I had the same problem when I went in. You have to see things from both perspectives. Your parents have taken care of you your whole life. They have nurtered and protected you. Now your leaving for a job that is very dangerous. It's frightning for a parent. At the same time, you'll be 18 and you have to make your own desicions. I think that every guy, at some point in his life, has to prove to himself that he is a man. Some guys it dosen't take much, for others like me, I felt it was not only something I wanted to do, but something I needed to do. This would be a nice buffer from always being nurtured by my family, to being on my own and taking care of myself.
My family is very patriotic and I have alot of vets on both sides of my family, just not in my parents generation. I thought that I was going to get a football scholarship, then I broke my arm and missed most of my SR yr. I started weighing my options out. I hadn't really applied myself in the classroom. I was just interested with having good enough scores to get into college. So that ruled out an academic scholarship. I started looking around and the best option I saw was the millitary. I started droping small hints to my parents and discussing the general idea of it.
I was debating between the regular army and the national guard when Sep 11 happened. I was actually working with my dad trying to build the musscle back up in my arm that morning, after seeing what was happening to my country I came to the desicion that I'd go Army. My dad was amazed and thought I was nutts, my mom did what most mothers do, she cried. I left 5 months later and I don't regret a single moment of it. Since then, my parents have told me that they were proud of my desicion and that they didn't want me going for there own selfish reasons. Overall, the day I enlisted is the most profound moment of my life.
My family is very patriotic and I have alot of vets on both sides of my family, just not in my parents generation. I thought that I was going to get a football scholarship, then I broke my arm and missed most of my SR yr. I started weighing my options out. I hadn't really applied myself in the classroom. I was just interested with having good enough scores to get into college. So that ruled out an academic scholarship. I started looking around and the best option I saw was the millitary. I started droping small hints to my parents and discussing the general idea of it.
I was debating between the regular army and the national guard when Sep 11 happened. I was actually working with my dad trying to build the musscle back up in my arm that morning, after seeing what was happening to my country I came to the desicion that I'd go Army. My dad was amazed and thought I was nutts, my mom did what most mothers do, she cried. I left 5 months later and I don't regret a single moment of it. Since then, my parents have told me that they were proud of my desicion and that they didn't want me going for there own selfish reasons. Overall, the day I enlisted is the most profound moment of my life.