PlaneFlyGuy

@brabus Since you're recently active, I want to just shoot you a question here instead of making an entire new thread. I'm 22 y/o and flying fighter jets in the guard has been a dream for about 10 years now. Everything I've done in my life has been to make myself competitive to be hired right out of college, whether that be the leadership roles I've taken on, maintaining a 3.9 GPA in engineering major, or whatever else to help me stand out. For some reason, in the past two weeks I've started having significant doubts of the career path and lifestyle it entails for the first time ever. There's various things I can probably attribute to it, but one of them being that I've actually become a little excited about the job I have coming out of school for the first time... not necessarily because of the job itself, but because I'll start making good money and can dive into all the different outdoor adventures and hobbies the state offers. I recently got an interview with a fighter unit in the guard. However, before I continue down this road and the big commitment, I am thinking that I should try out the 9-5 life first to make sure I really hate that before I keep trying for the guard since I'm now having these thoughts. I know the guard will likely make family life difficult, and I have a gut feeling that I may not enjoy that. My counter to this has always been that I want to live an incredible life and be proud of what I did so I'd have to make sacrifices, but now I am thinking that I can be proud of what I did through some other means (although maybe it will never be as great). My whole life before this has been structured (go to school and that's it) and now I am faced with this major life decision. I feel like I'm going to burn the bridge by turning down the interview and it's likely now or never for this career, especially with all the cutbacks on UPT slots in the coming years for guard (boards are being cancelled right now). Just curious if you would agree that if I am having any reservations about the career I should walk away for now, even if that means coming back and applying later on will be more difficult. Maybe it's because I've come so close to the finish line that I'm having these thoughts now, but I don't know if I should ignore it. I feel incredibly naive having not fully experienced being on my own in the world and seeing how it is first. Am I wrong for that? Everyone just seems to be calling me crazy for considering turning down an opportunity that only so few get and especially since they know I've worked so hard to get here.