Kind of unhappy with my life right now...Please help?

Question

I'm a 19 year old guy at SUNY Maritime College. All my life I wanted to be in the military and serve as a leader. In high school I worked really hard to apply and come close to being accepted to the military academies. Well, a medical disqualification stopped those dreams, and the only real school I had a slight interest in as a backup school was where I am now. I'm in the regiment of cadets so it is like the military, but I do not serve when I graduate. Rather, I get employed as a merchant ship's officer. The good thing about this is the money. Starting salaries and job placement from here are superior. One company pays around 110K right out of school. But then I discovered a problem. I may not be completely content with the idea of sailing out to sea and wasting my years on water and missing out on what is happening on land.The money is great because it will allow me to live wherever I want and I have always dreamed of living in a nice warm Florida beach area since I spent my childhood summers there. This career choice is best for that dream, but what else do I have tp show for it? Days at this school are miserable. I get made fun of for being overweight, the kids are scumbags and make it seem like high school all over again, we spend more time dealing with regimental bull crap rather than being given proper time to study. The school values regimental duties more than academics and its sickening. So I wonder why am I wasting my time and money here if I am still unsure of the career choice? Also, I am scared of telling my parents. A lot went into getting me here including money which we don't have, and pride which I haven't felt this great about ever. Everybody else is proud of me for doing this, but I'm constantly frustrated and often wonder what else there is to life. Maybe not an answer, but please just talk to me.

Answer 1

Sub School was pretty much the same way. Once you get out to sea and qualify your watches you may find you love it. Give it a chance. After going around the world, home seemed kind of dull and the problems my peers had were rather mundane by comparison. You are unlikely to find many jobs that will give you as much responsibility as quickly as this one will. Do not take counsel of your fears. Yours may be a life of extraordinary experiences if you give it a couple of years of your time now.

Answer 2

I'm not sure what your situation is with your family, but if possible an open and honest discussion woth your parents is what I suggest. Sadly, you can never really know what the future will behold and sometimes all you can do is keep going. If you feel that you are overweight and wish to do something about it, then use youtube and google to figure out the best way to tackle your weight issues. You have to figure out what body type you are, how high your metabolism is, how you put on fat/build muscle etc. In regards to how the only thing that seems to be good about your current career choice, money is not a measure of success, happiness is. People are too materialistic, you need to do what makes you happy, or if you don't know quite yet what makes you happy you must do your best to find that one thing that you love. You must create your own reality, if you know what that means. I'm sorry if this was jumbled or hard to read, etc. etc. just trying to help.

Answer 3

Don't do a job just for money or you won't be happy in life. Try to find something a) that you enjoy to do and b) that you are good at doing. Do what feels right really...



Good luck :)

Answer 4

Relax