This vlog catches you up on what happened since I attended my first drill weekend, some unfortunate news about my civilian job and how I ultimately came to the conclusion to join the active duty army, among other things.
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Today before leaving work I learned that my teaching position (music) is being cut down to part-time (53% which includes benefits) in the coming 2010-2011 school year. This news portends a great deal of frustration and potential financial hardship that could destroy my entire adult life for years to come. I'm not gonna lie. I won't make it on half my salary, and the thought of returning from training and winter break in January to just begin job hunting to supplement my income is absolutely terrifying to me right now. Now, I'll explain how this affects my army journey at present. But before going further, I want to point out some positive aspects to this situation. It appears to me that having joined the army when I did could not have been coincidence because a month later the Army Reserve is no longer taking recruits--it's maxed out--at least for a time. In addition, while I am contemplating leaving the reserve component of the army for active duty, the bottom line is I have my foot partly in the door because I'm in the system. Hold this thought 'til the end of this post.
My present predicament...
In order for me to attend initial entry training (BCT and AIT) I have taken a leave of absence from August to December of 2010. However, I didn't qualify for military leave, so I was given personal leave. Under personal leave my job position is not protected, but my employment in the county in general will be held. It was further explained to me that in the event that my position cannot be held by my principal due to any directive by his boss, my position can be filled by someone else. Otherwise, the position will remain mine with pay and benefits as mentioned above. I made an interesting discovery in my benefits earlier this afternoon, however. Apparently if I volunteer for active military duty I can take a leave of absence up to 5 years (with some exceptions; of which I have no info). So in response to this I am faced with the following:
My alternatives...
A. Take a chance and hope that I can at least come back to my position working part-time (in light of the risks) and try to supplement my income with another part-time job somewhere in an increasingly dirt-poor economy (a gamble; prepare for the worst and hope for the best).
B. Take a volunteer military leave of absence from teaching. Ask my recruiter to switch me from reserve to active duty. The pay is half my teaching salary, however as an enlisted soldier I don't think I'll be living off of it as much as I would if I were living at home with the same pay (and in fact it will be the same between both alternatives). Work as soldier, become an NCO within the next few years, and then I'll go to OCS later. Somewhere along the way, I get deployed and make more money while getting loans paid off with military loan repayment program. Later on if I feel the desire, I'll go back to teaching without much difficulty due to the type of leave I will have taken. Otherwise, I'll make the army a career as was planned anyway.
Part of my initial reason for joining was to make a slow transition from teaching to full-time soldier, and to get some of my student loans paid off, as I TOTALLY need the assistance. But to reiterate, as it stands paying back my loans with my full teaching salary is financially daunting, so I can't imagine achieving it with only half my salary.
In one day's time, this career change or transition I have been speaking of for so long has been forcefully accelerated by a bad economy. I must make a solid decision and very soon...probably sooner than I'm currently thinking--before the end of April.
Finally, I turned 28 on April 9th. I couldn't have imagined how things would take such a sudden turn and bring me face-to-face with an even greater realization of my adult responsibilities.
My happiness and livelihood (future) hang on my next move.
I'm stunned stiff....
Coming back to my talk about having my foot partly in the door (first paragraph above)...
I've gone through MEPS and background checks have already been taken care of. It's just a matter of a lot of paperwork to take me from one reserve to active since I have not attended basic training yet. It is only after attending BCT and AIT that one is TRULY job-locked, as it were. I think I still have a chance.
Shall see what happens in the next week or two.
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