Sunday, December 16, 2007

The Plan...The Fine Print

Hopes, dreams and desires are the offspring of life's illusions and one's delusions.

I wanted to go to medical school. No, my wanting to become a doctor had nothing at all to do with dreams of a profitable private practice. I wanted to be a career military phyiscian. So, as I am apt to do, I came up with a scheme. I would major in pre-med studies, then present my glorious academic record to the Air Force and being so impressed the Air Force would have no choice in the matter. I would be given a FREE ride to medical school. It was pure unadulterated genius. I was very, very naive in my youth.

I accepted a full ROTC scholarship. Damn it, things were finally looking up! What about medical school? If I had an acceptable GPA, then I would be given due and proper consideration, so I was told.

An Air Force ROTC scholarship is basically a contract and with most contracts there is, at the very bottom, the obligatory fine print. Scholarships are based upon man-power needs. More to the point the 18XX career field was in need of my future services. 18XX, the man-power code for the missile career field. The Strategic Air Command has no known schools of medicine.

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