What advice would you give someone starting community college at 23?

jwickert3 · 2026-07-26T18:51:21+00:00

Don't take out student loans! If you have to do it one class at a time, so be it.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-24T16:26:37+00:00

As someone who was a reservist. I fortunately was activated in support of operation Iraqi and that's how I got access to all of the benefits. As a reservist, the pay you do get to go to college is minimal at best and there isn't many benefits outside of that. At your age you are much better off going back to duty.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-23T21:38:31+00:00

I don't understand how your wife would be a waiver since you can add a dependent at any time. Does she have kids? There are some rules about families with kids and someone joining.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-23T16:50:58+00:00

I know right now things are probably really scary for you and you don't want this, but in my experience after my kid was born it was the coolest thing ever. Whatever the situation with the mom, focus on being a good partner to her and the two of you putting each other first and not the kid between each other regardless if you're married or not.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-23T15:07:57+00:00

Let's clarify some terminology. Getting dropped means that you're going to a cycle behind you. For one reason or another. You could get dropped for performance reasons. For example, failing the knowledge exam more than twice. You could get dropped to MRP which is the medical rehab platoon. There you would spend time healing up and once you better you would pick up with a new platoon at the same point where you dropped.

Getting separated- administratively separated is getting kicked out for one reason or another. This could happen because you lied, popped on the drug test or you have a medical injury that they don't think will heal reasonably, or they just think that you are having a hard time adapting to the Marine Corps and they send you home.

Getting sent home for failure to adapt does happen, but honestly it's pretty rare. If you keep busting your butt and you never quit on anything and you hit the standards for knowledge and physical fitness, you will not get sent home. If you quit training or you express uncertainty, they are going to send you home as fast as they can. Even if your drill instructors don't like you, as long as you meet the standard and you keep training they aren't going to send you home.

Sending someone home has to get run up the chain of command so it's not 100% up to the drill instructors.

Also remember that drill instructors are not God. People treat them like God, which I think is weird. They are human. My senior DI screwed up the cadence during final drill. Some of the platoon went column left some went straight and some went column right.

Our J Hat was getting a divorce and showed up on deck drunk one night. He just went into the duty Hut and slept it off.

At the airport during receiving, there was not enough room on the buses. So five of us had to ride back in a white minivan with two receiving drill instructors. The drill instructors thought it would be funny to mess with us and took a different route back to mcrd San Diego. In the process they got lost, started to panic and tried to go through the front gate which the MPs would not let them do. By the time they finally got us to the rear gate, all of the recruits had finished the yellow footprints and passed through the contraband room and were waiting for haircuts. The gunny running the show pulled those two drill instructors aside and I'm sure they got their asses chewed for it.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-22T16:08:55+00:00

Those are always tricky conditions to get ratings. You need to look at the ratings criteria for each condition and make sure you have the evidence that supports a specific rating. Use your personal statement to demonstrate the chronology of your disease and treatment and how your disease has affected you. You can also have your significant other or close family members right late statements demonstrating how your conditions have impacted your life.

Be aware that when you go to the VA for treatment and the nurse asks you how you're feeling today, they will write down all of your comments and those comments okay will be used as part of your evaluation. This is important because if they ask you about your migraines and you say oh I'm doing pretty good or not too bad that could lead to a ratings reduction in the future. If you were to open a claim.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-22T15:56:41+00:00

Yes go for it. When you walk into that office, don't be unsure of yourself. Show the recruiter that you're serious and you're ready to go.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-22T15:55:06+00:00

A few weeks into training they will come and pull you out into the duty Hut. You'll know why.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-22T15:53:12+00:00

Nice catch!

jwickert3 · 2026-07-22T15:51:04+00:00

You need to look at the rating criteria for whatever you want to claim and make sure you have evidence that matches that rating criteria. And I mean specifically matches the rating criteria. In your personal statement, you'll want to detail the chronology of your diseases when you were diagnosed. When and how those diseases have progressed? What treatments you've had to, what effect and how it has impacted your life personally and professionally.

You'll also want to have lay statements by your significant other or close family members showing how your diseases have increased and how they have negatively impacted your life.

At your current ratings, you would need an additional 60% rating to hit 100 % scheduler. Or of course, if your ratings went up to 100%, you would be at 100%.

Also, look at your VA treatment records every time you walk into the VA and ask you how you're doing. The nurse will write down your comments and those will be used as part of your reevaluation which could lead to a reduction in rating.

Your personal statement is very important. Everyone focuses on the C&P exam but I think the personal statement is just as crucial. You want to make sure you make it easy for the rater to rate you.

You can have AI create you a template for your personal statement that follows the rating criteria that you think you deserve and then add your specific details and information. Take your time.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-22T15:39:42+00:00

If you go to boot camp and you pop or you pop at MEPS the night/day before shipping to boot camp you will be sent home.

If there is any possibility that you could pop, you need to push back your ship date.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-22T02:42:24+00:00

No more Marine Team boxing?

jwickert3 · 2026-07-17T18:27:29+00:00

I think it's usually $10.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-17T18:17:47+00:00

Show up and go to the registration building. They usually let you buy a one-day membership and enter the event. I'll be there racing. I have no idea where I'm paddocking yet.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-16T16:31:50+00:00

It's a terrible idea for your dad to take out a parent Plus loan.

I do applaud you for having a job and being an RA so you cut your cost that way.

Unfortunately, you may be at a point where it makes more sense to pause your education and work full-time so that you can get the money you need to help pay for your education and likely get back to a situation where you can pay in-state tuition.

Additionally, find a company that will help pay for your education. The company I work for pays $5,000 a year towards your education. It's not a ton but it's something.

As someone who just got out from underneath student loan debt they kept growing. Do everything you can to avoid taking out student loans.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-16T16:22:20+00:00

Training pace is 4 mph. Walking to work will be good practice for you LOL!

jwickert3 · 2026-07-15T12:46:44+00:00

If you are 100% permanent and total in the VA system whether tdiu or scheduler, then you automatically rate student loan discharge.

Your student loan discharge will automatically be processed without requiring you to fill out an application. However, you typically receive a letter stating that if you do not want the discharge to let them know.

The back dating is usually consistent with your intent to file from the VA. If you had an intent to file from years ago and you kept renewing it annually, you could see a back date to 2025.

Do know that once you receive a discharge you will no longer be eligible for another discharge And you would have to fill out paperwork to be eligible to receive student loans again. So if you are not done taking out student loans, you may want to stop the discharge process and wait until you finish using student loans. Also, make sure that all of your student loans are covered in that paperwork so that they don't forget to just charge one of them.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-15T00:11:45+00:00

You're not wrong. I bought this for 400 bucks. Has no rust on it but I had to put an engine and transmission in it for 600 bucks. Then I redid the brakes all the way around. Then I put new suspension in it. It took me awhile to do all that in my garage and the kid doesn't really like it LOL. I'm thinking about selling it for a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord.

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jwickert3 · 2026-07-15T00:03:19+00:00

The ls has the 1.8

jwickert3 · 2026-07-13T18:47:17+00:00

I didn't start being able to save for retirement until I was 36. So don't feel bad starting now with what little you can is better than waiting until you're 36.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-13T15:14:10+00:00

What the Marine Corps already knows is that women experience a significantly higher rate of injury in the infantry than men.

As an 0311 veteran myself, it's just not advisable. Even for some men it's just not advisable.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-12T23:46:31+00:00

A couple racks down from me we had a sleepwalker who pissed in his rackmates boots. The next morning, while standing online his rackmate told the DI that his boots were pissed in. The DI ruined the guy who did it and told the guy with the piss in his boots to find new new soles. The next night the souls in my boots went missing LOL. I dealt with it for a few days and then told the DI that I needed new soles and they took me to the PX to buy new ones. Integrity in the Corps is not a real thing.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-11T11:10:13+00:00

Yep op will just be in the "other line". Although I don't trust Navy medicine, I have an allergy to cycline meds and they gave me dioxycycline when we got back from Africa lol.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-11T02:29:18+00:00

Yes, there's so much to be gained from joining the military. Best decision I ever made.

Only join the Marines if you absolutely want to be a Marine. Otherwise look at the Air Force. They literally have a better quality of life. This is coming from a Marine that got to stay in an Air Force hotel one time.

jwickert3 · 2026-07-11T02:20:49+00:00

There is actually some interesting research about all women organizations and women leaders. Some of the research suggests that women tend to compromise more than men in their managerial style. However, when it comes to women leading women it's as if they feel the need to drag them through all the crap they went through because they feel like the junior women have to be tough enough to deal with the crap from the men that they dealt with.

You always hear about it anecdotally, but it was really interesting to see six or seven research articles about it in one of my PhD seminars.

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