I realize a lot of parents don’t want their kids to join the military, but let me offer this alternative perspective. When I was at UCR, a kid fresh out of high school, studying engineering, many of my classmates were also kids fresh out of high school. But there were also several students who had served in the military, one who had been a firefighter for the Forest Service, and they were now coming back to school for their college degree. I greatly admired these guys – compared to those of us fresh out of high school, these guys just seemed more solid and well grounded.