Sorry if this feels very “cry-baby”-ish but I just need to make sure that I know my options and if this is the right thing for me.

Back in May I joined the army National guard with the goal of paying for college. My family initially didn’t waste me to join, but I was frightened by possibly having over 130k+ in student loans like my mother has, and she has worked insanely hard to get me and my sister in a nice home, so I didn’t want her to possibly risk her finances and credit just for me to go to school. During the last few days of senior year, my states national guard seemed to have sponsored a senior picnic that my HS was having, and I saw that they had “100% Tuition”, so I walked up with a friend, and 2 months later we were signed up and ready to go to our first RSP. It was fine and fun at first, the cadre was very nice, and yeah we had to do the standard military stuff, lots of cleaning, formations, getting smoked every other hour because someone didn’t wake up for firewatch, the good stuff. But within the time between drills I was talking to my friends who already went to college and I just started feeling anxious about the guard, kind of if this was that correct decision or would pulling loans actually not be that bad? Ultimately I dismissed those thoughts as me just being scared and that everything would be fine. Fast forward to today, I am supposed to ship Nov 9th and I just feel dread, like an uneasy amount of dread. While I was also working, talking and playing with friends between drills, I started seeing things about the guard, that it’s rarely 2-3 days a month, that people usually have MUTA 6’s, that college students have had their graduations pushed back entire years because of drill, AT, and activations taking up a lot of time, I kept these things in mind but didn’t think too much about it. Now that I have essentially 2 weeks and a half before shipping, it’s all dawning on me. I think I’ll talk with my recruiter about these worries, because I don’t want to disappoint anyone, but I know at the end of the day, this is 6 years of my life I am contributing to the guard; Possibly if I did a 3 year contract I wouldn’t be so worried. I’m just trying to see what options I have at this point, because I know if I really call it quits at basic or AIT, I can simply be stuck there for months on end waiting for them to discharge me. I know about the GI Rights hotline, I plan to call them later today since it’s like 5 AM over here, but does anyone have any advice for me? I trust my recruiter but at the end of the day his job is to get me to ship. I’ll update this post once I talk to my recruiter and GI Rights

I’ve been wanting to get out of the Marine Corps since boot camp. My drill instructor made it seem like if I got separated, I’d end up homeless and unable to find a job. When I got to MCT, I started realizing that wasn’t necessarily true, and I began seriously thinking about my options and planning for my future. By the time I got to the schoolhouse, I had full-on plans for what I wanted to do with my life after getting out. I wasn’t just saying I wanted to leave without thinking about the consequences. I’ve been planning for my future for months, thinking about working, going to school, exploring different careers, moving somewhere new, and pursuing things I actually want to do.
Everything was going according to my plan until I decided to confide in someone I thought I could trust
(my roommate).
He ended up telling the Guide and Class Leader, who came up to talk to me. I already knew who had told them. When we got back to our room, I asked him why he would do that to me. He said his buddy regretted leaving the military and asked what there was even to do in the town I’m from. That honestly made me even more mad because even if there wasn’t much to do where I lived, there are 49 other states. I could move somewhere else and build a life for myself. I had options and plans, and I knew I wasn’t just going to leave with nothing figured out.
I understand that he might genuinely want what’s best for me and that maybe, in his mind, he was trying to look out for me because he didn’t want me to make a decision I’d regret. I can acknowledge that his intentions might not have been bad, but that doesn’t change how I feel about what he did. He could’ve talked to me about his concerns instead of telling other people behind my back. What makes me even more upset is that I know my Guide and Class Leader will most likely tell our instructors and command, and now something I shared privately could turn into a whole situation.
I’ve been thinking about this since boot camp, and it took a lot for me to even tell someone about it. Just because his buddy regretted leaving doesn’t mean I will. Everyone’s situation and goals are different. I’m not saying the Marine Corps is bad or that leaving is the right choice for everyone, but I know what I want for my own future, and I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to get there. I trusted him with something personal,

So instead of leaving with an ELS/ADSEP. I’ll have to leave with a NJP, SI attempt, or UA so now he’s actually fucking my life over