Wednesday 5th is exactly 1 week away from my official departure from home, to boot camp.
I decided to join the Navy Sometime in August, after a lot of thought and some rather discouraging job searches. I was looking for a job that would be both challenging and fulfilling; something that would be satisfying intellectually and financially, something preferably related to my own interest in linguistics that would allow me to further study linguistics and to continue to learn to speak other foreign languages.
For various reasons, none of which I really understand anymore, I didn't contact a Navy recruiter or actually do anything to join the Navy until much later.
However, Once I actually began talking to a local Navy recruiter, enlistment into the Navy was a rapid and painless procedure. I took booth the ASVAB and the DLAB, and successfully got a job as a CTI. This is the Navy Linguist position. I signed my contract early in October.
A new adventure in my life is about to begin and it goes without saying that I'm excited and nervous. The closer I come to my ship-date, the more excited I become. In some ways, I really can't wait. I feel that regardless of the challenges and demands of this new path, that it's the right one to take. I'm sure I will be, in general, happy and successful.
Of course, I do worry. But it's only the vague sort of concern that comes with facing up to the unknown. Everything that I know about my immediate future; Boot camp, the DLI, traveling by plane etc, those are things that I'm confident that I can deal with. It's the things that I don't know about that worry me. What if some unknown factor pops up and takes me completely by surprise?
I've read a lot about the Defense Language Institute and have dreamed about studying there for years, so I feel that all of these fears are totally worth it. After all of the grief, self-doubt, and sleepless nights of college, I have done what few people manage to do; I'm getting to live out one of my fondest dreams.
I'll miss my friends and family. Knowing that I'll be able to keep fairly easy contact with everyone I care about via the internet is a great comfort to me. So it's not a surprise that my last few days before leaving have been all about insuring that end.
I'm re-starting this blog so that I can communicate updates about my new life to everyone at once. I also plan on setting up a new e-mail account, since my goldensquare one will be a bit of a hassle to manage. Those who know the full story behind GOMN might understand a bit how happy this makes me. I haven't picked a name for this new address yet. I'm savoring the potential.
Anyway, since it looks like I've started to ramble a bit, I guess I'll finish up for now.
To summarize; in a little over a week my entire life is going to change. The way I feel now is exactly the way I felt in 2007, when I was preparing to move out of my parents house and start studying at college. All of my personal belongings are being put into storage, and there is really know reasonable way for me to predict who I'll be or what I'll be thinking this time next year. In my head, I've already started to think of 2011 as "The year of Transition." I'm on my way to something different, but I wont know what it is until I get there.
