by Timothy Aines

Created on: January 03, 2009   Last Updated: November 09, 2011

Is the military the best way to start a work career? Well, it all depends on if you've heard "the call" or not. And no, I'm not talking about the call of the military bugle either. We'll get to that in a minute

There are some kids who have heard the siren call of their future occupation at a very early age. They are simply amazing to watch, and after two minutes conversation or observation, you can usually pick them out of the crowd. They just "know" what they are going to be, and have known since 8th grade, or even earlier. These kids go forth and become clergy, physicians, musicians, actors and politicians, just to name a few of "the calling" occupations. For them, the military is not usually the best way to start their highly focused and specialized career.

These folks are very, very much the exception however, so let's talk about the rest. Most kids starting out have not heard the call. Whether coming out of high school or college, most kids are pretty rudderless, though they are simply loathe to think of it in those terms. They know they want "a job" and an apartment (always in some hip metro area) and a car of their own to take them between the two. Beyond that, there's usually only some vague notions of "working with people" and "being creative" and, very popular now, helping "make a difference on the planet."

You can spot the special breed of college graduate rudderless by the bachelors degrees they amass; General Studies, Sociology, Women's Studies, and that nationally most populous of all majors, Psychology. For the clever who want to fake themselves and others out for awhile, there's Marine Biology, one of the more infamous black holes of parental tuition. Believe it or not, every year, this nation produces over 9,000 bachelors degree graduates in Marine Biology. About six of these people actually get jobs trying to be the next Dr. Ballard. The rest are down at Starbucks, either on one side of the counter or the other.

These people, quite frankly, are waiting for "something" to happen.  They're dabbling with this, and thinking about that.  They are waiting for their ship to come in. Wise folks know however, that the definition of life is that life is what happens to you, while you're waiting for your ship to come in.

There is a special place however, where you can go to find your rudder. Fast. A time honored place. One where millions of people just like you, with your same doubts, fears and feelings have gone to find themselves

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