Some Heavy Stuff On My Mind

I have been thinking about the future a lot lately. Why? I can't say exactly. Maybe it's because I'm scared of what lays before me in life, or maybe it's because I'm in my last year in High School, or maybe I'm just crazy. Whatever it is, I've been doing in nonetheless.

Well, today I was perusing through a booklet about what VMI had to offer me, and to say the least I am very impressed. Sure doesn't help that I have also impressed their Director of Admissions as well as a few alumni. My size, football ability, and championship ring impressed them, too. But back to the topic at hand. A good friend of mine saw it and said they had offered him a full-ride scholarship, but that he turned it down. I asked him why and he said that they were too strict and that i was crzy to want to go there. And that got me thinking. So I've been mulling over the notion that I am really crazy for wanting to go to a military academy. But am I? Am I really that crazy for wanting to give up my free-time and freedom and many other privileges for college? Am I really crazy to want to put myself through that kind of abuse? Am I?

No, that can't be the case. I can't be truly crazy for wanting to make myself into an outstanding man. To do something that few have doen and that few want to do. I can't be crazy for wanting to be part of something storied and steeped in tradition. No, that can't possibly make me crazy. Delusioned maybe, but no outright insane.

But then my mind wandered into a new direction with this argument. Does wanting to go into the military make me crazy? After hearing so much on the news about the how many hate the U.S. Military and seeing the lack of support for the men and women in the armed forces. After being exposed to so much negativity I truly wonder whether it is the right thing to do. Does wanting to put myself in harm's way make me crazy? Does wanting to defend the country of my birth and everything she embodies make me crazy? Does wanting to sign away my life, because that's what it would be, I want a career in the military, make me crazy?

No, I couldn't possibly. Wanting to be part of something so great isn't crazy. Wanting to work with outstanding, honorable, responsible people a crazy man does not make. Wanting to make something special of my life is by no means crazy. And this is something I want to do. It is the only thing I want to do. It has been the only thing I have ever wanted to do. I want to serve my country. I want to know at the end of the day that I have accomplished something. I want to do something that few want to do. I want to know that when it comes my turn to bid this mortal coil farewell, that I did something with my life beside working in a cubicle from nine-to-five for forty years and then retiring. I want to truly live before I die. And that can't make me crazy. In fact, it's not even close.

And with honor and brotherly loyalty like THIS, I know I'll be well taken care of and so will my family.