I thought the air force would be a good career opportunity based
on the following reasons :
1) I took the aerospace elective in my final year, and am
planning to do the same for the course in Uni. (cross fingers and
hope I'll dow ell enough). So at least I wouldn't lose out to the A
lvl grads.
2) To me, this acts as a "bridge" between my poly and uni.
education. Since air force is very academic, and what I'm be doing
in air force is at least related in a way to what I'm going to
study in Uni., better than let my brains rot while digging fire
trenches and shell scrapes.
3) To be honest, $_$ face? If I'm not wrong, the LSA is already
one of the lower end scholarships SAF offers. But full sponsorship
of studies, plus getting paid $2k a month while I study, and the 5
figure sum i get at the end of the course, is very enticing in
return for 4 years of my time.
4) My family isn't exactly very well to do, so I hope by signing
on, it can relief my family's "financial burden".
5) I have my own personal pride. Everyone does. Would anyone
like to be a garbage collector or toilet cleaner? With educational
qualifications aside, I bet no one does. I feel that way too. (you
get what I mean?)
6) I don't need to worry and get into the hassle
of job hunting when I'm done with my studies.
But 1 thing, round of applause for the people RSAF for even at
the least recognising my potential and putting me up for the
interview. At least some people have their eyes open.
KrU : Lol good question. 17 weeks through and
I'm already beginning to see the dark side of things, and to think
that I was so enthu before coming into army. Being one of the 1st
from my poly batch to go into army, I would always convince my
friends that it would be a different yet fulfilling and enriching
experience, and that the SAF would push people to their fullest
potential. But now, I just keep telling them : Oops, my
bad.
Evangel : Supposedly, I have to finish serving
my 2 years 1st, then break for studies in 2010, and then go back
after studies to serve another 4 years. But the contract stated 4
yrs and 5 mths after some calculations here and there.
Ah yes, the system. I actually did get the
opportunity to speak with the CO and OC about this off-hand. they
were telling me the system chooses the individuals based on merit,
like blah blah blah blah...and that the system is
flawless.
Well, until now, I still don't know exactly why I ended up
where I am right now. All they can tell me is "Your BMT
results cannot make it". I want to know exactly which part, but
they wouldn't disclose to me. So maybe its the SIT Test or peer
appraisal that did me in.
mamamamama : I think another thing is the batch
I went in with. If I went with a poly batch, I would've stood a
better chance of getting into OCS. Just heng-suay only lor.
But don't be discouraged, there ARE and WILL BE diploma holders
in OCS, because I have talked to officers who are, so i don't think
the 3.86 matters or not LOL.
Broaden your horizons. If you're looking for a job to work
for in short term and gain some experiences, the SAF technical and
logistics are great places. Not the
combat side. Serve a reasonably short contract
eg. 6 years and then you must leave while you're still in your 20s.
Do not even think of staying as a career.
