The Story Thus Far

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2010

(I guess the facebook developers are twankers, they decided to get rid of the import feature on facebook so that I can no longer import my blog posts directly to my notes. I have to copy them over and post them as notes. So here it is.)

Oh, sorry about the length. I get a bit wordy sometimes.

The Story Thus Far

A few months ago I was hit in the face by reality, the reality that I pretty much could not find a job and I needed money, heck, my whole family needed/currently needs money. Because I couldn't find a “normal” job easily, I decided to look into joining the military. I was already skeptical of joining anything that required the signing away of my rights as a free citizen (despite the fact that I had often dreamed of joining the Marine Corps as a child and had played “Army” on numerous occasions. I suppose I should also mention the fact that I also often played “Indians” but that did not mean that my life’s aim was to move to the great plains and prance around a fire in front of a tepee.)

So in spite of my misgivings, I set out to discover what options were available to me as a member of the Armed Forces of America.

First I was wooed by a nice enough Staff Sergeant whose name prompted my brother and I to christen him “Phillycheesesteak” (He is still listed in my contacts under that name.)

Phillycheesesteak said it was “better to sign up for a job you may not want all that much and then in two years you can look at switching MOSs” (Military Occupation Specialties) He called it “Getting your foot in the door”

I called it “A way to sucker people into taking the jobs no one else wants”

I did not believe that switching over would be that easy. I went through the motions, talking to the recruiter, looking at the MOS descriptions and taking the ASVAB. (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) I did well on the test and good ‘ol Phillycheesesteak got quite excited talking about signing me up right away and all the opportunities that would be open to me because I had such a high score.

I guess he forgot that I was a girl.

I told him what I wanted and we looked at the jobs available. Unfortunately that job was not available right off so if I wanted to get it then I would have to go down to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) and bug the people there to give me the job and they would be all grudging and try to persuade me to accept some other job because no one else wanted it.

Thankfully at that time they decided that they couldn't accept my high school education because I was home schooled.

Thankfully??

Yes, thankfully.

If they had accepted my education then I would probably be somewhere off in the military hating life.

I will say however that the military is forbidden to discriminate against those who have been home schooled, there are documents to support this and I took it in to show PCS but he apparently could not understand the gist of the document. I also do not need the military to tell me my schooling is valid.

Considering that I scored thirty-five points above average on the ASVAB, I’d say that it is very possible that I am a smart person.

After that I floated on a cloud of annoyance and joblessness.

I did have another alternative, something that I had been avoiding for a long while: college.

Before I go into the subject of college let me say a few things about the whole “Jobless” situation.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the current unemployment rate is nine point six percent. That means almost one in every ten Americans does not have a job as of June 2010. I had people telling me things like, “If you want a job bad enough you will get one.” or “You just aren't doing enough.” I would like to respectfully contradict them by saying this; when the jobless rate is this high then the failure to get a job most likely lies with the society and NOT the individual.

Sure, there are some lazy ass people out there who are not currently doing anything at all, but, at this point the issue is plaguing our entire society.

I would also like to point out that when I was trying to get a job, I was actually, trying to get a job. Applying places, asking if people were hiring, etc. There was just not something open for me.

So yes, maybe you got a job right after you lost yours, but hey MAYBE, you just happen to be certified in an area that requires some sort of special skill because you have a college education.

Guess what?

I don’t.

So people like you get jobs while people like me are passed over because we aren't qualified or overly qualified for the job.

OK?

OK.

Now, moving on to my other option, that of college.

I abhor school.

I get test anxiety, on test day I come in to the room having studied and prepared myself for the test, I sit down, pull out my number two pencil and eraser and then, my mind magically goes blank. Poof! All that studying and preparing, gone.

Why?

I really have no idea. I just cannot for the life of me remember things, I do much worse than I could have done.

I get by, my high school GPA was three point two which, all things considered, is fine. (I guess not ALL of it abandons me in my hour of need.)

However, the whole test taking experience is less than pleasant for me. If I am learning about something, I would like to be doing it on my own and I would very much like to not be tested on it.

(Pretty please and danke schön)

I suppose the purpose of taking a test is to make sure that you are actually learning something but I never liked school during high school and I sure as hell did not want to go back.

I wanted to be a Bohemian.

Perhaps not in the purest sense of the word but, I love the arts, singing, acting, music, I’m there.

I certainly did not want to go to college.Then I learned about the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) program.

Basically I thought this, “I can’t get a job, I’m bored out of my mind at home, I need money and I have no other option. Fine, I’ll do it.”

I did the application, got approved and signed up for the classes which I am now taking.

I have discovered that choosing your own classes can make school a better experience than having the classes you must take mandated to you.

I am still not looking forward to tests etc.

So, on to my adventure on Tuesday.

I am sure many of you saw (or pretended not to see) my post harping on some student clubs at Palomar. I didn't mean anything by it, I just though it was funny.

That being said, I decided to attend the LGBTQA-lordwhyaretheresomanylettersnow club meeting.

(Yeah you can leave the last part off. I think the numerous letters are supposed to represent the rainbow, or something.)

Basically (if you haven’t guessed by now) it’s Palomar’s “GSA” type club.

If you know me well then you know that I typically shy away from anything having to do with the afore mentioned “clubs” or “groups” or what-have-you.

Either way, I got curious.

Hence the visit.

I have to say that from what I saw, they were a nice group of people, mostly boys but nice nonetheless. They’re suppose to be promoting “visibility” and “diversity” or something.

I’m not an activist.

I might research something for someone but I am not going to be lobbying for something. I definitely don’t think that I am any sort of “special case” who needs extra rights or some sort of special concession.

I’m just me.

I don’t want to be seen as anything but that.I am not a big deal, I’m no different from any other person on the planet, I have thoughts, I have feelings, I have needs, I laugh, I cry, I get angry, I feel lonely. . . no different.

So don’t treat me as such.

Saying that might put me on a completely different playing field.

I don’t really care, its how I feel. I suppose I’m just not “out there.”

Oddly enough I may go back and see what happens.

That’s the story thus far, Hannah has enrolled in school and is reading books, learning new things and is not currently bored.

Just though I might throw that out there.

Peace yo, I’m out.