Short background 2010-now:
Grad HS in 2010, went to college lost direction and screwed off for 2 years acquiring nothing but some debt and few credits.
2013: Start local community college (different school) full and part time (when necessary) and finish with AA december 2015. (5 years for a 2 year degree, nothing to show)
Since 2014 (during cc-now) working low pay, low opportunity job (non retail/resturaunt), little saved. Direct admit to UCF due to community college co-op.

Now: Planning on going to ucf utilizing pell grant / loans while trying to figure out a job (part time to full) and a place to live. I have bills and such to pay. This would still acquire 10-14k debt yearly (thinking 3 years to finish with a transition year)

Monday: At the gym, I get approached by a guy while working out. In shape, confident look. (What could this be?) Turns out he's a marine, asks me a bit about my current job and goals and such and drops the recruiter line and goes on to tell me about his experiences, opportunities and success (im no investigator so ill take his word). He's been in for 9 years and is 3 years older than me. I'm 24 and don't really have much going for me currently and the debt outlook i'm not quite a fan of but that is entirely my fault. So he gives me his card and asks if i'd stop by to listen to what he has to say and give me some info (tuesday). (ended up talking for an hour.)

Tuesday: So I go in to entertain the idea and give him some of my time for his effort. I ended up at the office for about 3 hours just talking about what the marines can do for me etc, how they can help me achieve my goals. Not in a stereotypical we can show you the world type of way but a pretty up front presentation. Anyway I was in ROTC all 4 years of high school but didn't really entertain the idea of the military too much because school was soooo important and I HAD to have an education (family influenced), in hindsight learning a trade or going military might have been better but that's in the past.


So here is my dilemma. Do I try to get whatever job for as much pay and time as possible while going to school incurring debt and still gaining no real experience? Or do I further entertain the idea of going military with my AA, taking advantage of whatever degree program availability and maybe getting some useful experience, direction, discipline and opportunities.

I haven't signed anything, made a decision on the marines or thought about other branches. The recruiter sold it pretty well to consider marines over the others but I won't be swayed just by ones experiences. I need more.