University - this might be a really naive question

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by asmodeus

Mindy you seem quite smart and intelligent. Have you thought about the Forces. I'm not trying to pull the army life on you its not for everyone, however i know of many ladies that have moved into job and love it there are over 1000 trades, and the money is quite good. They will pay for your schooling too if you go the degree route in. All trades you dont pay for you get yearly bonuses.
your leave with pay
yearly increase of 1.5 -2.5 %
you get a march Break
Summer leave.

But there is also a place where you can work for the reserves in Saskatoon too.

An additional benefit to the forces career (essentially you're a public servant), is, if you stick with it long enough, there's a pension at the other end. Not sure what the pension deals look like right at the moment, but it's all tied to the Federal Public Servant model (and they've go some good stuff going on, your tax dollars at work). There are 3 different elements to chose from, sea, land, air, all with many career options. As mentioned by asmodeus, there is even the military college route, which essentially pays your way to a degree, although many of those will be in fields relevant to the military. I received excellent training as a technician in the air force. No idea where your interests lie specifically, but being from the air side of things, I'm a little biased in that direction. The army sends their soldiers to the front, the navy are all on the same boat, pun intended (officers and seamen are all in harms way if it comes to that), the air force generally sends their officers (pilots) into the line of fire.

If there's a down side, it's the fact that you're technically on duty 24/7 and you need to be prepared to move every 4 years or so, sometimes a major move. And you could end up in harms way, obviously, depending on your chosen career. Army can see you in the field, deployed for extended periods, same for the Navy, out to sea. Air Force too, but generally not as long and in many cases deployments involve hotel stays. Jammy trips and not so jammy trips.

[whatcaneyedo]

You seem like the kind of person who would really enjoy University so I say go for it. But dont do it because you want to get a particular job or because you think you'll make big bucks when you're done. A bachelors degree doesnt mean a lot in this day and age and most people seem to get into careers far different from the ones they had in mind when they first went to school. Do it because you want to have the experience and because you will ultimately be better off for it.

BTW I've got a BComm and now I'm apprenticing as a Carpenter.