Christmas Break

Over the break I will spend time with family and friends. I asked for a knife, and a safety razor (it's an old school razor used before disposable razors.)

Why I chose to join the military

The main thing I hope to accomplish by joining the military (more specifically the Air Force) is for me to go through a life changing experience that not many people go through. I think it will be a great way for me to apply myself in a way that isn't just beneficial to me, it's beneficial to my entire country. There are a few people that I am going into the Air Force for, but the main person is myself. I believe that the Air Force will help shape me into the person I want to be and give me many memories to be proud of later in life. The other two people I am joining the Air Force for are my two brothers. They are both currently serving in the Air Force, it's kind of become the family business. But it is a family business that I am willing to join. I'm also just curious to know what all my brothers have gone through. Before I joined the Air Force I talked to both of my brothers about it and they gave me all kinds of advice, I also talked to a recruiter who got me into the military just a week after getting in touch with him. The Air Force will help me achieve my goals by putting me in a good position to be successful later in life by giving me time to get a college degree for free and more time to become the person I'm meant to be.

Thanksgiving

Basically all I will be doing is staying home, and seeing family on Thanksgiving. 

Job

Life Guard

For the past few days I have been scouring the internet for jobs people my age are prone to get. The job I found the most interesting was a lifeguard. This job suits people like me because I love to help others. Also since I'm young, it would be easier for me to save someone from drowning than some eighty year old man trying to save them. The steps I would go through in order to prepare for an interview would be, research basic life guarding techniques and research what the qualifications are for lifeguards. It isn't too difficult to find applications for this job online, especially right before summer time. Granted it may be difficult to actually get the job because many people my age apply for life guarding jobs. But that doesn't mean that it is impossible to get, you'd just have to be persistent while searching for the job. 

Homeless to Harvard

This was by far one of the most inspirational movies I have seen. Seeing an individual start from nothing and graduating from Harvard is probably one of the biggest successes in today's society. My favorite part of the movie was when Liz walked away from her friend Chris in order to change her life. In this scene Chris portrays Liz's past life, which consisted of being homeless and never doing anything about it. So Liz had a choice to either stay back and stay with her friend, or move on and become the successful woman that she knew she could be. If I was in her position, it would have been very difficult for me to be as resilient as her, but when it came down to it, I probably would have gone to school to get my education.

Off Base Air Force Budget

Nothing I Didn't Already Know

This project didn't teach me anything, considering that I already knew how much I would get paid and where I am going to live; it was fairly simple. But to make it slightly more challenging I had to make a budget pretending I was living off base in a rent house, which is much more expensive than living on base. The hardest part was converting the cost of bills and items in Euros into Dollars so could get an accurate cost. The reason why I had to convert the costs was because I want to be based on Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany. 

My Career

Air Force

Considering that I am in the Air Force I basically have the next 20 years of my life planned out. I'm probably going to be some type of mechanic (I just don't know what kind yet because they haven't given me my specific job yet.) I will either be working on jet fighters, drones, and possibly AWACS or C-130's. I also chose a surgical assistance job, a money management type job, and a heating/air conditioning mechanic job. But I doubt that I will get one of those three jobs. I wouldn't mind getting one those careers because they would transfer over to civilian life very well once I get out of the military. So as of right now, I don't exactly know what my career will be, it just depends on what the Air Force assigns me; but my recruiter told me that I will find out my job any time now.

My Lack of Stress

On the stress test I got a 1-24, so you could say that I'm a very easy going guy who doesn't stress about anything or it's extremely rare for me to get stressed out. Since I don't have any way to expound on how much I stress out, I will tell you about how I live virtually stress free. One phrase I really like is "A simple life is a stress free life" so I try to keep life as simple as possible but still maintain an organized life. Another main thing I do is I don't try to control circumstances that are out of my control and I always try my best to find humor in every good or bad situation I'm in. I also attempt to exercise a few times a week and eat healthily. Optimism is another key factor, but of course don't get so optimistic that you have unrealistic goals and expectations in life. So in conclusion, try your best to keep life simple and organized, find humor in every situation, don't be a control freak, exercise a few times during the week along with eating healthily, and have realistic optimism.

Organization and Procrastination

Organization

My current organizational method consists of waiting on my weekly schedule for work to be posted and then planning my non-work schedule around my work schedule, therefore, I mostly plan week by week. I know that isn't planning very far ahead but I don't really need to plan too far ahead unless it's an event that I have to save up money for. But now since I'm quitting my job so I can act for the school, I will be able to plan far ahead because I will know my acting schedule which will be planned out months in advance. So yes this organizational method works for me, it may not work for everyone though because I don't really need much notice in advance to plan events that I attend even though my schedule will be planned out in advanced anyways.

Procrastination

Procrastination can be a huge hindrance in ones life, it basically causes a "slippery slope" effect, and here's how. Imagine that you are at school or work, you are told to get a certain task done by Friday; so throughout the week you tell yourself that you'll get it done just anytime before Friday instead of doing it that instant. Friday comes, you go to school or work, and you realize with heart dropping remorse that you forgot to do what you were told to do. Just to top it off, you are too busy to find time to get whatever it may be done that day and you then have to deal with the punishment of your teacher/parents or your boss. Depending on whether it was at school or work you could either fail and be grounded for a while or you could possibly be fired. You then go into a depression and drop out of school because you feel like you're a failure and wont amount to anything in your entire insignificant life, also, you cant get a job anywhere because you don't have an education or everyone thinks you have a bad work ethic and won't hire you. Now all you have are two options, you can either live with your parents for the rest of your life and be the money sucking leech you are, or you can become homeless and probably contract some horrible diseases because you were desperate and were willing to do anything to earn money. In conclusion, all of this happened because you willfully procrastinated. Moral of the story:  Don't procrastinate.

Me

My name is Gatlin Dollar, I live in Red Oak, TX. I attend Life School Secondary, I'm a senior. Also, I am in the US Air Force and I leave for BMT June 5th 2015. I like to go backpacking, rock climbing, and I play Ultimate. I am taking College Transition because it is a requirement for me to graduate considering I need a leadership class. Thanks for reading, have a nice day.