Written by a Bison

"A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one." This may or may not be a response post. First off, I think being a jack of all trades is probably the best thing anyone can do. Talent is rare and oftentimes if you narrow down your capabilities to exceed in one field, you limit your capacity to succeed in other fields. In the photography world, we call this "niching down" too early. In the military, we call this minimal lateral freedom. In basic terms, it's "putting all your eggs in one basket." Today's world DEMANDS adaptability and versatility. If you can't perform multiple skills because you spent all your time focusing on one skill. You are not just going to lose—you are going to drown.  For those of you who DO specialize, I think that's great but I don't think you should make it your entire personality or focus. Take it from me as someone who did that and then ultimately had it blow up in my f...

 Semper Fidelis Marines are the elite fighting force of America. They are the 911 emergency response force for the US government. The best uniforms. The toughest warrior ethos. Not to mention the harshest boot camp and the shittiest quality of life.  Growing up in a family of doctors, managers, and engineers—wanting to be a Marine was a unique goal. My entire family supported me from the beginning and encouraged me to pursue it. I knew I had what it takes. I wanted to be a Marine officer.  I knew I wanted to kill, I wanted to die in combat. I started training when I was young because I knew Marines were the toughest branch. My dad helped me a lot—taking me to the gym, getting me gear so I could be familiar with it, and buying a ton of MREs so I knew which ones I could eat.  I knew I had to be versatile as a Marine so I ran, lifted weights, and studied. I became better than average at everything I could do.  I played tactical real time strategy games such as Comp...

From MCDP 1 "Warfighting" "Positions are seldom lost because they have been destroyed, but almost invariably because the leader has decided in his own mind that the position cannot be held."  —A. A. Vandegrift Growing up I was always told not to give up. I've seen the movies, I've seen the posters.  "Don't give up the ship." - U.S. Naval Academy Motto. "You just can't beat the person who never gives up." - my roommates poster. "Never back down never what? Never give up! Never back down NEVER WHAT?" - Fortnite meme. I love the movie Monsters University which is a prequel to Monsters Inc. There's a scene where Mike Wazowski, the protagonist, comes to terms with his appearance and realizes that his dream of being a scarer is physically impossible . I think about his words a lot... almost every day now. "I wanted it more than anyone. And I thought if I wanted it enough, I could show everyone that Mike Wazowski is...

In some ways, I hate how things unfolded for me during my time in JROTC. It was an unfair program that was led by highschoolers with egos (including me). How does anyone expect that to go well? But in other ways, it taught me lessons that I would've otherwise never learned. It's not the most recent nor the biggest failing moment of my life—but a significant failure for sure.  It was 2025, at this point I was at the tail end of my junior year in high school. If you don't know what JROTC is, it stands for "Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps" and it seeks to motivate young people to be better citizens. But essentially it's preparing highschoolers who want to be in the military or have develop better leadership skills... sometimes.  I poured my heart and soul into this program right from when I was a freshman in 2022. Basically for three years, I had done nothing but JROTC. I was known as the JROTC kid in high school. I would wear my uniform to class even thoug...

 I remember talking to one of my friends in the car shortly after one of our many lively hangouts. We we're laughing our heads off just 20 minutes ago with the rest of our friends and now it was time for me to drive him home. On the way home, we we're discussing transferring schools because neither of us we're at a school we wanted to be at. He was talking to me about the process of re-applying and the strategy of how to get in with the professors so that they write you a rec letter. "I don't know if I want to re-apply." I said about five minutes away from dropping him off. It was weird. I never said that out loud until that point but everything up until that point had me pointing in a direction of re-application. My dream school, my entire childhood, my ten year plan yet here I was saying I don't want to continue that. he offered some words of reassurance. i remember him saying that i can't look at it as failing. but that's exactly when i said—and...