The Sandspur

Issue date: 4/15/05 Section: Opinions

On May 15 I will receive my college diploma and leave Rollins as a college graduate prepared to enter the real world. I would guess that the real world I am about to enter is a little bit different then the worlds my fellow graduates will be going into. I think I can safely say that I am the only member of the Rollins graduating class of 2005 who is joining the Army after they graduate.

For many seniors this past year has been about doing interviews with perspective employers, filling out graduate school and job applications and taking the alphabet soup of various grad school entrance exams.

For my part I am thankful that I had no reason to deal with all the difficulties and worries that come with trying to figure out post-college lives. I've been committed to joining the Army since late last summer when I joined the Army's Delayed Entry Program. It's a decision that I made after some significant thought and not without some strong dissent from those closest to me. I may in fact be the only person in the entire country who signed their enlistment papers the day after seeing Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911.

Without fail, whenever I tell people that I will be leaving for the Army after I graduate, they express great surprise. I am not what one might think of as the stereotypical military person. I come from an upper class family and have no financial reason to join the Army. I have no friends joining the armed forces (well one friend who's joining the Navy but I mean come on, that's not the Army), I'm not a particularly violent person, I've never really been in a fight and I've never fired a gun.

Perhaps the most confusing element to my decision to join is the fact that I am a liberal Democrat who is strongly opposed to the policy positions held by Republicans in general and President Bush in particular. I was opposed to the Iraq War from the very beginning, and yet here I am enlisting in the Army. It's admittedly a little odd.

There are several common objections brought up when I mention the whole Army idea and perhaps the most understandable among them is a fear for my safety. I would be lying if I said I have not thought about the potential for harm that comes with joining the military, particularly at a time when we are entrenched in a bloody war in Iraq.

I like to view any dangers that come with military service as an obstacle that must be overcome to accomplish what I want with my life. I would like to lead a happy and successful life someday; it's just that this is something I have to do first before I get there. I would live with regret for the rest of my life if I did not enlist.

Continued...

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