Now that he’s a junior in high school, the talk about what the Tall Kid’s going to be when he grows up has intensified. While I know the freshman year of college is fairly generic and kids change majors all the time, some schools are stronger in certain programs than others and where he goes to college is in some way dictated by what he wants to be.
He finally figured out he’d be a crappy lawyer, but he’s not really sure what to do now. He wants to make money, he knows that much. And he excels in math and science, so he’s thinking maybe something in chemistry. But he loves history. Military history is his passion and I’d rather him take a cut in pay to do something he loves.
The problem is that he doesn’t want to write and he doesn’t want to teach. So how does one make money as a military historian if one doesn’t write books or teach? We’re not sure.
But last night, while watching Braveheart and listening to him expound on the many, many things Hollywood as gotten wrong in some of my favorite movies, I figured out the perfect job for TK:
The guy who fact-checks the history in books and movie scripts.
I don’t even know if that is a job, but if it is, my son was born to do it.
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One way military historians make money is in the military. For what it’s worth, the Army is particularly good at valuing their academics (I’m thinking PhD opportunities). That would be a ways down the road. Check into Norwich University — it’s reasonably near you, it excels in military history, but I would imagine they’d have to have some science and math departments that could compete, too (if interested, I recommend checking). Norwich has good ROTC programs as well (I’m thinking scholarships).
I love the Air Force, and they have good academic education programs, but they’re not as good at valuing their PhDs as the Army. I can’t speak for the other services. Also for what it’s worth, the US Marines commissioning program is not as invasive on the college experience as the other ROTC programs — it’s worth a look.
The commissioned military services offer a good living. There are cycles to when it’s good and bad to come in. Since we’re in a down cycle now (lots of people being asked to leave to save money), that means the opportunities for people coming in will be on the rise (the, “Oh my God! We cut too many people, and now we need more!” syndrome).
Of course, if I’ve understood some of the gist of conversations between TK and his father, I’m not sure how receptive he’d be to this idea. The values are the ROTC scholarship, an education, work experience and employment after graduation. The potential downside, especially in the Army, is the deployment cycle, which may or may not be as much of a problem in another 6 years. Oh, yeah. You can get killed, but, frankly, that can happen when you step off the curb to cross the road.
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Unfortunately, I don’t think he really has the disposition for the military. Back when he was still talking about a legal career, we talked to him about the Navy, but he balked.
My husband was a Marine and I spent 10 years of my childhood as an Air Force dependent, so we’re able to give him some insight into the pros and cons of military life, but we fear he’s too rigid. Or something. He wouldn’t survive boot camp.
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No problem. It can be a good solution, but it isn’t for everyone.