans of the work force are forced to get any job they can to help support themselves, or their family, sometimes competing with kids a third of their age, and with infinitely less training and experience. This is the reality of the current job market, and to be honest, it scares the hell out me when I’m thinking of my future.
Given this reality I have stopped contemplating the end game for my career, but rather I have started thinking of what I’m going to do until I can have some degree of certainty again. I’ve gone over the scenario of my life countless times in my head, and every time I have come back to the same conclusion: I really don’t want to risk my future on trying to go to college right away, taking on a large amount of debt, without any guaranteed way of making payments of those debts. While this may be the reality what some people will do after high school, I choose the alternative of joining the military and furthering my education through them.
The specifics of what I will do in the military are that I plan to join the Navy construction battalion, Seabees as they are sometimes known. Seabees are the Navy’s Builders and repair crew. They travel both nationally and internationality, setting up needed infrastructure, repairing preexisting ones, and setting utilities such as plumbing, electrical, A/C, heating, etc. They are active both in wartime and piece, helping with relief efforts after a disaster. Seabees work with a plethora of tools and equipment, utilizing them to complete a task with the upmost of efficiency. It’s a hard job, but it does come with its perks.
One perk in particular that I’m drawn to is guarantee of work. Everything breaks, and everything needs either to be repaired, or replaced at some point, and the Seabees are the ones whose job it is to fix or replace everything. Never having to worry about a lack of work is a big plus when you are trying to earn a paycheck every week, or every month as the case may be. Plus, you get to travel different places around the world, and that makes big difference if you get tired of living in the same mundane location day in and day out. Admittedly, it is a lot of commitment, and there is no way out of a contract once it is signed.
Aside from that, what really has drawn me to the Navy Seabees is that the Navy helps pay for college to a certain degree, while still giving you a nice paycheck. This can be very helpful if you don’t know what you want your lifelong career to be, and I am honestly without a clue. I truly have no idea of what I want to do…exactly. I know that I want to do something that will allow me support a family modestly. I wouldn’t mind traveling, but I’d prefer to not be away for months at a time without any communication with my family and friends, so secret agent is probably out, ha-ha. I’d like to work with my hands, or at the very least not sit in a cubical for 8 hours a day, doing trivial paperwork for some corporate suit.