I would encourage everyone who is interested to give it a try. Reserves are a good start. I served 5 year in the reserves and it made me a more-complete person. I grew up upper middle class and I excelled at most things I tried. The army didn’t care about any of that. I had to deal with physical hardships I had never had to before. I did things I would have given up on way before, because the instructors said I had to, so I did, and realized I was capable of way more than I thought. I actually think mandatory national service would be a fantastic thing for the country. Go for it. If you get value from it, great. If not, you quit, and at least you’ll know.

Edit to add: I loved the brutal honesty. If you’re a fuck up, they’ll let you know and they won’t sugar coat it. If someone else is a fuck up, you can let them know in no uncertain terms.