The Pacific Ocean? Yes, the ocean. I am a Naval presently on deployment. My name is Sam and I am currently stationed out of San Diego, CA. I am hoping this location ends up being beneficial to my upcoming attempts to do more. I come from a long line of ball-busting, work-until-you-break, Navy, sailors but I am by no means a “lifer”.
After being denied the ROTC scholarship (due in NO PART to academics) I was left with the bitter decision to either attend college at the ROCT school I had wanted, Purdue (an acceptance which would cost 36k in loans for my out-of-stater a$$), attend the local, Akron university for 7k, OR say screw-it and run off and enlist in the service I was headed for regardless. Rather than accept a lifetime of school loan debt and much to my mother’s dismay, I ran off and joined the Navy.
The next two years showed me exactly what my decision cost me as I learned the crucial differences between the lives of enlisted sailors and officers. I did basic training and “A” school in Great Lakes, IL before transferring for 6 more months of school in San Diego, Ca. The ample sun and warm, dry, air of Cali finally freed me from my lingering disappointment and I-am-better-than-this attitude. I made my first big girl purchase of a truck and soon became MJ’s textbook definition of a SIDEWALKER. The Navy, as it turns out, is an enabler and breeder of SIDEWALKERS.
I was shipped off to Sasebo, Japan upon completion of “C” school and quickly put my work-your-a$$-off heritage to use. I climbed 3 ranks in 2 years, an impressive feat for many “ratings” (specific job fields in the Navy), and upgraded my finances to the SLOWLANE. I was the second youngest person in my division, of 32 people, and the youngest supervisor in the group, but what does that do for me on the outside? No degree? Not much then, right? I worked my a$$ off to be a higher-paid Naval and put my education on hold. Others in my division put the Navy to the side and used their time to get Bachelor’s degrees online instead.
I finished my 3 year tour and left Japan last year with 0 debt and 22k in various stocks, but like I said, no college yet. When I got back to the states, all the money I had built up in stocks seemed to slip through my fingers like sand
. “Adjusting” to my new life back in San Diego cost me everything except the minimum investment on my one mutual fund, a mere 4k. I had a shiny nearly-new truck, and new apartment lease, but nothing else to show for the years I spent banking my extra pay in Japan. The depletion is 100% my fault, Yes, and a bitter pill to swallow.
What’s all that have to do with the Fastlane?
Well, it’s how I got to MJ’s book.
While on deployment, I have been trying to think of ways to rebuild my finances so I do not exit this institution with empty pockets and spiral into poverty like many young ex-sailors. I set a goal to never go backwards in my life, and although returning to the states took a serious bite out of my paycheck, I intend to keep my promise to myself.
I am nearly to my intended Navy finish line and I am worried about what lies beyond. My original plan was to start school in the Navy, get at least an Associate but hopefully a Bachelor’s before getting out, and then continue on to a Doctorate as a Veterinarian. That’s a lot of hard schooling, I know, so I was going to be a vet-technician to support myself while I continued working for the higher degrees. A
fter reading The Millionaire Fastlane , I feel like my goal keeps me in the SLOWLANE and is sadly mediocre. It would certainly not be a bad JOB :\ but 8 years of school is lot of my remaining youth, my TIME. While I intend to stick to the plan, for now, I think I can do something additional during that time, maybe something that could put me in the Fastlane so that I never have to cut open the animals I love…maybe I could own the practice instead…
I have a few ideas which I will be brining to light in these forums, but there you have it. I am a SLOWLANEr Naval on the verge of a mediocre life of toil and damn it, I know I can DO MORE! BE more!
After being denied the ROTC scholarship (due in NO PART to academics) I was left with the bitter decision to either attend college at the ROCT school I had wanted, Purdue (an acceptance which would cost 36k in loans for my out-of-stater a$$), attend the local, Akron university for 7k, OR say screw-it and run off and enlist in the service I was headed for regardless. Rather than accept a lifetime of school loan debt and much to my mother’s dismay, I ran off and joined the Navy.
The next two years showed me exactly what my decision cost me as I learned the crucial differences between the lives of enlisted sailors and officers. I did basic training and “A” school in Great Lakes, IL before transferring for 6 more months of school in San Diego, Ca. The ample sun and warm, dry, air of Cali finally freed me from my lingering disappointment and I-am-better-than-this attitude. I made my first big girl purchase of a truck and soon became MJ’s textbook definition of a SIDEWALKER. The Navy, as it turns out, is an enabler and breeder of SIDEWALKERS.
I was shipped off to Sasebo, Japan upon completion of “C” school and quickly put my work-your-a$$-off heritage to use. I climbed 3 ranks in 2 years, an impressive feat for many “ratings” (specific job fields in the Navy), and upgraded my finances to the SLOWLANE. I was the second youngest person in my division, of 32 people, and the youngest supervisor in the group, but what does that do for me on the outside? No degree? Not much then, right? I worked my a$$ off to be a higher-paid Naval and put my education on hold. Others in my division put the Navy to the side and used their time to get Bachelor’s degrees online instead.
I finished my 3 year tour and left Japan last year with 0 debt and 22k in various stocks, but like I said, no college yet. When I got back to the states, all the money I had built up in stocks seemed to slip through my fingers like sand
. “Adjusting” to my new life back in San Diego cost me everything except the minimum investment on my one mutual fund, a mere 4k. I had a shiny nearly-new truck, and new apartment lease, but nothing else to show for the years I spent banking my extra pay in Japan. The depletion is 100% my fault, Yes, and a bitter pill to swallow. What’s all that have to do with the Fastlane?
Well, it’s how I got to MJ’s book.
While on deployment, I have been trying to think of ways to rebuild my finances so I do not exit this institution with empty pockets and spiral into poverty like many young ex-sailors. I set a goal to never go backwards in my life, and although returning to the states took a serious bite out of my paycheck, I intend to keep my promise to myself.
I am nearly to my intended Navy finish line and I am worried about what lies beyond. My original plan was to start school in the Navy, get at least an Associate but hopefully a Bachelor’s before getting out, and then continue on to a Doctorate as a Veterinarian. That’s a lot of hard schooling, I know, so I was going to be a vet-technician to support myself while I continued working for the higher degrees. A
fter reading The Millionaire Fastlane , I feel like my goal keeps me in the SLOWLANE and is sadly mediocre. It would certainly not be a bad JOB :\ but 8 years of school is lot of my remaining youth, my TIME. While I intend to stick to the plan, for now, I think I can do something additional during that time, maybe something that could put me in the Fastlane so that I never have to cut open the animals I love…maybe I could own the practice instead…
I have a few ideas which I will be brining to light in these forums, but there you have it. I am a SLOWLANEr Naval on the verge of a mediocre life of toil and damn it, I know I can DO MORE! BE more!
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